( CNN ) -- They battled on and off court last year and now Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova are locking horns at the earliest opportunity in 2014 . The world no . 1 will play Sharapova on Friday for a place in the final of the Brisbane International tournament after both women won through in their quarterfinal matches on Thursday . The American was a 6-3 6-3 winner over Slovakia 's Dominika Cibulkova while the world no . 4 beat Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in three sets . Williams won both the French and U.S. Open titles last year , but also made headlines for an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in June where she made some unflattering remarks about an unnamed player widely assumed to be Sharapova , calling her `` boring '' and criticizing her choice of boyfriend ( Grigor Dimitrov ) . Sharapova responded saying Williams should concentrate on tennis rather than taking sideswipes at the personal lives of her opponents . Williams has won 14 of her 16 encounters against Sharapova and has n't lost to the Russian in almost a decade . On Thursday , Williams recalled the moment the tide turned at the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2005 -- a match she won 8-6 in the third set after saving three match points . `` I remember a forehand inside out , '' Williams said . `` I was down match point and I hit this winner and I did n't even blink . `` I hit the a winner and walked right to the other side and was ready for the next return as if it was just a 30-15 point . '' Sharapova said her memory of the point was a little more sketchy and stressed the importance of looking forward . `` 2005 ? Oh , my God , I ca n't go back that far , '' Sharapova said . `` I do n't have too much time to look back at '04 . I have a lot of things going on in my life , '' Sharapova said . `` Some of the matches were a bit closer than others . When you go out on the court in a new time , you ca n't really rely on everything that happened in the past . You 've got to start from scratch from the first point . `` Of course I know I 've tried and I did n't succeed in the last many times that I 've played her , but I 'm setting up an opportunity to go out there and try to change that , and I 'm going to try to do that . '' Whatever the outcome of Friday 's match , both women will be looking to improve their recent form at the upcoming Australian Open which gets underway on January 13 . Williams , a five-time champion , last triumphed in Melbourne in 2010 while Sharapova 's solitary success came in 2008 . Read more : Federer breezes through in Brisbane . Read more : Sleepy Serena skips New Year celebrations .
Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova set to clash in Brisbane International semis . Williams holds 14-2 head-to-head advantage over the Russian . The Australian Open will be held on Sunday at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. Sharapova and Williams traded verbal blows off court in 2013 .