Serena Williams staged a recovery at the expense of Caroline Wozniacki as the American reached the quarter-finals of the Madrid Masters 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday in a battle of former number one players. The comeback win in 1hr 42min put Williams into a showdown with second seed Maria Sharapova, who earned her last-eight place when opponent Lucie Safarova withdrew before their match with stomach illness. Williams sleep-walked through the opening set as Denmark’s sixth seed had it all her own way in half an hour. After trailing a set and 1-2, the momentum suddenly shifted in the Williams favour, with the ninth seed breaking for 3-2 with a backhand down the line and finishing a run of a dozen points in succession to lead 4-2. Williams, the 2009 runner-up to Dinara Safina, levelled at a set each and ran off with the third to end with four breaks of serve in a disheartening loss for Wozniacki.
