Maria Sharapova rallied to defeat Ukranian Alona Bondarenko 6-7 (9/11), 6-3, 6-2 in a Friday quarter-final at the WTA Bausch and Lomb Championship.

Top seed Sharapova advanced to a Saturday semi-final at the 600,000-dollar clay court event against US veteran Lindsay Davenport, who eliminated Hungarian eighth seed Agnes Szavay 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).

Russian star Sharapova, who turns 21 on April 19, has never reached a clay court final in her career but would with a victory Saturday that would also give her a chance to play for the 95,500-dollar top prize.

Maria Sharapova returned after a two-week break with a straight-sets win over Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic at Amelia Island.

The Russian pulled out of last week's Sony Ericsson Open with a shoulder injury, but admitted at the time that her heavy schedule was taking its toll.
However, Sharapova showed no ill effects in her first clay match of 2008 as she beat Strycova 6-1 6-3.

Maria Sharapova has committed to play in the Bausch & Lomb Championships for the first time, tournament officials announced Thursday.

The Russian star, who is currently ranked fifth in the world, will make her debut at Amelia Island Plantation on April 7-13 as the tournament's No. 1 seed.

"Maria is an absolute global superstar," tournament director John Arrix said. "It is really exciting for us to bring her to an event that is quaint and small but has so much history."

While tennis fans clamored for a spot at the 2008 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami to see the pros play, it was the virtual court action that added a new twist to the festivities. 2K Sports hosted a special event on March 26th in which the hottest tennis sensations, including Maria Sharapova and James Blake, played Top Spin 3, the highly anticipated video game featuring their likenesses.

The Sony Ericsson Open lost one of its major stars on Saturday morning when Maria Sharapova announced she is withdrawing from the Key Biscayne tournament because of fatigue.

Sharapova, who has dominated the tour since winning the Australian Open in January, had her 18-match win streak broken by Svetlana Kuznetsova Friday night in the Indian Wells semifinals, and Sharapova told reporters afterwards that she was considering taking a break and skipping the Sony Ericsson Open, which begins Wednesday. She advised tournament officials of her decision early Saturday morning.