Tennis: Petkovic faces in-form Halep, Bouchard challenges Sharapova
Simona Halep will meet Andrea Petkovic in the semi-final of the French Open today.
PARIS (AFP) - Romanian Simona Halep, the highest seed left in the draw, will meet Germany's Andrea Petkovic as both players enter their first ever Grand Slam semi-final at the French Open on Thursday.
Fourth-seed Halep, who is trying to become the first Romanian to win Roland Garros since her manager Virginia Ruzici in 1978, brushed aside the challenge of 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-2 to set up her date against Petkovic.
The second semi-final is a battle between four-time Slam champion and 2012 French Open winner Maria Sharapova and rising Canadian star Eugenie Bouchard.
The 22-year-old Halep's best previous result at a Grand Slam was reaching the quarter-finals at Australia earlier this year.
"I'm happy, and I really want to look forward for the next round because it is my first semi-final at a Grand Slam, and I have to be very focused, very calm, and to try to do everything on court," she said.
Bosnian-born 28th seed Petkovic, peaked at world number nine in 2011, her finest season before injuries derailed her career and sent her plunging to 177 in the WTA rankings.
Back, knee and ankle problems almost forced her to give up the game in 2013 and on her last visit to Roland Garros, she failed to get through the qualifying rounds.
"The pressure comes hand in hand with this excitement. When I play really well, the thing with my injuries was that it now has a nail of doubt every time when I play well. I'm just so scared that it might slip away again," said Petkovic.
"I was the happiest when I was in the top 10 and was one of the top players, and then it was just taken away from me.
"So now every time I have happy moments and nice wins, it immediately brings the doubt and the fear of that it might slip away again. I'm very cautious with wins and with happy moments and trying just to stay with both feet on the ground and enjoy the moments when they are there."
Petkovic won the last of her three WTA titles, all on clay, earlier this year at Charleston, three years after Strasbourg and her breakthrough victory in 2009 at Bad Gastein.
She is the first German to reach the semi-finals since 1999 when Steffi Graf went on to win the last of her Open era record of 22 Grand Slams.
The two players have met three times with Halep winning twice.
"I played against her one year ago at Nuremberg in the final and I beat her in two sets, but it's already one year ago," said Halep.
"Maybe she's improved more but I've improved too. It will be a tough match, for sure."
Bouchard is bidding to become the first Canadian woman to reach a Grand Slam final and revealed Sharapova was one of her idols as a child, looking on as the Russian burst onto the scene by winning Wimbledon at just 17 in 2004.
"She was number one in the world and she's won several Grand Slams, so it's going to be a great experience for me," said Bouchard.
"She was a source of inspiration for me at the time, and therefore, she was an idol for me when I was younger. But now we have reached semi-finals of a Grand Slam and now she's a tennis player. I respect her, but I will do my best during the match."
Sharapova has won each of the Grand Slams once and has beaten Bouchard in their two meetings including at Roland Garros 12 months ago.
The Russian came back from a set down to defeat Spaniard Garbine Muguruza 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 and reach the last four.
"Someone like Eugenie who has been up and coming for a couple of years, I think this is the year where she's really broken through, especially at the Grand Slams, playing at a high level," said Sharapova.
