2012 Madrid Open Live: Sharapova vs Serena; Djokovic, Federer in Action

In Madrid, a battle between former world no. 1 players resulted in a thrilling 16 63 62 victory by Serena Williams over Caroline Wozniacki which allowed the American to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open. Her next opponent? Another former world no. 1 in Maria Sharapova. On the men's side, the quality of tennis heats up as world no. 3 Roger Federer downs no. 14 seed Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-2 to reach the Mutua Madrid Open quarter-finals. World No. 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic also advanced by beating Federer's countryman Stanislas Wawrinka 76(5) 64. Watch 2012 Madrid Open live online here featuring Sharapova vs. Serena, Djokovic and Federer in quarterfinal action.

Serena exalted a revenge victory over Wozniacki. Six weeks ago at the Miami tennis tournament quarterfinals, Wozniacki was too solid for a somewhat erratic Williams in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open, winning in straight sets, and that pattern continued in their third round match-up at the Mutua Madrid Open on Thursday as the No.6-seeded Wozniacki cruised to a 31-minute first set, 6-1, breaking the No.9-seeded Williams a surprising three out of four times. But Serena proved too solid for Wozniacki and she will now face Sharapova.

[2] Maria Sharapova (RUS #2) vs. [9] Serena Williams (USA #9). Serena leads the head-to-head 7-2. After winning two of her first three meetings with Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova has lost six straight. This will be just their second encounter on clay, with Williams coming out on top in their first in the Charleston quarterfinals in 2008. However, Sharapova's confidence on the dirt may be higher than ever, as she is coming off a title in Stuttgart and two convincing victories in Madrid before getting a walkover win over Lucie Safarova on Thursday. Williams is rolling too, with a 20-2 record on the year, including 10-0 on clay. However, her 17-set clay court winning streak did come to an end in the first set of her third round triumph here over Caroline Wozniacki.

[1] Victoria Azarenka (BLR #1) vs. [8] Li Na (CHN #8). Li leads the head-to-head 4-3. The quarterfinals have been Li Na's roadblock of late, as she has lost in that round in three straight events. She is in especially good form in Madrid, though, having not lost a set in three matches - including an impressive triumph over the red-hot Angelique Kerber in the third round. And she has a winning record against quarterfinal foe Victoria Azarenka, highlighted by straight set victories at the Australian Open and French Open (their one previous meeting on clay) last year. However, Azarenka has won two in a row in their series since then. A runner-up here last year, the Belarusian also has not dropped a set this week in improving her record this season to 32-2.

MUTUA MADRID OPEN 2012 - Schedule - Friday, May 11, 2012

Manolo Santana (from 10.50hrs)
1. Victoria Azarenka vs. Li Na
2. Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova
3. ATP: Berdych vs. Verdasco (NB 15.30hrs)
4. ATP: Djokovic vs. Tipsarevic (NB 19.00hrs)
2. ATP: Federer vs. Ferrer

Stadium 3 (from 13.00hrs)
1. ATP: del Potro vs. Dolgopolov
2. Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Varvara Lepchenko (NB 16.00hrs)
3. Samantha Stosur vs. Lucie Hradecka

Court 5 (from 13.00hrs)
1. Makarova/Vesnina vs. Llagostera Vives/Martínez Sánchez
2. Errani/Vinci vs. Kirilenko/Petrova
3. ATP: Granollers/López vs. Lindstedt/Tecau
4. ATP: Paes/Stepanek vs. Mirnyi/Nestor (NB 17.00hrs)

Court 7 (from 15.00hrs)
1. ATP: Qureshi/Rojer vs. Bhupathi/Bopanna
2. ATP: Cilic/Melo vs. Fyrstenberg/Matkowski

Watch Mutua Madrid Open 2012 Live featuring Sharapova vs Serena, Djokovic and Federer in quarterfinal action.