By Erik Gudris

(August 2, 2012) -- In the first quarterfinal of the day in the women's singles event at the Olympics, No. 1 seed Victoria Azarenka  of Belarus took on No. 7 seed Angelique Kerber of Germany. And though both women hit 26 winners each in the match, it was the unforced errors from Kerber, 18 in all, that proved to be her downfall in the closely contested battle.

Azarenka came out strong early and had chances for a 5-1 lead in the first set before Kerber held serve and then broke Azarenka in a lengthy game to keep her close with the World No.1. Azarenka hit an ace for 5-3 and finally took the set with the help of an another untimely error off of the German's racquet.

Though Azarenka claimed an early break in the second set, the match often felt like it was on Kerber's racquet, for better and worse, as the German would often hit stunning winners especially off of her forehand side only to follow them up with inexplicable errors. Down 3-5, Kerber saved three match points with the help of some lucky net cords and managed to break Azarenka and then hold serve for 5-all.

But Kerber's efforts only held off the inevitable for a short time as Azarenka grabbed her fourth match point at 6-5 on Kerber's serve and when the German hit long one last time, it sealed Azarenka's place in the semis with a 6-4, 7-5 victory.

Waiting for Azarenka next will be Wimbledon champion Serena Williams who put in another dominant performance on the grass, this time against No. 8 seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. Though called for a foot fault in her opening service game, Williams never faced a break point during the match while Wozniacki struggled throughout with her own serve.

After being blanked in the first set, Wozniacki did manage to put up a fight especially when down 1-2 as she held off five break points before Williams finally broke to go up 3-1. From there it was clear sailing for Williams who closed out a 6-0, 6-3 win.

Kirilenko Stuns Kvitova to Reach Olympic Semis

On Court 2, Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic faced off against Russia's Maria Kirilenko in a match that felt at times like a Fed Cup rubber with patriotic fans of both women shouting out each player's name throughout their quarterfinal. While Kvitova was expected to hit winners from all sides of the court, what wasn't expected was Kirilenko staying right with the former Wimbledon champion throughout the first set.

With neither women dropping serve, the first set reached a tiebreak that saw the Czech hit far too many errors including a mistimed forehand drop shot gave the Russian a one set lead.

Kirilenko, who only hit one unforced error in the match compared to Kvitova's 21, kept up her stellar play in the second set. While Kvitova racked up 23 winners, she couldn't shake off the determined Russian. A netted forehand from the Czech gave Kirilenko the first break of the match for 5-3 and she soon earned two match points. Kvitova saved one but a wild final point that saw both women hit lines on all sides of the court ended with Kirilenko hitting a deft crosscourt forehand winner to win 7-6(3), 6-3 and reach the semis.

Sharapova Closes In For Chance at Gold

Russia's Maria Sharapova faced a familiar foe in Belgium's Kim Clijsters though the last time they competed against each other was back in 2010 in the finals of Cincinnati.

When Clijsters double faulted in her opening service game to give Sharapova an early break, it was a telling sign for how the day would go for the four-time Major champion as she was inconsistent for most of the match. Though she eventually broke Sharapova back, Clijsters failed to hold serve again at 2-all allowing the Russian to seize the momentum midway through the first set that she eventually claimed 6-2.

Clijsters was broken again early in the second set but down 2-3, Clijsters stepped up her aggression on the backcourt and up at net allowing her to break back for 3-all. Both women held serve for 5-all but then it was Sharapova's turn to step up her intensity as she ripped a crosscourt backhand winner to set up a break point that she converted when Clijsters hit long.

Sharapova served for the set at 6-5, but with both women hitting nervy errors including Sharapova narrowly double faulting on her first match point, it looked the match might reach a tiebreak. But Sharapova stepped up again on her second match point and made no mistake as she closed out the 6-2, 7-5 victory in what will be Clijsters's final appearance at Wimbledon as she is retiring later this year.

Sharapova now faces fellow Russian teammate Kirilenko in tomorrow's semi assuring Russia of a place in this weekend's gold medal match.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)