French Open--what they said

A big change for me was, really, the racquet.

Sara Errani

2 days after losing heartbreaker to Kanepi, Caro releases underwear line. Orange brick not available as color

Matt Cronin 

When you're opponent's, you know, a little bit shorter, it's a little bit easier for me to try and use that serve and my forehand up high. But...when you are that height, they're used to hitting the balls up there, too.

Sam Stosur

I'm very happy for how I play....I want to fight every match, every point.

Sara Errani

She could blast her way through this match in an hour or she could hit every ball to the Louvre.

Courtney Nguyen, referring to Petra Kvitova

Stosur and Errani reach French Open semifinals

This morning, one of the ESPN commentators provided a fascinating statistic on Samantha Stosur: In majors, every time Stosur has won the first set--and that would be 48 times--she has won the match. That stat says everything there is to know about Stosur in terms of her mental toughness. She comes on like a fast storm and swoops her opponent right off the court--or she's so hesitant, she lets her opponent dictate everything.

Those of us who saw the 2010 Charleston final were stunned by the Australian star's almost scary ability to take control of a match from the very first point. Yet Stosur, who won the 2011 U.S. Open (by defeating no less than Serena Williams in the final), has very few trophies to show for her singles play. Too often, she has hesitated, made herself one-down, and gone out in a weak flame of doubt and passivity.

Not today. Today, Stosur--though she had to serve twice for the first set--kept her head about her and fought off the aggressive hitting of Dominika Cibulkova. She used her serve and her heavy topspin to take charge when she needed to, and won the match, 6-4, 6-1.

In the other quarterfinal played today, the Italian of 2012, Sara Errani, took out Angelique Kerber, the 10th seed, and a player many thought would get to the semifinals. Errani's 6-3, 7-6 victory is her first over a top 10 player. Having already taken out 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic and 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, Errani hit 28 winners and made only 14 unforced errors in beating the German star. Kerber served for the second set twice, but Errani would have none of it. The match lasted about an hour and a half, but Errani is the type of player who could pack a lunch and a change of clothes and keep going for hours.

Defending champions Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka moved a big step closer today to defending their title. They beat 2nd seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 in the quarterfinals. Hlavackova and Hradecka are seeded 5th. 7th seeds Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova beat 3rd seeds Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3, 6-4.

I'm sure that one of the more satisfied players today was Elena Vesnina, who, with partner Leander Paes, upset top seeds Liezel Huber and Max Mirnyi in the mixed doubles quarterfinals. Also winning were Galina Voskoboeva and Daniele Braccili, who defeated Nuria Llagostera Vives and Oliver Marach.

Top junior seed Taylor Townsend, who won the junior Australian Open title, advanced today after beating Carol Zhao 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 in the second round. The match lasted 2 hours and 38 minutes.

French Open--what they said

I have never seen Zakopalova play a point when she hasn't looked grumpy.

Pam Shriver

I'm useless with game plans. That's probably the one thing [coach Thomas Hogstedt] just gets so frustrated with me about. I go out there and I do my own thing, and then he's like, after the match, "Really? What's the point? I mean, what's the point of having me?" But I apologized when I hired him, in advance, so he's okay.

Maria Sharapova

I have to focus; I have to fight, fight, fight, fight.

Yaroslava Shvedova

Was the weather a factor?

I mean, I can't change the weather....

Li Na

When she's on, she can create angles that introduce opponents to places they usually don't visit on court.

Richard Pagliario, on Petra Kvitova

That was my first fall of the clay season, which is the biggest shocker. I usually have a few before the French Open.

Maria Sharapova

Can you tell us what happened?

Nothing happened. I mean, I just tried to play the ball back to the court, but I can't.

Why?

I will find out. I will find a why, but not in today.

Li Na

They've shown more of the French Federation president on TV than they have women's tennis.

Pam Shriver

First-time champion to be crowned at Roland Garros

With qualifierYaroslava Shvedova's upset of 2011 French Open champion Li Na in the round of 16 today, all the former champions--and there were five of them--are out of the tournament. Shvedova, whose career was put on hold because of a serious knee injury, and who is known primarily for her doubles skills, defeated Li 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.

A few years ago, when Shvedova was still representing Russia, she said of her generation "We're coming!" and she made good on that threat today, just as she did in 2010, when she also reached the quarterfinals. In the current quarterfinals, she'll have to hold her nerve again as well as she did against Li; Shvedova will play Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who quickly ended Varvara Lepchenko's run with a 6-2, 6-1 victory.

Kaia Kanepi also advanced to the quarterfinals, with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 win over Arantxa Rus.

The real story today, however, belonged to Maria Sharapova and her opponent, Klara Zakopalova. The two played for 3 hours and 11 minutes in damp, windy conditions, and Sharapova must surely feel grateful that Zakopalova is not stong in the service area. Had she served well, Zakopalova's onslaught from the baseline would have sent Sharapova packing. Instead, Sharapova walked away with a 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 win. The Russian star double-faulted 12 times. She hit 38 winners and made 53 unforced errors; her opponent hit 44 winners and made 48 unforced errors. There were 21 breaks of serve. (It was enough to make anyone believe in the potential power of The Radwanska.)

There was quite a bit of drama during the match. Sharapova had to deal with a sore wrist, which she jammed during a service return. She argued extensively with the chair umpire, and at one point, she took a tumble onto the clay. When she stepped back onto the court to celebrate her victory, some spectators booed her.

In doubles, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, not surprisingly, advanced to the semifinals with a win over Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. Also advancing were Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who defeated Jarmila Gajdosova and Anastasia Rodionova.

In mixed doubles, Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupati defeated 2nd seeds Kveta Peschke and Mike Bryan.

Azarenka out of French Open

As bad as Victoria Azarenka must feel about losing today in the round of 16 of the French Open, there's reason to believe that another player feels almost as bad. If 3rd seed Agnieszka Radwanska could have just hung on through the storm of Svetlana Kuznetsova's clay court game, she might still be standing today, and without having to worry about facing her main nemesis, Azarenka. (Her other nemesis, Petra Cetkovska, is gone, too).

But a tennis draw, especially at a major tournament, is a deceptive thing. Not that it was such a surprise that Azarenka fell to Dominika Cibulkova; it wasn't. All that Cibulkova had to do was gather her nerve about her to avoid another Miami meltdown--and she did. Cibulkova's return game is huge, and today, Azarenka's service game let her down.

From the first round, the world number 1 has looked like an accident waiting to happen, and if anyone was up to the task of putting her out of her misery, it was Cibulkova. The 15th seed now plays 2010 finalist Sam Stosur in the quarterfinals. Stosur fended off a spirited Sloane Stephens, who had opportunities to make the 6th seed's progress difficult, but Stosur's experience was clearly a factor in the taming of her opponent. All the same, the affable young player from the USA had a distinctive run in Paris, and she gets better with every tournament.

In the meantime, Svetlana Kuznetsova couldn't repeat the brilliance she showed against Radwanska in the third round, and she was defeated 6-0, 7-5 by Sara Errani, one of the fighting Italians. Errani is enjoying a wonderful clay court season in singles and doubles, and her next assignment is to face down Angelique Kerber, one of the most dangerous players on the tour these days. Kerber beat Petra Martic in straight sets.

In doubles, 2nd seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik advanced, as did 3rd seeds Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova. In mixed doubles, Peschke and Mike Bryan advanced to the third round, as did top seeds Liezel Huber and Max Mirnyi.

And now for your weekend French Open quiz question: What do Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles, Varvara Lepchenko, and my mother all have in common?

Answer: None of them was born in the USA, but all of them became USA citizens. NBC and ESPN commentators, however, are continuously hitting us on the head with the fact that Lepchenko is a naturalized citizen. So. What.

And by the way, NBC commentators--since you obviously weren't paying attention--Ukraine is not part of the Soviet Union because there is no Soviet Union. That all ended in 1991, which was over 20 years ago. I know it's hard for you to keep up, but this is ridiculous.

French Open--what they said

I think I lost this match in the first set. I started too nervous. Too many things were runniung through my head....

Petra Martic

Today was a great thing that I managed to go through these emotions....I just made it because she would never give me the match. I just made it.

Dominika Cibulkova

What went wrong for you today?
Pretty much everything, really.

Victoria Azarenka

Kerber has every shot in the book--always has, always will. Her decision-making left a bit to be desired early on, which is why she was on the fringes of the top 100 this time last year before shocking the world with her run to the semis of the U.S. Open.

Drew Lilley

The faster you play, the faster she plays. It's like playing against a wall, basically.

Petra Martic

It was really, really hard for me, and I just went through it.

Dominika Cibulkova

The most important thing is that I've started to enjoy clay courts and the game here, so it's a big step forward for me.

Petra Martic

I think after the U.S. Open I started to believe in me now.

Angelique Kerber

Victoria, what will you do in terms of recovering from such a loss?
I'm gonna kill myself.
What am I gonna do recovering? I'm just gonna go on the practice court and practice again. this tournament is over for me; what's to recover from?

Victoria Azarenka

My question about Justine Henin as a commentator is: Does she have to look at Carlos Rodriguez after every replay?

Ted Robinson

French Open--what they said

I mean, it's her court, you know. I knew that she's not gonna give it for free. I had to work really hard, and I did.

Varvara Lepchenko

First set, I feel like I always follow whatever she do.

Li Na

What in your game has improved?
I have to say that I improve everything in my game....

Petra Kvitova

They, you know, just the whole team has been believing in me so much and giving me inspirational quotes all the time, saying I can do it.  And being there, always, you know, they fighting for me and they given me coaches, they given me everything that I need.

Varvara Lepchenko

Mary Carillo: By the way, she (Kanepi)'s up 4-1 in the third set.
John McEnroe: We'll give her a 20% chance.

She's a very dangerous player. I was happy I could win match today because I have more experience.

Li Na

She knows what we need to play tennis. She understands a lot.

Petra Kvitova, referring to Martina Navratilova