Maria Sharapova fought back from a set down to defeat Alona Bondarenko at Amelia Island.
Cornet also through to last four
Maria Sharapova fought back from a set down to defeat Alona Bondarenko at Amelia Island.
The Australian Open champion lost the opening set on a tiebreak but hit back in confident fashion to secure a 6-7 6-3 6-2 win and a place in the semi-finals.
There she will meet the rejuvenated Lindsay Davenport, who beat Hungary's Agnes Szavay 6-4 7-6.
Sharapova has never reached a clay-court final in her career but one more win would give her the opportunity to compete for the $95,000 top prize.
The Russian squandered three set points before losing the opening set tiebreak 11-9 and admitted that her play was not aggressive enough.
Missed opportunities
"Considering a couple of those set points I had, it should have been over in two sets," Sharapova said.
"I was really tentative when I had those set points. Somehow I scrambled my way out of it in the second. She looked like she was getting a little tired.
"I was pretty impressed with the way I mentally hung in there. I could easily have let it go in the second set with the way I let the first set get away."
French teenager Alize Cornet is also through to the semi-finals after beating compatriot Virginie Razzano 6-4 6-2.
The 18-year-old world number 49 will face unseeded Dominika Cibulkova in the last four after the Slovakian stunned 11th seed Amelie Mauresmo 6-1 7-6.
Mauresmo continued her inconsistent form since an emergency appendectomy in March 2007, and the 18-year-old took full advantage with a clinical display in Florida.
