Venus Williams reaches the final at Stanford with a victory over Dementieva

Venus Williams an easy winner

STANFORD, Calif. — Venus Williams was happy about her dominating performance.

The second-seeded Williams was at the top of her game as she advanced to the finals of the Bank of the West Classic, beating third-seeded Elena Dementieva 6-0, 6-1 on Saturday in a match that lasted just over an hour.

“Things are going well for me but I seem to want more,” Williams said. “I just like winning. I don’t care where it is, indoors or outdoors.”

Williams joined her sister, Serena, less than an hour after beating Dementieva and the pair advanced to the doubles final with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Nadia Petrova.

“I felt like everything went well for me,” Williams said. “I was able to raise my level at the important parts. My plan is to try and keep this level for the rest of the tournament. I felt like I played my best in the last two games when I was able to get into a better rhythm.”

The third-ranked Williams, who won for the 10th time in 11 matches, will be seeking her third title at Stanford in her first appearance since 2005. Dementieva, ranked fourth in the world, reached her seventh semifinal of the season.

Williams has not won an outdoor U.S. hardcourt tournament since 2002, something she will try to remedy against France’s Marion Bartoli, who beat Australia’s Samantha Stosur, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 in the late semifinal match.

“I’m just going to continue developing my game on all fronts,” Williams said. “My goal is to peak there (U.S. Open).”

Williams beat Dementieva for the sixth consecutive time and improved to 9-2 against her.

“I don’t have good statistics against Venus,” Dementieva said. “She was playing too good for me. She was powerful on the baseline and had a solid first serve. She didn’t give me much of a chance. I might have been able to win a few more points, but not the match.”

Dementieva had three winners and 19 unforced errors in the match.

“My percentage of first serves were low and that gave her a chance to attack me. I did not put any pressure on her with my serve. She was playing solid and looked confident on the court.”

Bartoli also reached the finals at Stanford last year before losing to Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak.