Muguruza sweeps past Sharapova to book semi-final date with Halep
Maria Sharapova’s return to the French Open came to an abrupt halt at the hands of Garbine Muguruza.
The Russian, back on the Paris clay having missed the last two tournaments due to a doping ban, was swept aside 6-2, 6-1 by the Spanish third seed.
If Sharapova were to write another autobiography this tame quarter-final defeat is unlikely to feature too prominently. It was her book Unstoppable, published last year, which had dominated the build-up to her scheduled fourth-round meeting with Serena Williams, until the American pulled out injured.
Williams had branded the book “hearsay” and expressed her surprise at just how much she featured in its pages.
But Sharapova hit back, saying: “I think it would be strange for me not to include someone that I have competed against for so many years
“When you’re writing an autobiography, I don’t think there is any reason to write anything that’s not true.”
It was probably the best return Sharapova managed all day.
Muguruza raced into a 4-0 first-set lead, punishing the former world No 1’s second serve.
She broke again at the start of the second set, and although this time Sharapova hit straight back Muguruza bulldozed her way through the rest of the set to secure her place in the semi-finals.
“I knew it was going to be an intense match, because I hadn’t played her for a long time,” said Muguruza.
“I wasn’t thinking so much about the result, but I just was thinking about not dropping my level, not giving her a single point, and I guess that helped my performance.”
Muguruza will face world No 1 Simona Halep, who got the better of Angelique Kerber over three sets, in the semi-final.
Halep got off to a poor start, with ten unforced errors in the opening three games handing Kerber a double break. The Romanian bat-
tled back to force a tie-break, only to lose it tamely and to her obvious frustration.
Halep secured an early break in the second and did not relinquish it despite some fierce pressure from two-time major winner Kerber, with one remarkable get at the net even prompting applause from the German.
With memories still fresh in the mind of their epic Australian Open semi-final in January, which Halep edged 9-7 in the third, they went to a decider.
There were no such fireworks this time, though, and as Kerber tired Halep sealed a 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-2 victory.
Halep, twice a runnerup in Paris including last year’s shock defeat by Jelena Ostapenko, is still looking for a first grand slam title. She said: “I have no pressure. I’ve played well in this tournament. Every match was better and better. I had tough opponents – tomorrow I face another one.
“So I have no expectations, no pressure. I just want to play as I did today, and as I did every day.
“If I do that, I will be okay after the match, no matter what the result.”