Australia's Samantha Stosur will take on Sara Errani of Italy in the French Open semi-finals after both won through in straight sets on Tuesday. US Open champion Stosur powered past Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-1, while 21st seed Errani saw off Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-3, 7-6 (7/2).
The two remaining quarter-finals will be held on Wednesday with second seed Maria Sharapova of Russia taking on Kaia Kanepi of Estonia and fourth seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic going up against qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan. The sixth-seeded Stosur had too much firepower and experience for the lightweight 23-year-old Cibulkova and was only briefly under pressure in the second game of the second set when she stood at 0-40 on her serve.
"It's never easy to come out here, with it windy and playing an opponent who was going for it," said the 28-year-old from the Gold Coast. "She runs very fast and has quick legs. "The last few years have been good for me in Paris. It doesn't get any better than this." Both players had previously gone deep into the tournament at the French Open with Stosur reaching the final in 2010, where she lost to Francesca Schiavone of Italy, and Cibulkova the semi-finals the previous year.
With the sunshine back on the Philippe Chatrier centre court after the gloom of Monday, games went with serve until the fifth game when Stosur hit a series of big top-spin forehands that Cibulkova struggled to deal with. The Australian held to lead 4-2 and made it a double break in the next game with her forehand again proving to be her best weapon. Cibulkova, the smallest player in the WTA top 100 at 1.61m, hit back immediately to break serve for the first time in the match and then moved to 5-4.
She had three further break points to level at 5-5, but on each occasion Stosur took the initiative in the rallies to deny her. She then hit two more big, looping forehands to pocket the first set. Cibulkova, who knocked out top seed Victoria Azarenka in the fourth round, again squandered three break points in the second game of the second set and Stosur then turned on the power again to break to 15 in the following game.
Stosur moved 3-1 ahead and when she broke again to get to 4-1, there was no way back for an outgunned Cibulkova. Errani's upset win over hard-hitting Kerber made sure of Italian representation in the semi-finals at Roland Garros for the third year in succession, following the trail blazed by compatriot Francesca Schiavone, the 2010 champion and runner-up last year. A slight figure on tour at just 1.64m, Errani had never got beyond the third round of a major before this year's Australian Open when she reached the quarter-finals.
But the 25-year-old from Bologna illustrated her dangerwoman status by winning three claycourt titles in Acapulco, Barcelona and Budapest in the run-up to Paris, putting together a 16-match winning streak in the process. That confidence was translated into her Roland Garros semi-final run which saw her defeat 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic and 2009 winner Svetlana Kuznetsova. She was on top of her game straight away on Tuesday with a break in the first game, backed up by another in the ninth as the opening set was comfortably secured. Errani and 10th seed Kerber, who reached a maiden Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open last year, both struggled for any fluency in the second set as eight successive breaks of serve showed that nerves were beginning to show.
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