Saturday 14 May 2016 19:37, UK
Serena Williams will play Madison Keys in Sunday's all-American final at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome.
Williams eased past Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4 6-1 to give herself a chance of securing a 70th singles title on the WTA Tour.
Keys had earlier produced a fine performance to extend her participation in the tournament when she knocked out third seed Garbine Muguruza 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.
The 21-year-old has only dropped one set all week, and already is guaranteed her best result in a European clay-court event.
But she could not have asked for a tougher test in the final, with Williams unbeaten in her last 15 matches against fellow American players dating back to a defeat by sister Venus almost two years ago.
The world No 24 made the most of a couple of Muguruza double faults to win the opening set on a tie-break and a sole break in the second set was enough for victory.
Like Keys, Williams was forced to wait for her victory by bad weather.
She came back after a rain delay to break Begu, but the Romanian responded straight away by breaking back before losing the set in the 10th game.
But Williams proved in a different league in the second set as she lost only one game - she will be bidding for her fourth Rome title in Sunday's final.
