18B FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012


SPORTS


JACKSON COUNTY FLORIDAN www.jcfloridan.com


 No.Ten1 with a title? Sharapova makes French final


No. 1 with a title? Sharapova makes French final


Russian star one win away from a career Grand Slam


 The Associated Press

 PARIS One victory
Thursday finished Maria
Sharapova's climb back
to the top of the tennis
rankings.
 With one more on Sat-
urday, she'll be the French
Open champion and com-
plete a career Grand Slam.
 Not a bad way to spend
springtime in Paris.
 Sharapova defeated Pe-
tra Kvitova 6-3, 6-3 in the
windblown semifinals at
Roland Garros. The sec-
ond-seeded Russian needs
a victory over 21st-seeded
Sara Errani, a 7-5, 1-6, 6-3
winner over No. 6 Saman-
tha Stosur, to become the
10th woman to win all four
major tournaments.
 "I always dreamed of be-
ing on the final stage here
and I finally have that op-
portunity," Sharapova
said. "And I'm more than
excited."
 When she won match
point on a second-serve
ace, Sharapova raised her
palms to the sky, looked
up and smiled one of
the sport's biggest stars
letting the fans and pho-
tographers share a special
moment.
 Sharapova has long been
the headliner at almost
any tournament she en-
ters, though this latest win
will officially put her on
the top line of the women's
rankings when the new list
comes out Monday.
 It's a perch that may have
felt unreachable three
years ago, when the Rus-
sian was recovering from
shoulder surgery and
dropped as low as 126th.
 But from that point, she
has made a steady climb
back, This year, she has
won two tournaments
and ,finished runner-up
in three more, including
the Australian Open. That,


plus the performance at
Roland Garros, has helped
push her back.to No. 1, the
spot she first captured in
2005 and held for 17 non-
consecutive weeks, the last
on June 8, 2008.
 "It's pretty special,"
Sharapova said. "A few
years ago after my shoul-
der surgery, I don't know if
I had a ranking, but it was
over 100. And I thought
'Well, I did it one time. So
maybe again, I can try to
do it.'"
 Her match against
fourth-seeded Kvitova,
who defeated Sharapova
in the Wimbledon final
last year, wasn't exactly a
walk in the park, but Kvi-
tova struggled with the
blustery wind more than
her opponent did. And
she couldn't get a handle
on Sharapova's serve. The
 I I


Russian placed 78 percent
of her first serves in.
 "It's tough to return her,"
 Kvitova said. "She plays
 very fast. It's a different
 game compared.to match-
 es before."
 Trailing 4-3 and 40-30 in
the second set, Kvitova hit
an aggressive return that
the chair umpire ruled
missed the baseline. A
short argument ensued
and after the changeover,
Kvitova kept glancing at
the spot where she thought
the ball hit. She went from
30-love in that game to los-
ing the last four points, and
Sharapova's last service
game was academic and
punctuated with that ace
on her second serve.
 Next up is Errani, who
 played a terrible second
 set against Stosur but took
 advantage when the U.S.


Open champion got a case
of the nerves and started
hitting balls five and 10
feet out in the final set.
 "It's a semifinal of a
slam," Stosur said. "Of
course you're going to be
nervous."
When her win was com-
plete, Errani toppled to her
back and onto the soft, red
clay, then looked up to the
players guest box,. where
there was an elated mix of
smiles and tears.
 "It's incredible for me,"
Errani said. "I. didn't expect
it, and I'm here. So, I don't
know what to say."
 Stosur committed 48 un-
forced errors, including 21
in the final set, while Er-
rani simply chased and got
the ball back, making only
21 unforced errors over ihe
entire match.
 Many of Errani's serves
spun in at t+e 70-80 mph
range. She finished the


--


match with no aces, com-
pared to 11 for Stosur,
and set aside the thought,
at least for one day, that
power players with power
games are the only ones
who win big matches at
Grand Slam tournaments.
The debate will be resumed
Saturday when she plays
Sharapova. Given the way
the past two weeks have


gone, there's no counting
out the Italian.
 Entering Roland Garros,
Errani was 0-28 against
opponents.in the top 10.
 Now, she has back-to-
back wins against No. 10
Angelique Kerber and No.
6 Stosur, along with victo-
ries over past French Open
champions Ana Ivanovic
and Svetlana Kuznetsova.


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