Sharapova looks to future after Roland Garros exit
Defending Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova trained her focus on the grass court season after bowing out of the French Open at the quarter-final stage today.
The world number two was overwhelmed by 10th seed Justine Henin-Hardenne 6-4 6-2 at Roland Garros as the Belgian continued her comeback from a year ravaged by injury and illness by extending her winning streak to 22 matches.
Sharapova will now focus on SW19 where she enjoyed so much success 12 months ago.
The Russian insists she does not feel any added pressure by returning to London as champion.
“I don’t have any pressure at all coming to Wimbledon as a defending champion,” she said.
“I have great memories there and I am very comfortable on grass. I am very excited to be going back.”
Sharapova will not be entering the year’s third grand slam as world number one, a ranking which would have been possible had she performed better in Paris.
“Being the defending champion there and the world number two is already a great achievement for me,” she added.
Although disappointed, Sharapova was gracious in defeat, praising Henin-Hardenne, who is rapidly becoming the player to beat in the women’s game.
She said: “Justine has a lot of confidence in her game, you hit the ball hard but she will return even harder.
“She made great drop-shots on important points, she is on a winning streak and of course it gives her a lot of confidence.
“She has a great game and impressive mental strength, considering what she went through last year.”
Henin-Hardenne fought back from a 5-3 third-set deficit to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova on Monday and turned in an even better performance 24 hours later.
She was stronger from the back of the court and also possessed greater variety with the short ball.
It was that kind of form which saw her arrive at Roland Garros on the back of three successive tournament wins – in Charleston, Warsaw and Berlin.
Henin-Hardenne, the 2003 French Open champion, admitted she is playing well but insists she can improve further.
“I know I can do better,” she declared.
“I think I am not far away from my level of two years ago and maybe evenbetter.”
Henin-Hardenne will next face seventh seed Nadia Petrova of Russia who ousted Serbia & Montenegro’s Ana Ivanovic 6-2 6-2 to progress to the semi-finals for the second time.
Petrova’s compatriot, Elena Likhovtseva, is also through to the last four following a 2-6 6-4 6-4 success against 15-year-old Bulgarian Sesil Karatantcheva, the conqueror of Venus Williams.
Likhovtseva will play Mary Pierce who rolled back the years with an outstanding performance to upset top seed Lindsay Davenport and reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2000 when she won the event.
The Montreal-born Pierce, who has French nationality, beat Davenport 6-3 6-2 on the Philippe Chatrier Court.
Davenport was not at her best, but she was under pressure throughout with Pierce hitting 28 winners in the match.
