Off-court connections to Li of little concern to Sharapova

Maria Sharapova has denied inside knowledge will be a factor in her Australian Open semi-final against Li Na tomorrow and insisted it will come down to “execution” on the day.

There are links between the pair — Sharapova’s current coach Thomas Hogstedt is a former mentor of Li while the two players are managed by the same agent, Max Eisenbud.

But Sharapova believes their off-court set-ups will have no bearing on their last-four clash.