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Venus Williams has defeated her sister 5-7, 6-1, 6-0 to reach the semifinals of the WTA Tour’s season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, a match Serena Williams called her worst of the year.

Serena started to unravel early in the second set of the on Thursday’s match.

“I just couldn’t keep a ball in play,” she said. “Everything was off.”

Venus Williams won on her fifth match point, and is 3-0 in round-robin play of a tournament that features the top eight players.

Serena Williams dropped to 1-1, but can still advance to the semifinals if she defeats Elena Dementieva on Friday.

The sisters are 9-9 in career matchups.

Serena defeated Venus in the US Open quarterfinals en route to the title this year, and Venus won their title match at Wimbledon.

Venus stayed composed throughout the match, using her powerful serve to frustrate Serena, but refrained from celebrating after winning.

“It wasn’t the happiest match,” Venus said. “The best part is that she still has an opportunity to qualify.”

Both sisters played their trademark power tennis in the first set before the rallies turned shorter in the second, with Serena growing increasingly frustrated by her errors.

Venus earned two set points in the second when Serena double-faulted, and converted the second with a crosscourt backhand that passed her younger sister at the net.