Muguruza swats Sharapova aside
SPANIARD: TO FACE NO 1 HALEP FOR PLACE IN THE FINAL
Russian suffers worst Grand Slam defeat in six years.
Paris
Garbine Muguruza thrashed Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-1 to reach the French Open semifinals yesterday, condemning the Russian to her worst Grand Slam defeat in more than six years.
The Spanish third seed, who was the champion in Paris in 2016, will face top seed Simona Halep for a place in Saturday’s final.
That semifinal will also decide the No 1 spot next week.
Current world No 1 Halep made the semifinals for the third time by battling past Germany’s Angelique Kerber 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-2.
Sharapova, playing at Roland Garros for the first time since 2015, suffered her most one-sided defeat at the Slams since a 6-3, 6-0 loss to Victoria Azarenka in the 2012 Australian Open final.
“I am very pleased to be in another final in Paris,” said Muguruza who has yet to drop a set in the tournament and claimed her first win over Sharapova in four meetings.
“I was up against a great player so I had to make sure I brought my best tennis.”
Sharapova, who missed the 2016 tournament because of a doping ban and last year after she was refused a wild card, was broken six times, committed 27 unforced errors and won just five points on her own serve in the second set.
It was just her fifth loss in 25 Grand Slam quarter-finals.
“To have had the victories that I have had, to have the results that I have, obviously moving a step in the right direction,” said Sharapova who had made the last-eight in Madrid and semis in Rome in the run-up to Paris.
“But today was certainly not one of those steps.”
Sharapova never recovered from serving up three double faults in the first game.
On Court Suzanne Lenglen, 2014 and 2017 runner-up Halep, came back from a set down for the second time in the tournament to see off 12th seed Kerber who was bidding to become the first German woman in the last-four since Steffi Graf in 1999.
Halep proved the steadier player in the remainder of a tie which featured a total of 99 unforced errors and 12 breaks of serve.
In today’s other semifinal, US Open champion Sloane Stephens will take on fellow American Madison Keys in a repeat of the 2017 final at Flushing Meadows.