You're reading: Sharapova cruises into French Open semi-finals

PARIS - A decibel-busting display of power tennis helped Maria Sharapova reach her third French Open semi-final with a 6-2 6-3 win over Kaia Kanepi on June 6.

The Russian second seed fired a series of winners, each accompanied by her habitual shrieks, to break her opponent’s serve seven times in straight-forward quarter-final encounter that lasted only one hour 14 minutes.

The Estonian, who was backed by a small but noisy contingent of face-painted and flag-waving fans, froze on the big stage of Philippe Chatrier Court.

Sharapova will play the winner of Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova’s quarter-final match against Kazakh qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova.