The French Open is in full swing at Roland Garros and after another exciting day of tennis, defending champion Maria Sharapova is through to the semifinals and will play two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka for the chance to get back to the finals.
On the men's side, both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were in action and if the two win, they will meet in the semifinals. That is the likely outcome and one that is being predicted and since the seeding is the way it is, the semis can serve as a finals warmup for the two stars, who played last year in the championship, which Nadal won. Nadal's best surface is clay, but Djokovic has been playing extremely well and he will be determined to win his first career French title.
Nadal struggled a bit earlier in the tournament but he has turned things on in the later rounds and with a defeat of Tommy Haas on Wednesday, he will be through to the final four. Djokovic is facing off against Stanislas Wawrinka and on the other side is David Ferrer and Jo Tsonga, who defeated Roger Federer in three sets to advance.
Sharapova is on a collision course with Williams, who has been playing some of the best tennis of her career and is looking for her first French Open win in nearly a decade. Sharapova won last year and he came out strong in the second set after losing 6-0 in the first and won the match 0-6, 6-4, 6-3 against Jelena Jankovic to advance out of the quarterfinals. She will play Azarenka, who defeated Maria Kirilenko 7-6 (3), 6-2 to get back to the semis. Sharapova will be looking for her second straight Open after getting the career Grand Slam last year and she will have a tough test with Azarenka.
Azarenka is now the first woman from Belarus to get that far in the French and she advanced after winning five straight points in the first set tiebreaker. Kirilenko struggled again and now she has yet to get past the quarters in any Grand Slam. Azarenka will give Sharapova a tough test, but she will be the favorite to face Williams. Last year Nadal and Djokovic faced off and Nadal is back looking strong after missing the US Open and the Australian Open with a knee injury.