First-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova looked to be following up her upset of world No.3 Vera Zvonareva with an upset of defending champion Francesca Schiavone when the score was 6-1 4-1 for the 19-year-old Russian.

However, Schiavone, 11 years older than her opponent, dragged out a 7-5 second-set win and in the third set she raced to a 5-1 lead. Even though Pavlyuchenkova managed to level at 5-5, the fifth-seeded Italian was determined to finish the job, and on her third match point defeated the 14th-seeded Russian 1-6 7-5 7-5.

In the semis Schiavone will play the winner of the Marion Bartoli vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova quarterfinal. (photo by our reader Tony)

Maria Sharapova won her ninth straight match on clay, the streak featuring her Rome title, by defeating Agnieszka Radwanska in the fourth round of Roland Garros 7-6(4) 7-5. The Russian will be playing her fifth quarterfinal at the tournament, but only once did she make one step further, in 2007 when she reached the semis.

The three-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova, who has a chance to complete a career slam this week, came back from 4-1 down in the first set, leveled to 4-4, then both players held their serves to take the set to a tiebreak. In the second set Sharapova faced set points, but saved all five of them and finished the job in that set.

It’s interesting to compare Sharapova’s and Radwanska’s stats because of contrasts in most departments. Sharapova hit 7 aces to Radwanska’s 1, but also 7 double faults to Radwanska’s 0. When it comes to winners and unforced errors the situation is equally unbalanced. Sharapova hit almost 4 times more unforced errors (44 to Radwanska's 12), but also much more winners, 47 to 13.

Andrea Petkovic, who defeated Maria Kirilenko 6-2 2-6 6-4 in the fourth round, will be next Sharapova's opponent. Other quarterfinal pairs are: Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Marion Bartoli, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Francesca Schiavone, and Li Na vs. Victoria Azarenka. (via Sharapova's official website, photo courtesy of our reader Tony)

Traditionally, Women's Tennis Blog is doing Grand Slam fashion overviews, so let's see what major sports brands have on display at Roland Garros 2011.

World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki brought nothing new to the fashion table of Roland Garros – the 20-year-old Dane, who bowed out of the tournament in the third round already, wore the adidas by Stella McCartney Ruffle Dress which she debuted at Indian Wells in March.

Adidas impressed with an array of bright colors that perfectly contrast/match the red clay of Roland Garros. Above you can see the variety of pink, orange and green combinations on Daniela Hantuchova, Sorana Cirstea, Andrea Petkovic, Maria Kirilenko and Arantxa Rus. Here you can read more about Adidas' French Open collection.

Read more »

Defending champion Francesca Schiavone resisted the challenge of Jelena Jankovic and advanced to the quarterfinals of Roland Garros. On her tournament debut ten years ago she reached the quarterfinals, and together with her last year's title, this is her third appearance in the final eight of Roland Garros.

The fourth-round match between Schiavone and Jankovic was tense and could have gone either way, but the Italian's good serves and aggressiveness gave her that extra something needed to defeat the Serb who played Roland Garros semifinals in 2007, 2008 and 2010.

The world No.10 Jankovic has a lot to regret, at times she was leading in the third set, and both the players were pretty much equal, but the moment Jankovic allowed Schiavone to break her at 4-4, her fall was strongly suggested. Schiavone didn't let the opportunity slip away and won the match 6-3 2-6 6-4.

Schiavone's opponent in the quarterfinals will be Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who advanced with a 7-6(4) 2-6 6-2 victory over third seed Vera Zvonareva. With top seed Caroline Wozniacki and second seed Kim Clijsters already out, this is the first French Open since 1968 that none of the top three seeds are in the quarterfinals! World No.4 Victoria Azarenka is now the highest-ranked player left in the draw.

Pavlyuchenkova, who is 11 years younger than her next opponent Schiavone, will be playing her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. (photo courtesy of our reader Tony)

Maria Sharapova powered into the second week of Roland Garros, as well as the other favorites who were in action this Saturday.

The seventh-seeded Sharapova beat world No.129 Yung-Jan Chan of Chinese Taipei 6-2 6-3. It’s interesting that Sharapova won 15 straight games from her second-round match against Caroline Garcia to 4-0 in the first set against Chan. In the round of 16 Sharapova will face seed No.12 Agnieszka Radwanska, who came this far with straight-set victories over Patricia Mayr-Achleitner, Sania Mirza and Yanina Wickmayer.

The other players expected to do well at the tournament also had a successful seventh day of French Open 2011: Victoria Azarenka defeated Roberta Vinci 6-3 6-2, Li Na beat Sorana Cirstea 6-2 6-2, Andrea Petkovic progressed passed Jarmila Gajdosova 6-2 4-6 6-3, and Petra Kvitova defeated Vania King 6-4 6-2. (photo courtesy of our reader Tony)

Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder, 32, today announced her decision to retire from professional tennis and end her 17-year career. Her last singles match was a first-round defeat at the current French Open to Romanian Sorana Cirstea, while in doubles she and her partner Anna-Lena Groenefeld lost in the second round to top seeds Flavia Pennetta and Gisela Dulko.

The 2011 French Open was Schnyder’s 59th career Grand Slam appearance, and her best Grand Slam performance was a semifinal at the 2004 Australian Open. Schnyder’s career was successful in both singles and doubles. The Swiss won 11 WTA singles titles (in the 27 finals she played) and 5 doubles titles. Her highest career ranking in singles was No.7 (she was ranked in the Top 10 for 94 weeks), and in doubles it was No.15. Now at the moment of her retirement, Schyder’s singles ranking is No.55 and doubles No.124.

A good number of wins over world No.1 players enrich Schnyders biography: Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Steffi Graf, Jennifer Capriati, Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin, Amélie Mauresmo, Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki. (photo courtesy of Women Who Serve)

Women’s Tennis Blog, or better said me as a blogger behind it, has received a special recognition by BlogHer, the leading participatory news, entertainment and information network for women online which is reaching more than 20 million women monthly. BlogHer has numerous categories such as career, DIY, life, food, health, tech, style, family, book club, and others, and on the homepage of their new category of sports I got an honorary position of a featured blogger. Nice.

Favorites for the Roland Garros title keep falling like crazy, very early into the tournament already, and the latest to be sent home is world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki who was humbled by Daniela Hantuchova 6-1 6-3 in the third round.

In the first set, Wozniacki earned no break points and scored no winners (Hantuchova hit 15) and Hantuchova took the set in 27 minutes. In the second set Hantuchova raced to a 4-0 lead, and even though Wozniacki produced some sort of comeback it was the Slovakian who didn't allow her opportunity to be wasted and broke Wozniacki in the final game to advance to the fourth-round meeting with the 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. Read more »

Both last year’s finalists were in action today. Defending champion Francesca Schiavone had an easy progress into the fourth round, as her opponent Peng Shuai retired with breathing problems at 6-3 1-2 (Schiavone won the first set). However, last year’s runner-up Samantha Stosur bowed out to unseeded Gisela Dulko – this match-up suggested a possible upset, especially because their both previous encounters were close, and the 51st-ranked Dulko recorded a 6-4 1-6 6-3 victory this time. Read more »

Serena Williams has been away from the tennis courts since winning Wimbledon 2010 and she's using her free time to practice for her rap career in a relaxed atmosphere of a karaoke bar in South Beach. Listen to Serena's interpretation of Destiny Child's "Survivor". Serena is the one in the red dress.

If you love what you’re hearing , check out Serena singing Madonna’s "Like a Virgin".

As for the actual tennis, the latest news is that she is expected to come back to play World Team Tennis in July, along with her sister Venus.