Sony Open: Maria Sharapova moves on with victory over Sara Errani

Maria Sharapova booked her place in the semi-finals of the Sony Open in Miami despite an unconvincing performance against Italy's Sara Errani.

Sharapova prevailed 7-5 7-5 despite turning in an error-strewn display.

The third-seeded Russian racked up almost 60 unforced errors and served 13 double faults but did enough to prevail.

Fortunately for Sharapova, who saved three set points in the second, Errani's performance was even more disjointed and she did just enough to set up a last-four encounter with Jelena Jankovic.

"I had a really difficult opponent," Sharapova said. "She really made me work for this match. A few ups and downs in the match but I'm really happy to get through."

Sharapova is bidding for her first win at the Florida event after four previous runner-up finishes, including back-to-back final defeats in each of the last two years.

Standing in her way, though, is Jankovic, who beat another Italian, Roberta Vinci, 6-4 6-7 (6- 6-3.