Italy's defending champion Francesca Schiavone gave a typically battling display to reach the French Open final with a 6-3 6-3 win over local hope Marion Bartoli on Thursday. Schiavone was a shock winner at Roland Garros last year but the fifth seed has looked a real contender from the start this time as bigger names were knocked out early.
A break for 5-3 in the first set came at just the right time for the Italian after some cagey exchanges, occasionally peppered with a neat drop shot or volley in the wind.
The second set was topsy-turvy, with the French 11th seed and 2007 Wimbledon runner-up going 2-0 up, but Schiavone fought back and eventually won when Bartoli netted. "The crowd helped me a lot," Schiavone said courtside after a small contingent of Italians had kept up a continuous noise despite being vastly outnumbered by French supporters on Court Philippe Chatrier.
"It was not easy because she is a great talent here. I had to run a lot." Schiavone will meet 29-year-old Li Na in Saturday's final. "I think she played an amazing year starting in the Australian Open final and she is a great person. It will be tough but this is tennis, someone has to lose," said the 30-year-old Milanese. Both finalists have peaked late in tennis but the women's game at least has an intriguing final after fears from fans that two anonymous players could have ended up in the showpiece after the early exit of the top three seeds.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.