Schiavone achieves a first for Italy
Source: Agencies |
June 2, 2010, Wednesday
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FRANCESCA Schiavone became the first Italian woman to reach the French Open semifinals since 1954 by beating No. 3-seeded Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-3 yesterday.
The 29-year-old Schiavone collapsed face-down on center court and kissed the clay after becoming the first Italian woman to make it into the semifinals at any grand slam tournament in the Open era, which began in 1968.
"I'm enjoying it so much," Schiavone said. "When you work a lot, hard every morning, every afternoon of your life, and arrive at a good result, I think you feel much more."
Schiavone's opponent tomorrow will be No. 5-seeded Elena Dementieva, who rallied past fellow Russian Nadia Petrova 2-6, 6-2, 6-0. The showing is Dementieva's best at Roland Garros since 2004, when she was runner-up.
Schiavone had not reached the last eight at Roland Garros since 2001. This time she made the most of her chance.
The 17th-seeded Schiavone won with steady, sometimes loopy groundstrokes, limiting errors while mixing the pace to keep Wozniacki off-balance. Rallies sometimes became moonball exchanges reminiscent of the wooden-racket era.
"She's definitely a difficult player to play against, because she plays with a lot of spin," Wozniacki said. "She plays differently. She mixes up the balls a lot. She didn't play typical women's tennis."
Schiavone played serve and volley to win the next-to-last point. After she slammed an overhead winner on her final shot, she leaped, raised her arms with a scream and lifted her racket over her head in jubilation. Then she kissed the clay.
Schiavone broke serve six times, won 13 of 16 points when she reached the net and enjoyed a 25-10 edge in winners.
"I didn't give her many chance to let her play easy," Schiavone said. "I played long and sometimes short and tried to come to the net. It was a good mix."
Youngest
Wozniacki, at 19, was the tournament's youngest quarterfinalist. She was playing in her second grand slam quarterfinal after reaching the US Open final last year.
The quarterfinals began on a cool, damp afternoon with occasional rain that had some spectators watching from under umbrellas. Dementieva pulled away by hitting 11 winners in the third set, while Petrova won only 12 points.
In the final two sets, Dementieva lost only 10 points on her serve - three because of double-faults.
Petrova was hampered by a sore left thigh, which she had rewrapped midway through the first set. Dementieva also received treatment during the 17-minute break, when a trainer taped her right thigh.
"I'm very happy, and I hope that one day of rest will give me a bit of time to recover and play well the semifinal," Dementieva said. "It was a very difficult match. The conditions were not easy for anybody. It was obvious we played with minor injuries today."
Petrova, seeded 19th, upset No. 2 Venus Williams in the fourth round. But the Russian has lost her past five matches against Dementieva.
The 29-year-old Schiavone collapsed face-down on center court and kissed the clay after becoming the first Italian woman to make it into the semifinals at any grand slam tournament in the Open era, which began in 1968.
"I'm enjoying it so much," Schiavone said. "When you work a lot, hard every morning, every afternoon of your life, and arrive at a good result, I think you feel much more."
Schiavone's opponent tomorrow will be No. 5-seeded Elena Dementieva, who rallied past fellow Russian Nadia Petrova 2-6, 6-2, 6-0. The showing is Dementieva's best at Roland Garros since 2004, when she was runner-up.
Schiavone had not reached the last eight at Roland Garros since 2001. This time she made the most of her chance.
The 17th-seeded Schiavone won with steady, sometimes loopy groundstrokes, limiting errors while mixing the pace to keep Wozniacki off-balance. Rallies sometimes became moonball exchanges reminiscent of the wooden-racket era.
"She's definitely a difficult player to play against, because she plays with a lot of spin," Wozniacki said. "She plays differently. She mixes up the balls a lot. She didn't play typical women's tennis."
Schiavone played serve and volley to win the next-to-last point. After she slammed an overhead winner on her final shot, she leaped, raised her arms with a scream and lifted her racket over her head in jubilation. Then she kissed the clay.
Schiavone broke serve six times, won 13 of 16 points when she reached the net and enjoyed a 25-10 edge in winners.
"I didn't give her many chance to let her play easy," Schiavone said. "I played long and sometimes short and tried to come to the net. It was a good mix."
Youngest
Wozniacki, at 19, was the tournament's youngest quarterfinalist. She was playing in her second grand slam quarterfinal after reaching the US Open final last year.
The quarterfinals began on a cool, damp afternoon with occasional rain that had some spectators watching from under umbrellas. Dementieva pulled away by hitting 11 winners in the third set, while Petrova won only 12 points.
In the final two sets, Dementieva lost only 10 points on her serve - three because of double-faults.
Petrova was hampered by a sore left thigh, which she had rewrapped midway through the first set. Dementieva also received treatment during the 17-minute break, when a trainer taped her right thigh.
"I'm very happy, and I hope that one day of rest will give me a bit of time to recover and play well the semifinal," Dementieva said. "It was a very difficult match. The conditions were not easy for anybody. It was obvious we played with minor injuries today."
Petrova, seeded 19th, upset No. 2 Venus Williams in the fourth round. But the Russian has lost her past five matches against Dementieva.
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