Second-seeded Victoria Azarenka advanced to the semi-finals of the Kremlin Cup by beating Alisa Kleybanova of Russia 6-1, 6-3 yesterday.

The Belorussian will next face eighth-seeded Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain today. Martinez Sanchez defeated Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-3.

By reaching the quarter-finals, Azarenka secured a spot in the season-ending WTA Tour championships in Doha, Qatar, next week, where she will replace the injured Serena Williams.

“We’ve played a good match today. It was 6-1 in the first set, but there were many deuces,” said Azarenka, who saved all six break points she faced in the set. “On key points today, I was more lucky or played better.”

Azarenka won four consecutive games in the first set and three more in the second to reach the semifinals in Moscow on her third attempt. She lost in the first round two years ago and made it to the quarterfinals in 2007.

Sixth-seeded Maria Kirilenko routed Kazakh qualifier Zarina Diyas 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the semi-finals of her hometown event on her sixth attempt.

Kirilenko had lost in the first round four times before falling to eventual champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy in the quarterfinals last year.

In her second career quarter-final appearance, the 248th-ranked Diyas, who beat top-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in the second round on Thursday, could only hold her serve twice against the 24th-ranked Russian.

“Maria played better today, while I was tired,” said Diyas. “Though, it’s no excuse.”

Diyas, who turned 17 on Monday, is expected to rise about 75 spots in the WTA rankings next week.

In the men’s quarter-finals, Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay eliminated fifth-seeded Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-6 (3) and will face Viktor Troicki of Serbia, who ousted Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-2, 6-1.

The 47th-ranked Cuevas has not dropped a set on the way to his first semifinal appearance this season. He also defeated three-time champion Nikolay Davydenko of Russia in the second round.

Cuevas broke Stepanek in the fifth game of the first set. He rallied from 3-2 down to make it 5-5 in the second set and broke to serve for the match. But Stepanek broke back to force the tiebreaker. Cuevas closed the match with a backhand volley on his first match point.

“It was a tough match, very even,” Cuevas said.