OK, so this year's French Open tournament is now drawing ever nearer to a close right now and this article will cover the four quarter finals matches on the ladies side of the tournament.
So without further ado, let's take a look and see how they went....
QUARTER FINALS
Kristina Mladenvoic vs Timea Bacsinzsky
So, this first match was between the French home favourite, Kristina Mladenovic and the 2015 semi finalist, Timea Bacsinzsky. So there was much riding on this far both players and the match itself was fairly close and it saw breaks of serve aplenty throughout, however it was Timea that took the first set. In the 2nd set it was more of the same with breaks of serve but in the end it was Timea that outdid Mladenovic in straight sets to reach another French Open semi final with a 6-4, 6-4 win.
Well this match saw the French hopes end, well actually half of the French hopes end as the other French player, Caroline Garcia was still to play her match. And Mladenovic had to battle her through to the last eight and early on was suffering from back inury, however she did well to get herself in this position. In the end, Timea Bacsinzsky played the more solid match and deserved to go through to have another crack at the final in Paris.
Caroline Wozniacki vs Jelena Ostapenko
This match was quite an interesting one given that Caroline Wozniacki was on a losing streak against this young teenager, Jelena Ostapenko, who had already gained a 3-0 lead in their head to head. However going into this match, based on slam experience, Caroline looked to be the favourite but in the end it didn't turn out that way as despite a strong start from Caroline, who took the 1st set, she went on to lose the 2nd. And in the 3rd set, Ostapneko slammed the door shut with a double break to seal her first grand slam semi final and dump out the former World No.1 with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory.
Well given their head to head, the result of this match in a way was no surprise although given that there was much more at steak than in their previous meetings (this was their first in a slam) I thought that Caroline may have come through it. However in the end, their head to head was the main influence and Ostapenko was the stronger player as the match progressed and she used her ability to hit winner after winner to seal the deal.
Caroline Garcia vs Karolina Pliskova
Next is this match between Caroline Garcia of France and the Czeck player, Karolina Pliskova as the two of them battled it out on Court Philippe Chatrier (the main court at Roland Garros). And the 1st set was a pretty tight affair, which saw Garcia go a break down to Pliskova but she eventually broke back and pushed the set to a tiebreak, which Pliskova went on to win. In the 2nd set however all it took was a break of serve and consolidation from Pliskova to seal the win and she reached her 2nd grand slam final with a 7-6, 6-4 result.
So, this match now saw all the French hopes go out of the tournament with Garcia going out and in a way it may have been surprising given that Pliskova has herself said that clay isn't her favourite surface. However in the end, Pliskova was that bit more solid in the match on serve and that made the difference here.
Simona Haelp vs Elina Svitolina
And last of all is this match between the 3rd seed Simona Halep and the 5th seed, Elina Svitolina and this would be only their 2nd career meeting with Svitolina winning their first in the final of Rome a couple of weeks ago. And the match appeared to start going the same way as the last one as Svitolina raced to a 5-0 lead in the 1st set before Halep managed to break back although ultimately she lost the set. The 2nd set was more of the same from Svitolina as she dominated the dimunitive Romanian and went 5-1 up before Halep fought back to level the scores at 5-5 and pushed play to a tiebreak in which Halep saved a match point before levelling the match at a set all. And in the 3rd set there was no contest from Svitolina as Halep finally got herself going and sped to victory, handing her opponent a bagel set to close out the match and reach her 2nd semi final in Paris with an impressive 3-6, 7-6, 6-0 comeback win.
This was an excellent match between these two players for two sets we were treated to a fine battle although in the end it was a surprising capitulation from Svitolina, who looked to be in charge of the match in the 2nd set before she lost it. However in the end, it was credit to Simona Halep for fighting back to win this one and reach another semi final in Paris as she looked to have been shown the door Svitolina.
SEMI FINALS
So, this leaves me to look at the ladies semi finals and here are my prediction for these matches...
Timea Bacsinzsky vs Jelena Ostapenko
This match is actually a bit of a funny one as the match will take place on their birthday as they both share the same birthday together! So for this match its going to leave one player pretty disappointed while the other will get a rather nice pressie in the shape of a place in the final of Roland Garros. As for how the match will go, its hard for me to say as I'm not overly familiar with either player here and they are both playing for a new experience of reaching their first major final.
However if I were to choose a player I would probably go with Bacsinzsky given that she is the more experienced player (but then again I said that about Caroline Wozniacki!!) although this will be the first meeting, which makes this more difficult to call. But if you ask me I think it might go the distance and Timea could well be the winner at the end of the day in three sets.
Simona Halep vs Karolina Pliskova
As for this match well here both players have an established head to head already as they have played each other six times with Halep leading 4-2. So for me this makes the match a bit easier to make a prediction and given Halep's taste for playing on clay and Pliskova's distaste for it, I will opt for Halep to come through this match. However it promises to be a pretty good one but in the end I think its Halep's match for the taking.
So for my prediction I will go with Halep winning in straight sets but I think it will be close straights with possibly a tiebreak involved but I think it should go the way of the Romanian and she will reach her 2nd slam final in Paris.
SIGN OFF
Right, so that's it for now and I will be back soon with my results of the mens' quarter finals.
See you in a bit!
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