Stosur, Errani into French Semis; Sharapova, Kvitova Up Wednesday
Italian Sara Errani and Aussie Sam Stosur moved into the women’s semifinals on Tuesday at the French Open.
Errani beat German Angelique Kerber 6-3, 7-6(2) for her first Top 10 win and a first Grand Slam semifinal. She improved to 1-28 lifetime against Top 10 opponents.
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“In the beginning [of the second set] I was feeling a little bit tired,” Errani said. “Even though I was behind I just tried to stay in there, because I knew the match would be long. I just wanted to keep fighting for every ball and every point out there.”
Errani has won three claycourt titles in 2012 at WTA stops in Acapulco, Barcelona and Budapest.
“A big change for me really was the racquet,” Errani gave a ringing endorsement to her Babolat, the stick of choice for giving undersized players power. “It makes me feel much better on the court, like I have more power and am not too different from the other players in terms of power and those things. But also physically I worked very hard in the winter — I was doing that every winter, though, so maybe it’s just a mix of everything that’s helping right now.”
Errani will next face Stosur, who beat down No. 15 seed Dominika Cibulkova 6-4, 6-1. The Italian Errani is 0-5 career against Stosur, another mountain to climb.
“I’ve had success against her in the past, but the semifinals of Roland Garros is a whole new ballgame,” Stosur said of Errani. “You can think about the past and the history of the matches, but if something changes when you’re out on the court, you have to be aware of that and adjust, too. So I’m just going to try to play aggressive and play my game. I have to be ready. Sara is having a breakthrough year, making quarterfinals of the Australian Open and now here. You’ve got to respect that and be aware of that.”
On court Wednesday at Roland Garros in women’s quarterfinal action are (2) Maria Sharapova vs. (23) Kaia Kanepi, and qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova vs. (4) Petra Kvitova.
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