The Russian world number two, who takes on Czech fourth seed Petra Kvitova in today’s semi-finals at Roland Garros, has credited Yutaka Nakamura for helping boost her claycourt confidence and comfort.

“I work with a Japanese trainer that I’ve known for a long time, a physical trainer from Florida. He was in Australia for a few years and now he came back to the States, so I started working with him in the off-season a little bit here and there,” said Sharapova after her 6-2, 6-3 win over Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi yesterday.