Black Tennis Pros

American Venus Williams has moved into the finals of the Hansol Korea Open with a smack-down 6-2, 6-2 win over Flavia Pennetta of Italy.

Williams took the first set in 36 minutes, but her Italian opponent, the only unseeded player in the semi-finals, put some early pressure on the top seed.

Pennetta broke the Williams serve at the start of the match and had a chance to go up 2-0 up, leading 40-15 in the second game. But Williams came back with four straight points to break the Italian's serve.

Williams conceded the opening game of the second set, but promptly broke Pennetta's serve and did not look back.

Venus, serving as fast as 125 miles per hour, went on to take six of the last seven games to secure her berth in the final.

"My leg's not feeling great but it's getting better every day," Williams said. "I don't get to play in Seoul often, so I am trying my best. My goal all along has been to win the tournament."

The deflated Pennetta frequently shook her head and muttered to herself in disgust during the second set.

Venus's opponent in the final will be Maria Kirilenko of Russia who also, much to my surprise, victimized her semifinal opponent Eleni Daniliidou of Greece 7-5, 6-0. I thought that Daniilidou was on an unstoppable roll towards the final also. Oh well.