Venus Williams brushed aside her sister Serena 6-4 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Italian Open in Rome. The bout between 17-year-old ninth seed Venus and her younger sibling quickly turned into a battle from the baseline with each player trying to out-slug the other.

The American duo traded breaks in the fifth and sixth games of the first set before Venus won it on a second break of her 31stranked sister in the final game.

The elder sister then took a 4-2 lead in the second set and broke again to end the match in an hour.

The victory earns Venus, who also beat Serena in Australia earlier this year, a meeting against fifth seed Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain.