Top seed Serena Williams won the final eight games to rout Andrea Petkovic in the semi-final at the Stanford Classic in California.

Williams eventually turned what started as a closely-fought contest into a one-sided romp as she beat the frustrated German 7-5 6-0.

The American was gunning for her third title in four years when she met third seed Angelique Kerber in the final late last night.

“Andrea and I both had really long matches yesterday, so I was just hoping to come out again today with fresh legs, and just try to do the best I could out there,” said Williams, who survived a tough three-setter to beat Ana Ivanovic in the quarters on Friday.

“My body feels great. I’m just really excited to be in the finals of Stanford again. I love playing in California. I’m a Californian girl.”

Williams, winner of 60 WTA titles, is playing her first event since a surprise third-round loss to Alize Cornet at Wimbledon in June.

Petkovic beat Venus Williams in the quarters, and was hoping to become just the ninth player to beat the two sisters in the same year.

German Kerber returned from the brink of defeat to beat unseeded Uzbekistan-born American Varvara Lepchenko 4-6 7-6(4) 6-2 in the other semi-final.

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