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Journalism of Courage
Roger Federer’s pursuit of an elusive Roland Garros crown gathered momentum with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 quarter-final win over Chilean Fernando Gonzalez on Wednesday.
Next up for the Swiss world number one will be local favourite Gael Monfils, who became the first Frenchman to reach the last four since Sebastien Grosjean in 2001 with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer.
Dinara Safina again tottered on the brink of elimination before she salvaged her French Open dreams to reach the semi-finals for the first time after a 4-6, 7-6, 6-0 win over fellow Russian Elena Dementieva.
Safina advanced to an all-Russian last-four date with fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova who overcame Estonian Kaia Kanepi 7-5, 6-2.
Doing things the easy way is not a mantra known to Safina and for the second match in succession, the Russian produced a stirring comeback from a set and 5-2 down, saved a match point and then took pleasure in trampling all over her hapless victim.
“It’s not easy to come back every time because once it’s going to be too late,” a grinning Safina told reporters.
Dazzled
Kuznetsova managed to avoid any high drama. Kanepi opted to contest her first Grand Slam quarter-final wearing sunglasses but it was not long before she was dazzled by the Russian’s charge towards victory.
Kuznetsova’s win over Kanepi guaranteed for the second Grand Slam running, Russia and Serbia will do battle for the honours.
Safina, the conqueror of Sharapova in the previous round, looked to have one foot on the plane back home to Moscow on Wednesday before she suddenly came to life.
Seventh seed Dementieva served for the match at 5-2 up in the second set, but a combination of her fragile serve and a rash of blistering winners flying from her opponent’s racket saw her get broken.
In the next game, Dementieva seemed to have earned her ‘get out of jail free card’ when Safina served up a double fault to hand the 2004-runner-up a match point.
But just as she did against Sharapova, Safina took the moment in her stride, narrowed her eyes and slammed the door shut by unleashing a ferocious winner.
As the contest wore on, it seemed as if Safina had hit the replay button on the Sharapova match from two days ago and true to form, it was not long before her temper boiled over.
The racket went flying, she turned up the decibel levels on her mutterings and at 5-5 in the second set, the red geraniums planted courtside faced the full force of her anger.
She whacked the potted display with her racket, resulting in a flurry of petals to fall on to the ground, but the episode proved to have the desired effect.
Running amok
After sealing the tiebreak 7-5, she ran amok in the third to leave a crestfallen Dementieva to wonder what might have been.
The success also earned Safina the distinction of becoming the first woman in a Grand Slam to have come from match point down in successive matches — winning both.
Federer extended his unique record of reaching 16 successive Grand Slam semis by handing Gonzalez his first claycourt defeat in 2008.
