Sharapova battles into Tokyo semi-finals

TOKYO, Feb 2 (Reuters) World number one Maria Sharapova battled her way into the semi-finals of the Pan Pacific Open with a 4-6 6-0 6-1 victory over Japan's Ai Sugiyama today.

The 19-year-old Russian squandered a 3-1 lead to drop the first set but quickly recovered after a calming head-to-head with coach Michael Joyce to whitewash Sugiyama in the second.

Sharapova has dismissed on-court coaching as a gimmick but she only clicked into gear in her opening match against Italy's Francesca Schiavone following an ear-bashing from Joyce.

She made another rapid transformation after dropping the first set to local favourite Sugiyama, winning 12 of the next 13 games to advance to the last four in Tokyo.

Sharapova, beaten by Serena Williams in the Australian Open final last the weekend, faces the winner of the all-Serbian clash between Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic in the semi-finals.

REUTERS PM DS1156