Champion Schiavone hits back to earn semi-final slot

WOMEN'S SINGLES:DEFENDING CHAMPION Francesca Schiavone will face France's Marion Bartoli tomorrow for a place in the French Open final.

Fifth seed Schiavone hit back from a set and 4-1 down to defeat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 while Bartoli ended the hopes of 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova last evening.

The 11th seed recovered from being pegged back twice in the opening set to win the tie-break and then proved the more reliable in the second to triumph 7-6 (7/4) 6-4, provoking a huge roar from the crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Bartoli’s previous best at Roland Garros was a fourth-round appearance in 2007, the year she went on to reach the Wimbledon final, losing to Venus Williams.

Schiavone, who defeated Samantha Stosur in the final 12 months ago, certainly did not make things easy for herself on Court Philippe Chatrier.

After battling back from the brink of defeat, she then looked set to cruise to victory over Pavlyuchenkova, the 14th seed and the world’s highest-ranked teenager, when she took a 5-1 lead in the decider.

But the 19-year-old responded superbly, winning four games in a row, before Schiavone finally held serve to seal victory.

The 30-year-old felt her extra experience had helped her against such a young opponent, saying: “The more I play, the better I play. That’s always been the case. I started much too slowly. But by the end I felt much better and I could play better tennis.

“She played really well but maybe she has less experience than me. Today I think I used my 30 years.”

The expressive Italian was a hugely popular winner last year and she entertained the Paris crowd again.

“I love tennis when I can express myself. I am transparent, so you can understand how I play and how I feel. Maybe I shouldn’t show so much. I am like this on the court and off it.

“I was 6-1, 4-1 down and I was saying, ‘Francie, this is the way things go. Today it is like this. Keep going’. I was really sad inside, but what can you do? Nobody could change things except me.”

Schiavone’s fightback continued a theme at Roland Garros this year, with Maria Sharapova, Li Na and Vera Zvonareva all winning matches they looked favourites to lose, while Kim Clijsters blew a big lead against Arantxa Rus.

The Italian gave credit to the clay, saying: “Clay always gives you a chance. Grass and hard courts, much less so. On clay you have to go to the net and shake hands before you can say the match is finished.”

Pavlyuchenkova admitted the situation got to her and praised Schiavone for her comeback.

“It was very tough match and it’s very difficult to lose this kind of match,” said the Russian.

“I’ll just try to move on and I will try to take all the positive things.”

R oland Garros Results

MEN'S SINGLES:Fourth round: (4) Andy Murray (Sco) bt (15) Viktor Troicki (Ser) 4-6 4-6 6-3 6-2 7-5.

Quarter-final:(3) Roger Federer (Swi) bt (9) Gael Monfils (Fra) 6-4 6-3 7-6 (7-3).

WOMEN'S SINGLES:Quarter-finals: (5) Francesca Schiavone (Ita) bt (14) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) 1-6 7-5 7-5, (11) Marion Bartoli (Fra) bt (13) Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.

WOMEN'S DOUBLES:Quarter-finals: (3) Vania King (US) and Yaroslava Shvedova (Kaz) bt (9) Nadia Petrova (Rus) and Anastasia Rodionova (Aus) 7-5 3-6 6-2, (4) Liezel Huber (US) and Lisa Raymond (US) bt (5) Victoria Azarenka (Blr) and Maria Kirilenko (Rus) 6-4 4-6 6-4.

MIXED DOUBLES:Quarter-finals: Jarmila Gajdosova (Svk) and Thomaz Bellucci (Bra) bt Rennae Stubbs (Aus) and Marcelo Melo (Bra) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4, Nadia Petrova (Rus) and Jamie Murray (Sbo) bt Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) and Bruno Soares (Bra) 5-7 6-3 10-7.

MEN'S DOUBLES:Quarter-finals: (4) Michael Llodra (Fra) and Nenad Zimonjic (Ser) bt Scott Lipsky (US) and Rajeev Ram (US) 2-6 6-3 6-1, (2) Max Mirnyi (Blr) and Daniel Nestor (Can) bt (9) Robert Lindstedt (Swe) and Horia Tecau (Rom) 6-4 6-2.