STANFORD (AFP) - Third-seeded Marion Bartoli reached the semi-finals of the $721,000 WTA hardcourt tournament here on Friday as Ayumi Morita retired injured after dropping the first set of their quarter-final.
France's Bartoli had won the first set 6-1 when Morita, the Japanese number one at 50 in the world, retired with a right ankle injury.
It was a disappointing exit for Morita, who had beaten former world number one Ana Ivanovic of Serbia in the first round and survived two match points as she rallied to beat Polish qualifier Urszula Radwanska in the second round on Thursday.
Bartoli next faces either eighth-seeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova or New Zealand qualifier Marina Erakovicwho stunned top seed and defending champion Victoria Azarenka on Thursday.
The night's glamour match pits Serena Williams against another former world number one, Maria Sharapova.
Sharapova is the second seed while Williams is unseeded as she works her way back up the rankings following an injury layoff of 11 months.
In the other quarter-final, Wimbledon semi-finalist Sabine Lisicki of Germany takes on fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
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