Paris: Maria Sharapova reached the final of the French Open for the third straight year at Roland Garros on Thursday, digging deep to see off the youthful challenge of Canada's Eugenie Bouchard.


Russia's Maria Sharapova returns to Canada's Eugenie Bouchard during their French Open semi-final yesterday. Pic/AFP  

The 27-year-old, seventh seed once again did it the hard way, battling back from a set down to edge the 20-year-old from Montreal 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in a match full of beefy baseline shot-making.