Sharapova, Clijsters in Final, Federer-Agassi Advance to Meeting at Miami

At the beginning of the second set Dent said he felt a "little pop" in his ankle and was worked on by the trainer, but retiring from the match was not a question.

"Right ankle. Then after that, it was extremely tender," Dent said. "I felt like I couldn't get off of my toe. If I did, it was killing me. So it was actually pretty sore after that. But, you know, whether it's stupidity or not, one of the things I said before the match, 'I am not retiring this match,' because I've done it two out of four times before this one."

Agassi attributed his difficulty in closing out the first set to Dent's surging serve-and-volley game.

"I think the bigger game -- he played a real good game at 5-4 in the first set to break me back. I was playing well just to hang in that game actually," Agassi said. "But the 2-1 game was a big game. I was in control of it. Eventually was a few errors that cost me the game, and that's -- that was a bit below what I was hoping for out there as far as my standard. But I got it together well after that and felt good the rest of the match."

In the semifinals Agassi will now face world No. 1 Roger Federer, who applied a 6-4, 6-2, 72-minute beating to No. 6 seed Tim Henman.

"It was a five-out-of-10 performance today, but if I improve, I can give myself an opportunity to test myself against him again," said the ever-optimistic Henman, who has now lost three in a row to the man he used to dominate in the Swiss' pre-No. 1 days. "I would like to have had him under a little more adversity -- one break point is not a lot."

Federer has now won 45 of his last 46 matches, with his only loss this year to Marat Safin at the Australian Open.

"I am surprised I have had such a great start to the season," Federer said. "You have to feel well almost every day to come through because almost everyone wants to beat you out there. So it's a surprise even though I know I can do it.

Doubles winners on the day were (1) Knowles/Nestor (d. Lopez/Nadal in two tiebreaks) and Zimbabwe's (2) Black/Ullyett (d. Davydenko/Hrbaty).

On Friday's schedule is the men's semifinals in Ferrer vs. (29) Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal in an all-Spanish (Ferrer won their only meeting last year on clay), and (1) Federer vs. (9) Agassi (Club Fed has won the last six meetings), and in doubles (1) Knowles/Nestor vs. (3) Bjorkman/Mirnyi.

"It's going to be good," Dent says of Agassi's chances against Federer. "I mean, Agassi learns every time he plays guys. So he's going to go out there, he's going to try and impose his game on Roger, maybe try some new things we haven't seen him do before. If anybody can beat Roger, Andre can."

Agassi says the key against Federer will be taking his chances at the right times.

"You know, the two things that he obviously does better than arguably anybody in the world is his movement and his forehand," Agassi said. "They're both big factors. So you have to know when to take your chance and not hesitate, and that's the way it is with all the guys. Except with him, it's what you consider your chance, you know. Certain guys you get a lot of looks. With him, you don't get many. So you have to recognize whatever does seem like a chance and be willing to execute it. I mean, you got to play a good match, unless he's not playing his best tennis."

Sharapova, Clijsters Advance to Final at WTA Nasdaq-100 Miami

Maria Sharapova out-shrieked Venus Williams, and Kim Clijsters embarrassed world No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo 6-1, 6-0 to advance to the final at the Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami.

"She's got a lot of fighting spirit out there," said Sharapova after beating the elder Williams 6-4, 6-3. "I was very proud of myself for being able to win that (last long) game (of the match). It was a very tough one."

Venus after the match showed the old Williams sisters fighting spirit in her post-match conference, blaming the result on her own errors and lack of energy.

"I think the first problem for me was just I was so tired today," Venus said. "I don't know why. I'm usually not tired...But all in all, it was just a match that was all about the errors I made."

Venus choked in some enforced errors serving at 4-5 in the first, then Sharapova ran to a 4-1 lead in the second before eventually closing it out.

Sharapova was also impressed with her own effort.

"I'll just say that I thought I played really well," Sharapova said. "I was in control for most of the match, and I was serving really well, and I was getting a lot of advantage from them, and I was able to break her in the first set when she tried to hold her serve at 5-4. I think she was making a lot of errors from her forehand side, which gave me the confidence."

In the final Sharapova will face the resurgent Clijsters, who she has lost to in both their career meetings in 2003, in the Sharapova pre-Wimbledon winning days.

Clijsters' win over Mauresmo was her seventh in a row, and ran her win streak this year to 13 in a row after the Indian Wells title.

"It's amazing," Clijsters said after pasting Mauresmo. "I'm enjoying myself very much on the court."

Before being force-fed the breadstick and bagel, Mauresmo had a chance to re-take the No. 1 spot by winning two more matches in Miami.

"She's hitting the ball better and harder than when she stopped," Mauresmo said. "She has all the confidence. She has nothing to lose."

Doubles quarterfinal winners Thursday were (5) Raymond/Stubbs (d. (2) Petrova/Shaughnessy) and the unseeded South African/Bulgarian combo of Huber/Maleeva (d. Russians Bovina/Dementieva from a set down).

On court today on the women's side in Miami are the doubles semifinals in (5) Raymond/Stubbs vs. Huber/Maleeva, and (1) Ruano Pascual/Suarez vs. (3) Kuznetsova/Molik.

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