Maria Sharapova and Sara Errani are set to contest the French Open final today in what will be a first ever meeting between the two 25-year-olds.
Second-seeded Russian Sharapova won through with a 6-3, 6-3 win over fourth seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, while 21st seed Errani of Italy ousted Australian sixth seed Samantha Stosur 7-5, 1-6, 6-3.
The stakes could hardly be higher for Sharapova, who is already assured of regaining the world No. 1 spot she last held in 2008, before a shoulder injury nearly wrecked her career.
Photo: AFP
The 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open champion will become just the 10th woman to complete a career Grand Slam if she takes today’s final, her first at Roland Garros.
Errani, who was not rated among the favorites for the title coming into Paris, despite winning three clay-court build-up tournaments, will be playing in her first Grand Slam final.
A win would make her just the second Italian woman to win the French Open title, after Francesca Schiavone two years ago.
Photo: EPA
Sharapova will start as a strong favorite and if she can reproduce the kind of form she showed against Wimbledon champion Kvitova, Errani could struggle to counter her power.
Sharapova, at an imposing 1.88m tall, and Kvitova, just 5cm shorter, both struggled for accuracy in the testing conditions on Philippe Chatrier court, where the wind whipped up the clay and helped balls sail out.
However, it was Sharapova who quickly adapted her game, not hitting for the lines as is her strength and the tactic paid off.
The Russian hit twice as many winners as Kvitova and kept the errors down to just nine, despite the gusting wind.
It was sweet revenge for Sharapova, who had been beaten in straight sets by the Czech in the Wimbledon final last year.
“It’s an amazing feeling to be in my first final. I have been in two semi-finals, but it was always my dream of getting to the final stage,” Sharapova said.
“That’s pretty special. After my shoulder surgery, my ranking was out of the 100 in the world, but I thought if I could be No. 1 in the world before, that then I could do it again,” she added.
Errani halted Stosur’s bid to become the first Australian woman to win the French Open title since Margaret Court in 1973.
Two years ago she was the first Australian to reach the final in Paris since Wendy Turnbull in 1979, but on that occasion she lost in straight sets to Schiavone.
It was a similar task that faced her on Thursday, pitting her weight of shot and physical presence against Italian guile and court-craft in the shape of the pint-sized Errani.
In what turned out to be a match of sudden momentum swings, Errani proved to be the more solid in the final set as the Australian struggled to keep her touch and timing.
The win over the reigning US Open champion Stosur followed earlier victories over two former French Open champions — Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova — and Errani admitted she had not expected to get so far.
“It’s incredible for me. I didn’t expect it, and I’m here,” she said.
“All the matches I played, I’m very happy for how I played, because I think I made good games. But it’s not finished, so I have one match more. I have to think about that. That’s it,” Errani said.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
RSS