Russian top seed Maria Sharapova (pictured) overcame Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova to reach the semi-final in Acapulco, Mexico.
Sharapova will face Caroline Garcia of France after beat Rybarikova 6-1 4-6 6-2. Third seed Garcia was leading 6-2 2-1 when Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni retired from the quarter-finals. The other semi-final will be played between Bulgaria’s Sesil Karatantcheva and fifth seed Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland. Karatantcheva defeated Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 2-6 7-6 6-4, while Bacsinszky got past Sweden’s Johanna Larsson 6-3 6-3.
On the men’s side, Japanese top seed Kei Nishikori beat his fifth seed Ukrainian opponent Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4 6-4. Nishikori will now face South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, who beat Serbia’s Viktor Troicki 3-6 6-3 6-3.
Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, who had won his sixth career ATP Tour title in Delray Beach, Florida, on Sunday, went down to Ryan Harrison of the United States 4-6 7-6 7-6.
