Maria Sharapova eased into the semi-finals of Stuttgart's WTA tournament after seeing off qualifier Anett Kontaveit on Friday for her third-straight win on her comeback after a 15-month doping ban.
The 30-year-old five-time Grand Slam winner has yet to drop a set in Stuttgart and powered past Estonia's Kontaveit, ranked 73rd, for a 6-3, 6-4 quarter-final win in one hour, 23 minutes.
This was another impressive display from the Russian, who hit four aces, 28 winners and just two double faults, while she converted five of her six break points.
"I served quite well and held my serve which gave me confidence, so I'm happy," said Sharapova.
"We haven't played each other before, so the first six games were just about working each other out.
"I kept myself in good shape, because once you lose it, it's hard to get it back," she added when asked about her fitness on court after 15 months out.
The former world number one will now play either France's Kristina Mladenovic or Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro in Saturday's semi-final.
Sharapova only made the main draw for Stuttgart after being given a wild card as her ranking was wiped out after testing positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open.
Her rivals have heavily criticised the decision to give her wild cards in Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome with Canada's Eugenie Bouchard branding her a "cheater" on Thursday.
There has been nothing but support for the Russian from the Stuttgart crowd with a few positive banners around the indoor arena.
She has been in commanding form on clay here as Sharapova waits to learn on May 16 whether she will be granted a wild card to play next month's French Open.
Murray and Nadal advance
BARCElONA: Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray advanced together again, reaching the Barcelona Open semifinals on Friday in the same manner they have won all week: Nadal cruised and Murray labored.
Defending champion Nadal eased past Hyeon Chung of South Korea 7-6 (1), 6-2.
Murray fought hard to beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Ramos-Vinolas had chances to beat Murray for the second straight time, but the top-ranked British player controlled the decisive points to close out the match in three hours. The 19th-ranked Ramos-Vinolas eliminated Murray in the third round at the Monte Carlo Masters last week before eventually losing to Nadal in the final. "It was very similar to the match in Monte Carlo, except in that match I was the one who had chances, and today he had more chances to win," Murray said. "I feel like I was a little more aggressive at the end of the second and third sets and then played a good tiebreak."
Murray will play fourth-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria while Nadal will play Karen Khachanov or Horacio Zeballos.