MASON, Ohio — China's Li Na defeated an injured Venus Williams 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the final of the Cincinnati Open Saturday and set up a meeting with German Angelique Kerber. Wimbledon semifinalist Kerber came through a grueling 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 win over Czech Petra Kvitova to reach her fourth final of the year and her biggest yet. Earlier, Venus, playing in her first semifinal since the 2010 US Open, was limited in her serve speed which was hovering around a slow 75 mph mark after picking up a back strain shortly before the match began. “Just in my warmup it was bothering me. I was like ‘Oh, no'. I tried to fix it between the warmup and the match, but it didn't work,” Venus told reporters. The American, who has comeback from illness this year, double-faulted on break point to go 3-2 down in the first set but, relying on her return game, she battled back to 5-5. But another crucial double-fault on game point allowed Li to sneak back ahead 6-5 and then wrap up the set. After receiving an on-court massage to her back, Venus roared back in the second set to win five consecutive games en route to taking it 6-3 to level the match. But the exertion of her comeback cost her in the third set where she ran out of energy and was convincingly beaten 6-1 as Li went in for the kill. Li, the ninth seed, is now a perfect 4-0 in her semifinal matches this year but has yet to win a final. Li's most recent loss coming at Montreal last week at the hands of Kvitova. In an all-left-hander clash, the German dominated the opening set with Kvitova making a series of unforced errors but the gritty Czech dug deep to take the contest to a third, making full use of her powerful serve. On the men's side, Novak Djokovic simply ground his way to another tournament title match. And Roger Federer will be waiting for him. Djokovic reached the finals of the Western & Southern Open for the second straight year Saturday, beating Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-2 in a reprise of their Olympics match. Del Potro defeated Djokovic for the bronze medal on Wimbledon's lush grass two weeks ago. The final will match the world's top two players, the first time that's happened in Cincinnati. If Federer wins, it'll give him a record five titles in the tournament. — Agencies
