Steely Sharapova survives scare to pull through

TENNIS:THE GAZE of the media, predictably, was trained on the troubles of Maria Sharapova as she survived her first scare of the French Open, while the defending champion Li Na was allowed a low-key but not altogether dignified exit, bagelled in the third set by Yaroslava Shvedova, who is ranked 142 in the world.

As Court Suzanne Lenglen was taking in the shock of the Chinese player’s collapse under appropriately gloomy skies (her Kazak conqueror took exactly two hours over a 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 win), the other 30-year-old to get to the fourth round, Klara Zakopalova, faced the same fate after a sterner fight over three hours 11 minutes against Sharapova.

An imperfect match ended imperfectly: a double-fault by Zakopalova registering the 21st break of service. The women’s game remains a gambler’s nightmare. Not since Justine Henin’s three titles on the spin, from 2005 to 2007, has a champion successfully defended her crown here.

Li, seeded seventh, was always unlikely to break the jinx. She said later: “Nothing wrong in the second set. This is tennis.” Nor would she blame the elements, which were uncomfortable but hardly dire. “The weather for me is nothing special,” she said. “The weather couldn’t kill me.” Wimbledon is her next stop – if she does not play at Birmingham – and she has some work to do on her game. “I need some time to recover. I’m not a machine.”

Sharapova, so dominant in her first three wins, looked vulnerable before drawing on her reserves of Russian steel to win 6-4, 6-7, 6-2. The three-times slam winner, worth $40 million was a set and 3-1 up against a 30-year-old 42 places away in the rankings, who had never got out of the second round here in eight attempts.

Then Sharapova caved in, beaten for pace and placement time and again, as the Czech found her best tennis. It could not last as, after a fall on the clay, Sharapova rediscovered her icy cool and got to the line comfortably.

“My opponent, I thought, played extremely well,” she said, “the best that she’s played against me. She’s dangerous. When I was up in the first match point, she was just drilling the ball. I had chances to finish it in two sets and I didn’t. But I came out strong in the third set and I guess that’s really what matters. It’s nice to be in the quarters again.”