Serena Williams through to the semis in Stanford

Stanford: Serena Williams has still not kicked post Wimbledon jet lag, but she still managed to beat Chanelle Scheepers 6-4 6-0 in the quarter-finals of the Stanford Classic on Friday.

Second seed Mario Bartoli and third seed Dominika Cibulkova, however, did not fare as well with France's Bartoli beaten by Yanina Wickmayer 6-3, 6-2, while Romania's Sorana Cirstea beat Slovakia's Cibulkova 6-7, 6-2, 6-0.

Williams, who won her fifth Wimbledon singles title last week, arrived in Northern California on Monday and had been unable to get a good's night sleep. She woke up at 1 a.m. (0800 GMT) on Friday and stayed awake for five hours watching the final season of the television show Desperate Housewives. "I was hoping to fall back asleep but I didn't," Williams said. "I was crying as always. I love that show. I was wide awake as if I was in Europe still."

The Wimbledon champion managed to beat Chanelle Scheepers 6-4, 6-0 in the quarter-finals.

In her victory over the South African, Williams felt sluggish but she woke up towards the end of the first set. "I didn't feel great going out, but I expected to stay consistent till I started to feel better and then I started moving well and that really helped a lot," Williams said.

Wickmayer went into her match against Bartoli with a 0-3 record but out-hit the world number 10 from inside the baseline to reach her second semi-final of the year. "I tried not to give her too many angles and really wanted to go for my shots only when I had the chance," the fifth-seeded Belgian said. "In our other matches, I think she really just beat me at my own game. Today, I think I was playing smarter."

The 22-year-old Cirstea was routed by Cibulkova earlier this season, but stayed mentally strong despite a bizarre first set when she won six out of her nine challenges. "Towards the end of the set, I was challenging everything because I didn't trust anyone anymore," said Cirstea, who served 15 aces.

"I thought someone was playing a joke on me to see how I would react. It was like 'Candid Camera' because there were too many mistakes, I started to laugh because it was just hilarious. The chair umpire never ruled and today if we didn't have a challenge system, I would be packing my bags."

Cirstea will face American 20-year-old Coco Vandeweghe, who bested Urszula Radwanska 6-4, 6-4 and reached her first WTA semi-final.

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