Serena Williams continued her smooth lead-up to next week's Australian Open with a comfortable win at the Sydney International yesterday while Dinara Safina suffered a heavy loss five days before the first grand slam of 2010.

Playing her second match in 24 hours after a two-month recess, Williams could hardly have been more dominant as she crushed Russian Vera Dushevina 6-2 6-2 in just over an hour at the Olympic tennis centre.

While Williams was an unstoppable force, world number two Safina slumped to a 6-2 6-3 defeat by fellow Russian Elena Dementieva in a repeat of last year's Sydney final.

The match was delayed by two hours because of heavy rain after which Dementieva immediately seized control, winning the first five games on the trot to register her fourth straight win over Safina.

Safina, runner-up to Williams in Melbourne last year, has had a wretched last few months, suffering a back complaint that forced her to miss her planned comeback tournament last week.

Williams's opponent in today's semi-finals is Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai, who beat Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-3 6-0.

Dementieva faces Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, who booked her spot with a 2-6 6-2 7-5 win over Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova, her third three-setter in as many days.

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