Top-seeded Maria Sharapova advanced to the semi-finals of the Amelia Island championships after a hard-earned 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko on Friday.
The Australian Open champion will meet former world number one Lindsay Davenport in the semi-finals after the American beat Hungary's Agnes Szavay 6-4, 7-6, while Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova will play Alize Cornet in the other semi-final.
Cornet beat 13th-seeded compatriot Virginie Razzano 6-4, 6-2 while Cibulkova beat France's Amelie Mauresmo 6-1, 7-6.
Sharapova, who needed three sets and three hours, 27 minutes to beat Anabel Medina-Garrigues on Thursday, needed another three sets and almost three hours on Friday to beat Bondarenko.
"I'm fine I guess. I thought I recovered pretty well considering it was a short turn-around," Sharapova told reporters. "Mentally I was prepared but you never know how you're going to feel physically.
"I actually surprised myself a little bit, even after losing that first set, I didn't give up. I was very well aware that the match wasn't over yet and that I still had many more opportunities and chances."
Sharapova had a mixed service game, combining 11 aces with eight double faults though her serve was conclusive in the third set when she won 93 percent of her first serve points.
"I started slow with everything, not just the serve," said Sharapova. "Even though my serve let me down a few times, I think it saved me a lot more than let me down."
Bondarenko won the first set when she capitalised on a number of unforced errors from the Russian, but the momentum of the match turned in the sixth game of the second set when Sharapova broke Bondarenko's serve with a succession of forehand winners.
The Ukrainian's composure evaporated, smashing the court with her racquet several times after the game and she never recovered, winning just three more games in the match.
In the late match, Cibulkova won the first set in just 36 minutes, but had to rally from 5-3 down in the second to force a tiebreaker.
She lost the first three points and later trailed 5-3 in the tiebreak before she rattled off the next three points and sealed victory when Mauresmo double faulted.
"Even when I went down 3-0 in the tie-breaker, I was still believing in myself," Cibulkova said. "I was fighting for every ball."
Cibulkova had never met Mauresmo before Friday's match although she practiced with her during the Miami tournament.
"I had never played against her. When I was little I would always see her on TV so she was like an idol to me.
"So it was different for me to play against her. That's why it means a lot to me (to beat her)."
