Sharapova rallies to set up Azarenka last-4 duel
Source: Agencies |
June 6, 2013, Thursday
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MARIA Sharapova shrugged off losing the first six games and swept the last four to reach the French Open semifinals yesterday.
The defending champion overcame a miserable start in the quarterfinals to beat Jelena Jankovic, 0-6, 6-4, 6-3 at Roland Garros.
It was the first victory of Sharapova's career after losing an opening set 0-6.
Her opponent today will be two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who reached her first Roland Garros semifinal by beating Maria Kirilenko 7-6 (3), 6-2.
Sharapova earned her first Roland Garros title a year ago to complete a career grand slam. She has won 12 matches in a row at the French Open in Paris.
The No. 2-seeded Sharapova against No. 3 Azarenka offers the prospect of a deafening semifinal between the two most notorious grunters in tennis. "Obviously it only gets tougher from here," Sharapova said, "but I'm really happy I'm at this stage again."
Sharapova, 26, and 23-year-old Azarenka have played each other 12 times with the Belarusian 7-5 ahead, although it will be their first meeting this year.
The warmest weather of the tournament greeted the quarterfinalists, and former No. 1 Jankovic quickly had Sharapova sweating. In the first set the Russian repeatedly missed the lines by narrow margins or clipped the net cord, and the match was 35 minutes old before she won a game - and only then because the Serb double-faulted on break point.
Jankovic won 27 points in the first set, 20 on unforced errors by her opponent.
"I still felt like I was in the match," Sharapova said. "And I was."
She then began to find the range while hitting even harder than before. After she finally erased her deficit, the Russian earned the first break of the final set to take her first lead at 4-3. Toward the end the rallies became longer, and Sharapova won the majority, often by hitting shots at improbable angles. She struck one winner so violently her necklace flew into her face.
When Jankovic's final shot sailed wide, Sharapova responded with a slack-jawed smile, as though she couldn't quite believe her comeback. She had dropped a first set 0-6 five other times in her career, and went on to lose each match.
Australian Open winner Azarenka hadn't faced anyone inside the top 30 en route to the last eight and that lack of sharpness was evident immediately with four breaks in the first four games.
The first set lasted a marathon 76 minutes, but once Azarenka had pocketed that, it was clear that Russia's Kirilenko, who needed a medical time-out after the seventh game, simply lacked the armory to upset her bigger and stronger opponent.
The defending champion overcame a miserable start in the quarterfinals to beat Jelena Jankovic, 0-6, 6-4, 6-3 at Roland Garros.
It was the first victory of Sharapova's career after losing an opening set 0-6.
Her opponent today will be two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who reached her first Roland Garros semifinal by beating Maria Kirilenko 7-6 (3), 6-2.
Sharapova earned her first Roland Garros title a year ago to complete a career grand slam. She has won 12 matches in a row at the French Open in Paris.
The No. 2-seeded Sharapova against No. 3 Azarenka offers the prospect of a deafening semifinal between the two most notorious grunters in tennis. "Obviously it only gets tougher from here," Sharapova said, "but I'm really happy I'm at this stage again."
Sharapova, 26, and 23-year-old Azarenka have played each other 12 times with the Belarusian 7-5 ahead, although it will be their first meeting this year.
The warmest weather of the tournament greeted the quarterfinalists, and former No. 1 Jankovic quickly had Sharapova sweating. In the first set the Russian repeatedly missed the lines by narrow margins or clipped the net cord, and the match was 35 minutes old before she won a game - and only then because the Serb double-faulted on break point.
Jankovic won 27 points in the first set, 20 on unforced errors by her opponent.
"I still felt like I was in the match," Sharapova said. "And I was."
She then began to find the range while hitting even harder than before. After she finally erased her deficit, the Russian earned the first break of the final set to take her first lead at 4-3. Toward the end the rallies became longer, and Sharapova won the majority, often by hitting shots at improbable angles. She struck one winner so violently her necklace flew into her face.
When Jankovic's final shot sailed wide, Sharapova responded with a slack-jawed smile, as though she couldn't quite believe her comeback. She had dropped a first set 0-6 five other times in her career, and went on to lose each match.
Australian Open winner Azarenka hadn't faced anyone inside the top 30 en route to the last eight and that lack of sharpness was evident immediately with four breaks in the first four games.
The first set lasted a marathon 76 minutes, but once Azarenka had pocketed that, it was clear that Russia's Kirilenko, who needed a medical time-out after the seventh game, simply lacked the armory to upset her bigger and stronger opponent.
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