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| At the tender age of 20, Maria Sharapova is currently ranked number 2 in the world and already has two Grand Slam titles to her credit. On the Paris clay, however, the statuesque Russian has yet to journey beyond the quarter-finals on what is her least favourite surface on the circuit. | | | | Emilie Loit picked up her third career title in Acapulco at the beginning of the year. Like her two previous victories, the Mexican title came on clay. Frustratingly, the world ranked 41 has yet to advance beyond the last sixteen in front of her home crowd in Paris. The French girl’s best showing in a major to date came in Melbourne in 2003 when she came close to upsetting Serena Williams. In this, her 11th Roland Garros appearance, she’ll be looking to reach the latter stages. | |
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| A shoulder injury kept Sharapova away from the circuit for nearly two months after Miami, and she has only been able to fit in one clay court tournament in the run-up to Paris. That was in Istanbul last week, where the world No.2 was knocked out by France’s Aravane Rezai at the semi-final stage. She would have wished for more practice on clay and may take time to find her form in Paris. | | | | Loit has struggled to kick on from her success in Acapulco, in early March. Quarter-finals in Budapest and Strasbourg, where she gave Amelie Mauresmo a run for her money, are the best she has done since them. A painful cyst on her wrist has obliged her to take time off – she pulled out of a recent tournament in Hungary for example – but if she is fit she can worry Sharapova. | |
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| Sharapova is one of the most powerful players in the women’s game today. Her first service is often destructive and her ground strokes can fly past her opponents before they even know it. To that extraordinary natural talent she adds a never-say-die attitude that often enables her to extricate herself from tough situations. | | | | Loit is your typical left-hander, adept at finding cute angles, changing the pace of her shots and generally mixing it up as much as possible. The player from Cherbourg in north-west France has a solid forehand and attacks the net whenever the opportunity presents itself. Her double handed backhand is her weakest stroke and Sharapova will target it for cheap points. | |
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| Providing she plays to her potential, Sharapova will win. Her power game will prove too much for Loit, providing it clicks into place, but if she fails to find her rhythm in the tricky weather conditions, she could be vulnerable. | | | | Loit will try to keep the ball low, slicing and chopping whenever possible to avoid putting it into the slot for the Russian. She will need to come out of the traps fast and hope to profit from any rustiness on the part of her illustrious opponent. If she lets the former world number one get away from her, she will find it very hard to rein her in. | |
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| Sharapova leads 2-1. Loit won their first encounter, at the 2003 US Open, before the leggy Russian drew level in Shanghai the same year. | | | | They met for the third and last time at last year’s US Open, when Sharapova won 6-3, 6-4. The pair have never met on clay. | |
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