Maria Sharapova reached her first French Open final and reclaimed the No. 1 ranking by beating fourth-seeded Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-3 Thursday, moving within one victory of completing a career Grand Slam.
The second-seeded Sharapova lost her two previous Roland Garros semifinals. She'll face 21st-seeded Sara Errani of Italy with a chance to add to major championships she won at Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006, and the Australian Open in 2008. Sharapova would be the 10th woman with a title from each major.
Sharapova lost to Kvitova in last year's Wimbledon final, and to Victoria Azarenka in the Australian Open final in January. That propelled Azarenka to No. 1, but Sharapova will return to that spot for the first time since 2008 no matter what happens Saturday.
