20 Aug 2011

Maria cruises into Cincinnati semi-finals

9:02 am on 20 August 2011

Maria Sharapova marched into the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Tennis Open after crushing Australian Samantha Stosur 6-3 6-2.

Sharapova dominated from the outset of the 72-minute match against world number 10 Stosur, who lost in last week's Toronto Cup final to Serena Williams.

The Russian, who advanced to her sixth semi-final in 12 tournaments this year, is now projected to return to the top five when the new rankings are released on Tuesday.

Sharapova will face the winner of the quarter-final between Slovak Daniela Hantuchova and Russia's Vera Zvonareva.