Maria Sharapova booked her place in the last four of the Madrid Open on Friday as she edged a thrilling quarter-final against second seed Li Na 2-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.
Li looked on course for the semi-finals when she broke to lead 4-3 in the second set with the Russian looking like she was heading out.
However, Sharapova broke back immediately and went onto win the second set on a tie-break before raising her game to another level with a string of incredible winners to take the decider 6-3.
There were three breaks of serve to open the third set, but Sharapova took control when she finally consolidated the break at 3-1 and was gifted the final game when Li double faulted on match point.
The four-time Grand Slam champion will face third seed Agnieska Radwanska or French qualifier Caroline Garcia in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Source: AFP
