STUTTGART (Germany): Defending champion Maria Sharapova marched into the semifinals of Stuttgart’s WTA tournament with a 6-4, 6-3 win over topseed Agnieszka Radwanska in Friday’s quarterfinals. “That was a big win for me,” admitted Sharapova after picking up her 11th straight win in Stuttgart where she is bidding for a hat-trick of titles having won the 2012 and 2013 tournaments.

Sharapova claimed her ninth win in 11 matches against world number three Radwanska of Poland, but the statuesque Russian did not have things her own way, despite needing only one hour, 39 minutes to claim victory. After a total of seven breaks at the start of the match, as the momentum swung back and forth, Sharapova finally won her first service game to take control of the first set. “That was one of the key moments,” she said after eventually needing eight match points to claim the win. She will now face either Spain‘s Carla Suarez Navarro or Italy’s Sara Errani in Saturday’s semifinal.