French Womens Previews; Nadal, Federer One Match from Meeting

Posted on June 7, 2007

French Open Womens Semifinal Previews

PARIS, France -- Three of the four semifinalists at Roland Garros will be venturing into uncharted territory when they step onto Court Philippe Chatrier on Thursday afternoon, but with a place in the final of the year's second Grand Slam up for grabs, the crowds are sure to be treated to two encounters of the very highest quality.

(1) Justine Henin (BEL) vs. (4) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) -- Henin leads, 5-0


Jankovic, the No.4 seed, enters her clash against reigning champion Henin with the daunting prospect of having to overcome a player she has never defeated in five previous meetings. In the Serbian's only other Grand Slam semifinal appearance she also ran into the elegant Belgian and on Thursday she will be hoping to reverse the three-set defeat she suffered at Flushing Meadows last September. In fact, all five of the pair's meetings have gone to three sets, the two most recent of these taking place at last month's clay court events in Warsaw and Berlin. On both occasions Henin was pushed all the way before edging tight final sets, but after the dominant display Jankovic gave in ousting Nicole Vaidisova in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, she will fully believe it will be sixth time lucky out on Philippe Chatrier.

Henin was no less impressive during her quarterfinal victory over former champion Serena Williams, a display signaling to the rest of the draw just how difficult it will be to wrestle the Roland Garros crown from her. The straight-set win over a player viewed by many as the biggest obstacle between the 25-year-old and her third straight title, was the world No.1's 19th straight triumph in Paris and her 27th of the season. Jankovic and Henin have been arguably the two most consistent players on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour this season, racking up an impressive six tournament victories between them and if their semifinal clash is anything like their previous meetings, it could well be one of the best matches of the fortnight.

"She doesn't make a lot of errors and she also hits with a lot of pace and she fights so hard," Henin said on playing Jankovic, "she also is really good mentally. I mean, she's always upbeat and she doesn't let the pressure affect her. I believe that if I'm able to organize a good tactical game plan and execute it to the best of my abilities then I'm very confident I can win. It will definitely be a tricky match though and I will have to be very consistent if I want to win the match. I think the player who will be the most consistent will be the one who wins the match."

"I'm confident and I will try to do my best against Justine," Jankovic stated, "and although I've never beaten her before, I will try to find a way to win somehow. I feel if I base my tactical game plan around her then I think I can do it. For me it's just a matter of staying concentrated and being mentally tough throughout, because I feel that I'm really physically very fit and I feel like I've been moving so well on the clay."

(2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) vs. (7) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) -- Series tied, 1-1

The semifinal in the bottom half of the draw will see two of the Tour's brightest young stars pitted against one another for a place in the year's second Grand Slam final. Sharapova and Ivanovic will both be appearing in their first semifinal in Paris and with a place in Saturday's championship round tantalizingly close, the stakes could not be higher. Ivanovic has had a wonderful first half of the season, rising to a career high world ranking of No.7 as well as capturing her second Tier I title at the prestigious clay court event in Rome. The 19-year-old Serbian has performed well at Roland Garros in the past, making it all the way to the quarterfinals two years ago, before eventually falling to Nadia Petrova in straight sets. On Tuesday Ivanovic met another Russian in the form of Svetlana Kuznetsova and despite a second set blip, the No.7 seed triumphed in three seesaw sets to reach her maiden Grand Slam semifinal.

After troublesome shoulder and hamstring injuries Sharapova participated in only one warm-up event prior to Roland Garros and despite making a slow start to the tournament the world No.2 has got better and better as she has progressed through the draw. The 20-year-old Russian star eased through her opening round encounters and did not face a significant test until her fourth round clash with Patty Schnyder. This match saw the No.2 seed demonstrate just why she is one of the Tour's most feared competitors, fending off two match points in the final set before winning an epic encounter, 36 64 97. However, this remains the only set the Russian has dropped and if she can repeat the commanding quarterfinal performance she gave to defeat compatriot Anna Chakvetadze, she has every chance of making the final of her fourth major.

"I really think Ivanovic plays pretty similar to Chakvetadze," Sharapova stated, "and she hits the ball pretty hard and flat. She's had some good success this clay court season and done really well in some tournaments, so it will definitely be a very tough match and one I'm looking forward to. Last year I played a good match against her in Austria and although unfortunately I couldn't complete the match with her this year, I'm looking forward to my first semifinal here."
--Courtesy WTA Tour

Nadal, Djokovic Set Meeting at French Open

Title favorite Rafael Nadal and shooting Serb star Novak Djokovic won quarterfinal matches Wednesday at the French Open to set up a semifinal confrontation on Friday at Roland Garros.

Djokovic joining female compatriots Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic in reaching the semis, beating Igor Andreev 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

"I'm really happy for it," said the 20-year-old Serb. "We're all proud, and I think the people are proud on tennis players. Everything that happened in the last, couple of months (tournament wins for all three players) or year or two, is just phenomenal for such a small country."

Nadal made short work of countryman and mentor Carlos Moya 6-4, 6-3, 6-0.

"The first set was tough," said the 30-year-old Moya. "I started well but he played better and better. It was tough for me. It was a good effort for me to make the quarters. I could have played better today. I couldn't play my game against him, I had no chance."

Nadal is now one match away from a second straight showdown with Roger Federer, as the Swiss faces Russian Nikolay Davydenko in his semifinal.

Nadal will take on Djokovic, who beat him earlier this year on hardcourts at Miami.