Melbourne: Maria Sharapova has advanced to the Australian Open final and given herself a chance to regain the No. 1 ranking, beating Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 on Thursday.
Sharapova, the 2008 Australian Open champion, can take the No. 1 ranking if she beats Victoria Azarenka in Saturday at Melbourne Park.
Caroline Wozniacki, who has held the top ranking for most of the last 15 months, lost in the quarterfinals and will drop when the new rankings are released by the WTA Tour next week.
Earlier Thursday, Azarenka beat defending champion Kim Clijsters 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 for her first Grand Slam final. If she beats Sharapova, she can also go top of the rankings.
The third-seeded Azarenka recovered twice in periods when a resurgent Clijsters seemed to have the upper hand, breaking the veteran Belgian's serve three times in the third set to secure victory in only her second appearance in a major semifinal.
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