|
 Ivanovic looked anything but the world number seven as she lost
the opening five games, prompting her coach Dejan Petrovic to join
her in an animated courtside chat.
Kanepi double faulted when she had the chance to wrap up the set 6-0
then Ivanovic responded by breaking her serve and reeling off the
next four games.
Kanepi regained her composure to eventually take the set but the
momentum was with Ivanovic and the Serbian ran away with the last
two sets to win 4-6 6-4 6-3.
"Definitely I had very slow start. I felt like I was hitting the
ball all right, but I was just missing the easy put-aways," Ivanovic
said.
"I nearly came back in the first set, but was really happy I kept my
composure for the second and definitely in the third to stay on
top."
 Ivanovic will now play American Varvara Lepchenko in Friday's
semi-finals after she beat Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 7-5 7-5.
Sharapova was very impressive in her 6-1 6-3 win over Spain's Carla
Suarez Navarro. The world number two has given up just five games in
her two matches so far but said she is not worried about having too
easy a workout leading into the Australian Open.
"If I wanted to I could make it tougher on myself. I don't think
that's really the goal," she said.
"I know how to get ready for grand slams. I'm certainly not thinking
about that I need that type of match. My goal is to go out there and
do the right things."
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The Russian will now play Elina Svitolina in the semis after the
Ukrainian upset third-seed Angelique Kerber of Germany. Svitolina,
the 2010 junior French Open champion, was a set and a double break
down before she rallied back to win 4-6 7-5 6-3.
"I faced Svitolina last year in Beijing for the first time. She's a
young girl that's already in the top 30 with a tremendous amount of
potential and someone that you'll be seeing in the top very soon,"
Sharapova said.
"She has a good game, an all-around player. It'll be a tough
matchup, but one that I look forward to actually."
(Reporting by Julian Linden; editing by Justin Palmer)
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