Zhang Shuai’s French Open run came to a halt in the form of seventh seed Petra Kvitova, with the 31-year-old outclassed in Paris. It ended 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 25 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier with two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova proving too strong from the start. The Czech left-hander is yet to drop a set this year in Paris and it did not like happening in the first set as she dominated with both her first and second serve to race into a 5-1 lead. Serving to save the set, Zhang pulled through to save two set points and make it 5-2 but she was just delaying the inevitable against the world No 11. Zhang, who was also knocked out of the women’s doubles on Sunday, then took a medical time out at 5-2 down. There was no notable incident leading to an injury and commentators were puzzled as to Zhang’s reason for calling for the doctor. Play resumed with the Czech serving to save the set, beginning with an ace and seeing it out to take the opening set 6-2 and then breaking Zhang’s serve in the first game of the second set. Kvitova broke again at 4-2 to serve out for the match but Zhang broke back to make it 5-3 as the Czech six-footer made four unforced errors in a row and then held her serve as Kvitova wasted a match point. Still, it was only a glimmer of hope for Zhang at 5-4 and Kvitova served out for the match, the winning point coming on a delayed line call. Zhang wished Kvitova well at the net. The Tianjin native had never been past the third round at Roland Garros and became the first Chinese player to get this far since defending champion Li Na in 2012, the year after she became the first Asian to win a slam. That same year Kvitova reached the semis at the French Open and this year’s quarter-finals are the furthest she has been since. The win over Zhang sees the Czech move back into the world top 10.
