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Sharapova, who was thrashed 6-1 6-2 by Serena Williams in the final last year, needed just one hour and 18 minutes to dismiss an opponent who could hardly move by the end of the match.

The Russian started the match in the same blistering form that saw her batter world number one Justine Henin 6-4 6-0 in the quarter finals and quickly raced out to a 5-0 lead allowing the slow-starting Jankovic little chance to play herself into the game.

The Serb finally got her side of the scoreboard moving when she held at 5-1 and a lapse in concentration from Sharapova in the next game even gifted Jankovic the opportunity to snatch back one of the breaks before she held to record a third straight game.

But the lapse was only temporary from Sharapova and she quickly sealed the set in the ninth game anticipating a Jankovic drop shot well in advance and charging up the court to hit a forehand winner.

Jankovic received a medical timeout for a back injury immediately after dropping serve in the opening game of the second set and looked in some discomfort for the rest of the match whilst clearly not able to run.

The Serb did manage to get one game on the board holding serve for the fifth game but Sharapova cruised to victory breaking to love to book her place in the final.

Sharapova said: "I was up 5-0 and playing too good for my own level. I was playing solid tennis and doing all the right things but I let it slip. You have to be realistic, because you know that ... you're never going to hit a winner on every single ball. It's just simply impossible. But you also have to try to maintain that level and really play your game and believe in yourself. I kept momentum going, and she's always dangerous when she's down. She's proven that in this tournament. I was happy I was able to close that first set out and then get through the second."

Jankovic said: "I felt really some strange pain in my back where I felt like I was so stuck. I couldn't ... keep going anymore. I wanted to withdraw, but it was not fair for the crowd. It's a semi-final, so I played how much I could to finish the match. I did the best that I could. I took so many painkillers, I put the creams to relieve my pain, but it was not a muscle that was the problem. When it's a muscle you can kind of camouflage it, but when it's a bone or whatever it is in there, I couldn't do it. Unfortunate."

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Pippa Davis / Eurosport