Right time for what will actually be my penultimate post on the ladies French Open tournament as I will cover the remaining quarter finals and semi final matches, which will reveal who has made it into the ladies final, so this will cover days 11 and 12.
So to begin with day 11 we had Andrea Petkovic who faced the former finalist, Sara Errani for a place in the semi finals. And right from the get go you would favour Errani as the favourite to win the match, however it was quite the opposite as Petkovic really asserted herself with a powerful display and she broke Errani twice in the first set and then twice in the second to seal her place in her first grand slam semi final with a very convincing 6-2, 6-2 win. And after that we had Simona Halep who took on the former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and given Kuzie's record on clay and at Roland Garros she looked the slight favourite here. Howeve yet again the odds were in favour of the diminutive Romanian, Halep, who just like Petkovic, dominated her opponent from the get go and the errors kept flying off Kuznetsova's racquet and with a double break in both sets, Halep went on to reach her first slam semi final as well to book a place with Andrea Petkovic in the semis.
So now we get on to day 12 which was semi finals day (i.e. today) and the match ups were potentially very exciting as we had Maria Sharapova take on the very talented new young gun, Eugenie Bouchard of Canada, who already had made the semis earlier this year in Melbourne. And this match promised to be quite tough on paper and it proved to be just that as from the start Bouchard came out the blocks and started to boss Sharapova (yep boss the boss!) and she managed to break Sharapova and take the first set. In the 2nd set Sharapova started her own fightback and she got a break, but Bouchard wasn't done by any means as she came back fro 5-2 down to level the scores, however in the end Sharapova did what she does best, dig in and a find a way to break serve and she did that and took the set to level the match. And in the 3rd set.... well it was Sharapova that did her usual, showed her grit and steely determination and broke the young Canadian. And at 5-2, with Bouchard looking to serve to stay in the match fo 5-3, she had to fight off a few break points from the mighty Pova, but in the end it was no good as she finally capitulated on serve and Maria screamed with delight as she reached her third consecutive final in Paris with a hard fought 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory.
This certainly was quite a battle from Sharapova and this is the 3rd time in a row she had to come from a set down to win the match as she previously did against Sam Stosur and Garbine Muguruza. But one thing is for sure and that is as soon as Serena Williams went out of the championships, Maria was automatically the big favourite to win the title and I think it will very difficult to predict another outcome come this Saturday, but that will all still depend on her next opponent, which I will get to in a minute. As for Bouchard well she has really announced herself this year as an incredible new talent and she showed plenty of grit as well as she put up huge resistance against the mighty Sharapova and I think its safe to say we could be looking at a future grand slam winner in Bouchard and the future at this rate is looking very bright indeed for the Canadian.
Now we get onto the second semi finals match of the day, which saw the highest seed left in the draw, No.4 in the world, Simona Halep, face off against the German player, Andrea Petkovic, who has just recently climbed her way back up the rankings and also has made it into her maiden semi fnal of a slam. But it was Halep, who's rock solid form, helped her make the better start and Petko looked nervous and made some errors to hand a double break over to Halep who took the opener with ease in just under 30 minutes. However Petkovic's nerves settled in the 2nd set as she settled into her ryhtym and got a break of serve as well against Halep, but she was not able to hold on and Halep soon broke back. From here however play went into a tiebreak and here Halep reasserted herself and Petko made a few costly errors, which helped Simona Halep seal the deal and reach her first ever grand slam final in 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).
So this now sets the ladies final, Maria Sharapova and Simon Halep and it promises to be quite a good one, especially as these two faced each other in the final of Madrid last month, with Sharapova coming out on top in three sets. So who will win it???? Well I think it has to be Sharapova, as she is already a four time major champion and she completed her career slam two years ago at the French open, not to mention she has already won two titles this year on clay in Stuttgart and Madrid. As for Halep, well she has been very impressive throughout the tournament and she hasn't even dropped a set yet so to dismiss her chances would be silly as she definitely has got a shot at taking down the mighty Maria given her own power and consistency. But in the end I think Maria's experience and warrior qualities will most likely see her come through this one in three sets and claim her 5th major title. However whatever way it goes it should be one to watch.
Right so that's it for the ladies next up is the men's as I will look at the remaining quarter finals.
So until then au revoir!
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