It was a little harder than expected, but Serena Williams overcame a slow start to defeat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-1 during the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open on Thursday.

The 28th-seeded Williams advances to the semifinals and remains the favorite to win her fourth title at Flushing Meadows. But for a while in the first set Thursday it appeared Williams could be headed home, upset by the 17th-seeded Pavlyuchenkova.

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(Photo: AP Photo/Mike Groll)