Australian Open - 2006

Maria Sharapova fought her way out of trouble to beat sixth seed Nadia Petrova in an all-Russian quarterfinal at the Australian Open on Tuesday, setting up a semifinal clash with Justine Henin-Hardenne.

Fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova had to dig deep and break her opponent twice to force the opening set to a tie-breaker, then saved two set points before winning a first set that featured six service breaks. The former Wimbledon champion struggled in an error-strewn second set, but after fending off three break points at 5-4, she closed out the match 7-6, 6-4 in two hours. "It was definitely not easy. We were breaking each other's serves left and right out there. It was a miracle when someone held serve," Maria told a news conference. "I just tried to hang in there. It's really tough being down two set points. But I gutted it out in the first point, then had an easy second point."