In the most impressive three set victory of her storied career, two-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova fought off two match points against Patty Schnyder to win 3-6, 6-4, 9-7 and reach the quarter-finals on Sunday. Serena Williams, meanwhile, did not have to compete until her legs fell off, but still looks like she is prepared to give two-time defending champion Justine Henin a run for her money in the last eight.
In by far her most impressive match of the fortnight, Serena tore apart 10th seed Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-3. “That was definitely better today,” said Serena. “It came together in practice the other day. I was feeling a little bit better. And I knew if I could play the way I practised, I would be able to do a good job.”
Saddled with a sore right shoulder and rarely comfortable on the red clay, Sharapova battled furiously throughout the two hour 37 minute contest, taking big cuts at her returns of serves, pushing balls crosscourt and venturing into the net, not usually a comfortable place for the tall Russian.
Schnyder looked in control of the match in the first set, adeptly moving Sharapova around, crushing her hooking forehand and playing standout defence, but the 28-year-old Swiss never played ambitiously enough when the huge points came, especially in the third set.
She served for the match on three occasions and was broken three times, as she backed off the ball and hoped that Sharapova would err. While Sharapova was not always consistent, she consistently went for her shots, the true mark of a champion.
Schnyder held two match points, one at 5-4 and the other at 7-6, but on both occasions, she pushed the balll around and committed two shaky backhand errors. While Sharapova had trouble holding serve, after finally holding to 8-8 and going into a triple fist pump, on her first match point, she crushed an inside out forehand return of serve that Schnyder couldn't handle. Sharapova will face fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze, who overcame Lucie Safarova in three sets.
2002 champion Williams, on the other hand, put in a thoroughly dominant performance on a sunny and dry day, bringing out the most lethal weapons in her arsenal, serving huge and ripping return of service winners down the line. While Safina picked up her level in the second set, there was little she could do against the Williams onslaught, as Serena kept the points short by keeping her balls deep and to sharp angles.
Safina did have moments when she kissed the corners with her huge groundstrokes, but Serena was quicker and steadier during the opening match on Philippe Chatrier Court.
“I feel good,” she said. “I feel better each match. I'm sliding better, I'm running better and I'm just playing the clay court game a little better.”
Williams will now go up against Henin, who took down Austria's Sybille Bammer in straight sets. The last time the two played at Roland Garros was in the 2003 semifinals, when Henin stopped the “Serena Slam” in three highly charged and controversial sets. Williams came off the court crying and later accused Henin of being unsportsmanlike. Henin denied the charge, but the two did not really mend fences publicly until this March, when they had kind words to say about each other after Serena bested the Belgian in the Miami final.
Serena had a difficult time with the pro-Henin crowd in 2003, but says she's matured to the point where she can block them out if they yell and scream for her foe on Tuesday. “I definitely feel like I've matured to that point,” she said. “If the crowd gets involved, I'm just going to be there, zone out, just focus on me. I've definitely grown up a lot, matured a lot and been through a lot of things since 2003. I've been through death [her older sister Yetunde Price, was murdered late in 2003), I've had [knee] surgery, I've been through a lot. It takes a strong person to be able to be at the bottom of the barrel and be able to come back. I was beyond the bottom of the barrel. I was really down there and it's hard to be able to come back.”
Williams leads Henin their head-to-heads 6-3, but Henin has won three Roland Garros title and calls the locale her second home. Serena is not about to concede Parisian bragging rights just yet...
