Impressive Sharapova powers into semis

DOHA, Qatar -- Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova maintained her unbeaten record in 2008 as she powered her way into the semifinals of the Qatar Open with a victory in less than an hour.

The fourth seed brushed aside 17-year-old Danish prospect Caroline Wozniacki 6-1 6-0, her 12th successive victory in all competitions.

"It was a pretty solid performance apart from one game in the second set," said Sharapova. "I felt pretty comfortable from the beginning. I was aggressive. I served and returned pretty well and felt good."

The Russian was helped by an error-spoilt start from her young opponent, enabling her to open up and take a few more risks early on.

"I had to treat her with respect, because she had nothing to lose out there," added Sharapova. "She's in a quarterfinal of a tier one tournament against one of the top players, so for her it's about taking experience and playing freely, which is sometimes dangerous."

Sharapova now plays 16th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, the first Polish woman ever to make the world's top 20, and will be looking to gain her revenge after Radwanska knocked her out of the U.S. Open last year.

"I don't like losing to an opponent twice in a row, so I am quite excited about getting an opportunity to play her again and give myself a chance to beat her," said the Russian.

Radwanska reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in Australia last month and has now reached her first WTA Tour semifinal after a three-hour 4-6 7-6 6-4 win over Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.

Meanwhile, China's Li Na got the better of her third top 20 victim in a row when she enjoyed a 6-3 6-4 success over third seed Jelena Jankovic, to add to her wins over fifth seed Anna Chakvetadze and 12th seed Shahar Peer.

The victories have carried Li to the semifinals of a tier one tournament for the first time and continue her great start to 2008 after taking six months off.

Li will now face the experienced Russian Vera Zvonereva, who reached a semifinal for the second time this year -- overcoming 15th-seeded Austrian Sybille Bammer.

Bammer, the only mother playing regularly, upset second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in a ferocious gale on Thursday but this time fell away tiredly to a 2-6 6-2 6-0 defeat. E-mail to a friend