Roland Garros 2013 Day 11: Sharapova's comeback victory

Sharapova celebrates her comeback victory over Jankovic

Roland Garros 2013 Day 11: Sharapova's comeback victory

Men's Singles

The match everyone was hoping for / expecting when the Men's draw came out became a reality on Day 11 in Paris with seven-time champion Rafael Nadal and World No.1 Novak Djokovic setting up their blockbuster semi-final as both claimed straight sets quarter final victories.



Nadal was rarely stretched against Wawrinka



First to progress was reigning champion Rafael Nadal as the Spaniard maintained his mastery of Stanislas Wawrinka with a straightforward 6-2 6-3 6-1 defeat of the Swiss No.2.

Nadal's only minor hiccup came when ninth seed Wawrinka broke back to level at 3-3 in the second.  The third seed's confident response was to rattle off eight straight games.

On Court Suzanne Lenglen Djokovic had a harder time against 35 year-old Tommy Haas but came through 6-3 7-6(7-5) 7-5 to avenge his loss to the German in Miami.

The top seed broke twice to take the opener, edged a tight second from 2-4 down in the breaker and then broke in the third before being broken to 30 when serving for the match at 5-4.  Djokovic broke Haas again in the next game and fired a backhand winner down the line to clinch his last four place.

For the first time since 1948 that all four quarter finals have been decided in straight sets.  Hopefully that will mean we are left with three electrifying edge-of-your-seat thrillers to decide who is left holding the Coupe de Mousquetaires on Sunday.

Women's Singles

Azarenka was at her determined best against Kirilenko

Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka booked her place in her first French Open semi-final with victory over 12th seeded Maria Kirilenko.

The Belarusian third set took a marathon 76 minute first set on a tie-break before cruising through the second on Court Suzanne Lenglen to win 7-6(7-3) 6-2. 

The consolation for the 26 year-old Russian is she will make her top 10 debut on June 10th after making her third major quarter final.

Match of the Day: Sharapova (2) vs Jankovic (18)

The best contest of day 11 was between defending champion Maria Sharapova and former World No.1 Jelena Jankovic. 



Jankovic looked close to her best against Sharapova



The World No.2 committed 20 unforced errors in the opening set against a revitalised rock solid Jankovic.  After the Serb battled through a tough opening service game she broke the Russian three times to stun Sharapova with a 6-0 set.

Crucially the 18th seed could not carry the momentum into the second set and was broken in the opening game.

The second seed broke Jankovic again to build a 5-1 lead but was broken serving for the set in the eighth game and the Serb got back to 4-5.  At the second time of asking Sharapova levelled the match.

Sharapova raised her level significantly to get past JJ

Jankovic battled hard to stay with the Russian in the decider and led 3-2 on serve.

Sharapova claimed the first break in the seventh game and then saved a break point with aggressive play at 4-3. 

The Serb's last chance had gone and Sharapova broke again in the final game to come through 0-6 6-4 6-3, her first ever victory after a first set blowout.

And so the women's last four line-up is an exact replica from last year's US Open where Serena dispatched Errani 6-1 6-2 and Azarenka battled past Sharapova 3-6 6-2 6-4. 

I'm sure that Errani will push Williams harder on her favoured surface and Sharapova will be determined to get back to the final but will have her work cut out for her against the Belarusian - that should be one superb contest today.

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