Venus Williams advanced to the semi-finals of the 1.34 million-dollar WTA Charleston clay court tournament on Friday by defeating Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4, 7-5.
Williams, who recovered from two breaks down in the second set, will next face the winner of a later quarter-final between Serbian second seed Jelena Jankovic and Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik.
Garrigues was serving for a 4-0 lead in the first set but Williams broke, taking the crucial fourth game when the Spaniard sent a backhand long, and broke again to level the set at 4-4.
Williams broke for the match in the 12th game when Garrigues sent a backhand wide, the last of three consecutive unforced errors to end the match.
Williams, a five-time Grand Slam champion, missed most of last year with a left wrist injury, but the 26-year-old American has been impressive this year, going 14-2 overall and winning a title in February at Memphis.
Other quarter-finals were to send Russian fourth seed Dinara Safina against France's Tatiana Golovin and Russia's Vera Zvonareva against Dutch standout Michaella Krajicek.