Williams v Azarenka in semis

Brisbane - Serena Williams seized her opportunities in a heavy-hitting match against Sloane Stephens to set up a semi-final against top-ranked Victoria Azarenka at the Brisbane International.

Azarenka had no trouble in a 6-1, 6-0 win over Kazakh qualifier Ksenia Pervak on Thursday before Williams beat Stephens 6-4, 6-3.

Williams converted both of her break points and fended off one break chance against her in each set to hold off her 19-year-old Fed Cup team-mate, later saying Stephens had the potential to be "the best in the world one day".

Williams has an 11-1 record against Azarenka and was 5-0 against the 23-year-old Belarussian in 2012, including the US Open final.