Maria Sharapova celebrates her victory against Petra Kvitova in their women's singles semi-final match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne - Agencies

Former champion Maria Sharapova beat second seed Petra Kvitova in three sets to reach the final of the Australian Open on Thursday.

The Russian overcame some poor serving to outlast Kvitova 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 and move into Saturday's final, where she will play Belarusian Victoria Azarenka.