Maria Sharapova claimed her first title since April 2008 when Jelena Jankovic retired during the first set of their Toray Pan Pacific Open final.

The unseeded Russian, ranked 25th in the world, was leading 5-2 in the first set when the seventh-seeded Serb withdrew because of a right wrist injury.

The 2009 Toray Pan Pacific title is Sharapova’s first since her comeback from a shoulder injury in May. The Russian had been out for nine long months.

"To go from not knowing whether you'll ever play the sport again to holding a trophy, it's an unbelievable feeling," said the 22-year-old Grand Slam champion. (via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Seventh seed Jelena Jankovic and unseeded Maria Sharapova will play each other in the Toray Pan Pacific Open final.

In the semifinals, Serbia’s Jankovic benefited from Li Na’s 40 errors to defeat the Chinese No.15 seed 6-4 6-3, and for the second time in a row beat a player against whom she had a negative career record, having ended a losing streak against Marion Bartoli in the previous round.

Sharapova scored her fourth victory over Agnieszka Radwanska, overcoming the eleventh seed 6-3 2-6 6-4. The Russian rallied from 0-2 in the third set to prevail.

Jankovic will be looking for her third title of the season (she won both her previous finals in 2009), while the 2005 Toray Pan Pacific Open champion Sharapova will try to end her title drought that extends back to April 2008.

Sharapova has a 4-1 head-to-head record against Jankovic, and 3-0 on hardcourts. (photo: Jean-Sebastien Marceau)

Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Maria Sharapova of Russia remain on course to face each other in the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

The seventh-seeded Jankovic, the highest-ranked player left in the draw, ended a losing streak against No.14 seed Marion Bartoli of France, defeating her 6-4 6-3 to reach the semifinals. Bartoli had beaten Jankovic in their last four meetings, twice in 2007 and twice this year.

The Serb’s next opponent will be No.15 seed Li Na of China, who won a tight match against Belorussian Victoria Azarenka, seeded eighth, 7-6(7) 4-6 7-6(4).

Maria Sharapova rallied from a set down in both sets against Czech Iveta Benesova, to win 6-4 7-5 and advance to the last four. Next up for Sharapova will be No.11 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who rounded out the semis with a 6-3 6-1 victory over Magdalena Rybarikova. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Jelena Jankovic and Victoria Azarenka were the only Top 8 seeds not to have fallen in the first two rounds of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and on Wednesday they went through to the quarterfinals. Maria Sharapova also advanced to the last eight.

The seventh-seeded Jankovic won her third-round match when Elena Vesnina retired with a left thigh injury while trailing 6-1 3-0. The eighth-seeded Azarenka beat Lucie Safarova 7-5 6-4 in the last match of the day.

The 2005 Toray Pan Pacific Open champion Sharapova once again played a three-setter against fellow Russian Alisa Kleybanova, fighting back from a first-set loss to win 2-6 6-2 6-2. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

The red ANTA dress brought Jelena Jankovic no luck as she made her earliest US Open exit since 2004. The last year’s finalist fell to world No.55 Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-3 6-7(4) 7-6(6).

The seesaw match featured a total of 14 breaks of serve. Jankovic was on the brink of defeat on multiple occasions, but managed to crawl back and even had two match points in the hard-earned third-set tiebreak. The Serb failed to convert both and Shvedova sealed victory with an ace on her first match point.

Shvedova’s opponent in the third round will be Gisela Dulko of Argentina. (photo via Life.com)