Maria Sharapova kept her quest for a first Miami title on track on Wednesday with a hard-fought 7-5 7-5 quarter-final triumph over Italy’s Sara Errani.
Sharapova lost to Kim Clijsters in the 2005 Miami final, Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2006, Victoria Azarenka in 2011 and Radwanska last year – all in straight sets.
Not only is she trying to fill that gap on her resume, she’s trying to become just the third woman to win both the prestigious Indian Wells and Miami hardcourt titles in the same year.
German great Steffi Graf accomplished the feat in 1994 and 1996, and Clijsters did so in 2005.
“I think it’s one of the toughest back-to-backs of the year,” Sharapova said.
“It’s the amount of matches. It’s also the late matches that you’re playing, the recovery.”
Sharapova will battle for a place in the final against 22nd-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic.
Former world No.1 Jankovic defeated Italian Roberta Vinci 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-3.
The other women’s semi-final was determined on Tuesday, with world No.1 and top seed Serena Williams advancing to take on defending champion and fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
Third-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer led the way into the men’s semis as he rallied for a 4-6 6-3 6-0 victory over unseeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer.
Ferrer, winner of two titles already this year at Auckland and Buenos Aires, steadied after an erratic first set and eventually cruised through the third to improve to 7-2 against the left-hander.
“I was a little bit nervous in the first set and part of the second, but I tried to fight every point, to be focused, and I had a good feeling in the end of the second set and of course in the third one,” Ferrer said.
Ferrer next faces Germany’s giantkiller Tommy Haas, who defeated France’s Gilles Simon 6-3 6-1.
Haas, at 34, is the oldest top-50 player in the world, but showed no sign of a letdown a day after toppling world No.1 Novak Djokovic in the fourth round.
The 15th-seeded Haas dispatched 11th-seeded Simon in 64 minutes, never facing a break point.
“I used my chances right away in the second set and took that momentum,” he said. “Again, I played the way I wanted to, using my all-around game and variety. I think I did that pretty well tonight.”