Righting her ship
PARIS – Maria Sharapova saved her most piercing shriek to punctuate her final shot of the first set, a thunderous crosscourt backhand winner to close out a tiebreaker.
She then dominated the rest of the way Saturday to beat Karin Knapp 7-6 (4), 6-0 in the third round of the French Open.
The top-ranked Sharapova needed 81 minutes to win the opening set. She squandered a lead and fell behind in the tiebreaker, then benefited from some shaky shots by Knapp. But beginning with that ferocious backhand, Sharapova played her best tennis of the week.
“It was like my twin sister was here, and then Maria actually made her flight and made it for the second set,” Sharapova said. “I definitely became a lot more aggressive and stepped in and didn’t give her too many easy balls.”
Top-ranked Roger Federer was aggressive from the start and defeated Mario Ancic 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Ancic is the last player to beat Federer at Wimbledon – in 2002 – but has lost their past five meetings.
“I was very pleased the way I played, because I always think on any surface, Mario’s tough,” Federer said. “Maybe a little tougher on a faster court, but nevertheless I’m happy with my performance.”
Federer will next play unseeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau, who beat Robin Soderling 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-0, 6-1, then threw his shirt and shoes to the jubilant crowd.
The lone remaining American in either draw, Robby Ginepri, won again and became the first U.S. man to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros since Andre Agassi in 2003.
Also Saturday, No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko blew a big lead and lost to No. 28 Ivan Ljubicic 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. No. 5 David Ferrer won a seesaw marathon against No. 25 Lleyton Hewitt, 6-2, 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Ginepri, ranked 88th, came into the tournament 6-24 on clay and 0-5 at the French Open, but he has now reached the final 16 at all four Grand Slam events.
He was steadier than Serra, losing serve just once and committing only 18 unforced errors to 43 for the Frenchman.
With no U.S. women left, perhaps Americans can claim 18-year-old Belarussian Victoria Azarenka, who has lived and trained the past two years in Scottsdale, Ariz. The No. 16-seed beat No. 18 Francesca Schiavone 6-1, 6-1 and has lost only six games in three matches.
After winning the Australian Open in January, Sharapova needs only a French title to complete a career Grand Slam. Clay is her least favorite surface, and she’s top-seeded only because four-time champion Justine Henin retired two weeks ago.
In a sign that it won’t be easy, Sharapova needed 6 1/2 hours to win her first three matches.
“We’re playing on a surface that’s going to make you hit more balls and that’s going to be more physically challenging,” she said.
She’ll next play Dinara Safina, seeded 13th, who defeated Zheng Jie 6-2, 7-5. Safina beat Sharapova in the fourth round here two years ago.