Former world number one Maria Sharapova ground out a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win over Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska to reach the Pan Pacific Open final Friday. The Russian will play Serbia's Jelena Jankovic in the final after the seventh seed overpowered China's Li Na 6-4, 6-3 in the day's first semi-final at the $2 million Tokyo event. “I expect a very tough match,” Sharapova told reporters. “Jelena is a very solid player, a great mover, so it will be a very physical match. I'll have to fight for every point.” Sharapova, 25th in the world and chasing her first title since shoulder surgery last October, took the first set with a backhand bomb off a weak Radwanska second serve. The Russian lost her way in the second, double-faulting to hand Radwanska a 5-2 lead, the 11th seed quickly closing out the set with a huge serve down the centre line. Sharapova had to dig herself out of a hole at 0-2 in the decider as she summoned the experience that brought her three grand slam titles between 2004 and 2008. Shrieking louder and louder as the ferocity of her groundstrokes increased, Sharapova forged ahead 5-3 by smashing a forehand down the line, celebrating with a fist pump and a yell of “Come on!” The 2005 Tokyo champion squandered two match points on her serve in the next game but sealed victory at the fourth attempt by ripping a blistering backhand return cross court. “I missed those match points by a hair,” said Sharapova. “I knew I had to keep going for it and I did. I was able to step it up. I'm one win away now and I have to lay it all on the line.” Tsonga, Simon in semis In Bangkok, holder Jo-Wilfried Tsonga moved to within two victories of duplicating his 2008 title at the Thailand Open as he defeated Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli 6-7 (7/9), 6-3, 6-4 Friday. The comeback in nearly two-and-a-half hours echoed the struggle of French compatriot Gilles Simon, who also rallied into the final four after engineering a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback over Russian Evgeny Korolev. Tsonga notched 20 aces in his heroic effort against the Swiss underdog ranked 116. Tsonga's win was his 43rd of the season against 15 losses. Serb Viktor Troicki, the number four seed, beat American eighth seed John Isner 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 with 13 aces in their first meeting. Simon will face off against sixth seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria, who beat German Andreas Beck 6-4, 6-2 in their quarterfinal. Davydenko in semis In Kuala Lumpur, Nikolay Davydenko led the top four seeds into the semifinals of the Malaysian Open Friday, setting the pace with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Frenchman Gael Monfils. The number eight Russian was joined by Spain's second seed Fernando Verdasco, Robin Soderling and Fernando Gonzalez. Verdasco eliminated the final French challenge, in the form of Richard Gasquet, 7-5, 6-4. Third seed Soderling continued his easy passage this week with a third consecutive victory in straight sets as he crushed Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-2. Gonzalez stopped Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6
