Keothavong marches through to semi in Auckland

BRITISH No.1 Anne Keothavong has reached her second ever WTA Tour semi final and is just one win away from her maiden final appearance.

_{FINAL FOUR: British No.1 Anne Keothavong is through to semis in Auckland (Getty Images)}

The 25-year-old eased past Ajumi Morita in the last eight and will now face Elena Vesnina of Russia who completed a three sets victory over Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki 6-3,0-6, 6-3.

Keothavong, ranked 60^th in the world, cruised into a one-set lead in just 22 minutes with a 6-0 drubbing before unseeded Morita retired with a hamstring injury.

"It's a shame Ayumi had to retire but I thought I started better today than in my previous matches and was hitting the ball pretty sweet anyway," said Keothavong.

"She's played a lot of tennis in the last few days and she was bound to be a little tired but I'm through to the semis and that's what matters for me.

"It's not a bad start for the first tournament of the year and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's match whoever I play.

"I've got nothing to lose and will go out there with the same focus I had today and give it my best shot."

Keothavong's previous semi-final appearance was in Kolkata in 2007.