TENNIS in DEPTH.

When Maria Sharapove entered the French Open she was quoted as saying that she had no expectations for herself, that she was playing one match at a time in an effort to gain more match play experience. Sometimes a person gets more than they wish for, and Maria’s case she has received more match play than even she would have wanted. In her 3 matches she has logged almost 7 hours of on-court time, and has had to fight from being behind in games and sets. She moves on to the final 16 where she will meet Li Na, a player she has beaten every time they have played. Maybe before she goes to bed tonight she offer up a prayer for a rain delay.

 Maria Sharapova recovered from a dreadful start to advance into round four with a three-set victory over Yaroslava Shvedova.

The Russian, ranked 102 in the world after having shoulder problems for the past year, looked impressive in beating Nadia Petrova in round two but was broken twice in the first set as she ceded it 6-1 to her Kazakh opponent.

But a crucial break in the eighth game of set two saw Sharapova level it up and she broke for 4-3 in the decider as she ran out a 1-6 6-3 6-4 winner.

Sharapova will next play 25th seed Na Li, who defeated Olga Govortsova 7-5 6-1.

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