By Matthew Cronin
SAN DIEGO, Aug 3 - Top seed Maria Sharapova
demolished Sania Mirza 6-2 6-1 to reach the semi-finals of the
San Diego Classic on Friday.
Eleventh seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder was nearly as
impressive as Sharapova, out-toughing number four Nadia Petrova
of Russia 6-4 6-4.
She will meet another Russian, ninth seed Elena Dementieva,
who overcame compatriot Maria Kirilenko 6-2 6-4.
India's Mirza came into the match loaded with confidence
after reaching the final of the Stanford Classic last week and
having beaten eighth seed Dinara Safina in the previous round
in San Diego.
But she had trouble returning Sharapova's serves and
watched the Russian tear apart her second serve.
Sharapova was in control for the entire match, with Mirza
winning only 40 percent of her service points.
"I stepped inside the court and played my game," Sharapova
told reporters.
"I wanted to make sure I stepped in and hit it. The two
most important things were my serves and returns because she's
pretty solid from the baseline."
Playing in her first tournament since falling to Venus
Williams in the fourth round of Wimbledon, defending champion
Sharapova seems to have regained her stride and has lost only
10 games in her last three matches.
The former world number one has yet to win a title this
year, but thinks her confidence may be returning.
"I'll take these matches rather than 7-6 in the third,"
Sharapova said.
"No matter how confident you are, you have to live in
reality. I don't know where confidence comes from, but it's
good to get these matches behind me and know I'm playing
consistently and serving better."
Since returning to the tour after six weeks off due to
three broken ribs in May, Dementieva has struggled to regain
her once top five form.
But the former U.S. Open finalist said she feels at home on
the hard court -- her favourite surface -- and ran Kirilenko
ragged.
"It was difficult match," Dementieva said. "She plays very
smart. I'm very happy to be back on the tour and playing well
again."
Sharapova will meet the winner of the match between Venus
Williams and third seed Anna Chakvetadze.