Azarenka eases into Kremlin Cup last four
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}By Gennady Fyodorov
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Second seed Victoria Azarenka reached the Kremlin Cup semi-finals with a 6-1 6-3 thrashing of home hope Alisa Kleybanova Friday.
The powerful Belarussian, known for her loud grunting on the court, dispatched the seventh-seeded Russian in less than 100 minutes to set up a Saturday clash with Spanish eighth seed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who eliminated Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 6-2 6-3.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I took the initiative right from the start and never let her into the match," Azarenka told reporters. "I think I'm finding my top form at just the right moment."
The world number 10 had already secured her place in next week's season-ending WTA championships in Doha when American Serena Williams pulled out with a foot injury.
The second women's semi-final will be an all-Russian affair, with sixth seed Maria Kirilenko facing unseeded Vera Dushevina.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kirilenko overpowered Kazakh teen-ager Zarina Diyas 6-1 6-2, while Dushevina edged out Russian compatriot Anna Chakvetadze 6-3 7-6.
The 268th-ranked Diyas, who turned 17 earlier this week, stunned top seed Jelena Jankovic 24 hours earlier but had no answer to the speed and precision of Kirilenko.
The annual ATP and WTA indoor tournament has been hit by withdrawals of high-profile players, particularly on the women's side. Home favorites Vera Zvonareva, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova as well as Italy's 2009 champion Francesca Schiavone all pulled out in the run-up to the event.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}SEEDS FALL
On the men's side, the seeds continued to fall, with fifth-seeded Czech Radek Stepanek becoming the latest casualty after being upset 6-4 7-6 by Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas, who eliminated top seed Nikolay Davydenko in the second round.
Cuevas now takes on in-form Serbian Viktor Troicki, who followed Thursday's victory over third seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga with a 6-2 6-1 thrashing of Argentina's Horacio Zeballos.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fourth-seeded Cypriot Macos Baghdatis, making his Moscow debut, avoided an early exit when he saved three set-points in the second-set tiebreaker to beat Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-2 7-6 in the last match on center court.
Baghdatis, the highest men's seed left at number four, faces unseeded Denis Istomin in Saturday's semi-final after the Uzbek eliminated the last remaining Russian in the men's draw. He beat surprise 2008 winner Igor Kunitsyn 6-2 6-4.
(Editing by Clare Fallon and Pritha Sarkar)