Serena Williams beat Czech qualifier Marie Bouzkova 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the second semifinal of the Rogers Cup in Toronto.
"I just needed to be more consistent and not make so many errors and just mentally be ready to hit a thousand balls if I needed to," Williams said. "In the first set, I was going for a little too much, so I just had to just play a different game. That was really important for me was to just change it up and move it around and not be so predictable. It's a good lesson for me in the future, as well, more than anything."
The 37-year-old Williams is ranked 10th and seeded eighth in her first event since losing the Wimbledon final. She won in 2001, 2011 and 2013 — all in Toronto — and has a tournament-record 34 victories in 38 matches. The American won the last of her 72 singles titles in the 2017 Australian Open.