Serena Williams flying high but sister Venus is grounded
Serena Williams was already thinking about an early flight home as she found herself a set and 4-0 down to Victoria Azarenko today but staged a dramatic fightback to avoid the same fate as sister Venus.
The defending champion rallied to win 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 but won't be facing Venus in the semi-finals as she lost 2‑6, 7-6, 7-5 against China's Li Na.
Serena, clearly hampered by the leg injury that sees her play with a bandage on her right thigh and another below the left knee, showed her famous fighting qualities and was aided by Azarenko's inability to handle the pressure of the situation. The seventh seed from Belarus should have won but completely fell apart, losing five games in a row and then the key second set tie-break.
Serena said: "I thought if I lost the singles and then the doubles tomorrow, I could catch a flight on Friday — it's not what a champion is supposed to think but I did."
The American couldn't watch much of Venus's earlier match because she gets "too emotionally involved" and "my stomach is just sick".
Venus came within two points of a semi-final and said: "In tennis you have to close it out. It's not like there's a clock ticking and then suddenly it's over."
Britain's Laura Robson moved into the girls' quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Romania's Cristina Dinu and will now take on American Ester Goldfeld. Oliver Goulding lost his boys' match with Australia's James Duckworth 7-6, 7-5.
