Sharapova beats Jankovic to reach semifinals at French Open

PARIS, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Defending champion Maria Sharapova fought back from one set down to beat Serbia's Jelena Jankovic to reach the semifinals at the French Open here on Wednesday.

Sharapova, the second seed, plunged to a surprise 0-6 defeat in the first set, but she recovered to win 6-4, 6-3 over the 18th-seeded Jankovic.

The Russian will take on twice Australian Open Victoria Azarenka for the final berth. Azarenka, the third seed, defeated 12th-seed Maria Kirilenko 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 in the other match.

"After the first set I knew if I wanted to win this match I'd have to change things around," said Sharapova of the first set to the crowd.

"I just had to erase that chapter and move forward because the match was not over. I still felt like I was in the match and I was, I broke her in the first game and that was extremely important. I just fought really hard in the third set. It only gets tougher from here but I'm really happy to be at this stage again."