Maria Sharapova reached her third consecutive French Open final with a thrilling 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Canadian Eugenie Bouchard on Thursday. The win assures Sharapova to remain in the world’s top ten and will see a ranking rise from number eight to six with a runner-up finish or to number 5 with a title victory.
It wasn’t an easy road to the final for the Russian. She had to endure three set matches since the fourth round but managed to gain the points where it mattered. It was the same case against Bouchard.
“She played an unbelievable match today,” Sharapova said. “Her level was extremely high and I was fortunate to win because she played tremendous tennis.
“Obviously, I would prefer to win in two sets. It was tough losing that first set, but that’s not when the match ends and that’s why you put in the hard work – to get through those moments.”
Sharapova will be meeting first-time Slam finalist Simona Halep of Romania. A year ago, Halep lost in the opening round and was ranked 57th back then but seven titles since that loss and now a final berth assures the Romanian a new career-high ranking next week of number three.
“Sometimes when you play someone who’s never been in that situation, they play loose and there’s not much you can do. You just hope they slow down a little bit,” she said.
