Quarter final results:
Serena Williams (3) (USA) defeated Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) 4-6 6-3 6-2
Pironkova was sharp from the outset, unsettling Williams, breaking serve immediately, and retaining that edge throughout the first set.
Things appeared worse for the third seed when she dropped serve in the first game of set two, but after breaking straight back, the match was turned about. Pironkova began to struggle on serve, and Williams cracked it again in the eighth game, allowing her to serve out the set.
The decider saw Williams impose her pressure constantly, breaking in the opening game, and despite fighting hard, Pironkova finally relented in the seventh game to trail 2-5. Williams finished it off. 44 winners including 20 aces, just one double fault.
Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) defeated Elise Mertens (Belgium) 6-1 6-0
Two breaks of serve in the opening three games may have suggested a tight encounter, but Azarenka blew that thought away by winning ten successive games to set up a semi final with Williams, and bring back memories of the two finals they contested here in 2012-13.
21 winners almost doubled the number of unforced errors from the Belarusian racquet, and Azarenka is playing the finest tennis of anyone in the last four.
Semi final match ups
Jennifer Brady (28) (USA) v Naomi Osaka (4) (Japan)
Serena Williams (3) (USA) v Victoria Azarenka (Belarus)
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