PARIS (Reuters) – Maria Sharapova kept alive her hopes of retaining the French Open title with a 0-6 6-4 6-3 win over Jelena Jankovic in the quarter-finals on Wednesday despite a hail of unforced errors.

Sharapova had entered the contest with a 7-1 win-loss record over her old sparring partner from the Bollettieri Academy but no one would have guessed following her first-set meltdown.

PARIS, June 5 (Reuters) – Maria Sharapova kept alive her hopes of retaining the French Open title with a 0-6 6-4 6-3 win over Jelena Jankovic in the quarter-finals on Wednesday despite a hail of unforced errors.

Sharapova had entered the contest with a 7-1 win-loss record over her old sparring partner from the Bollettieri Academy but no one would have guessed following her first-set meltdown.

PARIS (Reuters) – A shot fired straight into Roger Federer’s armpit demonstrated just how badly Jo-Wilfried Tsonga wanted to reach the French Open semi-finals.

Federer was left wide-eyed and wincing when the ball bounced off his sweat-soaked shirt. But that momentary pain was nothing compared to the mental anguish the Swiss was feeling two games later as reality hit and he realized he would not be in the semi-finals of the French Open for only the second time in nine years.

PARIS, June 4 (Reuters) – A shot fired straight into Roger Federer’s armpit demonstrated just how badly Jo-Wilfried Tsonga wanted to reach the French Open semi-finals.

Federer was left wide-eyed and wincing when the ball bounced off his sweat-soaked shirt. But that momentary pain was nothing compared to the mental anguish the Swiss was feeling two games later as reality hit and he realised he would not be in the semi-finals of the French Open for only the second time in nine years.

PARIS (Reuters) – There is something about feeling the soft clay under her soles that makes Sara Errani stand 10 feet tall at Roland Garros as the diminutive Italian toppled Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 7-6(6) to reach the semi-finals on Tuesday.

A year after reaching her debut grand slam final at the French Open, Errani once again proved that her 1.64 meter stature would not stall her from chasing her dreams in a sport awash with powerfully built athletes.

PARIS, June 4 (Reuters) – There is something about feeling the soft clay under her soles that makes Sara Errani stand 10 feet tall at Roland Garros as the diminutive Italian toppled Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 7-6(6) to reach the semi-finals on Tuesday.

A year after reaching her debut grand slam final at the French Open, Errani once again proved that her 1.64 metre stature would not stall her from chasing her dreams in a sport awash with powerfully built athletes.

PARIS, June 3 (Reuters) – All the complaints about lousy weather, windy courts and rotten schedules were forgotten as the sun finally shone on birthday boy Rafa Nadal’s pursuit of a record eighth French Open title on Monday.

Nadal spent the first week labelling Paris “too cold”, the Philippe Chatrier Court “too windy” and the playing schedule “a joke” after three wobbly performances but he was all smiles as the mercury finally crept over the 20 degrees Celsius mark for the first time in this year’s event.

PARIS (Reuters) – There are no trophies on offer for reaching the second Monday of the French Open but if there were, Victoria Azarenka would have been declared the ‘best wailer’, Tommy Haas the ‘best golden oldie’ and Mikhail Youzhny the ‘best racket basher’.

Australian Open champion Azarenka’s clash with 2010 Roland Garros winner Francesca Schiavone had been billed as the pick of the women’s fourth round showdowns but it failed to draw in the crowds.

PARIS, June 3 (Reuters) – There are no trophies on offer for reaching the second Monday of the French Open but if there were, Victoria Azarenka would have been declared the ‘best wailer’, Tommy Haas the ‘best golden oldie’ and Mikhail Youzhny the ‘best racket basher’.

Australian Open champion Azarenka’s clash with 2010 Roland Garros winner Francesca Schiavone had been billed as the pick of the women’s fourth round showdowns but it failed to draw in the crowds.

PARIS (Reuters) – Seeing the usually majestic Roger Federer down on his hands and knees – literally – is a rare sight in tennis but that turned out to be the least of his problems at the French Open on Sunday as he flirted with a last-16 exit.

Federer has not fallen before the quarter-finals at a grand slam for a decade but a nasty tumble in the sixth game of the second set against Gilles Simon sparked a sequence of events that threatened to deny him a 36th successive last-eight spot at a major.