Cibulkova advances to French Open semifinals

After taking ten months off to repair and recuperate her shoulder, it was amazing that Maria Sharapova was able to reach the quarterfinals of any major, much less the one that least suits her game. She had to play a series of three-set matches to get that far, and--not surprisingly--fatigue finally did her in. Dominika Cibulkova, who is quite comfortable on clay courts, defeated Sharapova 6-0, 6-2 today in Paris, and is now in the French Open semifinals.

Cibulkova had a match point at 0-5 in the second, at which point Sharapova--out of nowhere--began hitting winners. The former world number 1 saved four match points and won two games. Cibulkova hit only nine winners, but they were all she needed. She also made only nine unforced errors.

Thank you, Martina--part 2

Martina Navratilova pleasantly surprised me again today. She and Rennae Stubbs were part of the Tennis Channel French Open commentary team for the Safina-Azarenka match, and at one point, Stubbs referred to "the girls on the tour." Replied Navratilova, "We can call them 'girls' but the men have to call them 'women.' We don't call them 'boys'."

I've little doubt that Navratilova understands that--in most contexts--women should not be referring to the women as "girls," either; rather, she was being tactful toward Stubbs.

I don't know how or when Navratilova got her consciousness raised, but it's a great thing, especially among sports media personalities.

2 unseeded players to compete in French Open quarterfinals

Sorana Cirstea and Maria Sharapova, both unseeded, are two of the last eight women standing at Roland Garros. Sharapova is unseeded, of course, because she has been off the tour for ten months, but her survival in the final eight of the French Open is no less impressive for her having once been number 1 in the world.

Dinara Safina vs. Victoria Azarenka: The world number 1 has been described as a buzzsaw this week. In four rounds, she has given up only five games, and her average match time has been fifty-nine minutes. There is no doubt that she is rested. And while some people thought that Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or Aravane Rezai might give Safina a bit of trouble, there is little doubt that Azarenka will. The odd thing is that--until very recently--Azarenka appeared awkward and lost on red clay. Suddenly, though, she has found her form, taking out two clay experts and the defending champion. Azarenka is hardly a cool character on the court; she gets easily rattled, but it doesn't stop her from winning. Expect a real contest.

Dominika Cibulkova vs. Maria Sharapova: Last year, Cibulkova and Sharapova competed in the Amelia Island final on green clay. Cibulkova looked as though she were going to win, but then she sustained an injury and her level went down considerably for the remainder of the match. The following month, Sharapova defeated her in three sets in Rome. Cibulkova is often injured, and therefore doesn't always get the competitive momentum she needs. Still, she is more comfortable on clay than Sharapova, and should give the Russian star all she can handle.

Sorana Cirstea vs. Samantha Stosur: One way or the other, we will have a so-called surpise semifinalist. The unseeded Cirstea, who took out Jelena Jankovic, plays the 30th seed, who defeated Elena Dementieva. Stosur has been slowly making a comeback, after being out ill for a very long time. With her outstanding serve and her volleying skills, the affable Australian doubles star has the potential to go far; unfortunately, she has also had a major problem with the mental aspect of the game. But not in Paris. Since she arrived at Roland Garros, Stosur has dictated play with ease.

Cirstea stunned the crowd with her all-court skills and her poise during her tense round of 16 match. But she appeared tired in the last set, and there is a question as to whether she can be refreshed for a quarterfinal match. If she is, the contest against Stosur could be quite intriguing. Both players have strong forehands, and--since they have never played each other before--there will be an element of mystery in the competition.

Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Serena Williams: Kuznetsova and Williams know each other's games very well. Kuznetsova is the ultimate clay court master with a sometimes weak mentality, and Williams is the champion who finds a way to win, even on surfaces she doesn't prefer. They can both serve extremely well, and they can both move well. When she is in tune, Kuznetsova's forehand can be deadly.

Kuznetsova and Williams have played each other on clay only once before, in 2004, and Williams won. In fact, Williams dominates their head-to-head record. Whether Kuznetsova plays the clay game of which she is capable depends on her state of mind. If she can hold steady, this could be a very tight match.

2 doubles teams into French Open semifinals

12 seeds Victoria Azarenka and Elena Vesnina advanced to the French Open semifinals today with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over 16th seeds Yan Zi and Zheng Jie. 3rd seeds (and 2007 champions) Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruana Pascual also advanced by defeating 11th seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Patty Schnyder 7-6, 6-2.

In mixed doubles, top seeds Liezel Huber and Bob Bryan advanced to the semifinals, with a 1-6, 6-4, 12-10 win over Ai Sugiyama and Andre Sa. Also advancing to the semifinals were Vania King and Marcelo Melo. 3rd seeds Lisa Raymond and Marcin Matkowski were upset by Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Mark Knowles.

French Open--what they said

"She's an excellent clay court player, so it will be fun."

Serena Williams, on her upcoming quarterfinal against Svetlana Kuznetsova

"Serena, you know, she wished me to keep it up and keep working hard. She's a--you know, champions know what to say."

Aleksandria Wozniak

"Definitely I not happy to play three sets, but I already been through a little bit of fight, because other matches were too easy and sometimes it's not too good."

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Didyou know how well she could play?
"I didn't know how well she could play, but I know how well I can play."

Jelena Jankovic

"To me, her match was perfect. I felt I was powerless on the court. I couldn't find the solutions to win. I wanted to feel less bad, if I can say."

Virginie Razzano, on her match against Samantha Stosur

"...I respect her a lot. She achieved unbelievable effort in tennis, you know. Every player dreams to achieve what she did in tennis. I respect her for her achievements. Outside of the courts,she has great personality. We text on BlackBerry. Definitely in these tournaments we talk less, but we listen kind of similar music. We have similar interests. We laugh a lot, you know."

Svetlana Kuznetsova, on her friendship with Serena Williams

"...I think for me was a little harder, because I wanted things happening too fast, you know. I think the best thing for me lately is I'm trying to have more patience and taking the wins and the lose the same."

Sorana Cirstea

"...I need my confidence back. I need this--you know, when it's important points, important moment of the match, I need to, you know, go for my shots. I need to have that belief that they're going to go in."

Jelena Jankovic

"Now I have my hitting partner, which is 22, my massagist [sic] which is 24. So it's funny, you know. In some way I just start to think about it right now, and it's very funny. But Ienjoy it so much. I cannot explain it."
Why is that funny?
"Because everybody is so young. We're like in school almost. A little bit grown school."

Svetlana Kuznetsova

"Unfortunately, this is the feeling I had, powerlessness against her. I couldn't go to the net. I couldn't enjoy my shots ont he court today. I didn't enjoy it. I had the impression I didn't know how toplay tennis."

Virginie Razzano, on her match against Stosur

"Leading into here, I lost first round and second round. But my second round in Madrid was a tight one, 7‑6 in the third. So I knew that I was starting to play better, but, you know, it was just kind of a round by round kind of thing and play each match as it comes, and hopefully find myself in the second week, which is what's happened. I'm really pleased with that."

Samantha Stosur

"...I'd say that she serves even better than Serena or Venus, because she can do all types of serves. She can vary her serves. That is, hit a very strong first serve, or she would give spin to the ball so that the ball is inside out."

Virginie Razzano, speaking of Samantha Stosur

Oh, my aching confidence

She had an abdominal strain going into the round of 16, and once she got there, she had a sore toe. But according to 5th seed Jelena Jankovic, it wasn't her abs or her foot that hampered her in her match against the unseeded Sorana Cirstea: It was her lack of confidence. By her own account, the beginning of Jankovic's season was "a catastrophe." Since then, she said, she has not had enough belief that her shots will go in, and consequently--in big moments--she hesitates.

There were plenty of big moments in the third set of that match. Jankovic was 6-5, 30-0, and just when it looked like she was going to win--albeit the hard way--the visibly exhausted Cirstea came to life and brought the set to 6-all. She would go on to win the match, 3-6, 6-0, 9-7. Cirstea wound up with eight more unforced errors than her opponent, but she also hit almost twice as many winners. She had just about everything going for her, including the ability to stay calm when the atmosphere was tense.

This match was memorable, especially the third set, in which two tired women--both good movers and good tacticians--gave it all they had. And once again, Jankovic's failure to win easy points on her serve helped to do her in.

Stosur quietly moves into French Open quarterfinals

When it seemed as if no one was looking, Australia's Slammin' Sam Stosur advanced to the quarterfinals of the French Open today, defeating Virginie Razzano, the last Frenchwoman standing. It didn't take long; Stosur took the match 6-1, 6-2 in an hour and thirteen minutes. Her first and second serve win percentages, respectively, were 70 and 62, which pretty much says it all--and she threw in eight aces. Razzano had eight break chances against Stosur, but failed to convert any of them. Stosur has always had a great service game (though it was shaky earlier this year), but tended to crumble at big moments. So far, though, she has kept her focus.

Svetlana Kuznetsova won the first set against Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-4, but in the second, she made way too many unforced errors, and her opponent also began playing with the precision for which she is known. The third set was all Kuznetsova, though, and she took it, 6-1.

As expected, Serena Williams had an easy time of it, winning her round of 16 match against Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-1, 6-2, in just 53 minutes.