MELBOURNE, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Maria Sharapova and No. 4 Kim Clijsters won matches Wednesday and will meet in the semifinals of the Australian Open.
Sharapova posted a straight-set but shaky victory over 12th-seeded Anna Chakvetadze. She committed 41 unforced errors before winning 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.
Chakvetadze led 5-4 in the opening set, but couldn't break Sharapova the remainder of that set and hit a forehand into the net to end the tiebreaker. Chakvetadze tried to fight back from a 5-3 deficit in the second set, breaking Sharapova once. However, Sharapova finally ended the match when Chakvetadze hit a return into the net.
Clijsters was even shakier in her quarterfinal, piling up 62 unforced errors and dropping the first set before claiming a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 6 Martina Hingis.
Clijsters owns a 4-2 record against Sharapova, but the No. 1 seed, who will regain the world No. 1 ranking after this tournament, has won their last two meetings.
The other women's Australian Open semifinal sends unseeded Serena Williams, who won this event in 2003 and 2005, against 10th-seeded Nicole Vaidisova. This will be the first time the two women play each other.
