PARIS, (Reuters) – A cold chill circulated around Maria Sharapova as the title holder was frozen out of the French Open yesterday but there was no stopping Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal from blazing a trail towards a scorching showdown.
A day after rain played havoc with the schedule, Sharapova’s hopes of reaching a fourth successive final at Roland Garros were turned to dust in the fourth round by the dynamite forehand of Lucie Safarova, the Czech winning 7-6(3) 6-4.
An explosive quarter-final, however, awaits those lucky enough to hold Wednesday tickets for Court Philippe Chatrier after nine-times champion Nadal and world number one Djokovic set up a smoking showdown that former champion Jim Courier called “the match of the season so far.”
For 10 days now, all roads at Roland Garros had been leading to this last eight collision and it became a reality as Spanish sixth seed Nadal tamed American tyro Jack Sock 6-3 6-1 5-7 6-2 shortly before Djokovic overwhelmed Richard Gasquet 6-1 6-2 6-3.
For under-the-weather Sharapova, though, Monday was a total let down.
The Russian spent the changeovers coughing and spluttering into a tissue but the second seed refused to blame health problems for her earliest Paris exit since 2010.
“I’m still a competitor no matter what. I’m going to do everything in order to go out and give it my best. I did the best I could. Today it wasn’t enough, because my opponent had a different gear than I did,” the 2012 and 2014 champion told reporters.
Sharapova was one of eight grand slam champions in action on day nine with Serena Williams and Roger Federer making sure they did not suffer the same fate as the Russian.
