Stosur hoping to turn back the clock

 

With the continuing rain delays at Roland Garros, there is a quick turn-around for some of the top seeds as Abelson Info preview Day 7 at the French Open 2013...

 

World number two Maria Sharapova eventually overcame Eugenie Bouchard over two days, but there is little time to rest for the Russian as she prepares to face Jie Zheng  in the third round.

 

The Chinese star has been impressive thus far, rattling off two straight sets victories as she looks to push on in the French capital. However, Sharapova has moved her  record for the year to 31-4, so will fancy her chances of advancing to the last sixteen.

 

Third seed Victoria Azarenka will be confident of joining her, even though she will have to take on both Alize Cornet and the Parisian faithful on the Philippe  Chatrier court first thing tomorrow morning.

 

Having secured the title in Strasbourg in her build-up for this tournament, Cornet has continued her fine form on clay with two impressive wins up to this point.  However, similarly to Zheng, she will find it hard to cope with Azarenka's power and precision and it may be a case of hanging on for as long as possible.

 

It won't be as easy to call Sam Stosur's clash with Jelena Jankovic, with the Australian experiencing her fair share of struggles against her Serbian rival.

 

Both ladies fell at the quarter-finals stage in Rome in what was their last outing on clay, but despite her inferior world ranking Jankovic has proven her aptitude on  this surface over the course of the clay season.

 

The world number 18 even defeated Stosur as recently as last month in Stuttgart, and

will therefore harbour hopes of pulling off a shock. Stosur is a marginal favourite for this match, and given her only win on clay against Jankovic came at this venue  back in the 2010 semi-final, she will be expected to rise to the occasion.

 

It may well be worth looking at the set betting markets for this clash, as the pair have only gone the distance in one of their eight previous meetings.

 

Elsewhere, it might be a disappointing day all round for the French contingent, as Marion Bartoli must mastermind a way past Francesca Schiavone.

 

The Italian came into the tournament in less than impressive form with a first round exit at the Foro Italico, but she appears determined to add more memories of this  venue as the 2010 champion dumped world number 21 Kirsten Flipkens out of the tournament.

 

This one could be quite a battle, given Bartoli's desperation to give the home crowd continued hope.

 

Meanwhile, American starlet Sloane Stephens will hope to extend her stay at Roland Garros when she takes on New Zealander Marina Erakovic, while Li Na's conqueror  Bethanie Mattek-Sands faces Argentine qualifier Paula Ormaechea.

 

Both players have done remarkably well to get this far, and despite the latter's win in their only previous meeting, if Mattek Sands can continue her momentum she will  be eyeing a place in the next round.

 

It may well be the end of the road for fellow American Jamie Hampton and Stefanie Voegele though, as they will have to muster up significant efforts to get past Petra  Kvitova and Maria Kirilenko respectively.

 

Recommended Bets:

Back Stosur to beat Jankovic @ 1.81

Back Schiavone to beat Bartoli 2-1 @ 4.2

 

Bet HERE

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