Sharapova sizzles into semi-final

The Russian beat the Italian in the Roland Garros title match last year to complete a career Grand Slam and again triumphed this time round.

With a win over the sixth seed, Sharapova reached the semi-finals in the California desert for the sixth time and said she hoped to secure a second title to go with the one sheu00a0captured back in 2006. "I'm giving myself an opportunity to be back in the final, and hopefully I will go farther this time," said Sharapova, who was runner-up to Victoria Azarenka last year.

Sharapova was slow out of the blocks against Errani, as she was in her 7-5, 6-0 victory over Spain's Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino.u00a0