Serena Williams, who is looking for her record sixth Miami title, rolled over defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska 6-0, 6-3 to reach the final of the Miami WTA hardcourt event on Thursday.The top-seeded Williams will face Russian Maria Sharapova, who cruised past Serbian Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 6-1 in the other semi-final.

By Simon Evans MIAMI (Reuters) - World number one Serena Williams fought back from a set down to beat Maria Sharapova 4-6 6-3 6-0 and win the Sony Open for a record sixth time on Saturday as she continued her dominance over her closest rival. With the win, Williams, who struggled with her serve in the first two sets, becomes only the fourth woman in the Open era to win the same WTA tournament six times, joining Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Steffi Graf.

Serena Williams got her quest for a record sixth WTA title on the hardcourts of Miami off to a brisk start on Thursday with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Italian Flavia Pennetta. The world No. 1 and top seed, playing her first tournament since falling to Victoria Azarenka in the final at Doha in February, said she didn't feel too rusty, although her footwork could improve. "I think I missed a few shots, but only because I think I was off footwork-wise. "But it's always just good just to win a match and stay in the tournament and keep going."

Serena Williams, the world number one, and Victoria Azarenka, the only unbeaten leading player on the women's tour this year, have been penalised for their late withdrawals from the Dubai Open. Williams, who had a bad back and withdrew on Wednesday, has had $50,000 forfeited from the WTA's bonus pool, and zero points imposed for one tournament on her world ranking calculation. Azarenka, who had a bruised heel and withdrew on Monday, had $100,000 forfeited from the WTA's bonus pool and zero points imposed for one tournament on her rankings calculation.