French Open: Cibulkova beats Azarenka, Errani makes it

This French Open has seen some dramatic matches this year and none more so than on day 8 when another of the favourites on the womens side was shown the door.  Victoria Azarenka was beaten by Dominika Cibulkova, 6-2 7-6 in a fiery encounter on the Suzanne Lenglen court.  It was actually a great match with some sensational hitting.  The match had some real bite and there was real tension between the two following their previous epic encounters in Miami.  Cibulkova was totally fired up and I wasn't keen on the constant calls of "pome" after not just winners but many Azarenka errors too.  The world number one was not exactly a saint herself with some full scale shrieking and destroying her racquet during the second set.  Azarenka did not play a bad match, but she was more outplayed by Cibulkova who played a fiercely attacking match with some sweeter touches too including an array of delightful drop shots at key moments.

Dominika Cibulkova

In other matches, Sara Errani made her second straight Grand Slam quarter-final with one of her finest performances to date against an out-of-sorts Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-0 7-5.  There were some strange errors from Kuznetsova who failed to serve out the second set, but she showed she still has a long, long way to go before rediscovering her best form.  Errani though was the more solid and also showed she has more to her game than just defence.  I have not given her enough credit in recent weeks, but I must say she has done a fantastic job to come out of a section that originally included Svetlana Kuznetsova, Agnieszka Radwanska, Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic.  

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Errani will play Angelique Kerber in the quarter-finals after she beat Petra Martic, 6-3 7-5.  It was another entertaining match as Martic gave a very respectable account of herself.  She has such a great game with tons of variety so hopefully she can build on this breakthrough this week.  Kerber did not play her best tennis today and looked a bit tired, which is understandable based on the number of matches she has played this year; however her superior experience at closing out matches was the deciding factor against Martic.