The quarter finals saw one upset.
(Rank/Seed)
5/1 Sharapova advanced beyond the quarters here for the first time in beating Belgium's (21/8) Flipkens 62 62. Sharapova is unbeaten in their head to head (4-0) and was only broken once all match as she handled Flipkens all court game and slice backhand well.
7/3 Errani avenged the first round loss of her close friend and doubles partner, (14/6) Vinci at the hands of the Ukraine's, Svitolina, beating her 62 63.
Russian, Pavlyuchenkova beat (9/4) Kerber 57 63 76(3) for a third time in 5 meetings to reach her first semi final here. After losing a tense first set in which she'd led 4-1, Pavlyuchenkova relaxed in the second, bossing the points with her flat hitting. However, Kerber was as resilient as ever in retrieving some seeming winners time and time again and actually led with service through the third set. Though Pavlyuchenkova would break in the 11th game to serve for the match, Kerber broke straight back to enforce the breaker. It was here that Pavlyuchenkova's greater weight of shot and willingness to take risks paid off as she maintained her perfect record against the German in tiebreakers at 3-0.
France's, Cornet gave the home crowd something to cheer about after outlasting German, Petkovic 76(6) 57 63 after having missed three match points in the second set, one of which she thought she'd hit an ace on!
Friday, 31 January 2014
Thursday, 30 January 2014
Sharapova makes storming start but Halep's humbled
The draw in Paris is one of the best in the last few years with 4 top 10 players in action. 2011 champion Kvitova was also due to play but withdrew prior to her second round match on Thursday with a sore throat and virus. The top 4 seeds were given a bye.
(Rank/Seed)
5/1 Sharapova started brilliantly considering her disappointing fourth round exit in Melbourne, crushing Slovakia's Hantuchova 60 61. Sharapova's confectionary brand, Sugarpova is one of the tournament sponsors and it seems that the courts really suit Maria as she blasted 10 aces past her opponent.
7/3 Errani, a finalist here last year, upended her compatriot Knapp 64 63 for the first time in 4 meetings, using sublime drop shots to optimum effect.
9/4 Kerber, the 2012 champion defeated Czech, Zakopalova 62 75 for a 4th time in 5 meetings. She played unusually well behind her serve, losing only 11 points on serve all match to remain unbroken, finishing 5 of them to love!
10/5 Halep, coming off her first major quarter final in Melbourne, was playing her first week as a top 10 player, the first Romanian since Irina Spirlea in 1996 to achieve the feat. However, reality hit hard as she was narrowly beaten by home wildcard Mladenovic 76(1) 64, who was fresh off the Australian Open mixed doubles title with Daniel Nestor. After arriving only on Monday and suffering jetlag, Mladenovic looked to make the points short, hitting an impressive 11 aces and a flurry of forehand winners. Having missed a set point when serving for the first set at 6-5, Halep was never truly in contention again as Mladenovic routinely crushed the second serve return, maintaining Halep's winless record in the main draw here at 0-3. For Mladenovic, this was her second top 10 win having beaten Kvitova in the quarters here a year ago. She obviously loves Paris...I wonder why?
(Rank/Seed)
5/1 Sharapova started brilliantly considering her disappointing fourth round exit in Melbourne, crushing Slovakia's Hantuchova 60 61. Sharapova's confectionary brand, Sugarpova is one of the tournament sponsors and it seems that the courts really suit Maria as she blasted 10 aces past her opponent.
7/3 Errani, a finalist here last year, upended her compatriot Knapp 64 63 for the first time in 4 meetings, using sublime drop shots to optimum effect.
9/4 Kerber, the 2012 champion defeated Czech, Zakopalova 62 75 for a 4th time in 5 meetings. She played unusually well behind her serve, losing only 11 points on serve all match to remain unbroken, finishing 5 of them to love!
10/5 Halep, coming off her first major quarter final in Melbourne, was playing her first week as a top 10 player, the first Romanian since Irina Spirlea in 1996 to achieve the feat. However, reality hit hard as she was narrowly beaten by home wildcard Mladenovic 76(1) 64, who was fresh off the Australian Open mixed doubles title with Daniel Nestor. After arriving only on Monday and suffering jetlag, Mladenovic looked to make the points short, hitting an impressive 11 aces and a flurry of forehand winners. Having missed a set point when serving for the first set at 6-5, Halep was never truly in contention again as Mladenovic routinely crushed the second serve return, maintaining Halep's winless record in the main draw here at 0-3. For Mladenovic, this was her second top 10 win having beaten Kvitova in the quarters here a year ago. She obviously loves Paris...I wonder why?
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