Sharapova plays two, moves to semis

The Associated Press

Published Sunday, June 17, 2007

Maria Sharapova reached the DFS Classic semifinals by defeating two opponents yesterday - Tamira Peszak and Elena Likhovtseva.

With rain postponing her third-round match against Peszak for two days, the top-seeded Sharapova will have to win four matches in two days if she is to capture the title of the grass-court warm-up for Wimbledon in Birmingham, England.

"Mentally, you have to be ready for a very long day. You have to be ready no matter how many stops there are," Sharapova said. "But it’s difficult to come out not having played for two days, cold turkey. I got sloppy in the first match, but I was much better in the second.

"In the second match, I stepped in more. I only wanted to get rhythm out there, which is difficult when you are still not comfortable moving around out there."

Sharapova won 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 against the 16-year-old Peszak and defeated Likhovtseva 6-2, 6-3.

Sharapova next will play either third-seeded Daniela Hantuchova or fifth-seeded Marion Bartoli, whose match was suspended by darkness after two sets. Hantuchova won the first set 7-5, and Bartoli the second 6-4.

Third-ranked Jelena Jankovic overcame an injured neck to beat Alona Bondarenko 6-4, 6-3 and advance to the semifinals against Mara Sanatangelo, who won 6-2, 7-5 over Li Na.

● ATP: Second-seeded Andy Roddick and unseeded Nicolas Mahut advanced to the final of the Queen’s Club grass-court championships in London.

Roddick beat Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 6-4, 7-5, and Mahut reached his first final by serving 17 aces in a 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory over 14th-seeded Arnaud Clement.

"I thought I played a lot better today, pretty consistently," Roddick said. "I was making returns, wasn’t making a lot of sloppy errors. So I was pleased."

The American improved to 2-1 against the seventh-seeded Tursunov.