Schiavone Does it Again

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Francesca Schiavone blasted past overmatched Marion Bartoli today to secure her place in yet another Roland Garros final. Whoever saw her today would not be surprised if she were to repeat last year's feat, when she came seemingly from nowhere to grab the French Open title. With a tournament win Schiavone would be promoted to Ozeki (=Champion). Former Wimbledon finalist and ex-Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I) Bartoli returns to the sanyaku ranks as Komusubi (=Junior Champion II).

Schiavone's final opponent will be tough-as-nails Na Li, who has already secured Ozeki promotion (see two articles below). This is Li's second Grand Slam final in a row. However, while she had established herself as a top hard court player in the past couple of years, it comes as some surprise that she got that far on the red clay of Roland Garros. Li may have been helped by the fact that her seminfal opponent, former Ozeki and triple Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova is a straight, hard hitter just like Li herself, rather than the top spin specialist type that tends to do well on clay. Today Li played more accurately and assertive than Sharapova, with better court coverage, which made her take home an impressive win.

Schiavone will be a different matter. Head-to-head Li and Schiavone are 2-2, but Schiavone won their only match thus far on clay: in the third round of last year's French Open, 6-4 6-2.

Sharapova, like Bartoli, will return to Komusubi following the French Open, after having been absent from the sanyaku ranks for more than 2 years. This is good news: womens' tennis needs the star power that Maria Sharapova brings to the game.