Comeback player Maria Sharapova, who definitely spiced up this Roland Garros, was defeated in the quarterfinals by Slovakian seed No.20 Dominika Cibulkova 6-0 6-2. The favorite for the title, top seed Dinara Safina, advanced to the semifinals, and her next opponent will be Cibulkova.

It’s fair to say Sharapova has gone further than expected, having in mind she reached the quarterfinals with only three competitive singles matches played in nine and a half months prior to Roland Garros. On her way to the final four on her least favorite surface, Sharapova beat seed No.11 Nadia Petrova and seed No.25 Li Na.

The former world No.1 Sharapova was close to being double bageled by Cibulkova in the quarterfinals, but the Russian broke Cibulkova’s serve at 5-0, even though Cibulkova had a match point. Then Sharapova impressively won the following game, and when Cibulkova served for the match again, Sharapova gave more resistance, by saving three match points in that game. However, she was defeated on the fifth.

In the first quarterfinal of the day, top seed Dinara Safina lost her first set at the 2009 French Open to ninth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, who took out defending champion Ana Ivanovic in the fourth round. However, despite opening her quarterfinal by losing the opening set in just 23 minutes, the dominant Russian won the match 1-6 6-4 6-2.

I simply have to point out the spectacular stats of Safina's first four rounds: the world No.1 won four sets at love, dropped only five games, and her average match time was just 59 minutes. (photos: Stephane Martinache)

The most interesting match-up of the day lived up to the expectations with Maria Sharapova defeating No.11 seed Nadia Petrova 6-2 1-6 8-6 in the second round of the 2009 French Open. World No.1 and top seed Dinara Safina eased into the third round with a 6-1 6-1 victory over fellow Russian Vitalia Diatchenko, ranked 151st.

I had given Petrova a slight edge over Sharapova, having in mind Sharapova’s lack of match play (she returned to tennis only last week, after a nine-month long layoff). But as I said, just a slight edge, because of Sharapova’s fighting spirit which will always remain part of her.

The world No.102 Sharapova took the opening set 6-2, before Nadia Petrova, two-time semifinalist at Roland Garros, won the second 6-1. The third set lasted 71 minutes and I believe it’s a testimony that Sharapova is definitely back: she’s able to come from behind, play long matches, and is in full possession of her championship spirit.

Next for the three-time Grand Slam winner is Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.

Safina, by far the most dominant player of the claycourt season, has lost only two games in her first two matches at this year’s Roland Garros, and spent less than two hours on court.

Safina, who is now on a 17-match winning streak, will face another Russian in the third round, 27th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who beat France's Julie Coin 6-2 7-6(2). (photo: Stephane Martinache)

Top seed Dinara Safina of Russia powered into the second round of Roland Garros without losing a game to British world No.48 Anne Keothavong.

Some of us thought Keothavong could challenge Safina, as she was semifinalist at last week’s claycourt event in Warsaw, but the in-form world No.1 is silencing the critics more and more after each match. The last year’s runner-up needed just over an hour to end Keothavong’s Roland Garros debut.

"You have to find a way to laugh about it. What else is there to do? I'm sure there will be jokes about it, but I can take it," said the 25-year-old Keothavong, who last week became the first British woman in 26 years to make the semifinals of a WTA event.

"When we shook hands, she said: 'At least you could have given me one game'," revealed Safina.

Compatriot Vitalia Diatchenko will be Safina's opponent in the second round. (via AFP, photo by our reader Elisa)

The draw for the 2009 French Open is out and here’s my analysis of contenders. I would just like to mention that despite all the facts, I'm sure we all deep inside feel that the women’s field is wide open.

Dinara Safina is my top favorite to win the title. She is coming to Paris with back-to-back titles in Rome and Madrid, plus the Stuttgart final before that (and all the three tournaments mentioned are played on clay). And not only that, the world No.1 Safina was last year’s runner up at the French Open.

The Russian is in impressive form, but she shouldn’t give herself the luxury of making matches longer than they should be (although she’s great at coming back from behind), in order to be fully fit as long as it takes to claim her first Grand Slam.

The first opponent at the French Open won’t be easy for Safina, as she’s meeting Anne Keothavong who reached the semifinals of this week’s Warsaw Open. Other big names such as Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Alisa Kleybanova, Zheng Jie, Victoria Azarenka, Carla Suarez Navarro and defending champion Ana Ivanovic are also in her quarter.

Serena Williams still hasn’t won a singles match on clay this season. The world No.2 dropped openers of Marbella, Rome and Madrid, and hence it’s hard to put her as the favorite. However, knowing her impressive resume which includes the 2002 French Open title, and her ability to show her best at majors, the younger Williams sister can never be written off.

To make things more interesting, Serena Williams is playing Klara Zakopalova in the first round, the player she lost to in Marbella in April. Serena is looking at another potential tough match in the fourth round against Flavia Pennetta.

Venus Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, and although she has never been victorious at Roland Garros, she played the final in 2002, and just like her sister Serena, she’s a threat anywhere and anytime.

Williams is the top seed in her quarter of the draw. Her first-round opponent will be fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands. In the second round Williams could meet Sabine Lisicki, who beat her en route to the title in Charleston last month. Read more »

World No.1 Dinara Safina solidified her position at the top of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings, as well as her role of the favorite for winning upcoming Roland Garros, with a 6-2 6-4 victory over ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki in the Madrid Open final.

The top-seeded Safina broke the 19-year-old Wozniacki’s serve three times in the first set and early in the second to storm to her 11 career title and second successive title after winning in Rome last week.

The 23-year-old Russian will head to the French Open, where she was a runner-up to Ana Ivanovic last year, on a 10-match winning streak.

Safina has earned €620,000 by winning the Premier-level claycourt event in Madrid, while Wozniacki, who will from tomorrow be ranked 10th in the world, took home €310,000. (photo Getty Images via Yahoo)