Garbine Muguruza has reached the semi-finals of the French Open for the first time in her career courtesy of a straight-sets victory over Shelby Rogers.
© AFP
Rogers had been one of the surprise packages at Roland Garros this year, but her run came to an end as Muguruza came through 7-5 6-3 in Paris.
The American looked as though her dream form might continue when she made a perfect start to the match, breaking the fourth seed in the very first game and moving into an early 2-0 lead.
She survived two break points in the eighth game too and had a chance to serve for the set at 5-4, but having failed to take advantage of one set point she was then broken as Muguruza levelled things up.
It was part of a four-game winning streak for the Spaniard that saw her turn things around at the end of the opener, eventually taking it 7-5 with her first set point.
She carried that form into the second set too, extending her run to seven successive games with an early break that saw her race into a 3-0 lead.
Rogers did earn that break back, but she was unable to hold onto her own serve in the penultimate game of the match and Muguruza duly served the match out to book her place in the last four.
The 22-year-old, who is bidding for her first Grand Slam title, will take on either Samantha Stosur or Tsvetana Pironkova in the semi-finals.
Barney Corkhill
