In a battle between youth and experience, 17-year-old phenom Maria Sharapova outlasted veteran Ai Sugiyama 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 to advanced to her first career Grand Slam semifinal Tuesday at Wimbledon.
The blond Sharapova possess a ferocious array of groundstroke winners and a powerful serve, which helped her secure the second and third sets after an mistake-filled first set in which she committed 20 unforced errors.
The 13th seeded Sharapova has now won 10 straight matches, including a title run two weeks ago in Birmingham, England. Last year, in her Wimbledon debut, Sharapova reached the fourth round falling to her countrywoman Svetlana Kuznetsova.
In the semifinals, Sharapova will meet 1999 champion Lindsay Davenport, a 6-2, 6-2 winner today over 19-year-old Karolina Sprem. The two have never played before.
Sharapova is the youngest semifinalist at Wimbledon since 16-year-old Martina Hingis won here in 1997, and she is the first Russian to reach the semifinals since Anna Kournikova also in 1997.
