DOHA, Feb 18: World number one Victoria Azarenka won her 15th consecutive match of the season to make the semi-finals of the WTA Qatar Open on Friday, a year after she almost quit the sport.

The Belarusian star defeated Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 6-0, 6-4 to stay on course for a third title this year, after victories at Sydney and the Australian Open.

Australia’s Samantha Stosur also advanced with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over Romania’s Monica Niculescu, while France’s Marion Bartoli defeated Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.

Azarenka lost in the first round to Daniela Hantuchova in Doha last year, and after another lacklustre show in Dubai, where she was beaten by Flavio Pennetta, she had become so demoralised that she even considered quitting the sport for good.

“Last year by this time I was a little bit of a mess. I couldn’t control any of my emotions, and I didn’t really enjoy playing tennis,” she added.

Azarenka was in imperious form in the first set on Friday but stuttered slightly in the second when she was broken for the second time in the eighth game by Wickmayer to level the scores at 4-4.

But Wickmayer could not hold her serve in the next game, hammering the ball into the net and then sending a backhand wide to concede what proved to be the decisive break for Azarenka.

The top seed then closed out the match by winning the final game without conceding a point.

Earlier, Australian third seed Stosur overcame a spirited fightback by Niculescu to advance to her first semi-final of the year.

Stosur, the reigning US Open champion, won in a little short of two hours after totally losing her momentum in the second set and surviving a tough spell in the third when Niculescu took three games in a row to level at 3-3.

Niculescu had a wonderful opportunity to break Stosur in the seventh game when she was leading 30-0, but sent an easy volley long after a lengthy rally to give the Australian the opening she was looking for.

Bartoli ended Safarova’s giant-killing run, but not before conceding the second set, and gave credit to her fitness.

Safarova had knocked out former world number one Caroline Wozniacki on her way to the last eight.

In the night match, fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland thrashed Christina McHale of the United States 6-1, 6-1 to set up a semi-final clash with Azarenka.

The other semi-final will be played between Stosur and Bartoli.

Results: Quarter-finals: Victoria Azarenka (BLR x1) bt Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 6-0, 6-4; Samantha Stosur (AUS x3) bt Monica Niculescu (ROM) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3; Marion Bartoli (FRA x5) bt Lucie Safarova (CZE) 7-5, 4-6, 6-1; Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x4) bt Christina McHale (USA) 6-1, 6-1.

FEDERER REACHES SEMI-FINALS ROTTERDAM: Top seed Roger Federer reached the Rotterdam Open semi-finals on Friday with a 7-5, 7-6 (7/2) win over Jarkko Nieminen, his 13th win in 13 matches against the Finn.

The Swiss star will next face unseeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko, who shocked fifth seed Richard Gasquet of France 7-5, 6-3, for a place in his first final of the season.

Gasquet had his chances through a 5-2 lead in the second set but double-faulted to 5-all allowing Davydenko win through in 97 minutes with five breaks of serve.

Nieminen, who won the Sydney title in January but was hampered at the Australian Open by an abdominal muscle injury, pushed 16-time Grand Slam winner Federer hard.

“It was a relief to come through. I played well on my serve but Jarkko made me work,” said Federer after reaching his fourth Rotterdam semi-final.

In Friday’s other quarter-finals, Tomas Berdych, the Czech second seed, beat Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3, 6-4 and next meets Argentine third seed Juan Martin Del Potro, who eased past Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-0, 6-1.

Berdych completed his victory over the 45th-ranked Seppi on a fifth ace of the afternoon at the Ahoy stadium, after breaking the Italian three times to take his indoor record to an unblemished 8-0 this season.

But the second-seeded perfectionist was slightly annoyed after losing serve for the only time in the match in the second set, a mistake which he quickly rectified to get the contest back on level-pegging.

Berdych next meets Del Potro who has won his last two meetings with the Czech, both played in 2009.

Results: Quarter-finals: Roger Federer (SUI x1) bt Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) 7-5, 7-6 (7/2); Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) bt Richard Gasquet (FRA x5) 7-5, 6-3; Tomas Berdych (CZE x2) bt Andreas Seppi (ITA) 6-3, 6-4; Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG x3) bt Viktor Troicki (SRB x7) 6-0, 6-1.—AFP