Sharapova Wins, Venus Out at WTA Beijing

World No. 1 Maria Sharapova advanced into the semifinals at the WTA stop in Beijing Friday with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Japan's Shinobu Asagoe.

"I played well today," Sharapova said. "I started off strong but then I made a few mistakes and she capitalized. She's a good player and has a strong return. I just tried to play my game and in the end I got the win."

Sharapova's road to the title was paved smooth when No. 3 seed Venus Williams withdrew from her quarterfinal match with Poland's Marta Domachowska with a left knee injury.

"I just couldn't play today's match," Venus said. "I'm not fit enough to play professional tennis and so I shouldn't be out there. It's really disappointing because I was having such a great time at this tournament."

Also into the semis were No. 9 seed Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany (d. Peng) and unseeded Russian Maria Kirilenko (d. Sun), eliminating the last two Chinese from the event.

Saturday's semifinal match-ups are Domachowska vs. Groenefeld (first meeting), and Sharapova vs. Kirilenko (Sharapova leads career meetings 1-0) in an all-Russian.