Sharapova survives French scare

PARIS: World number two Maria Sharapova survived two match points before overcoming Switzerland's Patty Schnyder 3-6 6-4 9-7 in a gripping fourth-round match on Sunday.

Schnyder served for the match three times before dropping serve in the last game, bowing out by sending a forehand wide after two hours and 37 minutes of a tight contest that could have gone either way.

Former Wimbledon champion Sharapova, who feels more at ease on faster surfaces and has never gone past the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, will meet fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze for a place in the last four.

The 28-year-old Schnyder, who was a quarter-finalist in Paris in 1998 and was seeded 14th this year, had her chances but lacked composure when it mattered.

Second seed Sharapova, 20, has had many injury worries this year and said here she was being hampered by a sore shoulder.

She accumulated unforced errors and struggled with her serve throughout but a combative display in a thrilling finale saw her through.

Serving for the match in the third set, leading 5-4, Schnyder earned a first match point, which she wasted by hitting a backhand into the net before dropping her serve.

The pair then traded breaks until Schnyder, leading 7-6, served for the match for the third time and squandered another match point with an unforced error

Schnyder made a promising start. She broke Sharapova in the sixth game of the first set and served for the set two games later, wrapping it up after 39 minutes with a superb backhand pass.

Both had struggled to hold serve in the second set when Sharapova managed the telling break in the 10th game, taking the set courtesy of an unforced error from her opponent.

The deciding set followed a similar pattern with plenty of breaks and a question mark over the issue until the very last point.