With her fourth consecutive semifinals appearance in the French Open hanging by a thread, Maria Sharapova dug deep and showed great resolved in a comeback win versus Garnize Muguruza of Spain.

Down aand chasing a precarious 4-5 deficit in the second, the 2012 French Open champion staved off elimination in the hands of rising star and 35th ranked player from Spain, Muguruza. After winning the second set 7-5, the tennis star took control and never looked back by winning the third set and the match, 1-6, 7-5, 6-1.

"I thought I didn't do much in the first set to hurt [Muguruza]. She was doing many things well," Sharapova said. "I also knew that the match wasn't over. I still had a fair bit of time to change things around. Little by little I started playing a bit better, started getting in the court a little bit more, playing a little bit more aggressive, serving better than I did in the first set, returning as well, giving myself more looks at break points."

The 27-year-old Sharapova, the 7th ranked player in world, used her experience to fizzle a determined 20-year-old Muguruza from advancing to the next rounds. As reported by CNNSI.com, Sharapova has now emerged the favorite to win the competition at Roland Garros following the surprising early elimination of tournament favorite Serena Williams, who fell to no other than Muguruza in the second round.

With the win, Sharapova is now two wins away from capturing her second French Open title and further improving her legacy in the tournament. After narrowly defeating a 20 year old up and comer, the Russian Sharapova is next slated to face another 20 year old, 18th-seeded Eugenie Bouchard of Canada, who garnered a semifinal spot for the second straight Grand Slam tournament.