Garbine Muguruza defeated 6:2, 6:1 double champion Maria Sharapova at the 1/4 Finals of the French Open and qualified at the 1/2-finals where she will play with the winner of the match from handball tips between Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber. The expected surprise between the two former leaders in the world rankings did not happen. Champion of 2012 and 2014 Sharapova appeared to be hesitant today and played a poor game with too many mistakes. The winner of 2016, Muguruza was confident and with a stable game he secured a place in the best four. The Sharapova No. 28 was much more nervous than the two tennis players in the opening minutes. The Russians served first and made two consecutive and three double errors in their opening bid. This made it easier for the Spaniard to make a breakthrough and then to confirm it for an advance of 2:0. The 5 Grand Slam champion Sharapova has had probl ems in her second hand in the match, which lasted for about 10 minutes. The Russian team reflected three break points, but eventually lost the game and was already lagging behind with 0:3 and two breaks. The 24-year-old Spaniard led with 4:0, after which Sharapova put an end to her zero-game series. With the help of several excellent servicemen, Muguruza took his next shot at 30 and led with 5:1. Sharapova took the seventh game, but Muguruza was very stable in his hand and with 6:2 he closed the first part.
Muguruza made a breakthrough at the start of the second set, but in the next game, for the first time since the start of the game, he showed his service. The Spaniard allowed a break to zero and Sharapova equalized - 1:1. However, a third consecutive breakthrough followed, and the Spanish spoke again. By the end of the meeting, things were disastrous for Sharapova. First, Mugurusa put an end to the series of breakthroughs and led 3:1, and then the 31-year-old Russian once again failed to hold off. Not long after winning 2 Grand Slam titles, Mugurusa led 5:1, and the seventh game turned out to be the last one in the game after Sharapova kept on slipping and only after 70 minutes left the tournament.
This was the first victory for Muguruza against Sharapova, after the Spanish had so far had three defeats from the Russian. Four years ago they met again at the 1/4-finals of Roland Garros, and then Sharapova won 1:6, 7:5, 6:1, but now the Russianman managed to take just three games.
