KEY BISCAYNE: Maria Sharapova advanced to the Sony Ericsson Open final by beating Caroline Wozniacki 4-6 6-2 6-4 in a two and a half hour battle.
The Russian will play Agnieszka Radwanska in Saturday’s final after the Pole beat France’s Marion Bartoli 6-4 6-2 to reach the biggest final of her career.
Second seed Sharapova, who has lost in all three of her previous finals in Miami, will start as clear favorite after another solid showing against Wozniacki.
The Russian was ahead early but lost the first set after her serve disappeared, allowing Wozniacki to win five consecutive games and take command of the match.
But the Russian recovered in the second set, striking the ball with impressive power. Wozniacki stuck at her task however and with Sharapova serving for the match at 5-3 she broke, forcing two errors out of the Russian after winning a rally with a magnificent backhand cross-court winner.
The Dane held serve and then faced Sharapova serving for the match again.
There was a controversial finish when Sharapova’s serve at 40-15 was initially ruled out but the call was overruled by the chair umpire, who ordered the point to be replayed.
Wozniacki, whose return had found the net, protested the decision but with no challenges remaining she was stuck with the verdict and Sharapova subsequently wrapped up the win with a smart volley.
World number one Novak Djokovic moved into the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open after holding off a brave second set effort from Spain’s David Ferrer to win 6-2 7-6.
Djokovic will face Argentine Juan Monaco for a place in the final after he celebrated his 28th birthday with a 6-1 6-3 win over American Mardy Fish on Thursday.
Serbian Djokovic crusied through the first set in just 32 minutes and broke Ferrer’s first serve of the second set but any notion of a swift and easy win quickly vanished.
Ferrer broke back straight away and then held his own in the set before Djokovic, making his opponent scurry around the baseline, broke to go 5-4 up. Even then, the Spaniard found the resolve to break back and force the game into a tie-break but, true to form, Djokovic raised his game a notch and wrapped it up 7-1 to seal the win.
‘David is a great competitor in every sense and I really wanted to get it done in straight sets because physically he is always there,’ said Djokovic.
Monaco, who beat American Andy Roddick in the previous round, will head into Friday’s semi-final in confident mood.
The 21st seed won 71 per cent of his first serve points and proved too much for eighth seed Fish, who did not cause problems for his opponent until breaking to go 3-3 in the second set. (Agencies)