Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Garbine Muguruza, right, easily defeats Maria Sharapova at the French Open.
PARIS — Garbine Muguruza’s big strokes overwhelmed Maria Sharapova from the start Wednesday and turned their French Open quarterfinal into a 6-2, 6-1 one-way journey.
Simona Halep went from out of sorts to on target against Angelique Kerber, scrambling to every ball to erase an early deficit. Halep pointed her right index finger at her temple when she completed a 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-2 comeback to reach the semifinals.
“I never gave up — I think that’s why I won,” 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 to stay strong, try to make her uncomfortable on (the) court and play my game,” Halep said.
Muguruza had lost three previous times to Sharapova, whose five Grand Slam titles include two at Roland Garros. But they hadn’t played since 2014, before Muguruza was as successful as she is now.
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 (who) also has an aggressive style, it’s about who takes command, who takes the first opportunity,” Muguruza said.
The women got their matches done before rain arrived and suspended play in the men’s quarterfinals. That might have been a relief to 10-time champion Rafael Nadal, who 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 halted action 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 play was stopped.