Sharapova beats Errani to set up Jankovic clash
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, March 29, 2013
The grunts were long and loud in the final game, as if Maria Sharapova was pushing a couch across nearby Crandon Beach.
Trying to win the Sony Open must feel that way to Sharapova, a four-time runner-up. She returned to the semifinals on Wednesday despite a patchy performance, beating Sara Errani 7-5, 7-5 in Key Biscayne, Florida.
Sharapova made 57 unforced errors, including 13 double-faults, and overcame three set points in the second set. The two sets took 2 1/2 hours, and a flurry of mistakes by both players left spectators groaning.
Sharapova had the last laugh, whacking a forehand winner on match point.
"She really made me work for this match," Sharapova said. "I had to dig deep - so many opportunities, a few ups and downs. I'm definitely happy to get through another one."
Seeded No. 3, she'll play No. 22 Jelena Jankovic, who beat No. 15 Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3.
The men's quarterfinals featured eight Europeans for the first time, and in the opening match, No. 3 David Ferrer of Spain rallied past unseeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. Ferrer's opponent tomorrow will be Tommy Haas of Germany, who beat No. 11 Gilles Simon of France, 6-3, 6-1.
The 34-year-old Haas became the oldest man to beat a No. 1 player in a completed match in 30 years when he upset three-time champion Novak Djokovic on Tuesday night.
Sharapova faced Errani in a rematch of last year's French Open final, which Sharapova won to complete a career grand slam. But she has never won Key Biscayne, losing the final in 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2012.
"I've been so close to winning," Sharapova said. "I would love to win this. I've been coming to this tournament since I was a little kid as a spectator."
The quarterfinal took place with the stadium half empty despite postcard weather. Attendance is down about 7 percent from last year, and promoters blame the absence of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
Errani, seeded eighth, fell to 0-26 against opponents ranked in the top five.
Sharapova has won 10 straight matches, all in straight sets. She won the Indian Wells championship this month and is bidding to become the third woman to claim that title and Key Biscayne in the same year. Steffi Graf did it in 1994 and 1996, and Kim Clijsters won both in 2005.
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