Aimee Howarth talks about her sporting hero, Cristiano Ronaldo
Steve Puddicombe on why he thinks Mark Cavendish should win Sports Personality of the Year 2011
The Yorker's sports team says what they would like for Christmas this year
The second blog for The Yorker from the University of York Riding Club
Djokovic had the easiest passage as his opponent, Fognini, retired injured before the match began, after failing to recover from a thigh injury from his previous match.
Djokovic is now on 41 matches unbeaten in 2011 (this walkover doesn’t count) and victory in the semi-final would see him equal McEnroe’s record from 1984, as well as take the world number one spot.
The competition’s last remaining Frenchman, Monfils, took on Federer in his quarter final but failed to test the Swiss star and lost 6-4, 6-3, 7-6.
Federer took a while to find his rhythm and had to fight back from 3-1 down in the first set. He then breezed through the second set and, despite Monfils’ fight to the end in the third, Federer triumphed.
The Yorker feels that Djokovic against Federer will be the match to watch in the next round as Federer is yet to lose a set in this year’s French Open but Djokovic will be determined to reach the world’s top spot. Don’t miss it!
Current top seed Nadal also progressed with little struggle as he overcame Soderling (5) in straight sets 6-4, 6-1, 7-6. Soderling presented little challenge to Nadal, who dismissed him in just over two and a half hours to book his place in the semi-finals.
Soderling remains the only person to have ever beaten Nadal at Roland Garros after his victory over the Spaniard in the 2009 fourth round. Neutrals will be disappointed he didn’t’ offer a tougher challenge this time around.
In the last men’s quarter-final, Murray faced Chela, the only remaining unseeded player. Like Nadal, Murray completed a straight sets victory, 7-6, 7-5, 6-2.
However, Murray faced more of a struggle against the feisty Chela and faced two set points in the first set. He pulled out some impressive shots to keep himself in the set and he eventually won the tie-break. The second set saw Murray through away a couple of set points but he sealed the set, despite a small late comeback from Chela and then took the third set easily to progress to his first semi-final in Paris.
In the women’s draw, highest remaining seed Azarenka (4) was knocked out by Li (6), losing 7-5, 6-2. Azarenka had not previously lost a set in this year’s competition but she fell to her Chinese opponent, who looked much fresher and quicker.
Li’s progress to the semi-finals offers the only surprise of the round and sees all top four seeds eliminated as Li reaches her furthest round yet in the competition.
Li will face Sharapova, who overcame Petkovic with little trouble 6-0, 6-3. Sharapova fought fiercely throughout the match and so remains the running to complete a career Grand Slam, as the Roland Garros remains the only Open she hasn’t won.
Defending champion Schiavone (5) also progressed to the semi-finals, with victory over Pavlyuchenkova. After losing the first set 6-1, Schiavone looked to be struggling. This continued into the second set, as the Italian found herself 4-1 down.
She turned the match on its head though and took the last two sets 7-5 to complete a fantastic match. Doubtless this was the match of the round and The Yorker is still backing Schiavone to reach the final.
The final quarter-final saw Bartoli (11) claim a close victory over Kuznetsova, wining 7-6, 6-4. Bartoli is the only remaining French player in both the men’s and the women’s draws, so will have all the home support on her side.
Bartoli will face Schiavone in the semi-final in what will no doubt be an exciting and close game.
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