Key Biscayne (Florida): Serena Williams made the world's top-ranked woman look like a beginner, beating nemesis Justine Henin 6-2, 6-0 in the Sony Ericsson Open quarter-finals on Tuesday.
Serena won the final 10 games by playing nearly flawless tennis, while Henin unraveled after she double-faulted three times to fall behind 4-2.
"It wasn't easy," Serena said. "It was just the fact of me making the right shots at the right time."
A few hours later, Svetlana Kuznetsova prevented an all-Williams semi-final. Kuznetsova, the 2006 Key Biscayne champion, eliminated three-time champ Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4.
The older Williams was hurt by eight double faults, and she converted only one of six break points.
Jelena Jankovic advanced to the semi-finals when Elena Dementieva retired with a back injury while trailing 6-3, 3-1 on Wednesday.
Dementieva received courtside treatment from a trainer before calling it quits after 58 minutes. Seeded 10th, the Russian came into the quarter-final with an eight-match winning streak.
The No. 4-seeded Jankovic won her opening match by saving five match points in a third-set tiebreaker against Sofia Arvidsson. The Serb has since swept every set in the past three matches.
Jankovic had never advanced beyond the third round in five previous appearances at Key Biscayne. She's seeking her first tournament title this year, and on Thursday she'll face the winner of a late Wednesday match between Russians Dinara Safina and Vera Zvonareva.
Top-ranked Roger Federer advanced to the men's quarter-finals by beating Jose of Argentina 7-6 (5), 6-2. No. 2 Rafael Nadal swept Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 6-4, 6-4.
Serena's rout of Henin was a stunner, given the drama usually generated by the rivalry. Williams had lost their past three meetings, all in 2007, at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
But Serena beat Henin in the Key Biscayne final a year ago, overcoming two championship points.
"I wish this was a Grand Slam," Serena said with a laugh. "I'm going to try to do this at a Grand Slam, and not only at this tournament."
Conditioning can be an issue for Serena, but she has never looked more agile than in the past week. No longer forced to rely on mere power, she lobbed over Henin to stay in rallies, chased down a drop shot to hit a winner and even played serve and volley.
During her post-match news conference, an exchange regarding Serena's fitness left the room in laughter.
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Reporter: So many people here at the tournament have been buzzing about just how good you look physically on the court. You've not looked this good since ... can you finish that sentence?
Serena: Since 1982.
Reporter: Serious question.
Serena: That was a serious answer.
Seeking her fifth Key Biscayne title, Serena is improving as the tournament progresses. She committed 60 unforced errors in her opening match but had only 15 against Henin.
The Belgian, meanwhile, struggled even with her signature backhand and found herself stuck at the baseline.
"I was too defensive, for sure," Henin said. "Against this kind of player, you don't have any chance if you play that game, and I didn't have really any courage to do something else. When you're on the court, it's not that easy. Now I can say it wasn't enough."
Federer, still seeking his first tournament title this year after a bout with mononucleosis, had 31 winners and only 11 unforced errors. He lost just 10 points on his serve.
"It's always nice when you feel well from the beginning on your serve," he said.
No. 6-seeded Andy Roddick rallied past Julien Benneteau of France 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to earn a shot at Federer on Thursday. Roddick is 1-15 against Federer and has lost their past 11 meetings.
Nadal improved to 8-0 against Mathieu, but he'll take a 1-3 record into his quarter-final with James Blake, though the Spaniard defeated Blake for the first time only two weeks ago in the quarter-finals at Indian Wells.
Blake wobbled on Tuesday at the finish but beat Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-4. The No. 9-seeded Blake needed six match points in the final game to close out the victory.
Guillermo Canas of Argentina, last year's runner-up, lost 6-4, 7-6 (6) to Igor Andreev of Russia, who will next meet Tomas Berdych.
The Czech beat Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 6-2, 6-2 to reach his first quarterfinals since January at Sydney.
Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia defeated Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 and ensured an unseeded player in the last eight for a 24th straight year.
Next up for Tipsarevic, No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko, who struggled past Croatian wild card Mario Ancic 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
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