The Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced her ban to 15 months, while finding Sharapova was not an "intentional doper" but "bore some degree of fault" for relying on her agent to check the prohibited list for changes and failing to ensure he had done so.

There was none of the rust or nerves she showed in beating Roberta Vinci 7-5, 6-3 in Wednesday's first round - the first day she was eligible to play after her ban.

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Asked about the comments, Sharapova said: "I don't have anything to say - I am way above that".

"I kept myself in good shape, because once you lose it, it's hard to get it back". The Russian, in spite of prolonged simple, demonstrated an impressive level of tennis Maria served 11 aces and gave almost four dozen of points won, etc.

Having a tough match against the red-hot qualifier Anett Kontaveit yesterday, Sharapova got past the tricky opponent in straight sets and progressed to her first semifinal since the 2015 WTA Finals.

The Telegraph reported that Sharapova will not be given a main-draw wild card at the French Open.

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Mladenovic will now face either fourth seed Simona Halep of Romania or Germany's Laura Siegemund, a wild card, in Sunday's final. The Romanian plays much better tennis when she has a particular rhythm from the back of the court and she is also risky with her aggressive passing shots from deep behind the baseline.

Elsewhere, France's Kristina Mladenovic caused the biggest upset of the tournament to date when she beat top seed Angelique Kerber 6-2 7-5.

"On one hand, I totally understand the tournaments want her in the draw, because she is very famous and they want more attention, which is part of the business".

"I haven't played her, she is one of the few girls on the tour I haven't faced yet", said Sharapova. I'm visualizing tactics better, as well, focusing on patterns.

Wildcard entrant Sharapova returned to action this week following her 15-month ban, but has looked like she never really went away in winning her three matches so far without dropping a set.

"I'm already visualising the match before I play and it's a great feeling to have".

A day earlier, Sharapova said she doesn't feel hurt by fellow players speaking out against the conditions of her comeback.