Maria Sharapova Reached Fourth Round Defeating Karin Knapp in Direct Sets

Maria Sharapova advanced to the fourth round in the women’s singles of French Open 2008 thanks to her direct set victory over Karin Knapp in the third round. You know that Sharapova was not impressive in the first two rounds. Even in the first set against Karin Knapp from Italy, Maria Sharapova was not at her prime as the set was decided in tie breaker, in which Sharapova emerged winner by 7-4. It was in the second set, world no. 1 Maria Sharapova showed some of her best performance, clinching the set by 6-0 in what she confirmed her berth in the fourth round. Now, in the fourth round, Maria Sharapova will face fellow Russian 13^th seeded Dinara Safina.

Maria Sharapova could not manage any of her first two round victories in direct sets. In the first round, Maria Sharapova defeated Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, 3-6, 8-6. So, you can see that Sharapova was not up to the mark in the first match. The same thing happened in the second round as well. The Russian star needed three sets to knock out American qualifier Bethanie Mattek by 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. It is true that Sharapova’s performance seems to be ordinary so far in the tournament, but the good thing is that she is gradually coming back to her prime form and that is what might make her fans happy and hopeful about the success of Maria Sharapova in the tournament. Sharapova has won all three other grand slam titles. Now, French Open 2008 could make her one of those rare players who has career grand slam. Let us see if Sharapova could achieve this in French Open 2008. Second seed Ana Ivanovic, who reached the quarter final pretty convincingly, now seems to be the major challenge for Sharapova in her way to win the title in the tournament.

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