Serena Williams and Sara Errani stay on course – French Open 2013
Top seed Serena Williams and last year’s runner-up, Sara Errani, secured a spot in the quarter-finals at the Roland Garros 2013 on Sunday. The American icon jolted down a 6-1, 6-3 victory against Roberta Vinci whereas Errani overcame
Carla Suarez Navarro in a three-set thriller to progress at this Major clay court tournament.
The world number one, Williams showed her class at the Stade Roland Garros. She dumped the 15th seeded Italian with a breadstick for the third straight time. As a result, the American secured a place in the last eight and extended
her winning streak to 28 matches in a row.
The American number one stated in a courtside interview after clinching the match, "I think she played really smart today. I knew how she was going to play. I never really discuss my game plan, but some of the things she did I
definitely expected, and I just had to come up with an answer. I think it was working really well for her, and I made a few errors I probably shouldn't have made, but I think overall that in the end I switched game plans well actually."
Next in queue for Williams is the former world number two, Svetlana Kuznetsova, who stunned eighth seeded Angelique Kerber in three sets to set-up this epic encounter.
The Italian star, Errani, on the other hand recovered from an injury en route to 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory against the 20th seeded Spaniard.
Suarez Navarro reflected about Errani’s performance, "With Sara, the match is always going to be very long. She's always so physically tough... So all the credit to her.”
The 24-year-old made quick in-roads at the Stade Roland Garros. She exchanged an early break before getting the breakthrough in the 11th game, eventually sealing the opener by winning seven games to five.
Ranked fifth in the WTA Premier Rankings, Errani re-focused her strategy in the following set. She got the coveted break in the second game and took the initial lead. Apart from losing her next two serves, the Italian stayed focused
and recovered in the eighth game. Errani availed another break chance in the last game and grabbed the equaliser with a 6-4 win.
The Italian top ranked star maintained her intensity in the deciding set. She lost her serve once but cruised to a 5-1 lead with three breaks of serve. Apart from squandering her chance of serving out the set with a breadstick,
Errani slid her serve once again and clinched the decider with a 6-3 score line.
Errani will next take on fourth seeded Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarter-finals.
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