Sharapova into the semis in Acapulco

Acapulco, Mexico (SportsNetwork.com) – Maria Sharapova needed three sets
Thursday to get by Magdalena Rybarikova and reach the semifinals at the
Mexican Open tennis event.

The top-seeded Sharapova lost the second set but wound up pulling out a 6-1,
4-6, 6-2 victory on the hardcourts at the Acapulco Princess.

Her next opponent is third-seeded Caroline Garcia, who won the first set
against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and was leading in the second before Lucic-Baroni
was forced to retire.

The other semifinal will pit Timea Bacsinszky against Sesil Karatantcheva. The
fifth-seeded Bacsinszky cruised past Johanna Larsson, 6-3, 6-3, while
Karatantcheva outlasted Monica Puig, 2-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4.

This week’s winner will pocket $43,000.