S’pova nears one more crown, No. 1
PARIS – While Maria Sharapova, the superstar, was having her photo snapped and walking down red carpets, Maria Sharapova, the tennis player, was grinding through a much less glamorous pursuit.
She was slowly, steadily working on a comeback.
From the depths of the rankings after a debilitating injury, Sharapova reached the top of the tennis rankings again Thursday, courtesy of a 6-3, 6-3 semifinal victory over Petra Kvitova at Roland Garros that will officially make the Russian star the No. 1 player when the new list comes out next week.
With one more victory, in the final Saturday, Sharapova will reach two more milestones – her first French Open victory and a career Grand Slam.
Not bad for a player who was mired at 126th in the rankings three years ago after shoulder surgery that threatened to end her dominant days in tennis.
“It’s a long road back; it’s a long process,” Sharapova said. “It’s a lot of days of frustration and uncertainty, not knowing if you’ll ever get there, not knowing how much you want it, not knowing whether it would be a moment like that for you again.”
Sharapova’s opponent in the final will be 21st-seeded Sara Errani of Italy, who is enjoying her first act on tennis’ big stage.
Errani made her first Grand Slam final with a 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 upset over US Open champion Sam Stosur. It was a match with wild momentum shifts that ended with Errani playing the part of the seasoned veteran and the sixth-seeded Stosur looking as if she couldn’t handle the pressure.
“Maybe my problem always was that I couldn’t ... win with the strong players,” said Errani, who committed 21 unforced errors to 48 by her opponent. “But now I beat three in a row. I’m in the final in a Grand Slam. So I have to maybe try to think a bit different.”
Entering Roland Garros, Errani was 0-28 against opponents in the top 10.
Now, she has back-to-back wins against No. 10 Angelique Kerber and No. 6 Stosur, along with victories over past French Open champions Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Which means that on the same day Sharapova officially vaults to No. 1, Errani will reach the top 10 for the first time.
On Friday, the men head back to the court for semifinals, with No. 1 Novak Djokovic playing No. 3 Roger Federer and No. 2 Rafael Nadal playing No. 6 David Ferrer. There’s history dripping all over these matchups: Nadal going for a record seventh French Open title, Djokovic trying to become the first man in 43 years to win four straight Grand Slam tournaments, and Federer looking for his record-extending 17th majortournament title.