Sharapova through to Los Angeles semifinals, but it wasn't pretty

In her first set against Urszula Radwanska in their LA Women's Tennis Championships quarterfinal match, Maria Sharapova served well and won the set 6-4. In the second set, her serve went to pieces, and she double-faulted 11 times (as opposed to twice in the first set). The ESPN commentators had a field day analyzing the psychological, physiological and sociological aspects of Sharapova's condition. She would probably have been amused if she had heard them.

Sharapova didn't have to worry, though. Radwanska, who--unfortunately--emulates her sister's second serve--went to pieces in the latter part of the second set, squandering almost every good opportunity she had. She muttered and stumbled and generally made it easy for Sharapova to dig herself out of a hole. After she won the match 6-4, 7-5, Sharapova looked and sounded subdued. In an interview with Pam Shriver, she said that during the period when her shoulder was bothering her a lot, she developed many bad habits while compensating. It will take her a while, she explained, to unlearn those bad habits.

In the semifinals, she will face either 2nd seed Vera Zvonareva or 10th seed Flavia Pennetta, either of whom will return her serve better than it was returned last night. Stay tuned...