Maria Sharapova vs. Petra Kvitova: Semi-Final Preview – French Open 2012
Arch rivals face-off for the third time this year. Yes, it is the Russian beauty queen, Maria Sharapova, up against the 22-year-old Czech, Petra Kvitova, and they are fighting for the spot in the grand finale of the Roland Garros
French Open.
It is their third semi-final showdown this year, having already contested in the Australian Open and Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Sharapova has won both the battles but with nothing at all to spare to be honest. The 25-year-old Russian
sneaked a win deep in three sets in Melbourne whilst sneaked a tie-breaker winner in the second set to round off the proceedings in Stuttgart.
However, both these players have faced each other on three other occurrences as well and Kvitova has won two off those battles, including the majestic upset in the final of Wimbledon last year when she clinched her first Grand
Slam crown.
So, the stakes are high, the tension is severe and the prize is huge. World number two, Sharapova has faced little problem in this tournament. She was only tested in the fourth round by the Klara Zakopalova. On the other hand,
the fourth seed Czech has been involved some tough battles, including her third round face-off against Nina Bratchikova and her quarter-final showdown with the breathtaking Kazakh qualifier, Yaroslava Shvedova, on Wednesday.
Sharapova is looking to complete her career Slam by winning the French Open trophy this year and she is just two steps away from doing that. She will climb to the world number one spot if she manages to dump the Czech on Thursday
eve. She is looking to reclaim the throne and stamp her authority by increasing her 10-match winning streak further. There is absolutely no doubt that she is capable of performing all the above but one lady can stop her from achieving all at once and she is
the Czech tennis ace.
Kvitova will enter her second Grand Slam final with the victory over the Russian. She will become the hot favourite to win the title considering the inferior rank of other two semi-finalists, Samantha Stosur and Sara Errani. She
will be just one step away from bagging her maiden Women Tennis Association title this year and probably surpass the likes of the Pole number one, Agnieszka Radwanska, in the rankings.
The Russian will play her third French Open semi-final on Thursday. She has never gone pass that stage so she will be looking to remove the tag of Roland Garros semi-finalist and enhance her chances of winning the first Grand Slam
title in four years. Kvitova has not had a successful year so far but this is her opportunity to prove her worth and show it to the world what she has got. She might be under a bit of psychological pressure having lost two matches from the second seed Russian
in the season but an epic encounter is promised by both contenders.
So, my pick remains the Russian number one, Maria Sharapova, who will be the world number one after winning the clash on Thursday.
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