Maria Sharapova equalled her best performance since returning from a doping suspension when she reached the Tianjin Open semi-finals on Friday.
The Russian easily defeated Swiss qualifier Stefanie Voegele 6-3, 6-1 in 64 minutes. The former world No 1 will face either China's Peng Shuai or Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo in the last four.
.@MariaSharapova has still won every set this week en route to the @TianjinOpen Semifinals!--> https://t.co/lkApwqFmQE pic.twitter.com/Xm5QVdt211
— wta (@WTA) October 13, 2017
Sharapova returned from a 15-month suspension in April for taking the banned substance meldonium.
In her first tournament back, in Stuttgart, she made it to the semi-finals but has been unable to repeat that feat again, until now.
Sharapova, 30, ranked 86 in the world, was granted a wildcard for Tianjin because her ranking was too low.
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