French Open Women’s Quarterfinals Preview: Kuznetsova vs. Halep, Errani vs. Petkovic

Maria Sharapova and Eugenie Bouchard booked the first two tickets in the semifinals of the 2014 French Open women’s singles competition already. Two more final four slots are at stake Wednesday night (Australia) as Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) faces Simona Halep (Romania) and Sara Errani (Italy) takes on Andrea Petkovic (Germany) in the quarterfinals of the clay court championship in Paris.

Kuznetsova and Petkovic are the underdogs in their respective match-ups and the lowest-seeded players among the remaining contenders in the field. The Russian and German are seeded 27th and 28th, respectively.

Betting Odds – Women’s Singles Quarterfinals (Lines via SportsBet, accurate as of time of posting)
Kuznetsova (2.80) vs. Halep (1.44)
Errani (1.34) vs. Petkovic (3.29)

"I knew I was going out there, and I was going to give everything I could and run every mile, every metre I could, and put as many balls back, try to be aggressive. Because if you watch the match, Petra was inside the court and I was next to the fans," Kuznetsova said via the tournament’s official website after his big win in the fourth round against 5th seed Petra Kvitova.

"I left out there everything I could. I come up with a win, but I was very close to the loss, as well. I was very strong mentally and really happy with that."

The Russian came back from one set down to win the three-setter, 6-7 (3), 6-1, 9-7. She needs to do more of the same when she faces Halep, seeded fourth in this tournament the highest ranked player left in the field.

In the last QF pairing, 10th seed Errani beat Jelena Jankovic, 7-6 (5), 6-2 while Petkovic defeated Kiki Bertens, 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 to advance to the last eight.