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| Maria Sharapova looking happy |
Maria Sharapova needed all her battling qualities to beat Eugenie Bouchard and reach a third successive French Open final.
The 2012 champion came through 4-6 7-5 6-2 against the 20-year-old Canadian in two hours and 27 minutes.
It was the third match in a row in which Sharapova had to recover from a set down.
She will face fourth seed Simona Halep or 28th seed Andrea Petkovic in Saturday's final.
Sam Stosur and Garbine Muguruza were seen
off in three sets by Sharapova in the previous two rounds, and rising
star Bouchard went the same way despite a similarly impressive start.
The Canadian's powerful, flat hitting off both wings
had Sharapova scrambling from side to side and she broke for the second
time at 4-4 on her way to clinching the opening set.
When Bouchard came back from 5-2 down to level in the second, after an extraordinary ninth game that saw Sharapova double-fault on two of three set points, a maiden Gran Slam final was within reach.
But while Sharapova's tennis might not always have hit the heights at Roland Garros this year, her renowned fighting spirit has been ever present.
The vulnerable serve improved sufficiently to take the pressure off and the Russian hammered away with her forehand to break at 6-5, forcing a decider.
Sharapova had dropped one game in her previous two final sets, and she set about this one in similar fashion, coming back from 40-0 down to break at 3-1.
Bouchard has shown her mettle by reaching two Grand Slam semi-finals this year and gamely saw off four match points on serve, but Sharapova simply would not be denied.
The seventh seed converted her fifth chance with a forehand that clipped the baseline and left Bouchard swiping her racquet at thin air.
Source: BBC
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