Muguruza overpowers Sharapova

PARIS - Garbine Muguruza’s big strokes overwhelmed Maria Sharapova right from the start. Their French Open quarterfinal Wednesday was no contest at all, a 6-2, 6-1 one-way journey.

Simona Halep went from out-ofsorts to on-target against Angelique Kerber, scrambling to every ball and staying the course to erase an early deficit. Halep pointed her right index finger at her temple when she eventually completed a 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-2 comeback to reach the semifinals, too.

“I never gave up. So I think that’s why I won today,” Halep said. “My head won it.”

When the top-seeded Halep and No. 3 Muguruza meet Thursday, their contrasting styles will match up with plenty at stake. The winner earns a berth in the final at Roland Garros – plus the No. 1 ranking that currently belongs to Halep.

“I have just to stay strong, to try to make her uncomfortable on court,” Halep said, “and to try to play my game.”

The women got their matches done before rain arrived at Roland Garros, leaving the men’s quarterfinals suspended in progress. That might very well have been a relief to 10-time champion Rafael Nadal, who was not at his best Wednesday and dropped a French Open set for the first time since 2015.

Nadal lost the opener, 6-4, against 11th-seeded Diego Schwartzman but began to play better after a rain delay of just under an hour.

Nadal was serving for the second set at 5-3, 30-15, when another shower came and action was halted for the day.

In the other men’s quarterfinal, No. 3 Marin Cilic and No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro were at 5-all in a first-set tiebreaker when the matchup of past U.S. Open champions was stopped.

Muguruza had lost all three previous times she faced Sharapova, whose five Grand Slam titles include two at Roland Garros.

But they hadn’t played since 2014, back before Muguruza was as confident and successful as she is these days.

Muguruza has not dropped a set in this year’s tournament and dominated Sharapova with booming groundstrokes and superb returning that earned six breaks.

“When you’re facing somebody that also has an aggressive style of game,” Muguruza said about facing Sharapova, “I think it’s about who takes the command, who takes the first opportunity.”

Sharapova certainly didn’t do that. She double-faulted three times in the opening game, part of her 27 unforced errors.