Sharapova defeated Safina to reach the Semi-Finals of the WTA Tournament

Top-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova avenged a French Open fourth-round defeat with a straight-set win over compatriot Dinara Safina to reach the semi-finals of the 600,000-dollar WTA tournament.

Sharapova, seeking to keep the momentum going after her WTA triumph in San Diego last week, defeated the fifth-seeded Safina 6-2, 6-4, saving two break points in the final game before firing a service winner on match point.

She set up a meeting with another fellow Russian, third-seeded Elena Dementieva, who survived 14 double faults to beat US wildcard Bethanie Mattek 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.

Sharapova owns a 5-1 record over Dementieva, including a triumph in the Indian Wells final in March and a quarter-final victory at Wimbledon.

Dementieva admitted she would have her work cut out in the semi-finals. "She's very focused," Dementieva said of Sharapova. "It's all about her concentration. She plays every ball like it's the last one."

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams also reached the final four, rallying for a 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 6-4 victory over fellow American Meghann Shaughnessy.

Williams will meet Jelena Jankovic, who beat fellow Serbian Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 7-6 (8/6).

Sharapova, who had let slip a 5-1 third-set lead against Safina at Roland Garros in June, has now reached the final four without dropping a set.

In contrast Williams, playing just her third tournament of a season that included a six-month injury layoff, had to rally after losing the opening set for the second match in a row.

She was helped by twelve aces, which were countered by just one double fault. "What's working right now is my serve," said Williams, who took her lengthy injury layoff after an early exit at the Australian Open, and returned in
Cincinnati last month.

"It really was steady today. I only hit one double fault today, that's how I used to play." But she was disappointed to have let the first set get away.

"I honestly should have won that first set," said Williams, who had three chances to break in the fourth game. "I missed a couple of easy shots, I let it slip away."

But she won the second with three breaks of serve, Shaughnessy double-faulting on Williams's third set point. Williams broke Shaughnessy to love in the eighth game of the third, but dropped her own serve for the first time all day when serving for the match in the ninth.

After saving one match point with an ace in the next game, Shaughnessy double-faulted on the next. Williams, who fell out of the top 100 for the first time since 1997 during her injury absence this year, said she was pleased with her continued progress.

"I'm still on a steady track up," said Williams, whose semi-final appearance should put her around 80 in the rankings released on Monday."

She admitted that she still felt some intermittent pain in her left knee, and she played with her left ankle taped after twisting it in a fall during her match on Thursday night.

Shaughnessy said she didn't see any reason Williams couldn't make it all the way back to the summit of the game.

"She moves great," Shaughnessy said. "When she was in her prime she was probably a little more match fit, but she obviously has the skill and ability to bring it back where she wants to be."

Maria Sharapova defeats Kim Clijsters to win the Acura Classic

Maria Sharapova shocked top seed Kim Clijsters 7-5 7-5 to win the Acura Classic on Sunday.

In grabbing her first title on North American summer hard courts, Sharapova took down reigning U.S. Open champion Clijsters for the first time in five meetings.

"I hung in there during some amazing points in the second set," said the second-seeded Russian.

"I had lost to her four times in a row, so I thought this might be my lucky day. It's amazing to get the title," she said after the one hour 48-minute contest.

Clijsters, who has been contending with a sore back, was broken four times in the first set, but continued to claw at Sharapova.

The Belgian fought off her first set point at 3-5 in a marathon rally that saw her paste a forehand crosscourt winner.

Clijsters scrapped back to 5-5, but could not maintain her momentum as Sharapova easily held to 6-5, and then broke the Belgian to win the set when the world number two committed a forehand error.

Both women stepped up their level in the second set, but Clijsters could never find the rhythm that led her to the Stanford title last week.

Sharapova easily held to lead 6-5 before Clijsters completely lost her way, committing a slew of errors to face three match points.

Sharapova missed a backhand return on the first one, but on the second, she gunned a backhand that kissed the baseline.

"I fought and tried to go for it, but after long points, it was hard to refocus," said Clijsters, who had her 24-match winning streak on North American hard courts broken. "I didn't feel that fresh out there."

Clijsters said Sharapova's game had matured.

"She wasn't going for her shots as much," the Belgian said. "That's where she's improved. In the past, when her game wasn't on, she was still trying to go for it.

"Today, she mixed it up a little more. You see how a player grows up and that's great."

Sharapova agreed that she has improved her point construction.

"Against her, you know you have to be patient," she said. "She gets to a lot of balls and comes up with greats shots defensively. I tried to take that away from her."