Sharapova shredded by Spaniard; Halep rallies in 3
Two men’s quarters stopped by rain
PARIS — World No. 1 Simona Halep will meet Garbine Muguruza in the French Open women’s semifinals after the Spaniard dominated Maria Sharapova on Wednesday, while the men’s quarterfinals were halted by rain.
Muguruza, who was crowned a French Open queen in 2016, outclassed Sharapova in a comprehensive 6-2, 6-1 victory over the two-time Roland Garros champion.
“When you’re facing somebody that also has an aggressive style of game, I think it’s about who takes the command, who takes the first opportunity,” Muguruza said. “I think it was a little bit of that today.”
Halep battled from behind to dispatch Germany’s former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber as she rallied to a 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 6-3 success.
Muguruza’s compatriot, Rafael Nadal, was unable to complete his quarterfinal with Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman after they were twice halted by rain with Nadal closing in on the second set at 5-3, despite dropping a set for the first time at this year’s Roland Garros.
Meanwhile, in the other men’s quarterfinal, Croatia’s Marin Cilic and fifth seed Juan Martin Del Potro are pegged at 6-6 and 5-5 in a first set tie-break.
The men’s quarterfinals will resume first on Philippe Chatrier and Suzanne Lenglen followed by Halep and Muguruza and Sloane Stephens versus Madison Keys in the women’s final four today.
Nadal, who is aiming for his 11th French Open title, lost the first set 6-4 to Schwartzman, seeded 11th and ranked No. 12 in the world, when he caught the baseline with a rapid forehand in response to Nadal saving two set points.
The 32-year-old world No. 1 was in some discomfort and asked to have both his wrists taped before resuming play in the second set.
It had little improvement on his performance as Schwartzman broke his serve again with a spiked winner to lead 3-2 before the first rain delay.
Nadal rallied back after play continued to 3-3 before pulling ahead with another break to try and serve out the second set, but unfortunately a second downpour was heavy enough to end proceedings.
Earlier, Muguruza controlled her match with Sharapova from the first serve to the last, and that was evident after Muguruza raced to a 4-0 headstart in the first set.
It would be fair to say that Sharapova was under-par in contrast to the ruthless display the 31-year-old showed in her straight sets domination of world No. 6 Karolina Pliskova in the third round.
The five-time Grand Slam winner hit just four winners for the entire contest and most of her work fell into the net as Sharapova contributed 27 unforced errors, which was capped by a netted return after just 70 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Sharapova, who returned to action in April 2017 after a doping ban, showed glimpses of promise this tournament as she aimed to make her first Grand Slam semifinal since 2015.
“But to have had the victories that I have had, to have the results that I have, obviously moving a step in the right direction. But today was certainly not one of those steps,” Sharapova said.
Halep is meanwhile bidding for her maiden Grand Slam honor at Roland Garros, and she is one step away from her fourth attempt at the elusive first major title.