By Nick Georgandis
Dominka Cibulkova def. Marina Erakovic, 6-1, 6-1
For Cinderella stories like New Zealand's Marina Erakovic, the problem always comes with the morning after the ball.
Two days after upsetting top-seeded Victoria Azarenka at the Bank of the West tournament in Stanford, Erakovic was routed by Slovakia's Dominka Cibulkova 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.
The eighth-seeded Cibulkova moves on to the semifinals, where she will face France's Marion Bartoli, who advanced with ease when Ayumi Morita retired after Bartoli won the first set 6-1.
Cibulkova needed a little over an hour to wipe out Erakovic, rocketing 85 percent of her first serves for winners and playing smart defense, saving all five of her break points while breaking the Kiwi five times.
Cibulkova is one win away from her first final since 2008. She's never won a title at the WTA level. Ranked 121st in the world, entering the tournament, Erakovic will get a healthy boost in the rankings come Monday, having picked up 120 points for her quarterfinal appearance.
The extra points should put her just outside the Top 100 in the next WTA rankings release.
Sabine Lisicki def. Agnieszka Radawnska, 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-2
German Sabine Lisicki continued her superior play of late, pounding 14 aces past Poland's Agnieszka Radawanska to reach the semifinals.
She had eight of those aces in the pivotal first set, in which she took the tie-break win despite Radawanska saving 10 of 11 break points.
Lisicki notched another five aces in the third set and hit 13 of 15 first serves for winners to reach her third straight semifinal. It's also her sixth win over a Top 20 opponent this season.