French Open: Maria Sharapova enters third consecutive final at Roland Garros

Paris: Maria Sharapova reached the final of the French Open for the third straight year at Roland Garros on Thursday, digging deep to see off the youthful challenge of Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard.

The 27-year-old, seventh seed once again did it the hard way, battling back from a set down to edge the 20-year-old from Montreal 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in a match full of beefy baseline shot-making.

It was the 19th time in a row that the never-say-die Sharapova had won a three-set match on clay, dating back to a loss against Justine Henin at Roland Garros in 2010.

On Saturday she will take on the winner of the other semifinal opposing fourth seed Simona Halep of Romania and Andrea Petkovic of Germany.
For the fast-rising Bouchard, it represents the second time she has reached a Grand Slam semi-final, after this year’s Australian Open, and the second time she has failed to go a step further, having lost to eventual champion Li Na in Melbourne.

“She played an unbelievable match. Her level was extremely high today and I am just fortunate to be the winner,” Sharapova said.