French Open: Roland Garros Update

Jun 04

So Sharapova is out. What?! Yes, Dinara Safina blind-sided top seed Maria Sharapova 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in a Monday shock at the French Open which could leave the Russian’s number one ranking vulnerable.

Sharapova, who needed three sets to win two of her three previous matches at Roland Garros, failed to capitalise on a 5-2 lead in the second set after claiming the first and slipped from a 5-2 lead in the final-set tiebreaker.

“After you don’t take those opportunities it can go in the wrong direction really fast,” said the disconsolate three-time Grand Slam champion. ”It just started going that way, it’s just one of those days where that happened.” She now fears losing her World Number 1 title, with rivals Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Svetlana Kusntesova all in with a chance of taking over.

Safina will now face Dementieva at the quarter finals.

On the other hand Nadal and Federer have both progressed over to the Quarter finals.

No. 1 seed Roger Federer battled his own lapses in concentration as well as a gutsy performance from local boy Julien Benneteau to move into the quarter-finals, 6-4 7-5 7-5 in a rain-interrupted two-and-a-half hour match.

Rafael Nadal maintained his unbeaten record at Roland Garros as he moved smoothly into the quarter-finals with a straight sets win over No. 22 seed Fernando Verdasco in an all-Spanish fourth round encounter. Nadal then defeated Almagro and has advanced to the Semi-finals to face Djokovic.

Catch the Semi Finals (Men’s and Women’s Singles, and Women’s Doubles) on 4th June at 5:30 p.m IST on Star Sports India. For complete list of timings visit our French Open TV schedule post.