Roland Garros – Women’s Thursday Preview

Maria Sharapova vs. Na Li

Maria Sharapova and Na Li will do battle on Thursday for a place in the final of this year’s French Open.

Maria Sharapova has found form over the past few weeks, and now finds herself just 2 wins away from winning this year’s French Open. The former world No. 1 has every reason to feel confident right now, and she should be spurred on by the fact that this is the only Slam event that she’s never won.

"It was tougher than the scoreline suggests. There were a lot of games that could have gone either way. I played really smart on the important points," said Sharapova.

"There is no doubt I have improved on this surface. As the years have gone on I feel I have got better and better. I feel physcially I have overcome many challenges that maybe a few years ago would have been tough for me", continued Maria Sharapova. She will take on Na Li in Thursday’s semi-finals. Li upset the odds on Wednesday by beating fourth seed Victoria Azarenka, and will be doing her utmost to become China’s first ever Slam title winner. After coming so close in this year’s Australian Open, Li will surely be fired up and ready to challenge Sharapova for every point.

"After I won the match I was feeling, 'Wow, I can play semi in Roland Garros'. I never think about that before," Li said.

"So many people think I'm not so good on a clay court, but I think now they should change a little bit", continued the player.

Prior to this match Sharapova has a 5-2 head to head record against Li. That said, Li won the last two contests between the pairing, and this could give her a psychological advantage. Sharapova and Li have only met once previously on clay (French Open, 2009). Sharapova won this clash 6-4, 0-6, 6-4.

 

Francesca Schiavone vs. Marion Bartoli

Francesca Schiavone will continue her French Open title defence with a semi-final showdown against Marion Bartoli.

Francesca Schiavone will return to the court on Thursday, following an intense quarter-final contest against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova earlier in the week. The Italian is clearly determined to hold onto her French Open title, and she’s once again managed to work her way into the latter stages. To add to this, she’s the highest ranked player left in the draw.

Schiavone’s semi-final opponent will be world No. 11 Marion Bartoli. Bartoli has had to put in a lot of effort to get this far, but has shown great resilience and should be able to challenge the fifth seed on Thursday. Bartoli can rely on the backing of a supportive Roland Garros crowd, and this might inspire her to claim what would be a very significant victory.

Schiavone has generally fared well against Bartoli in the past, and heads into this match with a 4-1 match record against her. That said, all but one of these matches went into three sets. This will be the first clay court meeting between the pairing, and it will be intriguing to see how this contest pans out.