French Open Sharapova storms into last-16

Russian continues stunning run at Roland Garros.

PARIS:

It was business as usual as Maria Sharapova breezed into the fourth round of the French Open by sweeping past China’s Peng Shuai 6-2 6-1 yesterday.

Sharapova has dropped just five games en route the last-16, spending a total of two hours and 54 minutes on court over her three matches. It took her 66 minutes to subdue her 28th-seeded opponent on a sunbathed Court Phlippe Chatrier with another display of power and accuracy. Sharapova, twice a semi-finalist on Parisian clay, will next face the unseeded Czech Klara Zakopalova.

Meanwhile, defending champion Li Na battled back to defeat America’s Christina McHale 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 and reach the last-16, but 2010 winner Francesca Schiavone crashed out of the event and the world top 20.

Italian 14th-seed Schiavone, who was runner-up to Li last year and the oldest woman left in the tournament, lost 3-6, 6-3, 8-6 to America’s Varvara Lepchenko, the world number 63 who reached the last 16 of a Grand Slam for the first time.

In the men’s singles match, a fully fit Andy Murray reached the last-16 with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Santiago Giraldo of Colombia. The seventh day of the tournament also saw the 17th-seed and crowd favourite Richard Gasquet beat Tommy Haas 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-0, 6-0.

Spain’s clay court masters tightened their stranglehold on one half of the French Open draw with both David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro reaching the last 16 with straight sets wins.

Almagro saw off the challenge of Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 whilst the sixth-seeded Ferrer flattened Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 in just 101 minutes.

“This match was easier than I thought, and I got into it straight away,” said Ferrer. “When the situation was a bit difficult, I managed to overcome these difficulties.”

Also through to the last-16 in early play was eighth-seed Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia who worked his way past Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

Tipsarevic won the last five games of the match after being 4-1 down in the third set to reach the last-16 at Roland Garros for the first time and will next take on Almagro.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 3^rd, 2012.