PARIS—It was a scene right out of a tennis player’s worst nightmare: The server—Sara Errani—standing at the center notch, ready to deliver a second serve. The receiver—Andrea Petkovic—poised almost halfway between the far baseline and the service line, eager to leap on the weak delivery.
It was a match-up made in hell for Errani, and the predatory returner Petkovic made the most of it, winning this French Open quarterfinal, 6-2, 6-2.
The two women had to wait three hours to start, and walked out onto Court Philippe Chatrier under still roiled clouds shortly before 5 p.m. By then, the rain had stopped but the wind continued, snapping flags and banners and turning the umbrellas still held open by pessimists inside-out.
Errrani, seeded No. 10, kicked things off with an immediate break followed by a hold for 2-0. It looked as if Petkovic, the 28th-seeded shotmaker, would be in more trouble than Errani, a flexible retriever. But Petkovic found her groove in the fourth game and broke Errani at love with a prodigious drive-volley winner to get back on serve, 2-2.
Petkovic then went to work with heavy groundstrokes, including an impressive string of forehand approach shots. Errani is known for her ability to prolong points and stretch her opponents out of their comfort zone, but Petkovic was having none of it today. The German’s groundstrokes were everything the day was not—crisp and precise. She pushed the envelope in the rallies without forcing the issue to the breaking point.