PARIS — A cold chill circulated around Maria Sharapova as the title holder was frozen out of the French Open on Monday but there was no stopping Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal from blazing a trail towards a scorching showdown.
A day after rain played havoc with the schedule, Sharapova's hopes of reaching a fourth successive final at Roland Garros were turned to dust in the fourth round by the dynamite forehand of Lucie Safarova, the Czech winning 7-6(3) 6-4.
An explosive quarter-final, however, awaits those lucky enough to hold Wednesday tickets for Court Philippe Chatrier after nine-times champion Nadal and world number one Djokovic set up a smoking showdown that former champion Jim Courier called "the match of the season so far.