Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

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Li Na defeated Agnieszka Radwanska in her quarterfinals match at the 2012 China Open. Li had won the pair's last two meetings very routinely during the summer season—6-2, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-1—and this time, the seventh seed was in control again, tucking away a 57-minute first set and pulling away completely from 1-2 in the second set, reeling off five games in a row to Radwanska, 6-4, 6-2.

Next for Li is second-seeded Maria Sharapova, who won by retirement, 6-0, 3-0, when fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber had to stop due to a foot injury. Sharapova leads Li in their head-to-head series, 7-4, but in their last match, Sharapova had to come back from the brink of defeat to win.

"We have always had really difficult matches," Sharapova said of Li. "And before I won the last two, she got me a couple of times. We have been back and forth with our results. But she's a Grand Slam champion and has been Top 10 for a long time. There's no reason why it shouldn't be a good match tomorrow."

The other semifinal match will pit top-seeded Victoria Azarenka against Marion Bartoli, as Azarenka defeated Romina Oprandi 6-2, 6-0, losing just four points. Meanwhile, Bartoli rallied from 3-0 down in the third to beat Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-0, 2-6, 6-4. Azarenka leads Bartoli in their head-to-head series, 8-3, but Bartoli has won three of their last five meetings, and in their last meeting it was the Frenchwoman who prevailed in Miami, ending Azarenka's perfect 26-0 start to the season.