Wozniacki beats Serena, faces Sharapova in Miami semis

Key Biscayne, FL – Caroline Wozniacki may not have any major titles to her credit, but the former World No. 1 picked up a major victory on Tuesday with a straight-set win over Serena Williams in the quarterfinals of the $4.828 million Sony Ericsson Open.

Wozniacki, seeded fourth, broke Williams' serve three times en route to a 6-4, 6-4 decision in just over 1 hour, 35 minutes.

Williams, seeded 10th and playing in her first WTA event since the Australian Open, fired just four aces against the Dane at Crandon Park.

The U.S. Open runner-up Williams titled in Miami from 2002-04 and from 2007-08 and was the runner-up in 1999 and 2009. Wozniacki had never made it past the quarters.

Earlier Tuesday, the second-seeded former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova closed within one victory of reaching her fourth Miami final in eight years by cruising past eighth-seeded French Open champion Li Na 6-3, 6-0 in 68 minutes. The tall Russian broke the Chinese Li seven times en route to the final four.

Sharapova, who is 3-2 in her career against Wozniacki, is trying to reach her third final in four events so far this season.

The 24-year-old Sharapova lost to current world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in last year's Miami finale and was also a runner-up here in 2005 and 2006. She also succumbed to Azarenka in a final at Indian Wells two weeks ago and the championship match at the Australian Open in January.

Two other quarterfinals will be held on Wednesday, when the high-flying Azarenka faces seventh-seeded Marion Bartoli and fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska battles three-time Miami champ Venus Williams. The Belarusian Azarenka is off to a perfect 26-0 start this year.

This week's big winner will collect $712,000.