Serena Williams will face Victoria Azarenka in Brisbane semis

Serena Williams defeated American teenager Sloane Stephens to set up a Brisbane International semi-final with world number one Victoria Azarenka.

Williams, the reigning Wimbledon, Olympic and US Open champion, converted both of her break points in each set to beat the 19-year-old 6-4 6-3.
Azarenka beat Kazakh qualifier Ksenia Pervak 6-1 6-0 to reach the semi-finals.
The Belarusian will defend her Australian Open title later this month.

“I'm not going to be thinking about how well she serves”

Victoria Azarenka

World number three Williams has an 11-1 record against Azarenka  and won all five matches against the 23-year-old in 2012, including the US Open final in September, but talked up the Brisbane top seed.
"I'm going up against the world's greatest tomorrow," said the 31-year-old American. "She had a fabulous (last) year. I feel like I have nothing to lose. She's playing so well, she won I think in 20 minutes today. I have a lot of work to do tomorrow."
Azarenka said: "Serena is a tough match, there is no question about it. One more chance for us to meet, and it's going to be a great test for the Australian Open.