Czech Pliskova eases into last four at Indian Wells

(Reuters) - Big-serving Czech Karolina Pliskova cruised into the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Russian teenager Darya Kasatkina on Thursday. Pliskova blasted 30 winners and powered down nine aces to end Kasatkina's fairytale run in California, wrapping up the win in just over an hour at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The 18-year-old Russian was unable to replicate the form she produced in ousting 12th-seeded Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets in the previous round as she was overpowered by the world number 19. "I was really happy with the way I played, I think it was one of the best matches that I played here so far," Pliskova, 24, told reporters after reaching her first WTA 'premier mandatory' semi-final. "I played some good tennis this week, and then there is Miami (next week), so I have chances to improve my ranking and get close to the top 10 again." Pliskova, who ended last year a career-high 11th in the rankings, will next face either 2012 champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus or Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova, who were scheduled to play later on Thursday. Top seed Serena Williams will take on third-seeded Pole Agnieska Radwanska in a mouth-watering matchup in the other semi-final on Friday. While Kasatkina's dream run at Indian Wells finally came to an end, the 48th-ranked Russian teen was able to reflect on her rapid improvement since this time last year when she was toiling away on the lower-tier the ITF circuit. "Now I'm (going to be) top 40," Kasatkina said of her rise up the world rankings. "Last year I was 340. Yeah, it was pretty fast!" (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue)