The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, California

Serena Williams spent more time waiting for her quarterfinal match to start than she did on the court against Patty Schnyder. Neither activity proved to be too stressful for the top seed.

Williams advanced to the semifinals of the Bank of the West Classic with little trouble on Friday, beating the fifth-seeded Schnyder 6-3, 6-1 in just 54 minutes.

The match began more than an hour later than scheduled because Ai Sugiyama of Japan needed 2 hours, 44 minutes to win her quarterfinal over Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 5-3. Cibulkova retired because of cramping in her left leg with Sugiyama serving at 40-0 for the match.

But that extra delay proved to be no trouble for Williams. "No one can kill time the way I can," she said. "I'm a professional time killer. I can sit for three hours and I couldn't tell you what I did. If it was an Olympic sport I'd be a 20-time

gold medal winner."

Schnyder had won three of the last five meetings against Williams, including a match in Zurich last year when Williams retired after losing the first nine games. But Schnyder was unable to find her groove against Williams this time and went down meekly.

Williams will next take on Canadian qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak, who beat Australian lucky loser Samantha Stosur 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 for the second time in the tournament. Stosur made the main draw despite losing in qualifying to Wozniak because Lindsay Davenport withdrew with a right knee injury.