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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; Fourth-ranked and top-seeded Serena Williams reached the semifinals of the Bank of the West Classic, beating No. 6 seed Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa 6-4, 6-0 Friday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;No. 5 seed Yanina Wickmayer beat No. 2 Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-2 for the first time in four meetings.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wickmayer next faces American Coco Vandeweghe, a lucky loser, who knocked off Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-4, 6-4 to make the semifinals of a WTA Tour event for the first time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The 37th-ranked Wickmayer recorded her third career top-10 victory with the win over 10th-ranked Bartoli, and the first of the season.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sorana Cirstea of Romania ousted No. 3 seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-0. Cirstea will next face Williams.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Vandeweghe, ranked 120th, earned a spot in the main draw after three players withdrew due to injuries.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Williams, the only higher seed to win on the day, said she's still affected by jet lag and did not get much sleep Thursday night.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"I woke up at 1 a.m. and didn't want to take anything so I just stayed up,\" Williams said. \"At least I got to finish 'Desperate Housewives,' my favorite series ever. I was crying as always. It's so sad it had to end.\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Williams started slow and finished strong.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"I knew I was going to start slow, but I expected to stay consistent and hang in there,\" she said. \"Finally, I started moving better.\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Williams and Cirstea will meet for the first time, and it's a match that Williams has been looking forward to play.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"I think it's going to be a good match,\" Williams said. \"She has a good serve, which is why I love her game.\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cirstea, who will represent Romania at the Olympics, improved to 5-7 against top 20 players with her win over Cibulkova, who won their two previous meetings.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"I did not feel comfortable at the start,\" Cirstea said. \"Then I got used to her pace and I served pretty well. I was playing better match to match.\"&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/tennis/2012/07/13/wickmayer-upsets-bartoli-serena-advances-bank-west>