(CNN) -- Wimbledon champion Venus Williams breezed into the semifinals of the WTA Zurich Open with a straight sets win over Francesca Schiavone of Italy on Friday night.
Venus Williams powered into the Zurich semifinals in typical style.
Fifth seed Willliams won 6-3 6-3 and will face the winner of the later quarterfinal between world number two Ana Ivanovic and Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic.
Earlier, Italy's Flavia Pennetta carrried on her fine form to beat Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik 7-5 6-2 to reach the last four of the Tier One event.
Pennetta, ranked No. 17, put out world number one Jelena Jankovic a day earlier.
She next plays Anabel Medina Garrigues, who advanced when Victoria Azarenka retired with a shoulder injury after they split the first two sets 4-6 6-3.
Pennetta broke Srebotnik at 5-5 with a backhand service return, then converted her first set point with an ace.
She then broke Srebotnik to open the second set and again in the seventh game before sealing the win with a backhand winner.
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