Serena, Sharapova showdown set
PARIS (TNS) – Serena Williams produced the best performance of her Grand Slam comeback to beat 11th-seeded Julia Goerges 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the fourth round of the French Open.
Next up for Williams as she competes in a major tournament for the first time in 16 months –and since giving birth in September – will be a familiar foe: Maria Sharapova.
Sharapova, a two-time French Open winner, advanced earlier in the day with a win over Karolina Pliskova in her most impressive performance yet at this French Open.
Against Goerges, early breaks in both sets allowed Williams to take commanding leads, including a span in the second set that included three consecutive breaks from both players.
While Williams’ mobility isn’t what it once was, she still looks as powerful as ever on both her serves and her returns.
“There is still a ways to go, but it’s moving in the right direction,” Williams said. “And I think that as long as it’s moving in the right direction, I know I will get there.”
The most-anticipated matchup for a quarterfinal spot at Roland Garros pits 23-time major champion Williams against five-time major champion Sharapova. The head-to-head history is overwhelmingly in Williams’ favor: She has won 19 of 21 meetings, including 18 in a row.
With two women’s matches being suspended by rain on Friday at Roland Garros, there was a bit of bonus tennis on Saturday morning.
One of those matches featured Sloane Stephens, who is the highest-seeded American woman remaining at No. 10. Stephens survived a scare after dropping the first set to Camila Giorgi, ultimately winning in three sets, 4-6, 6-1, 8-6 to advance out of the round of 32. She’ll go on to face No. 25 Anett Kontaveit, who upset No. 8 Petra Kvitova in straight sets.
No. 3 Garbine Muguruza defeated Samantah Stosur in straight sets, and No. 16 Elise Mertens dispatched Daria Gavrilova without much struggle. Lesia Tsurenko continued her excellent run, upsetting No. 19 Magdalena Rybarikova in straight sets.
No. 1 Simona Halep looked dominant once again, defeating Andrea Petkovic. Petkovic gave Halep a long first set before getting shut out in the second.
No. 7 Caroline Garcia beat Irina-camelia Begu, getting back to her dominant ways after a long Round 2 match with Peng Shuai. She’ll play Angelique Kerber, who defeated Kiki Bertens in the final match of the day on the women’s side.
On the men’s side, meanwhile, No. 1 Rafael Nadal still looks utterly unbeatable.
He swept No. 29 Richard Gasquet and, perhaps unsurprisingly, he hasn’t lost a set. In fact, in his last two matches, neither of Nadal’s opponents have put up more than three points on him in a single set. It has been a dominant performance, and it’s going to take either an off day or a monster effort to beat him.
No. 16 Kyle Edmund’s run to his second consecutive semifinal was cut short by No. 18 Fabio Fognini. It took Fognini five sets,
TNS Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will beet for the 22st time on Monday in the Round of 16 at the French Open. Williams has won 19 of 21 meetings against Sharapova, including 18 in a row.
but he simply outlasted the British star.
Maximilian Marterer, who has lost only one set to this point, swept Jurgen Zopp to advance to his career-best fourth round. No. 6 Kevin Anderson defeated Mischa Zverev to advance. No. 11 Diego Schwarzman also swept Borna Coric. In one of the later matches, No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro defeated No. 31 Albert Ramos-vinolas in
straight sets.
No. 8 David Goffin survived a five-set match with No. 32 Gael Monfils to move on as well. No. 3 Marin Cilic beat American Steve Johnson handily, which leaves John Isner as the last American man standing. Isner defeated Pierre-hugues Herbert in three sets, thus leaving no one from the host country in the men’s draw.