Sharapova ousted, Henin marches on

The semifinals at French Open had different fates in store for top two seeds of the tournament. While Maria Sharapova was beaten by Ana Ivanovic, Justine Henin stormed into the finals. Amidst all this, the dream of an all-serbian clash in the finals was over. In the first semifinal, 19-year old Anna Ivanovic – who has left everyone spell bound with her clinical play on the clay court – met Maria Sharapova. After Sharapova’s strong showing in the QF everyone expected this to be a lop-sided affair in her favour. What happened was the opposite. Ivanovic demolished Sharapova 6-2, 6-1 to book a date in the finals on Saturday. Sharapova was left shell-shocked as she was given virtually no chance in the match and Ivanovic dispatched her with ease. Ivanovic started brightly and a barrage of errors from Sharapova throughout the match furthered Ana’s cause. In the end, the feisty Russian was left on the verge of tears as she saw her dreams of winning the Grand Slam slip away. After the match, Ivanovic said: Maria likes to dominate but I knew she’s not a great mover so I tried to play the ball deep and put her under pressure. She went for the big shots but I was there. Now I will look forward to the final, it’s my first in a Grand Slam and I’m very excited about it Henin cruises through, again Justine Henin obliged her fans at the Roland Garros with equally rampant performance beating Jelena Jankovic 6-6, 6-2. Henin, who has had a difficult six months on the personal front, looked in sublime performance right through the match. She is now just one match away to complete her hat trick of French Open titles. Incidentally, the only other woman to have won treble at the Roland Garros is Serbia’s Monica Seles. Henin, beaming after the match told reporters: It was perfect. I just hope I can keep going to the end this way. Looking ahead Saturday’s clash between Ivanovic and Henin promises to be a closely fought encounter. Henin would be desperate to try to win her third French Open title in a row. Ivonovic, on the other hand, will be looking to give a fillip to her fledgling career by adding a Grand Slam to her list of achievements. Both the women are in a tremendous nick. Still, I put my neck on the line and predict Henin to triumph.