June 01, 2011
Maria is through to the semis at Roland Garros in Paris after she put up a sizzling display against No.15 seed Andrea Petkovic of Germany. Maria won 6-0 6-3 in 1 hour and 31 minutes.
Maria now has 10 straight match wins dating back to Rome and this is Maria's second appearance in the semis here - last time was 2007.
It took Maria only 32 minutes to wrap the first set 6-0. Maria broke Petkovic in the first game and always looked in control as everything in her game was working.
The second set was closer. Maria immediately went out to a 2-0 lead (winning eight straight games) but Petkovic started to find some form as she came back to level the set 2-2. The next three games were breaks as Maria leads 4-3 with a break. Maria then takes the two games she needs for victory.
After the win, Maria said: "Even though the first set was 6-0, we played it for quite a bit of time because of some long games at the beginning. I did really well in the important points in the first set. I think that was the difference in the beginning - then there was a little bit of an up and down in the second set."
In the semis to be played on Thursday at 14.00 local time on Chatrier, Maria will play No.6 seed Na Li of China. Maria has played Li seven times before and leads the series 5-2, here are the seven matches they have played:
- Australian Open 2005 3R - Maria won 6-0 6-2
- Miami 2006 2R - Maria won 6-2 6-4
- Birmingham 2006 3R - Maria won 6-2 6-4
- US Open 2006 4R - Maria won 6-4 6-2
- Roland Garros 2009 4R - Maria won 6-4 0-6 6-4
- Birmingham 2009 SF - Li won 6-4 6-4
- Birmingham 2010 F - Li won 7-5 6-1
In the WTA rankings, Maria is provisionally up to No.6 with 5221 points.
Click here for photos from the Match.
Resources : http://www.mariasharapova.com
|
Subscribe
