French Open 2013: Ladies semi-finals preview

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.