Russian Maria Sharapova edged Venus Williams 6-4, 6-3 in the women's semifinals Thursday to seal the Nasdaq-100 Open final at Key Biscayne in Miami.

The 17-year-old Sharapova, No. 2-seeded, will on Saturday play the winner of the late match Thursday between unseeded Kim Clijsters and Amelie Mauresmo, who can regain the No. 1 ranking by winning the title.

Sharapova edged out the tightest of first sets when errors began to creep into Williams's game as she served at 4-5 down.

Sharapova went from strength to strength in the second, breaking Williams to go 2-0 up and she remained ahead until she served for match at 5-3.

In a long and dramatic ninth game, Sharapova was forced to save her first breakpoints of the match as Williams fought to stay in the tournament, which spent 80 minutes.

Source: Xinhua