Maria Sharapova Makes Stanford Final

Maria Sharapova had to show her battling qualities at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford to reach the final by seeing off Agnieszka Radwanska.

It was all one way traffic for third seed Radwanska as she dominated all aspect of play as Sharapova struggled with her serve.

Radwanska, who broke Sharapova three out of four times, took the opening set 1-6 and looked to be in complete control of the match.

But into the second and Sharapova finally got her serve under control as she turned the tables on the third seed as she took the set 6-2.

Things didn’t get much better for Radwanska in the third as Sharapova was dictating every aspect of play.

With her serve now firing well Radwanska didn’t have any answers for Sharapova’s play and the former world number one fired down four aces to seal the match 1-6 6-2 6-2.

Speaking to the WTA after the match Sharapova said: "I was all over the map for a little while.

"I cut down on the unforced errors and little by little I came back. She wins a lot of her matches by wearing her opponents down, getting a lot of balls back. You have to be ready for the next shot to come back, and every shot is a new one."

Sharapova will now face Victoria Azarenka as the eighth seed need just an hour and twenty four minutes to dispatch French Open finalist Sam Stosur in straight sets.

It was the power play from Azarenka that won her the match as her powerful ground strokes pushed Stosur back onto the baseline.

Stosur won just five games in a 6-2 6-3 defeat.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw