BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Maria Sharapova reached her first semifinal in more than a year by defeating Yanina Wickmayer 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 Friday at the Aegon Classic.

The former top-ranked player struggled with her serve in the second set, but regained her stride in the third to break her 19-year-old opponent twice for a 5-1 lead.
Sharapova had 11 double-faults with a remodeled serve to protect her shoulder, which required surgery last year and sidelined her for 10 months.
“I kind of lost the momentum and made more errors than I would have preferred, and she gained confidence from that,” Sharapova said. “When you give her time, she plays very aggressively. And once she had broken me, she kept swinging away and came up with some great shots.”
Sharapova next plays Li Na, the former Wimbledon quarterfinalist from China who beat Stefanie Voegele 6-3, 7-6 (3).
The other semifinal will pit Magdalena Rybarikova against Sania Mirza.
Mirza reached only her second semifinal in two years with a 6-1, 7-6 (4) win over Melinda Czink, while Rybarikova defeated Urszula Radwanska 6-3, 6-3.
Mirza recently recovered from a wrist injury, and was encouraged by her performances in Birmingham.
“I’m happy to be competing and winning some matches,” Mirza said. “The wrist is healed, which is the biggest positive out of this.”