Maria
Sharapova and Sara Errani will contest the French Open final on
Saturday 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.
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
Saturday’s final, her first at Roland Garros.
Errani,
who was not rated among the favourites for the title coming into Paris
despite winning three claycourt 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.
“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.” said Sharapova
The
win over the reigning US Open champion Stosur followed earlier
victories over two former champions here – 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 (in the final),” said Errani.
No comments:
Post a Comment