General / Editor / 04 June 2007 /

Maria Sharapova made it through to the French Open quarter-finals after an epic 3-6 6-4 9-7 victory over Patty Schnyder.

The Roland Garros second seed twice saved match points in a gruelling three-set encounter to edge a tight win and set up a last-eight showdown against fellow Russian, Anna Chakvetadze.

Sharapova is the 1.51 favourite in Betfair's Match Odds market to make it to the last four in Paris, with Chakvetadze available at 2.9.

"It was very exciting and even if I had lost the match I would have done an amazing job of fighting and getting myself back into the match," said 20-year-old Sharapova, after the two-and-a-half-hour marathon.

"I figured I wasn't going to beat her by being a clay-court player so I just started coming in and going for my shots.

"I figured if I was going to lose this match I would lose it on my own terms," added the world number two."

Sharapova, still working her way back to full match fitness following a shoulder injury, faces an uphill task win the Paris event and can be backed at 4 in Betfair's Reach The Final market, with three-time winner Justine Henin (2) the favourite and 2006 runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova next best at 2.72.

Henin in the 2.72 favourite to claim her third consecutive Roland Garros crown, while Jelena Jankovic is trading at 5.3 and 2002 winner Serena Williams is slightly on the drift at 6.8.

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