MIAMI, March 29 (UPI) -- Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska, neither having to deal with the world's No. 1 player this week, reached the finals Thursday at the Sony Ericsson Open.
Either Sharapova or Radwanska will become the first player this year to win a tournament in which Victoria Azarenka has played and failed to win. Azarenka won her first 26 matches this season and captured four tournaments before falling to Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals of this event.
Sharapova lost in the finals to Azarenka at both the Australian Open and at Indian Wells, Calif. Radwanska had to face Azarenka in all four of her tournament victories, losing to the new superstar of women's tennis twice in the quarterfinals and twice more in the semifinals.
Sharapova, seeded second, reached the Sony Ericsson title match with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. Radwanska, the No. 5 seed, eliminated Bartoli 6-4, 6-2.
Radwanska has only one victory over Sharapova in eight career meetings, that win having come five years ago in an early round of the U.S. Open. Their only match in 2011 came in the round of 16 at the French Open.
