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Wednesday, 6 June 2012 00:39 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Reuters: A new name will be engraved on the Suzanne Lenglen trophy after the last remaining champion, China’s Li Na, was felled in the fourth round of the French Open by a bespectacled 142nd ranked qualifier better known for her doubles skills.
Li had captured the hearts of more than a billion fans in her homeland a year ago after becoming the first player from an Asian nation to win a singles grand slam crown but joy turned to despair on Monday as she was dethroned with a 3-6 6-2 6-0 humbling by Kazhak Yaroslava Shvedova.
Shvedova, who will become the first qualifier to reach the last four in Paris if she beats Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, said she had only one strategy for the match: “Fight, fight, fight, fight.”
Maria Sharapova battled with the umpire, battled with the swirling winds and battled for more than three hours with Klara Zakopalova before she finally cracked a smile after staggering into the quarter-finals with an ugly 6-4 6-7 6-2 win.
There were no such problems for a trio of Spaniards, though, as Rafa Nadal, David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro showed why the nation has ruled Roland Garros for most of the last decade.
They are the only players in the men’s draw not to drop a set on the way to the quarter-finals.
Holding serve became a major problem for Sharapova and Zakopalova as the teasing winds turned the Philippe Chatrier Court into a dust bowl.
In all there were an incredible 21 service breaks in the match and Sharapova, flummoxed by the unruly conditions, lost her temper at 1-1 in the second set when she felt her Czech opponent was incorrectly awarded a point.
“How can you call it out if you can’t show me the mark?” a fuming Sharapova quizzed umpire Julie Minori Kjendlie as she demanded to be guided to the spot where the official thought the ball had landed.
No amount of arguing or icy stares from Sharapova would change Kjendlie’s mind and 10 games later, the Russian was at it again after she called a ball out which prompted Zakopalova to stop playing.
Clay blob
The umpire climbed down and pointed at the pockmark left by the ball and promptly awarded the point to the Czech.
Zakopalova, ranked 44th, went on to win the set but Sharapova completed a messy victory - in more ways than one.
The statuesque Siberian spent the last 13 games of the match with a large blob of red clay caked on the back of her usually pristine grey dress, a souvenir from a fall midway through the second set which caused her to flash her pink hotpants to a whistling crowd.
