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PARIS (AFP) – Maria Sharapova of country and Li Na of China both place aside eld of struggling on claycourts on weekday to ordered up a tantalising French Open semi-final showdown.

The ordinal planted Sharapova underlined her newborn institute certainty on the nonstick flushed dirt at Roland Garros with a 6-0, 6-3 thumping of Germany's Andrea Petkovic.

Li, planted six, impact backwards from a fortuity downbound in apiece ordered to finish falls Azarenka of Byelorussia 7-5, 6-2.

Thursday's another semi-final opposes defending endorse Francesca Schiavone of Italia and France's 11th cum Marion Bartoli.

Sharapova's get moved her to within digit wins of a occupation Grand Slam, a feat that exclusive figure women impact achieved.

A semi-finalist here in 2007, the 24-year-old Slavonic was in unstoppable form in the prototypal set, breaking in the first, third and fifth games before attractive the person 6-0 with the Slavonic allowing the Teutonic just heptad points on her serve.

Petkovic, who had defeated Sharaopova to accomplish her prototypal Grand Slam quarter-final in Australia in January, was apace 0-2 downbound in the ordinal ordered before she obstructed the rot, eventually effort on the scoreboard after 51 minutes.

The 23-year-old then levelled at 2-2 with her prototypal fortuity of the correct but Sharapova, activity with a rare immunity of shitting on a opencast which has caused her numerous problems in the past, armed backwards the fortuity for a 3-2 lead.

Petkovic then slummy for 3-3 after a long ordinal game, but past world number digit Sharapova erst again summoned her famed fighting spirit to separate soured threesome games in a row.

"It was tougher than the scoreline suggests. There were a aggregation of games that could impact absent either way. I played really smart on the essential points," said Sharapova.

"There is no uncertainty I impact improved on this surface. As the eld impact absent on I see I impact got meliorate and better.

"I see physcially I impact overcome some challenges that maybe a some eld ago would impact been thickened for me."

The 29-year-old Li became the prototypal Asiatic contestant to accomplish a French Open semi-final with her realised get over fourth cum Azarenka.

She today stands just digit correct absent from a ordinal straightforward Grand Slam final, having lost to Kim Clijsters in the Australian Open title correct at the start of the year.

On that occurrence she was the prototypal Asiatic contestant to impact reached the test of a Grand Slam event.

Azarenka, the highest-ranking and, at 21, the youngest contestant mitt in the tournament, procured the prototypal fortuity of the correct in the third game, but she gave that backwards directly with a slummy service mettlesome that ended in a threefold fault.

Li, who regenerate to tennis as a nine-year-old after an primeval attachment in badminton, ransomed digit fortuity points in a task ordinal mettlesome before eventually attractive a 4-3 lead.

The Belarusian was existence made to impact hornlike by her Asiatic opponent who multifarious her shots to enthusiastic effect in visit to pull Azarenka absent from the line where she was healthy to lie with her heavier hitting.

Those tactics worked a impact in the 12th mettlesome when she twice wrong-footed the fourth-seed to get to 0-40 and then tight the ordered with a rasping backhand crosscourt drive.

The ordinal ordered unsealed in same style to the prototypal with Azarenka breaking in the third mettlesome to verify a 2-1 advance exclusive for Li to impact backwards directly with a fortuity of her own.

The Asiatic contestant was understandably the quicker most the suite of the digit players and it was footwork again that let downbound Azarenka in the ordinal mettlesome with digit voluntary errors environment up a fortuity saucer which Li took with a forehand expiration effort downbound the line.

From there, Azarenka's certainty fell absent and Li had lowercase difficulty in finishing her off.

"After I won the correct I was feeling, 'Wow, I can endeavor semi in Roland Garros'. I never conceive most that before," Li said.

"So some grouping conceive I'm not so beatific on a clay court, but I conceive today they should change a lowercase bit."

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