World number one Serena Williams recovered from an inconsistent serving spell to storm past Elina Svitolina in straight sets to reach the Cincinnati Masters final.
Williams made 34 unforced errors and committed eight double faults as she struggled to find any fluency on her serve for a second consecutive match in the Western and Southern Open, the Guardian reported.
However, the 21-time Grand Slam champion eventually overcame the 14th seed Ukrainian opponent 6-4, 6-3 to set up the summit clash against Simona Halep.