Bye!
So game, set and match to Ivanovic. She will cause her semi-final opponent many a problem, especially with that forehand on her, though a smart opponent will force her into using – and making mistakes – with that backhand. That’s all from me for now. See ya!
Second set: Ivanovic* 6-3, 6-2 Svitolina (*denotes server)
Svitolina postpones the party by winning the first point. Ivanovic does not let her get away with that lead for long and forces her afternoon enemy into overhitting on a forehand. 15-15 it is. It is soon 30-15 and it is soon 40-15, via a forceful forehand with Svitolina stranded in No Man’s Land. Match point. Svitolina saves the first one. Ivanovic throws away the second one by double faulting. What a time to do that. She soon recovers her nerve and her lead. It’s her third match point and it’s third time lucky. Suitably enough, she ends it via a screaming cross-court forehand. Bastian looks very happy.
Updated
Second set: Ivanovic 6-3, 5-2 Svitolina* (*denotes server)
It goes a little something like this: 15-0, 15-15, 30-15, 30-30. 30-40. Game Ivanovic. She double breaks and will now serve for a spot in the French Open semi-finals.
Updated
Second set: Ivanovic* 6-3, 4-2 Svitolina (*denotes server)
The other quarter-final has gone to a first-set tie-break but back in this game Svitolina takes the lead. Ivanovic works her around the court on the next point and eventually forces her into hitting a weak backhand that can only dribble its way towards the net. 15-15. Seconds later, the game is over and Ivanovic has held.
Updated
Second set: Ivanovic 6-3, 3-2 Svitolina* (*denotes server)
It must be frustrating for fans of Svitolina. She shoots some superb shots to take a 30-0 lead but then lets Ivanovic right back into the game through a mixture of mistakes. 30-30. Svitolina regains the lead and guess what? Yup. 40-40. Lucky for her and her fans, Ivanovic fires one this wide to make it advantage Svitolina and it seems her luck is in for this game as Ivanovic does one into the net.
Second set: Ivanovic* 6-3, 3-1 Svitolina (*denotes server)
Easy peasy lemon squeezy for Ivanovic. She wins the first point but loses the second. She also loses the third. 15-30. She wins the next one and the next one. 40-30. Then Svitolina forces Ivanovic to use her backhand with predictable consequences. 40-40. She wins the next two in a row and thus the game. Actually, that wasn’t really easy peasy lemon squeezy at all for Ivanovic.
Second set: Ivanovic 6-3, 2-1 Svitolina* (*denotes server)
Svitolina overhits on the first point meaning Ivanovic has now won 14 of the last 20 points. Svitolina comes back into the game by forcing Ivanovic into a near-net mishit before taking another point and a 15-40 lead. A poor backhanded effort from Ivanovic means Svitolina has won her first game of the set.
Second set: Ivanovic* 6-3, 2-0 Svitolina (*denotes server)
Ivanovic double faults and gives Svitolina some hope, hope she soon takes away with a monster smash. 15-15. Svitolina pushes Ivanovic into a backhand fault and retakes the lead. (Ivanovic’s backhand has been her one week spot so far today.) Svitolina stretches that lead but once more Ivanovic comes roaring back to make it 30-40. What ensues next is a longish rally and ends with Ivanovic fending off a break point and levelling the scores. The Serb gets out that massive forehand once more to make it advantage but she somehow misses an easy over-head smash to take the game. We are back to deuce. And we are back to advantage Ivanovic. We are back to deuce. And we are back to advantage Ivanovic. (Now we know how Sisyphus feels.) Ivanovic eventually takes the game with a blaster down the line.
Second set: Ivanovic 6-3, 1-0 Svitolina* (*denotes server)
That first set took just 39 minutes and there was little evidence from Svitolina’s play during those nine games that she will be able to last much longer for this second one. There has been too many silly shots and she has been broken far too easy. Anyway. Here we go. Ouch! On the first point, Ivanovic hits the ground and looks to have rolled her ankle while all the time playing a lovely shot down the line. Is she OK? She is. Very much so. She wins the next point and the one after that and soon breaks Svitolina.
Updated
First set: Ivanovic* 6-3 Svitolina (*denotes server)
Ivanovic wins the first point. Ivanovic wins the second point. Ivanovic wins the third point (with a super, super slice). Ivanovic wins the fourth point. Ivanovic wins the set.
First set: Ivanovic 5-3 Svitolina* (*denotes server)
The crowds have started to file in after lunch but Bastian has filed out. Possibly for lunch. Who knows. Svitolina gets lucky on the first point with the ball hitting the net and just about landing on the right side. She soon makes it 30-0 but Ivanovic is not going to let her have it her own way. She powers her way to 30-15 and then to 30-30. She then lands one in row Z to give Svitolina the lead. That does not last long. We are at 40-40 people. Ivanovic works Svitolina around the court and goes in for the kill but instead hits the net. Silly stuff. Advantage Svitolina and game Svitolina. Ivanovic will serve for the set.
Updated
First set: Ivanovic* 5-2 Svitolina (*denotes server)
Ivanovic has spent the last game and a bit of this one shouting at herself for some poor shots. Svitolina just grunts loudly. Very loudly. Speaking of Svitolina, she races into a 0-30 lead before overcooking a lob and landing the ball outside the court. Some neat footwork from Ivanovic – as well a lovely forehand down the line – sees the two players level before Ivanovic takes the lead for the first time in this game. That lead does not last for long thanks to a close-to-the-net backhand from Svitolina. 40-40 it is. Advantage Svitolina it is. Cue more screaming from Ivanovic. Svitolina hits the net on a second-serve break point. Tut. tut. Like a fridge in a denim jacket, Ivanovic keeps it cool and eventually takes the game.
Updated
First set: Ivanovic 4-2 Svitolina* (*denotes server)
Fresh from her fist-pumping win in the last game, Ivanovic wins the first point with a fearsome forehand, smashed across the court. Svitolina aces to draw level but throws away her good work with a shot that smacked of a lack of concentration and a lot of nerves. Nonetheless, she manages to make it 30-30 and soon earns herself a chance of holding for the first time today. That she does.
First set: Ivanovic* 4-1 Svitolina (*denotes server)
Ivanovic holds and she holds with ease, dropping just point during the game (an overhit forehand). She is control here. Svitolina’s tournament could be over very soon.
Updated
First set: Ivanovic 3-1 Svitolina* (*denotes server)
Can Svitolina hold this time? Eh, no. She gets off to a good start racing into a 30-0 lead but Ivanovic crawls back into the game by coming out on top in a superb – and very speedy – rally. That gives Ivanovic the left she needs and she breaks once more.
Updated
First set: Ivanovic* 2-1 Svitolina (*denotes server)
Bastian Schweinsteiger is in the crowd. Anyone know why? Is he just a big tennis fan?Anyway, back to the game. Svitolina gives herself a chance of breaking by going 15-30 up. Ivanovic decides to help her a bit by pushing what should have been a routine forehand into the net. She then gives her another helping hand by double faulting. The second break in a row it is.
Updated
First set: Ivanovic 2-0 Svitolina* (*denotes server)
Svitolina takes the first point and the second but it is third time unlucky as she hits the net on the following point. 30-15 it is. 40-15 it is. But Ivanovic gets back in gear and wins the next two points with some smart tennis near the net. Svitolina, though, moves to advantage before saying nuts to that and letting Ivanovic back into the game. The Serb then takes the lead with a strong forehand. Moments later, she is shouting “COME ON!” when she breaks.
Updated
First set: Ivanovic* 1-0 Svitolina (*denotes server)
Here we go. It’s 20 degrees out there but the wind is strong. It is going to be hard to control the ball today. Ivanovic serves first. She starts off with a double fault but a decent forehand levels the scores. Once again, her forehand comes into play as she takes the lead for the first time today. The next point is hers but a long rally ends with Svitolina forcing her to backhand one into the net. Svitolina draws level before Ivanovic takes advantage and then the game via a bad over hit forehand from Svitolina.
Updated
Elsewhere:
1er quart de finale sur Le Lenglen : L. Safarova et G. Muguruza. #RG15 pic.twitter.com/GulqUTQuwO
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) June 2, 2015
We’ll try keep an eye on that one for you when it is up and running.
Updated
Some live pics for you:
Ana #Ivanovic, championne 2008 et tête de série n°7 va tenter d'atteindre la demi-finale pic.twitter.com/yXftWd4h4b
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) June 2, 2015
Entrée de @ElinaSvitolina (19) sur le Central. pic.twitter.com/P5lc85TFIz
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) June 2, 2015
Updated
In case you missed it yesterday, day nine at Roland Garros was a don’t-look-away day but and although Serena Williams was forced to dig deep and Rafael Nadal suffered a minor scare, Maria Sharapova’s defeat was the only major shock. Here is what our man in Paris, Kevin Mitchell, had to make of it all.
Day nine at Roland Garros might have turned into a rolling earthquake at one point in the women’s draw but it could be judged a passing tremor at the close, Maria Sharapova a battered casualty and Serena Williams a relieved, if troubled, survivor.
Still standing after the fourth round of the men’s competition were Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and – after a minor scare against the young American Jack Sock – Rafael Nadal.
While the 7-6, 6-4 defeat for Sharapova, the defending women’s champion, by Lucie Safarova – who had lost 18 times in a row against top-10 opponents – was, on the face of it, tumultuous, the Czech, seeded 13th, probably was the Russian’s worst nightmare outside the elite level.
She had taken the world No2 to three sets in their previous three matches, including three tie-breaks in the last encounter, and seemed to have her number for most of Monday’s enthralling fight.
The peeps in charge of the camera have finally switched from the ads about insurance and post-code lottery to Roland-Garros. The stadium looks very, very empty. But they don’t stay around there for long and they don’t talk about how good these players these are or their chances or their form, as they want to talk about the history of women’s fashion in the sport. Make of that what you will.
Updated
Hello
Good afternoon and welcome to quarter-finals day. Remember 2008? Barack Obama getting elected. Russia recognising the independence of Georgian breakaways Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Ana Ivanovic winning the French Open. You’d forgotten about that last one, hadn’t you? That’s OK, we are all getting to that age. But win she did. She beat Dinara Safina 6–4, 6–3. Back then Ivanovic was top of the world ranking. Numero uno, like the place on Northcote Road. It hasn’t quite gone to plan since then. She has not made even the semi-finals of a Grand Slam event since then, despite her 27 attempts, and now stands in seventh, like that place in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Blocking her passage to that elusive semi-final spot is Elina Svitolina. Svitolina made it this far with a win over France’s Alizé Cornet, a win she was really made to work for. Will she have enough in the tank and skills set to defeat the Serb? Probably not, eh? But stick around and find out. It’s not like you have something better to do, is it?
