Lindsay Davenport reached her third final in four events since her return to the WTA Tour, beating Austrian teenager Tamira Paszek 6-4, 6-3 at the ASB Classic on Friday.
Davenport, 31, improved to 17-1 in singles since her return to the tour two months ago after the birth in June of her first child, son Jagger. She has dropped only one set in four matches en route to the final.
Davenport’s opponent in the final will be Aravane Rezai of France, who beat New Zealand wild card Marina Erakovic 6-3, 7-5 in the other semifinal.
Murray in semifinal
Britain's Andy Murray overcame a sluggish start before sweeping past Sweden's Thomas Johansson to claim a place in the semifinals of the $1.5 million Qatar Open on Thursday, reports Reuters from Doha.
Murray, who will meet top seed Nikolay Davydenko in the last four on Friday, beat the former Australian Open champion 7-6 (7-4), 6-0.
In the other semifinal, defending champion Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia will meet Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka.
Fourth seed Ljubicic overcame a spirited challenge from sixth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 in two hours and 16 minutes, while Wawrinka ended the run of Argentine Agustin Calleri 6-3, 6-0 in just over an hour.
Russian Davydenko also started slowly against his Davis Cup team mate but he proved too strong, winning through 7-5, 6-3 in an hour and 45 minutes to reach his first semi since Moscow in October.
Li reaches final
China's Li Na continued her giant-killing run at the Australian Hardcourt Championships on Friday, beating fourth seed Patty Schnyder 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to reach the final, adds Reuters from Gold Coast.
The 18-year-old Azarenka, ranked 30, upset fifth seed Shahar Peer 6-4, 6-2 to reach her third WTA Tour final.
Hewitt beaten
Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt suffered a blow to his Australian Open preparations after he was beaten by Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International on Friday, reports Reuters from Adelaide.
The top seed was overpowered 6-4, 6-2 by Tsonga, who hammered 14 aces on his way to victory in 80 minutes.
World number 43 Tsonga beat Hewitt in their only previous meeting, at Queen's Club last June, and once the Frenchman had taken the first set, there was only one winner.
Tsonga now plays Finn Jarkko Nieminen, who needed two hours, 46 minutes to get past American Vince Spadea 7-6, 6-7, 7-6.
The other semifinal will be between Australian wildcard Joe Sirianni and unseeded Frenchman Michael Llodra.
Sirianni, 32, reached his first ATP Tour semi-final after a stunning 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 victory over second seed Paul-Henri Mathieu. Llodra overcame German Benjamin Becker 7-6, 6-4.
