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Well, the draw is parting like the Red Sea for Serena Williams. Admittedly, she's done a little of the clearing herself, knocking out Nadia Petrova and Jelena Jankovic with bursts of inspired play to reach the quarterfinals.
When the day began, it didn't look like things were about to get any easier: her potential opponents on the way to the final included Svetlana Kuznetsova, Amelie Mauresmo and Elena Dementieva.
Now, it's Shahar Peer, Lucie Safarova and Nicole Vaidisova. Vaidisova is the most highly-touted of this group of teenagers, but with only one Grand Slam semfinal to her name so far, she's still relatively unexperienced on the big stages.
So Williams can now legitmately be considered the favorite to come through her half of the draw – something that looked highly improbable just three days ago. A Kim Clijsters or Maria Sharapova in the final would still be a tall order, but Williams' come-from-behind win in the 2005 final means nothing can be ruled out.
Against Jankovic, all the lingering signs of slowness and rustiness seemed to melt away as she produced angled backhand winners on the full run, lunging drop volleys and eye-popping fist pumps. Surprised, frustrated and eventually reduced to ineffectiveness, Jankovic put Williams up there with Clijsters and Sharapova as favorites for the title.
Another sign things are getting serious? No more talk about actually winning the title. After her first match, Williams said, "I can definitely win a third title, for sure." On Sunday, it was: "Like I said from the beginning, I'm taking one match at a time. I'm not trying to peak too soon. Hopefully I can peak in the finals if I get there. But I'm just taking Shahar Peer next, and that's it."
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