Serena Williams moved within one win of a second pre-US Open hardcourt title Saturday, reaching the Cincinnati final with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Caroline Wozniacki.

The world number one American, who claimed her 61st career WTA title at Stanford two weeks ago, will face off on Sunday against either fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova or ninth-seeded Ana Ivanovic.

Those two were meeting Saturday night in a battle of former world number ones.

Serena Williams: the joy of victory

Williams, playing a third tournament in a row for the first time since late 2007, improved her 2014 match record to 37-6.

The 32-year-old said that she needed a set to find her game after a slow start in a match which featured 15 breaks of serve, seven of them in the final set.

“I got off to a little bit of a slow start, but I was definitely in it,” said Williams, who followed up her win in Stanford by reaching the semi-finals last week at Montreal, where she lost to her sister Venus. “I had to get out there and grind out everything.

“She’s a really good returner and she was getting everything back. She just made some good shots.

“I gave all that I had in me today,” she said. “I didn’t expect to do this well over the summer. I knew I needed matches so I entered three tournaments. But I’m still here.”

Wozniacki came to the match after beating two top 10 players in a row — Angelique Kerber and Agnieszka Radwanska — for first time since the 2010 WTA Finals.

Despite the defeat, Wozniacki is ready for one last US Open tune-up next week in New Haven.

“I’ve had a lot of matches these couple of weeks,” said the 24-year-old Dane. “But I’m good with playing New Haven. I’m going to use it as even better preparation, get hopefully a few matches in.

“There are a few things that I just want to keep working on.”

As for her performance against Williams, Wozniacki would have liked to have served better.

Good friends: Serena embrace Caroline Wozniacki

“I just didn’t serve well today,” she said. “Didn’t get many first serves in. I was fighting, I was running. I was trying to take the ball early. I was returning well.

“Then my serve comes around and I can’t seem to hold serve. It’s a frustrating thing when you’re out there on the court.”

Wozniacki, who lost to Williams in three sets in the Montreal quarter-finals, won the opening set in half an hour despite double-faulting away a service game.

But Williams stepped up a gear in the second, helped to an early break by another of Wozniacki’s double faults.

 – Third-set roller-coaster –

 The third was a roller-coaster for both players, who are good friends off the court.

After five straight breaks of serve, Williams finally stopped the rot as she held for a 4-2 lead.

She secured another break for 5-2 but then had to face a Wozniacki fightback, with the former number one reaching 4-5.

Williams finally closed it out in the next game after an hour and three-quarters. She finished with seven aces and benefitted from eight Wozniacki double faults.

“I knew I had to return better, and today I was able to do that,” Williams said. “I actually felt better than in my other matches.”