The lady in lavender produced tennis of a captivating scent yesterday to reach the final of the tournament that has had many different title sponsors but where one name is paramount on the honours board. Serena Williams, bad back and all, survived a thorough examination from Svetlana Kuznetsova and will compete on Sony Ericsson Open ladies’ day tomorrow for the sixth time.

For that, Williams, who will drop out of the world’s top ten unless she walks away with the trophy, deserves enormous credit. Kuznetsova, the No 3 seed from Russia, pushed her relentlessly through a series of rallies almost as exhausting to watch as they must have been to play. More often than not they ended with glorious, muscular winners and, at the final count, it was the eight-times grand-slam tournament champion from nearby Palm Beach Gardens who prevailed 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in two hours and 46 minutes.

This was one of the finest women’s matches of the year, inspired perhaps by vengeful thoughts because Kuznetsova had defeated Venus Williams, Serena’s sister, in the quarter-finals, but ostensibly, this was a victory for the character at the heart of the Williams story. Twice Serena fell in the service break trade-off at the start of the final set, but she refused to buckle. She rode her luck, particularly with the net cord on the third break point in the eighth game that ultimately proved decisive.

And so the Williams tradition continues. Venus has won this title three times, Serena four, and the latter says there is only one place on her tennis travels where she feels more comfortable — Wimbledon. She will meet either Jelena Jankovic, from Serbia, or Vera Zvonareva, of Russia, in the final.

Rafael Nadal could be forgiven lately for letting his mind wander to the forthcoming clay-court season, the part of the year when he truly comes into his own. But there is a look in his eye here in Florida that has not been seen so far this year.

Nadal insists he has not been troubled by his 2008 results. He has reached one final, in Madras, and had two significant semi-final losses, to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, at the Australian Open, and Novak Djokovic, a fortnight ago in Indian Wells.

Remarkably, though, he has had more hard-court wins (19) than anyone on the ATP Tour this year, which rather blows the theory that he is in the throes of a slump. He plays Tomas Berdych in the semi-finals, an opponent who has enjoyed success against him in the past. Their head-to-head record stands at 3-3 and all three victories for the giant from the Czech Republic have come on hard courts.

Nikolay Davydenko, the world No 4, cruised into the semi-finals, beating Janko Tipsarevic 6-2, 6-1.