French Open: Sharapova rallies to defeat Muguruza; Bouchard battles past Suarez Navarro

Maria Sharapova celebrates her victory over Garbine Muguruza

If she wasn’t playing tennis, Maria Sharapova might have opted for a career as a prize fighter. Perhaps her veins do not relay the message of defeat to her even when she is staring at it. Garbine Muguruza discovered just as much today when the two met for a place in the semifinals of the French Open, as the 7th-seeded Russian rallied from behind to clinch a 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory and advance into the semis.

In another quarterfinal, Eugenie Bouchard battled back like a veteran to oust the more experienced Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6, 6-2, 7-5, showing steely resolve to recover from behind in both the first and third sets. The result has helped her set up an intriguing date with Sharapova in the semifinals.

If there was an expectation of nerves, it was Sharapova who suffered them at the start. Muguruza showed no fear as she ran to the net to strike a forehand winner and break Sharapova in the very first game. The Russian tried to force her opponent’s hand in the next game, but the Spaniard would have none of it as she held steady to take a 2-0 lead.

The serve has never been a great friend to Sharapova, and a double in the third left her vulnerable at 0-30 in the third game. Muguruza has a fine backhand down the line, a stock weapon for her, and she used it to gain three more break points. The Russian saved two, including one with an ace, but a double fault proved to be her undoing as she surrendered a second break.

In the other quarterfinal between Suarez-Navarro and Bouchard, the hard-working Spaniard broke the Canadian early to run up a 3-1 lead in the first set of their quarterfinal encounter. Bouchard was looking to be aggressive, as expected, but was bleeding errors in the process.

The Spaniard is solid in defense and a 14th error from the Canadian afforded Suarez Navarro two chances to serve out the set at 5-2. It wasn’t to be enough though, as the resilient Bouchard worked her way back from two breaks down to even the set at 5-5.

Muguruza has been asserting herself all through this tournament, proving that the win against Serena Williams was no flash in the pan. She responded with verve to the challenge from Sharapova as she rallied to hold serve at 5-1.

Double faults were flowing freely from the Sharapova racket and another left her at 0-30 in the seventh game. Another error from Sharapova handed Muguruza three set points, and she needed just the first one. The Russian sank a forehand into the net to end the first set in 28 minutes.

The determined seventh seed sought to make an early dent in the second set, but Muguruza played with maturity beyond her years to stave off any threat by holding steady from 30-30 in the first game. But then something gave for the Spaniard, who threw in two double faults in the third game to surrender the initiative to her seasoned opponent.

Sharapova held serve with an ace down the middle and a squeal of “C’mon!”, urging her way back into the match at 3-1 in the second set. Grunting at each other, this was quickly turning into a classic baseline battle with Sharapova marching herself back into the contest.

Sharapova had break points in the fifth game, but made one error too many off the forehand to allow Muguruza to hold serve and remain adrift by just the one break of serve. The Russian was all over the place in the next game, and a forehand error followed by a pair of doubles enabled Muguruza to get even at 3-3.

On Suzanne Lenglen, the first set had slipped into a tie-breaker. The normally dependable Spaniard seemed rattled by the fight-back from the young woman across the net. She failed to control her forehand to fall behind 3-5 in the breaker.

Though Suarez Navarro won the next point, she once again made errors – one off either flank – to lose a set that was all but won when she was up by a double break. Bouchard was perhaps nervous to begin her first French Open quarterfinal, but saw off any remnant butterflies with a substantive effort to rein her opponent back in that first set.

The ninth game of the second set was vital for Muguruza – she was serving for a 5-4 lead to force Sharapova to serve to stay in the match. Any slip up could have been fatal, but to her immense credit Muguruza played like a seasoned campaigner to reach within a game of the semis.

But a double fault from the world No. 35 in the 11th gave away a hint of vulnerability. It was all the invitation that Sharapova needed, as she got stuck into Muguruza with her venomous power, looking to force a break.

Muguruza withstood tremendous pressure at the start of the game, but it was all the young lady could really do as she wilted under the weight of Sharapova’s sustained barrage of rallies. The Russian was relentless after re-discovering her consistency off the ground, drawing error after error from the distressed Spaniard who was broken for 5-6.

There have been very few women players with the grit and determination of Sharapova in the history of this game. Inside her candy floss exterior is a woman of steel who knows her destiny and how to get there. A terrific forehand winner from the baseline after picking it up off her shoelaces gave the Russian two set points.

Muguruza saved both, but the Russian earned another. When the Spaniard dumped a routine forehand into the net the match was in the balance at one set each.

Meanwhile on Court Suzanne Lenglen, Suarez Navarro broke serve in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead in the second set. She broke again in the eighth game, punching a forehand volley to clinch the set and force a decider.

Back on Philippe Chatrier, the third and fourth games of the final set were a telling reminder of Sharapova’s resolve to spare no inch to her opponent. The fourth game itself lasted 10 minutes, but try as she might Muguruza couldn’t regain the break she suffered in the third. Muguruza would fail to win another game, and Sharapova reached her fourth straight semifinal in Paris when Muguruza courted the net with her backhand.

An ecstatic Eugenie Bouchard reacts on reaching the French Open semifinals

As with each of the first two sets, Suarez Navarro found herself ahead in the final set too. But the unbelievably resilient Bouchard would not let go. The Canadian worked her way back from 2-4 down in the decider and the flustered Suarez Navarro gave in while serving to stay in the match at 5-6.

The Spaniard saved a couple of match points to her young opponent, but a third one proved one too many. Suarez Navarro dumped the ball into the bottom of the net and an elated Bouchard went down on her knees to let out a joyous scream of celebration.