Kerber reaches Stuttgart semis

Third-seeded Angelique Kerber defeated Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-3, 7-6 (2) at the Porsche Grand Prix to reach her third semifinal of the season on Friday.

Kerber is aiming for her first title of the year after finishing as a runner-up in Monterrey. Her next opponent will be either Maria Sharapova or Ana Ivanovic.

Shvedova trailed 4-1 before breaking back. But she dropped her serve again with two errors from the baseline.

The two traded breaks in the first three games of the second before Kerber opened a 3-1 lead, but Shvedova pulled even at 3-3. Kerber ran up a 5-1 lead in the tiebreaker.