Maria into French Open Semis!!

Maria advanced to the semi-finals today after beating fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze: 6-3 6-4

Sharapova drew first blood when she broke in the sixth game and then survived four break-back chances in the next game before holding for a 5-2 lead.

She went on to take the first set 6-3 and when she broke in the first game of the second set she looked set to easy to victory.

However, Chakvetadze was in no mood to lay down and broke back immediately - it was to be her only success of the Sharapova serve which stood up well given her recent shoulder injury.

The score moved on 4-3 at which point Sharapova moved up a gear to break once more before serving out for victory in an hour and 18 minutes.

In the semi-finals Maria will play Ana Ivanovic of Serbia. Maria has played her once before, but retired in the second set.

The other semi-final will be between Serbian Jelena Jankovic and Justine Henin of Belgium.