V. Williams eliminated in Miami

MIAMI, March 28 (UPI) -- Fifth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska brushed aside unseeded Venus Williams in the Sony Ericsson Open quarterfinals Wednesday in Miami.

It took Radwanska 80 minutes to eliminate Williams 6-4, 6-1, the day after Williams' younger sister Serena lost a quarterfinal match. Radwanska broke the older Williams' serve six times on the hard courts at Crandon Park to improve to 2-5 lifetime against the 31-year-old former world No. 1 and seven-time major champion.

Williams was playing in her first tournament since pulling out of the U.S. Open in the second round last summer. She has Sjogren's syndrome, an incurable autoimmune disease that causes fatigue and joint pain.

Radwanska, who won in Dubai last month and is 26-0 this year, will face the Victoria Azarenka- Marion Bartoli winner in Thursday's semifinals.

Thursday's other semifinal has second-seeded Sharapova facing fourth- seeded Caroline Wozniacki.

The winner of the $4.8 million event will get a $712,000 payday.