Sharapova beats Kerber to make final at Stuttgart

French Open champion Sharapova has played seven-and-a-half hours in her three matches here on clay, but comfortably took the first set with two breaks, before Kerber returned the compliment in the second.

Maria Sharapova reacts after beating Angelique Kerber. PIC/AFP

The third-set was a battle royal as the pair shared five breaks and third-seed Kerber refused to yield until the final phase of the 2hrs, 16mins match.

Sania-Bethanie in semis
Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek-Sands defeated Liezel Huber and Janette Husarova to enter the women's doubles semi-final here.

The Indo-American pair got past the American-Slovak combination 7-5, 6-4 in the quarter-finals. They next play Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic.u00a0