Petra Kvitova came from a set down to beat Yaroslava Shvedova and reach the semi-finals of the French Open.
Fourth seed wins 3-6 6-2 6-4 to set up Sharapova semi
Fourth seed Petra Kvitova came from behind to beat qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova and reach the semi-finals of the French Open.
The Czech ace won the last four games to record a 3-6 6-2 6-4 success and set up a last four clash with second seed Maria Sharapova.
Shvedova, 24, had knocked out defending champion Li Na of China in the fourth round and would have been the first qualifier to make it to the women's semi-finals at Roland Garros.
The Kazakh continued her fine form in the tournament to race to a quick 3-0 advantage in the first set, before Kvitova held to 3-1 and took more chances in the fifth game to break Shvedova to 2-3 and put the match back on serve.
But the fourth seed was broken again when a backhand return clipped the net and went wide, and in the next game hit a forehand long to give the Kazakh a 5-2 lead, with the qualifier going on to take the first set.
Shvedova came out firing in the opening game of the second set, breaking Kvitova with a cross-court backhand return, but the Wimbledon champion twice broke her opponent and held serve to take a 3-1 lead.
Kvitova then sprinted to 5-2 and broke Shedova one more time to set up the deciding set.
Momentum
The fourth seed continued her momentum to race to 2-0, but then threw away the third game with two double faults and two unforced errors, enabling Shvedova to equalise at 2-2.
In the fifth game, as it began to drizzle on Suzanne Lenglen court, Kvitova missed an easy forehand return to give Shvedova two break points, and then hit a forehand long to give the qualifier a 3-2 lead.
Shvedova then saved two break points to hold to 4-2 but an undaunted Kvitova held in the seventh game and immediately put pressure on Shvedova's serve to level the match at 4-4, followed by a crucial hold.
Serving at 4-5, nerves got the better of Shvedova, allowing the world number four to convert her second match point for a place in the semi-final with Sharapova.
"Every point that we played was really tough," Kvitova said in a courtside interview after the match. "I knew that I had to change my game."
The left-handed Czech, who sent down five aces in the match, added: "It wasn't easy and I'm really happy that my serve helped me and I played my aggressive game again."
