Top-ranked Azarenka cruises into showdown against No. 2 Sharapova

Reach for it: Maria Sharapova attempts to play a shot against Petra Kvitova on Saturday in Stuttgart, Germany. Sharpova won 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). AP

STUTTGART, Germany — Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka was set to face No. 2 Maria Sharapova in the final of the Porsche Grand Prix on Sunday.

Azarenka cruised past Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 6-3 in the first semifinal Saturday, and Sharapova outlasted No. 3 Petra Kvitova, the Wimbledon champion, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

Azarenka is seeking a tour-high fifth tournament title of the year.

She dominated the match against the fourth-ranked Radwanska, whose four losses of the year have come against Azarenka.

On match point, Azarenka fired a forehand winner to advance to the final. She is 29-1 for the year.

Sharapova is off to a promising start to her clay-court season. The Russian broke serve in the fifth game and did not face a break point of her own in the first set.

That changed in the second.

Kvitova held 11 break points in the set, but the Czech could not convert any.

She did convert her 12th — after saving a match point — to even the score at 6-6 and sent the second set into the tiebreaker. Sharapova made fewer mistakes and now seeks her first title of the year.

Azarenka leads Sharapova 5-3 in career meetings.

BARCELONA, Spain — Rafael Nadal crushed Fernando Verdasco for the 13th time in his career on Saturday to set up a fourth Barcelona Open final with longtime rival David Ferrer.

The Sunday showdown will be a repeat of the 2008, 2009 and 2011 finals which were all won by Nadal.

French Open champion Nadal, fresh off winning an unprecedented eighth straight title at Monte Carlo last weekend, overwhelmed Verdasco 6-0, 6-4 in just 85 minutes with four breaks of serve.

Third seed Ferrer had a tougher afternoon, requiring just over two hours in defeating huge-serving Canadian Milos Raonic 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5).

"I played a great first set, and stayed focused for the entire match even if the second set was a lot more difficult," said Nadal.

"It wasn't that easy at all, Fernando is a tough player who has won the title here. This was a very satisfying win for me, I'm glad to be in another final and have the chance to win another time at this great event.

"David and I have always had tough matches and I'm expecting another one on Sunday."

Nadal has dominated the Barcelona event, winning six titles in seven previous appearances. On the one occasion he didn't play — he missed 2010 with knee problems — Verdasco took the honors.

Nadal's victory was his 38th victorious semifinal in a row on clay, with his last loss coming against Carlos Moya in August of 2003.

Raonic had turned in a breakthrough week on the clay of the Real Club de Tenis, winning all of his matches in straight sets.

He defeated Spaniard Nicolas Almagro and upset second-seeded, world No. 4 Andy Murray in the quarter-finals.

The 21-year-old, ranked 25th, threatened early in the opening set against Ferrer but could not convert on four break chances.

Raonic saved six set points before Ferrer finally clinched it in the tiebreaker from the Canadian's netted forehand.

In the second set, the pair stayed level-pegging, with Raonic saving the lone break points of the set in the 11th game.

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