And Then There Were Eight

by Savannah







Justine Henin Belgium (1) vs Serena Williams USA (8)






Jelena Jankovic Serbia (4) vs Nicole Vaidisova CZE (6)












Ana Ivanovic Serbia (7) vs Svetlana Kuznetsova Russia (3)







Maria Sharapova Russia (2) vs Anna Chakvetadze Russia (9)

These are the eight women who have made it to the quarter finals of the French Open. Nothing that happened before matters. There will be talks of hands seen and not seen, of iPods seen or not seen, or of technical walkovers but that will be the fodder for fansite arguments until a few weeks from now when the next great tennis event unfolds.

This is the final draw so to speak. And what of it?
No one who is even remotely acquainted with tennis will deny that whoever emerges from the top half, Justine, Jelena, Nicole or Serena will know she has been tested. Some are even saying one of the matchups is the virtual final.

Jelena vs Nikki V
It is fair to say that Jelena was not tested at all by an obviously injured Marion Bartoli. Marion needs to think long and hard about whether she wants to compete at this level continuously. To do so she needs to be more fit. But that is another discussion for another day. She offered no resistance to Jelena. That will not be the case when Jelena meets Nicole Vaidisova. I have yet to see her play during this event. I give Nicole the slight edge over Jelena.

Justine vs Serena
Justine vs Serena is the match everyone is looking forward to. They've been the two best women so far this year. Will Justine prevail on her favorite surface? Is Serena prepared to play the best clay court tennis she's ever played? I like Serena's chances here. A lot.

Ana vs Sveta
As for the bottom half the must see match is betweeen big serving powerhouse Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Svetlana's play today against Shahar Pe'er, no pushover, was a flashback to the play that won her the US Open. If she brings that level of play to this match Ana may be in for the fight of her life. Against a fatigued Anabel Medina Garrigues Ivanovic had to dig deep to pull out the win. I like Sveta in this one.

Maria vs Anna
As for Sharapova vs Chakvetadze I watched most of Anna's match and the third set of Maria's match. Against Sharapova Chakvetadze has yet to put up any resistance. Lucie Safarova played one brilliant set and then seemed to lose focus. Unless a different Anna Chakvetadze shows up Maria Sharapova makes it through in what will probably be the easiest match of the quarters.