The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Schiavone, Murray survive thrillers in Paris Posted: 31 May 2011 08:15 AM PDT  Defending champion Francesca Schiavone pulls back from the brink against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to make it through to the semi-finals. — Reuters pic Both were two points away from defeat but Schiavone reached the semi-finals with a 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 win over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and British fourth seed Murray floored Serbian Viktor Troicki 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 to advance to the last eight against Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela. Schiavone struggled to cope with windy conditions on court Philippe Chatrier as Moscow-based Pavlyuchenkova wore long sleeves and hit long balls to unsettle the Italian fifth seed, who next faces Russian former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova or local favourite Marion Bartoli. It worked perfectly for Pavlyuchenkova, who knocked out world No. 3 Vera Zvonareva in the previous round, and she raced into a 6-1, 4-2 lead. But with her back to the wall at 2-4, 0-40 down in the second set, Schiavone bounced back, grunting as her game gradually fell into place and her opponent's started to unravel as she won six games in a row. Pavlyuchenkova broke back for 5-5, only for Schiavone to steal her serve again and end the contest with a backhand winner. "I did not play good, I hope I will play better in the semi-final because this crowd deserve to see good tennis," Schiavone, who put some clay on her face after the match point, told a courtside interviewer. Twisted ankle Murray, who twisted his ankle in the previous round, is not the kind to give up easily despite his seemingly nonchalant attitude, as he showed in a thrilling match against Troicki. The Briton, yet to win a grand slam title, fell 5-0 behind yesterday in just 18 minutes as he looked in pain and on the brink of pulling out before fighting back to level at two sets all. The match resumed today with an unusual incident. A ball boy inexplicably ran on to the court in front of Troicki during a rally as the Serb moved to the net for a smash in the sixth game. Because of "movement during the exchange", umpire Pascal Maria had the point replayed as Troicki boiled over, but the Serb broke for 4-2. He came within two points of victory when he led 5-3, 30-0 on his serve but made a string of unforced errors to let Murray back into the contest. The 24-year-old Scot wasted three match points but a gravity-defying crosscourt backhand passing winner sent him through after almost four hours, with a possible semi-final clash against world No. 1 Rafael Nadal or Swede Robin Soderling looming. World No. 3 Roger Federer will play local favourite Gael Monfils on court Philippe Chatrier later as he looks to set up a last-four meeting with Novak Djokovic after the Serbian world No. 2 was given a walk-over against the injured Fabio Fognini. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Murray battles past Troicki in rolled-over match Posted: 31 May 2011 08:01 AM PDT  Relief for Andy Murray after winning his tight five-set match against Viktor Troicki to advance to the quarter-finals. — Reuters pic Play was suspended late yesterday due to bad light after Murray, carrying an ankle injury, had fought back superbly to level the match at two sets all. Troicki was angered at the start of the sixth game of the last set when a ball boy inexplicably ran on to the court right in front of the Serb as he was winning the point with a smash. The umpire ordered them to replay the point, which Murray won, leading to more rage from Troicki and boos from a crowd sympathetic to the blushing boy. In the end it did not matter as Troicki went on to break the Briton in the same game but the 15th seed lost his serve twice, sending a backhand into the net on the key point as Murray sealed a last-eight clash with Juan Ignacio Chela. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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