Second seed Samantha Stosur fired down a WTA Tour record 129.25mph serve but a 7-6 7-5 defeat by Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez eliminated the Australian from the Tournament of Champions in Bali.

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Stosur's thunderbolt eclipsed the previous best of 129mph held by Venus Williams. The WTA said the record was pending verification.

Victory put Martinez Sanchez through to the last four and a meeting with Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai who qualified from her group on Thursday. Marion Bartoli of France will play Japanese wildcard Kimiko Date Krumm in the other semi-final.

Bartoli earned her place by defeating Israel's Shahar Peer 6-3 6-2.

Date Krumm benefited from the withdrawal of Yanina Wickmayer, who quit the tournament and left the resort island mid-event on Thursday after receiving a doping ban from Belgian authorities.

Wickmayer was banned for failing to comply with doping regulations.

Russian Vera Dushevina was called in to replace Wickmayer, and she defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues 2-6 6-1 7-5 to leave the Spaniard with a win in her two matches. Date Krumm advanced as a result of her 1-1 record in her round robin matches.

Peer had won six of her seven previous matches against Bartoli but the Frenchwoman's aggressive play kept her Israeli opponent under constant pressure. Bartoli's only nervous moment came when she was leading 4-2 in the second set and Peer held two break points.

"I had to stay really focused at the end because there are so many matches against Shahar when I was winning a set and 4-1 or 3-0 and she was coming back to beat me in three sets," Bartoli said.

"I guess the game when I was 4-2 up and 15-40 down and still held my serve was really important."