Safarova Stuns Sharapova in Paris
Defending champion Maria Sharapova saw her dream of repeating in Roland Garros come to an end on Monday as the second-seeded Russian fell to Lucie Safarova. The 13th seeded Czech pulled off the upset with a 7-6(3), 6-4 win over the five-time Grand Slam champion.
Safarova jumped out to a 3-1 advantage in the opening set, only to see Sharapova come back to even the frame. As the set went to a tie-break, Safarova pounced on her chance to sneak out the opening frame and took it 7-3.
The second set saw Safarova go up 3-0, but Sharapova fought back again to even the set at 3-3. After Safarova held to go up 5-4, Sharapova served to stay in the match. She was able to fight off one match point but that was all, as Safarova ripped a forehand winner to seal the deal and reach the French Open quarterfinals.
“I feel like I had small openings, and I just wasn’t able to play a good few points,” said Sharapova. “I just wasn’t able to keep that level up today. She was able to do that for a longer period of time. She was the much more aggressive player, took the time away from me, created her angles—and I didn’t. That was the difference, in my opinion. My opponent was at a much higher level than I was, and more consistently than I was, and that results in a bad day at the office. It was just a tough day.”
Safarova will take on 21st-seeded Spaniard Garbine Muguruza in the quarterfinals as Muguruza got past 28th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-4.
