Roland Garros - Women's Monday Preview

Na Li vs. Petra Kvitova

Na Li is ranked at number 7 in the world. On the other hand Petro Kvitova from Czech Republic is ranked within the top 10 at 9 among the WTA rankings.

Li had a crackling start this year with a semi-final in Stuttgart and then managed a final spot of the Australian Open. She then reached the semi-final spot at Madrid and seems to be in good flow. She defeated Silvia Solerespinosa in the second round and Sorona Cirstea in the third round to face Kvitova in the third round of this event.

Kvitova started the year with a title at Brisbane and then won another title at Paris. She then had a slump in form until April as she won the title at Madrid. She defeated Jie-Zheng in the second round and then beat young American, Vania King in the next round to set a clash against the sixth seeded Li. She will be trying her best to earn a few more well fought battles at French Open this year.

Both the players have met once before and the head-to-head stands at 1-0 in Kvitova’s favour. The last time they played was this year at Madrid where Kvitova won in two tight sets. Kvitova can smack the forehands down the line and can slam big serves at any point of the game. On the other hand, Li can smack the forehands and can move with commendable speed around court.

Victoria Azarenka vs. Ekaterina Makarova

After enjoying a final run in Madrid and a title triumph in Miami, Belarusian Victoria Azarenka enters the 2011 French Open as a serious contender for the crown.

World No.4 Victoria Azarenka takes on Russian Ekaterina Makarova for a place in the quarterfinals of the 2011 French Open, season's second Grand Slam being played here at Roland Garros i Paris, France. When Belarusian Victoria Azarenka was crowned a champion in Miami two years ago, many tennis pundits considered her the future of women's tennis. Two years later, she not only proved their point, she also reclaimed the Sony Ericsson Open, which in many eyes, is the fifth major of the tennis calendar. Azarenka also kick started the red clay season with a win in Marbella this year and finished runner up to Czech Petra Kvitova in Madrid. Azarenka then gave Rome Masters a miss due to a minor injury, just to get herself to the same fitness level for French Open. Azarenka has simply been unchallenged in the first three matches, losing just 12 games en route to a fourth round appearance.

Azarenka's opponent, Russian Ekaterina Makarova opened the 2011 French Open with a tight three set struggle against Romina Oprandi, but soon gained her top form to edge past Johanna Larsson and Estonian Kaia Kanepi in straight sets. Currently ranked 33 in the world, Makarova has 1 WTA singles title to her name that she won after beating Azarenka in the final in Eastbourne in 2010.

Both players have contested three matches before and Azarenka has won two of them. In the pair's last meeting in Indian Wells this year, Azarenka scored an easy straight sets win.

Both players are in tremendous form. Where Azarenka has several title runs to her name this year, Makarova has some confidence boosting wins to her credit. The Belarusian, however, is likely to take this contest in 2 closely contested sets.

Maria Sharapova vs. Agnieszka Radwanska

Maria Sharapova will face the challenge of Agnieszka Radwanska on Monday in the fourth round of the French Open.

Maria Sharapova entered this year’s French Open in great form, and appears to be a real contender for the title having made it through to round four having only lost one set. The former world No. 1 hasn’t faced any of her major rivals just yet though, and it will be intriguing to see how well her challenge holds up when she faces the top seeds.

We’ll get to assess her chances on Monday, when she faces twelfth seed Agnieszka Radwanska. Radwanska has won all of her matches here in straight sets, and should be in a confident mood. If the Pole produces one of her better performances, Sharapova will be in for a difficult contest. 

Sharapova enters this clash with a 6-1 head to head record against Radwanska, and is currently on a five-match winning streak against her. That said, there has only been one previous clay court meeting between the pairing, so past form might not be the best indicator of Monday’s result. Whichever way the match goes, this should be an exciting contest.

Andrea Petkovic vs. Maria Kirilenko

To secure her berth in the quarterfinals of the 2011 French Open, rising WTA star Andrea Petkovic of Germany will take on talented Russian Maria Kirilenko, who has been enjoying some good form of late. Get ready to witness another enthralling battle between these two emerging WTA stars.

After contributing heavily in winning the 2011 Fed Cup for her country, World No. 12 Andrea Petkovic has been progressing nicely at the Roland Garros this year. And, now she is one win away from making it to the quarterfinals of the 2011 French Open for the first time ever in her career. The German now faces 25th seed Maria Kirilenko of Russia. On Saturday, No.15 seed Andrea Petkovic, won her eighth consecutive match, by beating No.24 seed Jarmila Gajdosova, with a 6-2 4-6 6-3 scoreline and now that top-seeds have vowed out of the tournament, Petkovic has emerged as one of the favourites to clinch the title this year. She has a very good 29-9 win-loss record this year with a WTA title in her kitty.

This is the second consecutive 4th round appearance for Kirilenko at Roland Garros. Well, the Russian has a 7-10 win-loss record this year and she has not won a title yet – in the new season. Well, she made it to the third-round at Indian Wells and quarterfinal at Strasburg, but failed to get her hand over a trophy. In her last match, Kirilenko mustered a comprehensive 6-1 6-1 victory over Dutch youngster Arantxa Rus, who upset second-seed Kim Clijsters, earlier this week.

In head-to-head, Petkovic leads Kirilenko with a 2-0. Interestingly, these 2 victories both came right before 2011 French Open, at Rome and Strasbourg. Petkovic is clearly favourite in this duel.