Francesca Schiavone had all sorts of trouble with Teen Queen Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals however the reigning champion is still alive at Roland Garros.
Francesca Schiavone, the reigning Queen of Clay, faced Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the French Open quarterfinals on Tuesday as the two determined players were in one another's way for a spot in the French Open semifinals. Pavlyuchenkova, the highest ranked teenager on the women's tour, proved herself a worthy competitor in the quarterfinal match.
The young Russian raced out to a one set to love lead with a 6-1 score in the first set however Schiavone fought back and ended up winning 1-6, 7-5, 7-5.
Pavlyuchenkova, who would not go away in the match, fought back from down a double-break in the third set. However Schiavone was able to produce in the late games of the match, a trademark of a top five player, as she was the better performer from 5-5 in the third.
Schiavone advanced despite winning less than 50% of the points played in the match and she now awaits the winner between Marion Bartoli and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Should Kuznetsova go through then the semifinals will feature a match between the last two champions at Roland Garros.
