French Open 2013 Results: Major Takeaways from Wednesday's Singles Action

If major championships are the true indicator of who the best players in the world are (and they are), then the 2013 French Open has proved that the world tennis rankings are doing something right.

Heading into Thursday's beginning of semifinal action at Roland Garros, the lowest-seeded player remaining is on the men's side, sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The biggest "upsets" of the late-round phase involved Tsonga beating second-seeded Roger Federer and fifth-seeded Sara Errani taking down fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska.

Yeah...not much in the way of shockers.

But as we head into those semifinals on the women's side, it's important that we take a look back at how those players got to this point—most notably Wednesday's semifinal action. There have already been dissections upon dissections of the action at Roland Garros on Tuesday, so shoehorning in a Serena Williams take just for the sake of having one would be a disservice.

There was plenty of great action on Wednesday, even though only one match went beyond the minimum sets. It saw Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova, three of the world's most famous players, in action and each advancing to the semifinals. And with Victoria Azarenka turning in a stellar performance of her own, there will be plenty to talk about in the hours leading up to these battles between tennis monoliths. 

With that in mind, here is a quick look at a few major takeaways from Wednesday's action. 

Nadal vs. Djokovic Collision Course Finally Set

When the draw came out for this year's trip to Roland Garros, plenty of folks were dejected at the result. By putting Nadal and Djokovic on the same side of the draw, it ensured that tennis fans would not get to see a repeat of last year's thrilling final. With Djokovic having already defeated Nadal once on clay this year, many (yours truly included) thought a potential final would be an instant classic.

Instead, the expected semifinal would act as the ostensive final, with Roger Federer or whomever came out of the other side acting as a mere formality. Whether or not that was ultimately true was irrelevant. That was a prevailing feeling heading into the tournament and is certainly the case now with Federer being ousted.

Luckily, with the way Nadal and Djokovic looked in their quarterfinal matches, it might not matter whether this match is a semifinal or final. The classic connotations may come forth regardless.

With a straight-sets win over Stanislas Wawrinka, Nadal looked fully back into form on Wednesday. The early-set struggles that the defending French Open champion faced during the first three rounds began dissipating against Kei Nishikori in Round 4 and completely evaporated by the quarterfinals.

Nadal absolutely blasted Wawrinka. There was no question who the greater man was at Roland Garros, as Nadal continued a career-long streak of never having lost a set to Wawrinka. It was by far the best Nadal has looked this year at his favorite event, and he seems to finally be rounding into shape after a disconcerting first weekend.

While Tommy Haas put up a slightly better fight against Djokovic, a similar paragraph could be written about the world's top-ranked player. Djokovic defeated the 12th-seeded Haas in straight sets, only needing a tiebreak in the second to advance in a relatively breezy time. Djokovic has lost just one set heading into his match versus Nadal, one that the Serb probably wants more than anything he's ever wanted.

Nadal, at the top of his game at Roland Garros. Djokovic, playing better than he ever has on clay. The two greatest clay-court players in the world, playing for one finals berth. This should be good. 

Maria Sharapova Will Not Quit...

During the first set of her quarterfinals match versus Jelena Jankovic, Sharapova looked hapless. She won exactly zero games in that set, making innumerable unforced errors and misplays on the ball. She looked completely outclassed, Jankovic spraying the ball all over the court as Sharapova's game seemed lifeless.

Those first six games, frankly, looked like the return of the "cow on ice." Gone was the woman who built herself into the 2012 French Open champion, the one who had yet to lose a set in her title defense. But there Sharapova was, playing against a former world No. 1 on the opposition's best surface, looking to be without answers.

And then, seemingly out of nowhere, Sharapova returned (somewhat) to her 2013 form. She rallied, even as Jankovic was just two games away from winning the match in the second set, and came away with a thrilling victory. Plenty of players would have seen themselves get blanked in the first set and been unable to show the mental fortitude to rally.

Sharapova isn't most players. It was a win that wouldn't have been possible earlier in her career, a time where Sharapova relied on her talent more than her smarts and toughness on the court. Her fall from grace, fraught with injuries, was also filled with collapses against lesser competition. 

Now, Sharapova battles. She's worked her way to becoming one of the world's finest clay-court players simply by working on relentlessly at getting better on the surface. It's admirable for someone who has already achieved so much to still be working on honing her craft. And for about the eleventy-billionth time, Sharapova proved that the mental state of a tennis player is almost as important as his or her skill. 

...But Victoria Azarenka Should Be Favored in Their Semifinals Match

It's possible that Sharapova will again find a way to use fortitude and guile to clamber her way to the mountaintop again versus Azarenka. She did it despite being in about the worst possible scenario versus Jankovic, and Azarenka's history of disappointing French Open finishes isn't something easily forgotten. 

Eventually, though, talent wins out. Talent is how Serena Williams has stayed atop the tennis game for more than a decade, despite injuries, seeming varying interest in the sport and her own bouts with fragile psyche.

And as the 23-year-old Azarenka embarks on her first French Open semifinal, she looks to be putting together all of her prodigious talents. One of the best (if not the best) hard-court players in the world, Azarenka's trips to Roland Garros had been overwhelmingly negative. She had never made it past the quarterfinals and was eliminated in the fourth round last year as the No. 1 seed.

No signs of those former struggles have been seen yet this year. Azarenka has won four of her five matches in straight sets, including her drubbing of 12th-seeded Maria Kirilenko in the quarterfinal. A former doubles partner, Kirilenko was supposed to represent Azarenka's biggest test thus far. Instead, she was just another stepping stone on what's beginning to look more and more like an impending meeting with Williams in the final.

On the men's side, it was apparent before the tournament started who held the cards. Williams was the one "known" entity on the women's side heading into Roland Garros, but the other was up in the air. Most pegged Sharapova, the safe choice who had finally completed the career slam there a year ago.

But others knew that Azarenka, should she finally find her rhythm on clay, posed the biggest threat. With her dominant win over Kirilenko on Wednesday, perhaps we've seen that arrival. 

Follow @tylerconway22