Second seed and defending champion Maria Sharapova advanced to the Internazionali BNL d'Italia final with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Angelique Kerber. Her opponent in the title match will be seed number eight Li. Three of Sharapova's last five titles came on clay, while the only Grand Slam she hasn't won yet is the claycourt Roland Garros, the trophy Li lifted last year.

In both sets Sharapova broke Kerber's serve right away, and even though the twelfth-seeded German did manage to break back and keep herself in the match, Sharapova was in control throughout. The Russian's lead in winners was 27-9, while she committed one fewer unforced than her opponent. Read more »

Defending champion Maria Sharapova is through to the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, beating wildcard Venus Williams 6-4 6-3 in the final eight. After a closely-fought first set, the Russian second seed broke Venus' serve for a 5-4 lead, and in the following game saved two break points before taking the set. The second set Sharapova started by establishing a 2-0 lead, and even though Venus leveled at 2-all, the American didn't give much more resistance. Besides confidently holding one more service game, the rest of the set was Sharapova's and Venus even ended the match with a double fault. Sharapova's semifinal opponent will be Petra Kvitova or Angelique Kerber.

Earlier in the quarterfinals, Serena Williams was on court for just 28 minutes, as Flavia Pennetta retired with a right wrist injury while trailing 4-0. Williams' claycourt winning streak has mounted to 17 matches, and the American, who has this spring won on the green clay of Charleston and the blue clay of Madrid, confidently stated: "I've played on ice and on water. I can play on any surface."

Serena's opponent in the semifinals will be French Open champion Li Na of China, who stormed to a 6-1 4-0 lead against Dominika Cibulkova, before the Slovak recovered to take the second set to a tiebreak. Still, Li won 6-1 7-6 (4) and is now looking for her second victory over Serena in their seventh meeting. (photo courtesy of Francesca Moscatelli)

Michael Joyce, Maria Sharapova’s former coach, is greatly disappointed in Caroline Wozniacki, saying in a recent interview for Bleacher Report, which I heartily recommend, that she "has to get more weight on her ball" because right now she "can’t break an egg with her forehand". What could have the Dane done better in her career? Joyce believes that her father should have stepped away more and she should have given more time to other coaches to prove themselves and let the relationship develop.

Talking about Piotr as an obstacle, Joyce mentioned Sharapova’s father Yuri as a person who did give a free reign to his daughter’s coaches, even though it didn’t seem so: Read more »

Ana Ivanovic was ahead in both sets of her third-round encounter with Maria Sharapova at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, but she displayed her brilliant ability to let a match slip away and you know how well Sharapova can smell prey.

Sharapova made a terrible start to the match, making a total of four double faults in her first two service games to assist Ivanovic in taking a 3-0 lead which comprised of two breaks. Ivanovic had a game point in the following game, but Sharapova started winning. Still, Ivanovic earned a set point at 5-3 and five set points at 5-4, aaaand Sharapova saved them all to level at 5-5! In the tiebreak it was again Ivanovic who first established a lead, but again Sharapova clawed back from 4-4 in the tiebreak to win the set with a shot right on the line.

Even though Ivanovic started the second set by dropping serve, she again built a lead, 3-1. However, the history repeated, the lead was not enough, as Sharapova took charge and won all the remaining games. Final score: 7-6(4) 6-3.

In the quarterfinals, the second-seeded Sharapova will face wildcard Venus Williams, who overcame Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-3. Other quarterfinal pairs are: Dominika Cibulkova vs. Li Na, Serena Williams vs. Flavia Pennetta, and Angelique Kerber vs. Petra Kvitova. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Maria Sharapova has had a very good stretch on clay and extended it today with a 7-5 7-5 victory over Christina McHale in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. The Russian has won 17 of her last 19 matches on clay, and those wins include the 2011 Rome and 2012 Stuttgart titles.

Her opening match in Rome this year was a tricky affair, as the second-seeded Sharapova trailed in both sets, especially in the first set when she had to recover from a 4-1 deficit, overcoming numerous unforced errors. The victory came after two hours and 12 minutes. Read more »