South African tennis star in the making Chanelle Scheepers will stick to her winning game plan in today's French Open match against Russian fifth seed Elena Dementieva.
On Friday, Houston-based Scheepers, 26, secured a spot in the fourth round after beating Uzkbekistan's Akgul Amanmuradova 6-3 6-3 - the first time in 13 years that a South African women reached this stage in the tournament. Amanda Coetzer reached the semifinals in 1997.
Speaking from Paris yesterday, Scheepers said she was happy with her progress, adding: "I'm not done yet and hopefully I can keep going."
Scheepers, who grew up in the Free State farming town Harrismith, attributed her success to years of hard work.
"It wasn't as if I went a couple of weeks before the French Open and decided I was going to improve," she said. "I'm constantly working on improving."
Scheepers, ranked 131st in the world, felt "pretty fresh" ahead of today's match.
"You always have a chance. I think if I can just keep playing the way I've been playing ... if I can just keep doing what I've been doing, then hopefully I will be fine. I try not to put too much on it being the French Open, I just go out there and play a match."
Scheepers said the slippery clay courts did not present too much of a challenge as she had been practising on clay since moving to the US seven years ago.
Realising her career prospects in SA were limited, she left the country as a teenager, saying SA had been "a bit slow" in developing potential tennis stars.
Scheepers's parents live in Harrismith and the tennis star tries to visit them once a year.
Top seed Serena Williams survived a French Open health scare yesterday, while Russia's Nadia Petrova defeated Roland Garros golden girl Aravane Rezai.
Williams, the 2002 champion, beat Russia's 29th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 1-6 6-2 to reach the last 16, but needed treatment after going 0-5 down in the second set, having cruised through the opener.
She had her pulse tested and temperature taken courtside, although she managed to compose herself to win the next game before the 18-year-old Russian went on to level the match.
Williams, despite still appearing uncomfortable, then broke twice in the final set and will face Israel's Shahar Peer for a place in the quarters.
"I just ran out of a little energy. I'm fighting a cold and sickness. But I'm feeling better and getting ready for the doubles," said Williams.
"It was a weird match. I wasn't at my best. I was just happy to win."
