Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova needed less than an hour to see off Australia's Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-1 and book her place in the semi-finals of the Hansol Korea Open on Friday.

Taking centre court after a four-hour rain delay, the 17-year-old Russian piled the pressure on Stosur to set up a semi-final clash with Anne Kremer of Luxembourg.

"The wind was definitely a factor with the serves sometimes," said Sharapova. "I tried not to go for the lines so much, and just tried to be consistent."

Sharapova seized the initiative in the fifth game of the first set, breaking Stosur's serve to go 4-1 up. The eighth seed broke right back but Sharapova forced another before going on to win the first set comfortably.

"Today I came out and I knew it would be cold so I had to move around quickly just to keep my body warm," said Sharapova. "I came out prepared."

Sharapova, who laboured in the early stages of her straight sets win over Japan's Miho Saeki in the previous round, said the rain delay did not disrupt her preparations but the changeable weather conditions were something new.

"I don't think I've ever been in a place where I could have been tanning on one day and wearing a winter jacket the next," she said. "They told me it was going to snow tomorrow."