Maria Sharapova continued her bid for a second Wimbledon singles title courtesy of a 6-3 6-7(3) 6-2 victory over Coco Vandeweghe in the quarter-finals this afternoon.
World number four Sharapova, who first triumphed at SW19 as a teenager in 2004, appeared to have taken control of proceedings early in the first set when she broke her American opponent for a 3-1 lead.
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However, the unseeded Vandeweghe hit back instantly as she recorded a break to love, only to then surrender her serve straight away to hand the advantage back to Sharapova, which she pressed home.
Another break of the Vandeweghe serve followed at the start of the second set after the 23-year-old, who had never previously gone beyond the second round at Wimbledon, sent a backhand into the net.
From that moment onwards, Vandeweghe held her remaining services games and then made a crucial breakthrough of her own when Sharapova served for the match at 5-4. The New York-born player went on to have two set points, but she could not convert either of them as the champion of 11 years ago forced a tie-breaker.
With the breaker level at three points apiece, Vandeweghe made amends for her failure to win the second set in the previous game as she won the next four points in a row to send the encounter into a third and deciding set.
More breaks followed, which were 3-1 in Sharapova's favour, meaning that it was she that booked her place in the semi-finals at Wimbledon for a fifth time.
She will now take on either world number one Serena Williams or Victoria Azarenka for a place in Sunday's final.
Liam Apicella
