No. 9 seed Caroline Wozniacki beat Aussie Jarmila Gajdosova 6-1, 6-4, and is looking to become a force again after rebounding from an ankle injury in Madrid and allergy problems in Rome. She is now working with former Aussie Open champ Thomas Johansson of Sweden as her coach.

“I think Victoria is the player to beat,” Williams said. “She has won I don’t know how many tournaments this year alone. That’s an amazing amount. So if you look at the stats, you just have to put her up there as the player to beat.”

Milos Raonic scored his best ranking win beating Andy Murray in the Barcelona semifinals.

Over the weekend the defending champion Czech Republic moved into the final behind current Wimbledon holder Petra Kvitova, and in the final they will meet the hungry Serbian squad, powered by former No. 1s Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, with the Serbs in their first-ever final.

Serbia will front two former No. 1s in Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, while Russia counters with former world No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova appearing in her fifth tie.

Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters made successful returns from ailments Wednesday in Miami.

People are not so well at Indian Wells.

Maria Sharapova and Svletlana Kuznetsova eased to wins to give Russia a 2-0 lead. After a singles loss by Nadia Petrova, Kuznetsova clinched the tie with a three-set win over Spain’s unheralded Silvia Soler-Espinosa.

With no one ranked in the Top 100, should Switzerland have pulled Martina Hingis and Patty Schnyder out of retirement against Sam Stosur and Australia?

Sharapova will now face Azarenka, a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 winner over Kim Clijsters, who is appearing in her first Grand Slam final. Australian Open fans are preparing for 1-1/2 hours of sounds of the hospital birthing ward.