World No 3 to face top seed Simona Halep in the last four on Thursday
Wednesday 6 June 2018 16:53, UK
Garbine Muguruza recorded her maiden victory over Maria Sharapova to reach the French Open semi-finals where she will meet world No 1 Simona Halep.
Muguruza won her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in 2016, while Sharapova is a two-time champion in Paris but the Spaniard registered a dominant 6-2 6-1 victory, while Halep recovered from losing a first set tiebreak to defeat Angelique Kerber 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-2.
Both Sharapova and Muguruza enjoyed straightforward fourth-round progression after the Russian benefited from Serena Williams' late withdrawal, while Lesia Tsurenko retired injured after two games against the Spaniard.
"I knew it was going to be an intense match, because I hadn't played her for a long time," said Muguruza, who won in one hour and 10 minutes.
"I wasn't thinking so much about the result, but I just was thinking about not dropping my level, not giving her a single point, and I guess that helped my performance."
Five-time Grand Slam finalist Sharapova made a nervous start to the encounter as two double faults in the opening game of the match before a second break secured Muguruza a quick 3-0 lead.
Muguruza maintained her greater weight of hitting and consistency on serve to wrap up the first set against her shell-shocked opponent in the French capital.
The 24-year-old maintained her ascendancy at the start of the second set as she broke Sharapova once again, only for the 31-year-old to earn her first break of the match in the next game.
That only appeared to strengthen Muguruza's focus as three further unanswered breaks saw her reach the last four stage and move a step closer to a third Grand Slam title.
"To have had the victories that I have had, to have the results that I have, obviously I'm moving a step in the right direction," said Sharapova, who reached the semi-finals in Rome during the run-up to Paris.
"But today was certainly not one of those steps."
She will next meet top seed Halep, who showed resilience to earn an eventful three-set victory against Kerber - a two-time Grand Slam champion.
Kerber, who was bidding to reach the last four at Roland Garros for the first time in her career, dominated the early stages of their quarter-final on Court Suzanne Lenglen but was relieved to win a tiebreak after being broken twice when serving for the first set.
Halep, a two-time French Open finalist, grew in confidence as the match progressed while Kerber committed 32 unforced errors over the final two sets to see the Romanian maintain her hopes of a maiden Grand Slam title.
