Former World No. 1 Venus Williams charged into the semifinals of her comeback tournament at the Cellular South Cup with a 7-6(2), 6-4 win over fellow American Laura Granville at the Racquet Club of Memphis Thursday night. Playing her first tournament since October last year, Williams squandered three match points in the ninth game of the second set before serving out the match to love, finishing with an ace out wide to the ad court.

Williams, a winner of 33 WTA Tour titles, is making her debut in Memphis and said that she's getting better with each match after her lengthy break from the game.

"My serve has improved a lot since the first match," Williams said. "A lot of times I want to hit a great shot but I have to go for something a little more average and set myself up. Also, I want to get my feet moving out there - when that happens my game is so much better."

Williams next plays Romanian qualifier Ioana Raluca Olaru, 17, who advanced to her first career semifinal when Australian Samantha Stosur retired with a viral illness when trailing 1-5. Ranked No. 254, Olaru had made just $665 this year but now is guaranteed at least $8,300.

Top seed Shahar Peer breezed into the semifinals with a 6-0, 6-3 win over American Bethanie Mattek. The 19-year-old Israeli, who did not drop a game in her second-round win over Venezuela's Milagros Sequera, improved to 12-4 on the season. "I didn't expect that," Peer said of the scoreline. "I played unbelievable - much better than yesterday. In the second set she broke me in the first game and started to come to the net more, but I knew that eventually I would get my chance. I'm happy with the way I played. I served well and moved well. I did my job."

Peer, who is ranked No. 17 (near her career-high of No. 15), pushed eventual champion Serena Williams to 8-6 in the third set in the Australian Open quarterfinals in January.

Peer next meets American Meilen Tu, who advanced to her first semifinal of the season after crushing top seed Sofia Arvidsson 6-0, 6-2. Tu, whose lone WTA Tour title came in 2001 in Auckland, said that she was expecting a much closer match. "I thought I could win but I didn't expect that scoreline," Tu said. "She's a really good player. My objective was to make a lot of returns off her big first serve and then not let her control the points with her big ground strokes. Next up I play Shahar. I got my butt kicked the last time I played her, so I've got nothing to lose. I need to change my tactics a little."

Later in the day Tu also advanced to the doubles semifinals with compatriot Mattek.