China’s Li Na shattered Maria Sharapova’s dream of completing a set of Grand Slam titles by defeating the double-fault prone Russian 6-4, 7-5 in the French Open semi-finals.
In so doing, Li made it back-to back Grand Slam finals for her and she gets another crack at becoming the first player from China to win a major title after losing to Kim Clijsters at the Australian Open at the start of the year. For Sharapova it was a bitter pill to swallow as she had hoped to become just the 10th woman in the history of the sport to win all four Grand Slam titles, having won one apiece at Wimbledon and the Australian and US Opens.
But 10 double faults, five in each set, proved to be her undoing.
“I never believed I could be in the final of the French Open,” said Li, better known for her play on hardcourts and grass. “I hope I can do even better today.”
Sharapova came into the semi-final on a 10-match winning streak on clay following her victory in Rome and with a self-professed new-found confidence on the surface on which she has always struggled.
But it was clear early on that of the two players, she was the one most troubled by the gusts of wind that whipped up the red dirt on the Philippe Chatrier centre court on a sunny, pleasant Paris afternoon.
Schiavone defeats Bartoli for a place in the final
Defending champion Francesca Schiavone shattered Marion Bartoli’s hopes of becoming just the second Frenchwoman in the Open era to reach the final with a 6-3, 6-3 semi-final win.
Fifth-seed Schiavone, who will turn 31 in three weeks’ time, will tackle Li. Victory will make Schiavone the first player 30 or over to win a Grand Slam title since Martina Navratilova’s 1990 Wimbledon triumph.
“I hope my experience from the final last year will help, it’s a dream come true to reach another final,” said Schiavone. “But Li has had an amazing year. She was in the Australian Open when she lost to Clijsters. It will be tough. She is a great player and a great person, but someone has to win.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 3rd, 2011.
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