Heading into the third set, it seemed the match was getting away from Maria Sharapova. She came out and ran away with the first set, putting Petra Kvitova away 6-2 after it opened back-and-forth. But in the second, she lost her serve as the wheels came off, leading to a 6-3 set in favor of Kvitova. It seemed like momentum was in Kvitova's favor.

In the third, it was a game of who could actually hold the serve, instead of the typical battle to break. Sharapova went down 2-1, following a Kvitova break point, but rallied right back with a break of her own. With the set knotted at two, one had to wonder if Sharapova could actually find her serve and hold.

She did just that, but it was a battle, filled with displays of emotion from both players. The game went to deuce before Sharapova took the advantage and came up big to hold serve. A long return caught the baseline and Kvitova's return was wide, giving Sharapova a 3-2 lead in the set and a bit of momentum going forward.

Kvitova held her serve, then put Sharapova on the ropes with two break point chances in the seventh game. Down 15-40, Sharapova rallied back, forcing deuce. After the game flipped back-and-forth between deuce and advantages, Sharapova took advantage and was close it out, thwarting multiple break point chances along the way.

At 4-4, Sharapova again ran into trouble, but battled back as she did before to take the game, holding her serve and pushing the third set to 5-4. And then, Sharapova earned a double match point, taking a 40-15 lead in the 10th game. There was little drama in the ensuing rally as the two traded shots before Kvitova's return went long, giving Sharapova the 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 win and a trip to the finals.

Sharapova will meet Victoria Azarenka, who defeated Kim Clijsters earlier, in the finals.