Venus Williams advances to semifinals at Coupe Banque Nationale

QUEBEC – Top-seeded Venus Williams moved on to the semifinal of the Coupe Banque Nationale on Friday with a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 victory over Lucie Hradecka.

Although the two players had faced each other a few times in doubles, it was their first encounter in a singles match.

Williams will be participating in her fourth semifinal of the year after Oakland, Dubai and the Rogers Cup in Montreal.

Fifth seed Julia Goerges topped Andrea Hlavackova in a 6-7, 7-5, 6-2 quarter-final win.

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni eliminated Sesil Karatantcheva with a 7-5, 6-0 victory.

Shelby Rogers had no trouble beating Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-2.