French Open 2013: Ladies semi-finals preview

The action at the French Open has just got even more dramatic and enthralling. With Serena losing her first set at Roland Garros this year and Maria Sharapova turning around a 0-6 deficit in the first set in their respective quarter-finals, the semi-finals present a rollicking contest of four women, each of whom has been a top-ranked player at some point in their career. The singles World No. 1 Serena meets her doubles counterpart, the indefatigable Sara Errani, while defending champion Maria Sharapova will be involved in a searing battle with the reigning Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka. We take a look at the prospects of each of these women as they clash in the semi-finals.

Serena Williams (1) v Sara Errani (5) (Head-to-head: Serena leads 5-0)

The French Open has been the only Slam which has continued to elude Serena since the only time she managed to conquer it in 2002. Compared to her illustrious records at other Slams, the French has been her bane, with her only shock first-round Slam defeat coming at this very tournament last year. But Serena rebounded from that nadir in inimitable fashion, surging to glory in the next two Slams last year. Coming into the French Open, she has looked very much a woman on a mission to obliterate last year’s painful memories with a title again on the terre battue.

The Charleston, Madrid and Rome champion had looked every bit so, until a familiar meeting with 2009 winner Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarter-finals. Serena inexplicably lost the second set and went down a break in the third. Her Paris demons seemed once again ready to overcome her but that is where Serena exorcised them, perhaps once and for all. In her first trip to the Paris semi-finals since 2003, Serena will look to channelize her confidence into outclassing a diminutive yet skillful claycourter in Sara Errani to reach the final again.

As far as Sara is concerned, the Italian No. 1 has shown no signs of sophomore slump after her breakout season last year. She has a repertoire of resourceful shots comprising an array of wonderful lobs, slices and dropshots, apart from a heavy topspin forehand. With that she has managed to win a title, reach two finals and continue her consistency on the clay by reaching the Madrid and Rome semi-finals. She met Serena in the Madrid semi-finals and even though she initially hurt the numero uno ranked player with her spin and went a break up early on, she could not replicate it in the second set. Sara might have got her first ever top-5 win over Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarter-finals, but that will not be enough to overpower the determined Serena who is now on a 29-match winning streak.

Prediction: Serena wins in straight sets.

Maria Sharapova (2) v Victoria Azarenka (3) (Head-to-head: Azarenka leads 7-5

This titanic battle was the one that tennis aficionados had been eagerly waiting for since the French Open women’s draw was revealed. Both, defending champion Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka, play an explosive game, showing exceptional defense from the baseline and striking the blow when required. It’s a tug of war to portray who will go for the first strike, sneak in the occasional down-the-line backhands and put the other one on the backfoot. Both are amazing returners so each game has the prospect of going the distance, so much so that there may be more service breaks than holds.

Maria has proved she is getting friendlier with the red dirt over the past two years. The clay had been her bete noire during the initial stage of her career. Slowly, the Russian World No. 2 took the babysteps towards leaving an indelible mark on the surface. All her attempts reached their fruition last year when she completed her Career Slam taming this very surface. This year too, she proved herself once again on the indoor clay court of Stuttgart, emerging triumphant with a resounding victory.

But in the semi-final, the erstwhile World No. 1 faces another former World No. 1 who perhaps resembles her own story on the clay to a certain extent. Victoria Azarenka’s clay resume still pales in comparison to the Russian’s clay record. Azarenka has just one career title at Marbella in 2011 and she has lost both their head-to-head meetings on the dirt. Nevertheless, since her second round ouster at Madrid, Azarenka has been striking the ball with a renewed purpose and confidence. Her mobility on the slower surface has been getting better and better with each passing day.

At Rome, she reached her first clay final this year and on the way dismantled an accomplished claycourter, Sara Errani, with consummate ease. The ground beneath her did shake during her French Open third round encounter with Alize Cornet but the way Azarenka pulled the win off was admirable. Since then she has looked solid, throwing in the angular forehands at will and even volleying smartly when required. All that growing self-belief will come in handy when she locks horns with the woman she has beaten in their last two Slam meetings. Besides, Sharapova did struggle initially in her quarter-final and her serve remains an area of doubt and Azarenka will surely not hesitate to exploit that.

Prediction: Azarenka wins in three sets.