Sharapova, Williams ousted in LA semis

The prospect of a dream Los Angeles Open final between top seed Maria Sharapova and twice champion Serena Williams evaporated on Saturday when both players were upset in the semi-finals.

Sharapova, chasing a second successive WTA Tour title, went down 7-5 6-2 to fellow Russian Elena Dementieva while Williams, playing her third event of the year because of a knee injury, lost 6-4 6-3 to Serbian Jelena Jankovic.

The 21-year-old Jankovic, who beat Williams when the pair met for the second time in Dubai last year, clinched the opening set by breaking her opponent in the 10th game before the American was warned for racket abuse.

Refusing to be intimidated by the power of Williams, the Serb returned superbly, was rock-solid at the net and controlled most of the rallies from the baseline. Despite losing, Williams was satisfied.

"I still believe I'm going in the right direction," said the seven-times grand slam champion, who is projected to rise from 110 in the rankings to around 75 today.

"It's only my second tournament for some time and I'm definitely doing better than I was my first week back."

In the first semi-final, the 19-year-old Sharapova lost a pulsating opening set in just over an hour after battling back from 1-5 down.

Third-seeded Dementieva, using superb groundstrokes from the baseline, then took advantage of a series of unforced errors by her opponent to sweep through the second set.

It was her second victory over Sharapova in seven career meetings and ended a run of eight wins in a row by the world number four.

"I feel really great," said an elated Dementieva. "I have lost to her twice this year and I was really looking forward to this match because she is such a tough player."