Top seed Peng could win first career title; Larcher de Brito ousted

On Day 5 of the Tashkent Open, all quarterfinals went into play, and one of the favorites, Shuai Peng, was in play, and ended a match against Monica Niculescu in style, though in three sets.

Top seed Peng is on the way to her very first career title, and she got one step closer to it, after ending the run of No. 6 seed Monica Niculescu, 67(6) 62 64. She had two set points in the first set when she led 6-4 in the tiebreak, but the Romanian rallied back to win the set, but lost the next two later.

No. 4 seed Sabine Lisicki overcame the challenge against Urszula Radwanska, in a tough, thrilling three-setter, 36 75 76(4).

"I didn't play well in the beginning and was battling to get into the match," Lisicki said. "I played some good shots, but my opponent played better. The match was so close, and it came down to me having to play point by point. But the important part is to win when you don't play your best, and that's what I did."

No. 5 seed Magdalena Rybarikova and No. 3 seed Sorana Cirstea will battle it out in the bottom half semifinal, after Rybarikova won to Ioana Raluca Olaru, 61 62, while Cirstea ousted Michelle Larcher de Brito, 62 76(5).

Top seed on the way to victory; two seeds left in draw

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki has just got one step closer to winning her third career title, as she passed her quarterfinal test in straight sets to Tamarine Tanasugarn.

The Dane lost serve twice but regained strength to succeed in making it to the semifinals of the AIG Japan Open, 64 61.

Jarmila Gajdosova is next up for the top seed, as she won to Klara Zakopalova, 75 75 in the quarters.

Kaia Kanepi, seeded 5th, will battle it out in the other semifinal, after she won to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 76(4) 76(1), against No. 8 seed Aleksandra Wozniak, who won to Samantha Stosur, 75 63.

Williams secures spot in semis; Jankovic continues run on Day 5

Since winning Wimbledon, Venus Williams suffered two quarterfinal losses in her next two tournaments, but on Friday, she was ruling the court, as she took out one of the most hottest players on the tour in straight sets to advance to the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

Williams never faced a break point and broke serve three times on the way to victory against Dinara Safina, 64 62.

"I was pretty happy with the way I played today," Williams said afterwards. "She served well but fortunately I was able to get some first serves in too. When I had the opportunity to approach the net I did, so overall I was really pleased with my performance. I'm excited to be in the semis. It has been 10 years since I played here and whoever I play tomorrow, I will be looking to go one further. I'm encouraged to see that my hard work pays off."

"I'm a bit disappointed; I was just not as consistent as I needed to be today," Safina said. "It was the first time we played so you never know what to expect, but Venus played well. I don't know what would have happened if I won the first set - it might have changed the match - but I didn't."

Williams next faces No.2 seed Jelena Jankovic, who won a thrilling two setter to No. 7 seed Vera Zvonareva, 76(8) 76(5).

An unseeded semifinal battle will be held between Nadia Petrova and Victoria Azarenka in the top half of the draw. Petrova won to Serena Williams' dispatcher Na Li, 62 63, while Azarenka ousted No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva, 76(6) 36 61.

Three seeds advance to quarters, along with Larcher de Brito

It was a perfect day for the seeds, as all three of them advanced with straight set wins, along with Michelle Larcher de Brito, who also advanced in straight sets.

The first seed through was top seed Peng Shuai, who ended the run of Aranxta Rus, 61 75; the second seed through was No. 3 seed Sorana Cirstea, who gained victory against Anna Lapushchenkova, 61 64; and No. 6 seed Monica Niculescu advanced against Yaroslava Shvedova, as the Kazakh retired due to illness, 63 34.

Larcher de Brito over-powered her opponent Tatiana Poutchek, as she won 64 61.

"It really feels nice to reach this stage of the event," said Larcher de Brito after her win over the Belarusian Poutchek. "I've played the WTA tour events for only 10 months now and the win here will is very memorable. I'm confident I'll do better than this," she added.