The 2011 French Open quarterfinals are complete and we now have our final four for the men's and women's draw. Wednesday saw mostly favorites rolling to victory, with one slight upset on the women's side of the draw. Sixth seed Na Li defeated fourth seed Victoria Azarenka in straight sets. In the other quarterfinal of the day, Maria Sharapova won easily in straight sets over No. 15 seed Andrea Petkovic. Li and Sharapova will square off in Thursday's early semifinal. Marion Bartoli and Francesca Schiavone will meet in the later semifinal. It's been a wild women's draw as Schiavone (No. 5) is the highest remaining seed.
The men's side saw Rafael Nadal advance with a straight sets victory over Robin Soderling. Andy Murray also won in straight sets against Juan Ignacio Chela, although Murray did have to take a seventh game in the first two sets. Murray and Nadal will meet in one semifinal on Friday. The other semifinal will feature Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. The four top seeds in the men's draw all advanced into the semifinals, which should make for some great tennis this weekend.
We'll be providing wall-to-wall coverage of the 2011 French Open over the next two weeks. Check back in our French Open 2011 story stream for news, analysis and other details. For more detailed conversation, join the folks at The Daily Forehand.