The two were playing for the second time in as many weeks, with Sharapova coming back from a set down to win in three sets in Wuhan last week, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. And it looked like she was carrying the momentum from those last two sets into this encounter as she stormed out to a 6-0, 1-0 lead.
Kuznetsova found her range from there, winning four of the next six games to go up 4-3, which represented a break, and she even had two points for a 5-3 lead. But the No.4-seeded Sharapova kicked back into high gear, winning 11 of the next 14 points to seal it in straight sets, 6-0, 6-4. "We've always had very difficult matches, and the one in Wuhan was no different. It was very physical with a lot of long rallies, and I had a little bit of a slow start there," Sharapova commented. "I definitely wanted to do that differently this time, which I was happy with today. I think I played very aggressively. I controlled most of the points. I didn't allow her to get many balls back. It became a little bit trickier in the second set. I thought she played really great defense. But even if I was down a break, I felt like she was doing most of the running, and I was happy to win the match in two sets."
Sharapova will now play No.9 seed Ana Ivanovic, who received a quarterfinal walkover from No.2 seed Simona Halep after the WTA Rising Star had to withdraw from the tournament due to a hip injury.
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