BIRMINGHAM, England – Maria Sharapova reached her first semifinal in more than a year Friday after beating Yanina Wickmayer, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, at the Aegon Classic.
The former top-ranked Russian struggled with her serve in the second set, but regained her stride in the decider to break her 19-year-old opponent twice for a 5-1 lead.
Sharapova has remodeled her serve to protect her shoulder, which required surgery last year and sidelined the Russian for nearly nine months, and she committed 11 double faults in the match.
“I kind of lost the momentum and made more errors than I would have preferred, and she gained confidence from that,” Sharapova said. “When you give her time she plays very aggressively, and once she had broken me she kept swinging away and came up with some great shots.”
Sharapova next plays Li Na, the former Wimbledon quarterfinalist from China who beat Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland, 6-3, 7-6(3).
The other semifinal will pit Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia against Sania Mirza of India.
Mirza reached her second semifinal in two years with a 6-1, 7-6 (4) win over Hungary’s Melinda Czink. Rybarikova beat Urszula Radwanska of Poland, 6-3, 6-3. (AP)