A decibel-busting display of power tennis helped Maria Sharapova reach her third French Open semi-final with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Kaia Kanepi on Wednesday.

The Russian second seed fired a series of winners, each accompanied by her habitual shrieks, to break her opponent's serve seven times in straight-forward quarter-final encounter that lasted only one hour 14 minutes.

The Estonian, who was backed by a small but noisy contingent of face-painted and flag-waving fans, froze on the big stage of Philippe Chatrier Court.

Sharapova will play the winner of Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova's quarter-final match against Kazakh qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova.

Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova wriggled out of a spot of bother in the final set to end the gutsy run of Kazakh qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 and reach the semi-finals of the French Open for the first time on Wednesday.

Two days after conquering 2011 Paris winner Li Na, doubles specialist Shvedova looked set to become the first player from her nation, and the first qualifier, to reach the semi-finals here as she led Kvitova 4-2 in the final set.

But the Czech fourth seed kept her focus through driving rain to complete victory after her 142nd-ranked opponent drilled a backhand wide on matchpoint.

Kvitova will next take on title favourite Maria Sharapova for a place in Saturday's final.