Roland Garros - Women’s Saturday Preview

Victoria Azarenka vs. Roberta Vinci

After the exit of top 2 seeds, Victoria Azarenka is the hot favourite to lift the title in Paris.

World No.4 Victoria Azarenka takes on rising Italian star Roberta Vinci for a place in the fourth round of the 2011 French Open, season's second Grand Slam being played here at Roland Garros in Paris, France.

Victoria Azarenka's Miami win symbolised the changing of guard in women's tennis. Where Williams sisters and Clijsters' careers are in limbo due to constant injuries and bad health, the old brigade of Kuznetsova, Schiavone and Jankovic are approaching the tail end of their careers gradually. In such a scenario, Azarenkas and Kvitovas of the game are WTA's finest poster girls and hopefully a bright future as well. Azarenka picked up two titles this year in Miami and Marbella and finished runner up in Madrid to Petra Kvitova after a fine run on red clay. She certainly is a hot favourite to win the title.

Azarenka's opponent, Italian Roberta Vinci is currenly ranked No.31 in the world. Vinci entered Roland Garros with a confidence boosting win at the Barcelona Ladies Open, her second title in the Spanish city after her success in 2009. Vinci beat compatriot Alberta Brianti in the first round here before getting past little known Frenchwoman Iryna Bremond in the second round.

Both players have contested only one match before and Azarenka won that clash in the first round of French Open 2 years ago. Azarenka is a heavy favourite, not just in this match but also in the tournament now.

Na Li vs. Sorana Cirstea

Na Li has been experiencing a fluctuating flow of game this year. She will be playing Sorona Cirstea from Romania in the third round of the 2011 French Open.

Na Li is ranked at number 7 among the WTA rankings where as Sorana Cirstea is ranked at number 99 in the world. It will be a match in between two talented players with good baseline play in this thrilling encounter.

Li has been winning and losing almost the same amount in the matches. The Chinese managed to win the title at Sydney and that was one of the best performances she could deliver this year. She had to struggle in her previous match against Silvia Soler Espinosa in order to defeat the Spaniard in three sets. She would be focusing on winning a lot more matches for an impressive streak at this event. Cirstea has been struggling to win matches this year with the best performance being the second round spot at Memphis before this Grand Slam. She defeated 27th seeded Alexandra Dulgheru in the previous match in straight sets in the previous match. She will be looking forward to some wins in order to break into the top twenty among the WTA rankings.

Both the players have never met before and this is the seventh time that they will be playing each other. Li has a high flying forehand and a sharp single handed backhand to go with it. On the other hand Cirstea can swing her double handed backhand to any extreme angle she wishes to aim at. Li should be able to win this one in a three set battle.

Andrea Petkovic vs. Jarmila Gajdosova

After her heroics at the 2011 Fed Cup, German tennis sensation Andrea Petkovic continued her fine run and made it to the third-round of the 2011 French Open for the first time ever in her career and now she faces World No. 26 Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia, who has caught the attention of everyone with her improved play on clay. Get ready for another blockbuster duel.

World No. 12 Andrea Petkovic hit the headlines earlier this year, when she made to her first ever Grand Slam quarterfinal in the Aussie Open. In fact, it has been a wonderful year for this rising German, as she has a dazzling 30-9 win-loss record so far with a WTA title in her kitty. Now, she will take on another exciting contender Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia who reached the fourth round at Roland Garros last year and proved her mettle on red-soil.

Gajdosova, who was earlier known for her feeble temperament on court, showed commendable maturity in her last match, here at Roland Garros as she negotiated the treacherous windy conditions well to beat the intelligent claycourter Anabel Medina Garrigues with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 scoreline. Gajdosova has a very good 24-11 win-loss record this year. Well, the Australian started off the new season very well by winning a WTA title in Hobart and also reached the quarterfinal at Estoril.

Gajdosova started off really well in the 2011 French Open too, as she ousted the Aussie Open champ Kim Clijsters and sent strong singles to her opponents that she is here to spoil their party. On the other hand, Petkovic clinched her 2nd WTA Tour title recently in Strasbourg, defeating Anna-Lena Grönefeld, Zhang Shuai, Maria Kirilenko, Daniela Hantuchová to her en-route to the final and did not have to work hard in the final, as her opponent Marion Bartoli retired. Moreover, Petkovic also achieved her new career-high ranking on No. 12 in WTA.

In head-to-head, Petkovic leads with a 2-1. Last time they met in January this year in Brisbane, where Petkovic subdued the Australian in straight sets with a 6-3 6-4 scoreline. Obviously, Petkovic looks in a better position, but Gajdosova can surprise her with her newly-found form.

Maria Sharapova vs. Yung-jan Chan

In an exhilarating third-round showdown of the 2011 French Open, seventh-seed Maria Sharapova will take on Taiwanese tennis ace Yung-jan Chan, who is ranked 129 in WTA. The way Sharapova gave into initial jitters in her last match, this time she will have to be extra careful against Chan, who is producing the best results of career on red-soil of late.

Though, Maria Sharapova held on to her No. 1 position for substantial period of time, there is always some sort of uncertainly associated with this Russian powerhouse of tennis. Sharapova does it more often to keep her fans guessing about what will come next. The Russian looked completely down and out in her last match against inspired Caroline Garcia trailing at 3-6 1-4 , before she rallied with those deafening grunts to produce a win in the end with a 3-6 6-4 6-0 scoreline.

Now, Sharapova will take on World No. 129 Yung-jan Chan of Taiwan to secure her berth in the last 32 of the tournament. Yung-jan has been enjoying her best run ever at the Roland Garros. She earned a straight-sets victory with a 6-1, 6-4 in 77 minutes over Jill Craybas on Thursday to come this far in the tournament.

The unseeded Taiwanese ace, had never won a singles match on the red-soil at Roland Garros prior to this year. By earning this victory, Chan became Taiwan's second player to come this far in the women's singles at the Roland Garros. Earlier, Wang Shi-ting made it into the third round of the French Open in 1994 and 1995.

Sharapova won 23rd WTA title of her career in Rome, a few days ago and sent a strong message to her rivals that she is back into business. In fact, Sharapvoa has improved a lot from last season and rebounded nicely into Top 10 of the world. The Russian can complete her career slam by winning the French Open this year.

Sharapova leads the head-to-head records with a 2-0 over Chan. Last time they met in 2007 in the opening round at Wimbledon where Sharapova thrashed Chan in straight sets. When asked about this huge contest of her career, Chan said, "I've lost both of my previous matches against her, but she's not at her best on clay. I've played on centre court so I won't feel any pressure or be scared."

Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Yanina Wickmayer

Agnieszka Radwanska from Poland will try to get herself into the top ten this year. She will be facing Belgian Yanina Wickmayer in the third round of the 2011 French Open.

Agnieszka Radwanska is ranked at number 13 in the world. On the other hand Yanina Wickmayer from Belgium is ranked within the top 30 at 22 among the WTA rankings.

Radwanska has performing well this year. She reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and then followed it by a quarterfinal performance at Dubai and Miami. She defeated Patricia Mayr-Achleitner in the first round and beat Sania Mirza in the second round to face Wickmayer in the third round of this event.

Wickmayer has been playing to top standards this year. She reached the final at Auckland and then followed it by a quarterfinal spot at Paris and a semi-final spot at Indian Wells. The Belgian has improved her game by leaps and bounds. She defeated Monica Niculescu in the first round and then beat Ayumi Morita in the next round to set a clash against the third seeded Radwanska. She will be trying her best to put forth a challenge at French Open this year.

Both the players have met once before and the head-to-head stands at 1-0 in Wickmayer’s favour. The last time they played was last year at Fed Cup where Wickmayer won in three sets. Wickmayer has commendable footwork and can come up with crackling forehands at anytime of the match while Radwanska can work her way through rallies with her tactical backhands and occasional forehand winners.

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