Serena Williams rallies for 3-set gain at Sony Open

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) a Serena Williams' match was more than an hour or so old Monday before she started initially to make some noise. "Come on!" she shouted at her fist through gritted teeth, adding a soundtrack to her comeback. Her attitude transformed, Williams rallied past Dominika Cibulkova in the next round of the Sony Open, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2. The top-ranked Williams, seeking her sixth Key Biscayne concept and her first since 2008, was down something break looking 4-1 in the next set before she grabbed the final five games of the set. She served it out at love with three bullets and also won the final three games of the fit. Williams' opposition in the quarterfinals will undoubtedly be No. 5-seeded Li Na, who beat crazy card Garbine Muguruza 7-6 (6), 6-2. Williams was flat and impassive on her feet in early going contrary to the No. 13-seeded Cibulkova, and the half-empty stands designed for a sleepy atmosphere. "Bor-ing!" one viewer yelled. "I was only struggling," Williams said. "I was making so many errors and couldn't pull myself together." Throughout changeovers, disco, salsa and Coldplay blared from people address system, and something eventually got Williams going. Landing was begun by her shots consistently just inside the lines, and consecutive points were won 10 by her to surge forward in the next set. When she hit a backhand success to attain set stage, yelling support at herself emotion was shown by her for the very first time. The group responded with a roar. The next point was won by williams by having an star, and she hollered again and spiked a ball, when a replay established the phone call to seal the set. Her father and instructor, Richard, stroked his face as he watched the comeback from the photographers' hole. "I found my dad on the sideline, and he was so peaceful and so relaxed," she said. "And I was exactly like, 'OK, Serena, you can do this.' I got that power and began playing better." Williams went ahead to remain by breaking serve at love for a 2-1 lead in the final set. After shutting out the victory with a 116-mph expert, her fist was swung by her in satisfaction. Williams dropped serve five times but strike 14 aces. She won despite 52 unforced mistakes, including 27 on her behalf backhand.