Serena to face Li Na for Miami title

Serena Williams and Li Na swept past familiar foes at the Sony Open yesterday morning (Singapore time), setting up an exciting showdown for the Miami hardcourt crown between the world's top-ranked players.

World No. 1 Williams continued her utter domination of Maria Sharapova with a 6-4, 6-3 win over the fourth-seeded Russian, while second-ranked Li Na won a rematch of her Australian Open final, beating Dominika Cibulkova 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.

In the men's section, world No. 1 Rafael Nadal advanced to the 
semi-finals by rallying to beat Canadian 12th seed Milos Raonic 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

In the semis, he will face seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych, who cooled off the red-hot Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).

The other semi will see Japan's Kei Nishikori squaring off against second-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic. - Wire Services.