Second seed Maria Sharapova stormed into the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open after ending her jinx against China's Li Nawith a convincing 6-3 6-0 win on Tuesday.

The Russian had lost her previous four meetings with Li in straight sets, including the semi-finals of last year's French Open, but needed just 68 minutes to seal victory on Tuesday.

"I came into this match having lost to her the last few times. I just really wanted to change that, so I was extremely focused and looking forward to the match," said Sharapova.

"I was just really consistent today in those conditions where, you know, it's a little gusty and blowing around and I was facing a tough opponent."

It was a scrappy start to the encounter with the first five games all being broken before Sharapova eased into her baseline game and won eight consecutive games to emerge victorious.

Sharapova will next face the winner of Tuesday's later match between Caroline Wozniacki and Serena Williams.