Maria Sharapova Wins In 3, Advances To Quarter Finals

It wasn’t pretty but Maria Sharapova has managed to claim another victory at the French Open after defeating 44th-ranked Klara Zakopalova in a three set match that took 3 hours and 11 minutes to complete.

When all was said and done Sharapova walked away with a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 victory to advance her to the quarter final round.

The match was so long that it ran 16 minutes longer than her first three contests combined and the 13 games she lost were eight more than the losses from her first three combined opponents.

Speaking after the match Sharapova said of her time on the court:

“It was a good test for me. I had chances to finish in two sets and didn’t but I came out strong in the third set. I guess that’s really what matters and it’s nice to be in the quarters again.”

The match could have ended sooner but Maria failed to serve out the match on three separate chances, at one point double-faulting which led to annoyed whistles from the crowd.

During the match Maria Sharapova committed 53 unforced errors and stopped play several times to argue with the chair umpire.

Sharapova will now either play either No. 23 Kaia Kanepi vs. 88th-ranked Arantxa Rus.

In another match No. 7 seed and defending French Open champion Li Na fell in a 3 set match to qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan. With that loss the French Open will now be guaranteed to crown a “first-time” champion.

After the upset Shvedova admitted that her championship caliber opponent was not playing at her best:

“I felt she was nervous a little bit. She didn’t play maybe like she was playing last year. She was doing some mistakes.”