New York - Venus Williams beat Israel's Shahar Peer 7-6 (3), 6-3 to reach the US Open quarterfinals for the 10th time on Sunday.
The No. 3-seeded Williams came through a test that was tougher than expected against the 16th-seeded Peer. She will now face French Open champion Francesca Schiavone for a semifinal berth.
Two-time US Open champion Williams is playing in her first tournament in more than two months, having missed time with a left kneecap injury that forced her to skip a pair of hard-court tuneup events.
She entered Sunday 5-0 against Peer, including 3-0 in 2010; she won all 10 sets they'd played previously, never dropping more than four games in any.
Women's Round Four Results:
Kim Clijsters (BEL x2) bt Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 6-2, 6-1
Francesca Schiavone (ITA x6) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS x20) 6-3, 6-0
Venus Williams (USA x3) bt Shahar Peer (ISR x16) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3