Maria Sharapova will play Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik in the semifinals of the Zurich Open after both secured straight-set victories.

The tennis beauty easily beat Swiss hopeful Timea Bacsinszky, winning 6-4 6-3, and Srebotnik defeated Russia's Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-2.

Sharapova now has the chance of becoming No. 1 in the ranking since top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo withdrew with a shoulder injury.

Sharapova needs to win or just to reach the final in Zurich because she will only have next week's tournament in Linz, Austria, before the WTA Championships in Madrid, so she has a full schedule ahead of her, which is good news for us.

By Zayed