Friday's WTA Tour round-up

Williams was made to work hard for her win

Top seed Venus Williams recovered from a scare against Italy's Francesca Schavione to reach the semi-finals.

Williams lost the first set 2-6 but hit back quickly to win the next two sets 6-3.

Number two seed Amelie Mauresmo was also made to work before closing out Israel's seventh seed Anna Pistolesi 3-6 6-4 6-3.

The other semi-finalists will be Jelena Dokic of Serbia-Montenegro, who beat Magui Serna of Spain 7-5 6-2, and Denisa Chladkova of the Czech Republic, who edged past Columbia's Fabiola Zuluaga 7-5 7-5.

American Samantha Reeves reached her first semi-final when Gala Leon Garcia of Spain retired with back pain.

Reeves, who was leading 7-6 3-0 when Leon Garcia was forced to call a halt, will face third-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia - the only remaining seed - in Saturday's semi-finals.

The other will be an all-Spanish affair between Conchita Martinez Granados and Maria Sanchez Lorenzo.

Zvonareva beat Ludmila Cervanova of Slovakia 6-1 6-1, while Martinez Granados overcame Tathiana Garbin 7-5 7-6.