Italian Sara Errani is set to face German Andrea Petkovic in the quarterfinals of the French Open at the Court Philippe Chatrier on Wednesday.
Errani is playing her third consecutive quarterfinal at Roland Garros. She made it to the semifinals last year and was the runner up in 2012. This has been an impressive tournament for Errani so far, as she thrashed Dinah Pfizenmaier, Julia Glushko and Jelena Jankovic on her way to the last-eight.
On the other hand, Petkovic was made to work hard by Kiki Bertens in her fourth round encounter. After losing the first set, Bosnia-born Petkovic rallied back to clinch the next two and book her second last-eight appearance in the French Open.
This is her first quarterfinals appearance since 2011, when she managed to reach the last-eight of three out of four Grand Slam events. She was hit by knee, ankle and back injuries after that and made her on court return last year.
Petkovic, who lost in the second round of the qualifying event of the 2013 Roland Garros, said she is relieved to reclaim her confidence back. The 28th seed is happy to be back on top after struggling with injuries.
"I started playing tennis because I love it and it's a big part of my life," Petkovic said. "It brought so much to me and my family. I think it brings so many people together, and it's a nice, a beautiful thing, and it's not something that is ugly and hard and difficult.
"That's what it was for me when I came back from my injuries," she added. "My footwork was off, my strokes were bad. My serve was bad. I hated it. That's why I wanted to stop. After that, I won a tournament, luckily, so I didn't, and I kept doing what I did. And now I'm here and it's a nice reward."
The head-to-head record between Errani and Petkovic is tied at one game apiece and both their previous clashes took place on clay. Errani defeated Petkovic in their most recent clash at the Madrid Open in a three-set encounter.
Both players have showed steady progress on clay this season, as the German won the Family Circle Cup on Charleston's green clay, while the 10th seed made a final appearance in the Rome Masters.
Where to Watch Live
The match between Sara Errani and Andrea Petkovic is scheduled for 5:30 pm IST, 12:00 pm GMT and 8:00 am ET start, with live coverage on NBC Sports and ESPN 2 in the US and NEO Prime and NEO Sports in India. International viewers, including India, can catch the action via live streaming HERE or HERE. Listen to the action HERE. Viewers in the US can live stream the matches HERE or HERE, while the tie can be live streamed by the UK viewers HERE.
