China's Li Na returns the ball to Jelena Jankovic of Serbia en route to a 6-3, 6-4 quarterfinal victory at the Qatar Open in Doha on Friday, Feb. 22, 2008. (Source: Shanghai Daily/Agencies)

    BEIJING, Feb. 24 -- China's Li Na, who hopes to challenge for a medal at the Beijing Olympics, and Maria Sharapova, who'll be one of the favorites in the Chinese capital, both stormed into the Qatar Open semifinals on Friday.

    Li got the better of her third top-20 victim in a row when she beat Jelena Jankovic, the world No. 4 from Serbia, 6-3, 6-4 to add to her wins over Anna Chakvetadze, the fifth-seeded Russian, and Shahar Peer, the 12th seeded Israeli.

    The victories have carried Li to the semifinals of the US$2.5 million event in Doha, the first time she has reached this stage in a tier-one tournament. They also continued her great start to 2008 after taking six months off.

    Asked why she was playing so well now, Li said: "Maybe because my husband just gave me a credit card - no I'm joking."

    Li will now face Russian Vera Zvonereva while Sharapova, who brushed aside Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki 6-0, 6-1, will tackle Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland who knocked her out of the 2007 US Open.

    Li's success hinged on making the first aggressive hit in the rally and striking the ball more powerfully than Jankovic, forcing her highly-rated opponent to contain and defend more often. However, in the second set it seemed that Jankovic might level things up.

    Three times she had Li at 15-30 on her serve, but each time the world No. 29 from Wuhan, Hubei Province, responded with some of her best tennis.

    Li created history when she became the first Chinese singles player to reach a grand slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon two years ago and the first to reach the world's top 20.

    Australian Open champion Sharapova maintained her unbeaten record in 2008 as she marched into the semifinals in less than an hour.

Russia's Maria Sharapova serves to Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark during her 6-0, 6-1 victory on Friday, Feb. 22, 2008. (Source: Shanghai Daily/Agencies)

    "It was a pretty solid performance apart from one game in the second set," said Sharapova. "I felt pretty comfortable from the beginning. I was aggressive. I served and returned pretty well and felt pretty good."

    Sharapova now plays Radwanska, who reached her first WTA Tour semifinal with a three-hour 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4 win over another 18-year-old, Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.

    Zvonareva, an unseeded former top ten player, reached a semifinal for the second time this year, overcoming Sybille Bammer, the 15th seeded Austrian 6-2, 2-6, 0-6.

    (Source: Shanghai Daily/Agencies)