Serena moves into Bangalore Open quarter-finals

STRONG HIT: Serena Williams plays a backhand shot against Tzipora Obziler during their match.

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Keywords: Tzipora Obziler, Serena Williams, Bangalore Open, Tennis

Bangalore: Serena Williams of the US moved into the quarter-finals of the Bangalore Open with a straight sets victory over Tzipora Obziler of Israel on Wednesday.

The third-seeded Serena won the match 7-5, 6-0 in one hour and 15 minutes. Serena, ranked 11 in the world, got a bye in the first round and was pushed by the 117th-ranked Obziler in the first set.

She had not taken part in any tournament in February following her gum surgery and had trouble with her service games in the first set. Even though Obziler broke Serena twice but the former world No. 1 broke back immediately to rule out any upset.

Once Serena got into her groove there was no stopping the eight-time Grand Slam champion.

She will now face Russia's Anastasia Rodionova. Rodionova beat sixth-seeded Austrian Sybille Bammer in straight sets 7-6, 6-2 to set up the clash with Serena.

In the day's other upset, Uzbek Akgul Amanmuradova, who knocked out defending champion Yaroslava Shvedova in the first round, beat fifth-seeded Hungarian Agnes Szavay 4-6, 7-6, 6-4.

Serena's sister Venues Williams begins her campaign on Thursday.

(With inputs from Reuters)