Sharapova plays catch up to keep title hopes on track

LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) Maria Sharapova today began her quest to play catch-up at the rain-hit Birmingham Classic by winning back-to-back matches to reach the semi-finals of the grasscourt championships.

After a battling 6-3 4-6 6-2 win over Austrian teenager Tamira Paszek the top seed defeated fellow Russian Elena Likhovtseva 6-2 6-3 to book her place in the last four.

On a day when the Sharapova should have been contesting only a semi-final, she found herself lagging two rounds behind after rain washed out her match against Paszek yesterday.

After a 56-minute disruption in the opening set against Paszek, Sharapova allowed a 4-3 lead in the second set slip through and was forced to play a decider.

The 2004 Wimbledon champion was back on court just hours later and was relieved to carve out a straight sets win against Likhovtseva.

Third seed Daniela Hantuchova moved back into the top 10 for the first time in almost four years when she overwhelmed Eleni Daniilidou 7-6 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals. The Slovakian will be back on court again later in the day as organisers attempted to clear a backlog of matches.

Serbian second seed Jelena Jankovic appeared to show no ill effects from the stiff neck which troubled her yesterday when she beat Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko 6-4 6-3.

Fourth seed Li Na's patience finally ran out and she was beaten 6-2 7-5 by Italian eighth seed Mara Santangelo in the quarters.

Reuters SBA VP0140