Tennis-Error-prone Sharapova beaten by Li in Edgbaston semis

LONDON, June 13 (Reuters) - Maria Sharapova's run at the Edgbaston Classic ended in the semi-finals on Saturday when she lost 6-4 6-4 to China's Li Na after a ragged performance.

Sharapova sprayed her shots wide and long as she dropped serve six times, allowing fourth seed Li to set up a showdown with Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova in Sunday's final.

Former world number one Sharapova, who boasted a 5-0 record against the Chinese player going into the match, will now have to head to the practice courts as she tunes up for Wimbledon.

"My return of serve was so good today," said Li.

"I broke her many times so it did not feel like a grasscourt match. I lost to her so many times before, so I thought if I lose again then I should not worry. That made me very relaxed today," Li told reporters.

Russian Sharapova, who reached her first semi-final since returning to the tour last month following a nine-month injury layoff, added: "I wasn't playing with the same intensity today as I did in my previous matches.

"Against an opponent like her, the intensity has to be there the whole match. I just wasn't able to come through today."

The 13th seed Rybarikova relied on some classic serve and volley tennis to reach her first WTA final by beating India's Sania Mirza 3-6 6-0 6-3.

"It is very good to play at the net on grass as the other girls don't like it, so it's obviously something very different for them," said Rybarikova.