Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka cruise into quarters – French Open 2013
Two former world number one stars, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka, triumphed over their respective rivals in the fourth round at the Roland Garros 2013 on Monday. Sharapova jolted down a 6-4, 6-3 victory against Sloane Stephens,
whereas the Belarusian top ranked star crushed Francesca Schiavone with a bagel at this second of the four Grand Slam events taking place in Paris, France.
The second seed, Sharapova showed her class at the Stade Roland Garros. She swiftly slid her entire serves with conviction. The Russian got the breakthrough in the seventh game and clinched the opener with a 6-4 score line.
Seeded second at this Major clay court event, Sharapova carried her rhythm in the proceeding set. She got the coveted break in the opening game and took the initial lead. The Russian squandered her lead in the very next game but
capitalised on another break chance in the fifth game, eventually leaped to a 4-2 lead. Sharapova held her proceeding serve with ease and cashed another break chance in the end, subsequently clicking the set with a 6-3 win.
On the whole, Sharapova clobbered a slightly lower first serve ratio of 63 per cent as compared to her rival’s 65 per cent but impressively marked 25 out of 32 marks on it.
The jubilant Russian complemented her rival in the post match presser, "I think Sloane has a tremendous amount of potential. She has a big game already - big strokes, pretty good serve. If she's in the right hands at the right
time, I'm sure she's going to have a great career."
Next in queue for Sharapova is the 18th seed, Jelena Jankovic, in the last eight.
Azarenka on the other hand made quick in-roads. She reeled off last nine games to pocket the match in straight sets against the former Roland Garros champion, Schiavone.
The 23-year-old stated in an on-court interview after clinching the match, "Francesca is such a tough opponent. It's always difficult to get used to her game, too. She can do anything. And I wasn't very accurate at the beginning,
either. So it probably took me a little bit of time, but I just tried to stay focused, anticipate better and take my opportunities more."
The world number three, Azarenka, exchanged two serve breaks to level the scores at 3-3. However, she stroke out the last three games and clicked the opener with a 6-3 success.
The Belarusian star went on a six-game killing spree in the following set. She cashed three break chances and sealed the set with a bagel.
Next in line for the third seed is Maria Kirilenko. The 12th seed triumphed over Bethanie Mattek-Sands in straight sets to set-up this battle.
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