Sharapova and Serena Advance to Madrid Open Semis

Defending champion Maria Sharapova edged out fifth-seeded Dane Caroline Wozniacki 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 on Thursday to advance to the Mutua Madrid Open semifinals.

After exchanging wins through the first two sets, the matchup of former world number ones would head into a deciding third set. Capitalizing on a few untimely unforced errors from Wozniacki, Sharapova notched two break points in the final set on her way to  a 6-3 set win.

“I think I became a little bit more aggressive at the end,” said Sharapova. “I was so far back for a long period of time after winning the first set. I definitely thought that was an improvement, something I started doing better in the third. And opening up the court a little bit more and then moving forward. I was staying too far back and letting her get in the rallies, which she’s really good at.”

Sharapova’s defense stepped up big in the final set, winning half of the return points in the deciding frame.

The world number three Russian, who captured the title in Madrid last year, will play compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals. Kuznetsova came back from a set down to beat 13th seeded Czech Lucie Safarova 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(3) on Thursday.

World number one Serena Williams won her 27th consecutive match on Thursday, beating 10th-seeded Spaniard Carla Suarez-Navarro 6-1, 6-3 to reach the final four.

Serena played a much cleaner match than she did in previous match against Victoria Azarenka, ripping 43 winners compared to just 27 unforced errors, blowing past Suarez-Navarro in just one hour and 13 minutes.

“Every time I go out on the court with Serena I try to forget all of our previous matches, because in the end, every single match is different,” said Suarez Navarro, who is now 0-5 lifetime against Serena. “And this time from the baseline, the difference wasn’t that big—this is one of the times that I think I was playing better against her. But she demonstrated she’s playing at a really high level. She’s playing her game, dominating and hitting some really good winners. The winners just come out when she plays. Everything works for her.”

In the semifinals, Serena will tangle with Petra Kvitova. The fourth-seeded Czech moved past Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 7-5, 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the final four.