Maria Sharapova defeated Serbian Jelena Jankovic in the quarter finals of the Roland Garros 0-6; 6-4; 6-3 in a very spectacular match on Wednesday and will play in the semifinals against Belarus player Victoria Azarenka who on the same day defeated Russian Maria Kirilenko 7-6; 6-2.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is one step closer to fulfilling French hopes at Roland Garros after stunning 2009 champion Roger Federer 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 51 minutes on Tuesday to reach the semi-finals in Paris for the first time, according to atpworldtour.com.
“For me, it’s maybe one of my best victories,” said Tsonga. “[But] the tournament is not finished, and I hope I will have some more. Sport is beautiful because you can always do something. Even if you play the best player in the world, you have a chance. Because the guy in front of you only has two legs, two arms, one head.”
Sixth seed Tsonga is the lone French prospect remaining at Roland Garros. He is bidding to become the first male champion at the Paris Grand Slam since Yannick Noah in 1983. This time last year, he suffered one of the toughest defeats of his career as he squandered four match points in a five-set quarter-final loss to Novak Djokovic.
Tsonga is the first Frenchman to reach the Roland Garros semi-finals since Gael Monfils in 2008 and he has done so without the loss of a set. He is bidding to reach his second Grand Slam final, having finished runner-up at the 2008 Australian Open (l. to Djokovic).
In the women’s tournament, Serena Williams lost for the first time a set in this competition, but managed to qualify for the semis defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1 3-6 6-3. “She started playing better and I didn’t get ready for that, so to say,” Williams said according to wtatennis.com. “Even though she was up 5-1 or 5-2 in the second, it easily could have been 2-all or 4-all or something, or 3-all I should say. I made some key errors. But I didn’t have time to dwell on that because it was in the moment and I couldn’t think negative. I had to stay positive and try to start making more shots at that point.”
Williams not only extended her career-best winning streak to 29 matches in a row, she also reached her first French Open semifinal since 2003. She is a one-time champion at Roland Garros, in 2002.
Williams will play the No.5 seed, Sara Errani, in the semifinals, following her win over No.4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska. Williams has beaten Errani in all five previous meetings.
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