May 29, 2009
Maria is through to the 4th round at Roland Garros for the 6th straight year in another 3 set match after she defeated Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazhakstan 1-6 6-3 6-4 in 2 hours and 27 minutes.
1st Set: 1-6 in 37 minutes
Maria started the 1st set well by getting an immediate break but then lost the next 6 games to lose the set 6-1 in 37 minutes.
2nd Set: 6-3 in 53 minutes
Maria took a 3-1 lead in the 2nd set when she hit a powerful forehand return winner. Maria then let Shvedova back into the set as she levelled the set 3-3. Maria re-grouped as she took the next 3 games to take the 2nd set when Shvedova hits a forehand into the net.
3rd Set: 6-4 in 57 minutes
Neither player gave anything away in the first 6 games of the set until Maria got the crucial break in the 7th game when she bounced a ball right off the baseline that confounded Shvedova completely. The next 2 games were holds of serve and at 5-3 40-0, Maria hit a big serve which Shvedova hit long to give Maria the win.
In the 4th round to be played on Sunday, Maria will play #25 seed Na Li of China. Maria has played Li 4 times before and won each match. The last match was at the US Open in 2006 which Maria won 6-4 6-2. They have never played before on clay.
In the rankings, Maria provisionally is at #100 with 640 points. Maria has gained 280 point in this tournament. In the yearly ranking Maria with only 2 tournaments is ranked in the 50's.
Resources : http://www.mariasharapova.com/
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