Serena squashes Henin to reach Miami semis

MIAMI, Florida (Reuters) - Serena Williams made world number one Justine Henin look a novice as she pulled off a 6-2 6-0 victory to reach the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open on Tuesday.

Williams barely put a foot wrong as she continued the defense of her crown and reeled off the last nine games for victory.

Enjoying a great level of fitness here, Serena joked about the last time she had been in such good shape.

"(Not) since 1982," the American, who was born in 1981, laughed. "I'm definitely way more fit than last year even at this tournament. I feel I'm moving better."

Hopes of a sister-act semi-final were dashed by Svetlana Kuznetsova when the world number four sent Venus Williams packing 6-4 6-4 in the other quarter-final.

"It's tennis, so anything could (have) happened," Kuznetsova said of her match. "She was No. 1. She won Olympics. (She has) so many titles. She can play amazing some days, and today I think I played better."

Venus was disappointed in defeat but took solace from Serena's victory.

"I'm always happy for Serena to win," she told reporters. "It would have been obviously very exciting for me to win, too, but just didn't happen.

PLAY TO WIN

"When I play tournaments I want to win the tournaments, so it's not about who I get to play."

The other two women's quarter-finals -- world number three Jelena Jankovic against world number 11 Elena Dementieva and world number 13 Dinara Safina facing world number 20 Vera Zvonareva -- will be played on Wednesday.

Henin struggled with her second serve throughout the 79-minute contest and surrendered the match with a double fault.

"She just has been better every part of the game and I didn't do enough to win and she has been consistent," said the Belgian.

"I didn't serve well enough, I didn't take my opportunities enough and I felt she was on every ball."

Tuesday's victory allowed Serena to avenge her three grand slam defeats by Henin last year.

The Belgian had beaten eighth-ranked Serena in the quarter-finals of the French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open in 2007.

A grumpy Serena had proved to be a sore loser at Flushing Meadows, claiming Henin had "made a lot of lucky shots" to win that contest. In Miami, though, the American could not stop smiling.

"Everything worked well for me," grinned Serena. "I'm feeling better and I kept working hard. Being aggressive and not being 12 feet behind the baseline works."

Henin looked flat-footed as she faced a barrage of shot-making and powerful serving from Serena.

The seven-times grand slam champion also aided Serena by handing her 32 points through errors.

"She did a good job," Henin said. "She's very aggressive attacking the ball, and I think she did what she had to do and I didn't do what I had to do, so that makes a big difference at the end."

(Editing by Ossian Shine)