Chasing an 8th Wimbledon title, Williams beats Riske in 3

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — When Serena Williams' serve wasn't getting her all the points she needed at Wimbledon, she turned to her return game.

Job done, and then some.

Williams reached the semifinals at the All England Club for the 12th time, overcoming five breaks of serve to beat Alison Riske 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 today on Centre Court.

"It's a long, arduous road," Williams said. "It's not easy."

The seven-time Wimbledon champion, who owns 23 major titles overall, was broken twice early in the first set despite six aces, trailing 3-1 and 4-3, but she broke back each time and then again to take the set.

Williams landed 81 percent of her returns (25 of 31) in that first set and won more than 50 percent of the points on both Riske's first serves and her second serves. That return percentage dropped slightly to 76 in the second, but it jumped back up to 81 in the third.

She won the match with an ace, her 19th of the day. Williams had served only 22 aces in the previous four rounds.

"She was really so close to taking the win today," Williams said. "She was playing her heart out. She had nothing to lose, and I realized I didn't, either. I need to just do better."