Wozniacki cruises into Qatar Open semifinals

Caroline Wozniacki won 12 straight games to defeat Flavia Pennetta of Italy 6-2, 6-0 on Thursday, setting up a semifinal against Marion Bartoli at the Qatar Ladies Open.

The top-ranked Dane, who won the Dubai title last week, extended her winning streak to eight matches after losing the first two games of the match.

Wozniacki wore a Liverpool soccer shirt with Steven Gerrard's name on the back during the warmup.

''I'm a big fan of Liverpool,'' Wozniacki said. ''Since Liverpool is playing tonight (against Sparta Prague), I thought it would be nice and even the fans liked it.''

Wozniacki made only seven unforced errors against Pennetta, who appeared to lose heart after dropping serve in a 12-minute fourth game. Wozniacki won it with one of her trademark backhand returns to draw even at 2-2.

''I was playing really good tennis,'' Wozniacki said. ''I stayed calm and had to go for my shots.''

Bartoli won the match against Peng Shuai 6-2, 6-2 in just 71 minutes. Peng lost her serve in the first game and couldn't recover.

''I thought I played well,'' Bartoli said. ''I could have finished earlier. I mean, it could have been 6-1 in the second instead of 6-2, even 6-0. But overall, it was a great performance.''