MIAMI: Caroline Wozniacki enjoyed her first victory over Serena Williams, winning 6-4 6-4 at the Sony Ericsson Open to set up a semifinal clash with Maria Sharapova.
Wozniacki had lost all of her three previous meetings with the American but was on top early, breaking in the third game of the first set on Tuesday.
The Dane broke at the same stage of the second set, with a brilliant forehand winner down the line, and she looked set to run away with the match as she went 4-1 up with another break.
Williams, a five-times winner of this event, broke back to trail 5-3, but Wozniacki kept her focus at the end to wrap the game up.
“I knew I had to close it out, she wasn’t going to give it me, she was determined,” said the Dane, who played intelligent and patient tennis, and made the most of Williams’s 36 unforced errors.
“I knew if I didn’t take care of my serves it would be difficult.”
Second seed Sharapova eased into the semifinals after ending her jinx against China’s Li Na with a convincing 6-3 6-0 win.
The Russian had lost her previous four meetings with Li in straight sets, including the semi-finals of last year’s French Open, but needed just 68 minutes to seal victory on Tuesday.
“I came into this match having lost to her the last few times. I just really wanted to change that, so I was extremely focused and looking forward to the match,” said Sharapova.
“I was just really consistent today in those conditions where, you know, it’s a little gusty and blowing around and I was facing a tough opponent.”
It was a scrappy start to the encounter with the first five games all being broken before Sharapova eased into her baseline game and won eight consecutive games to emerge victorious.
Venus Williams will play fifth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska on Weden-esday, while top seed Victoria Azarenka faces France’s Marion Bartoli. (Reuters)