Sharapova ends Henin's streak, will meet Jankovic in Aussie semis

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Maria Sharapova was ready to play three or four hours but didn't need to. Serena Williams did and ended up with two losses to show for it.

Fifth-ranked Sharapova ended No. 1 Justine Henin's 32-match winning streak 6-4, 6-0 Tuesday to advance to the Australian Open semifinals for the fourth straight year.

Williams, who beat Sharapova in last year's final, was ousted 6-3, 6-4 by Jelena Jankovic, then teamed with sister Venus to lose their women's doubles match -- spending a total of 3½ hours on court.

Sharapova was beaten by Henin at the season-ending championships in Madrid two months ago in one of the longest-ever women's tour matches -- 3 hours and 24 minutes -- and had a 2-6 record against the Belgian.

"I came into the match really prepared to play a three- to four-hour match," Sharapova said.

Instead, she came out hot on a cool night, constantly putting pressure on Henin and refusing to wilt when things got tight.

"It's just incredible," Sharapova said. "I think it was one of the most consistent matches where I did all the things I wanted to do. I had to be aggressive. When I'm playing well, that's what I do. I want to be the one that's forcing their errors. I did a really good job of that today."

She was looking forward to taking on Jankovic.

No. 3 seed Jelena Jankovic is ecstatic about another trip to a Grand Slam semifinal. (AP)

"We kind of grew up together, practicing at the same academy," Sharapova said. "It's a bit strange. We were always doing the same thing, playing the same groups. It was both of our dreams playing in a Grand Slam, especially playing each other. We've always played really tough and we've always battled it out."

On the men's side, second-ranked Rafael had a 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 24 Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, making the semifinals for the first time in four trips to the Australian Open.

"Maybe I wasn't playing my best match, my best tennis today, but it was enough," Nadal said. "It's a good moment for me, first semifinals on hardcourt, Grand Slam."

The only player to beat Roger Federer in the last 10 Grand Slam tournaments, Nadal will face unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the biggest surprise of the tournament so far, who ousted No. 14 Mikhail Youzhny 7-5, 6-0, 7-6 (8-6).

Tsonga, ranked 38th, is playing in only his fifth Grand Slam tournament -- partly due to a rash of injuries -- and had never gotten past the fourth round before.