Sam Stosur favourite to win the French Open
After defeating Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic in consecutive matches, Sam Stosur has been installed as hot favourite to win the French Open title in 2010.
The Australian will enter the final against Francesca Schiavone with a win-loss record on clay this year that cannot be matched by any other player in women’s tennis, having won 20 of her matches on the dirt courts this year and lost just two of them.
There could be little doubt Stosur was one of the form players heading into the clay court major, but when the seventh seed was handed a horror draw that potentially required her to win her way past the three former world No. 1s to even reach the deciding match, there had to be some doubt as to how far that form could carry her in Paris.
As it turns out, the combination of a powerful forehand, one of the most potent serves in women’s tennis, and an increasing confidence in her own abilities has taken Stosur just one win away from becoming the first Australian woman in 30 years to claim the Grand Slam silverware.
And there’s no shortage of believers that the 26-year-old can do it.
Jankovic, who was left flat-footed and without answers to Stosur’s power game in the semis, is one. The Serb told reporters after her semi-final defeat that: “I think Samantha has a very big chance [of winning the title]. She played so well this tournament, and she has beaten, you know, I think the favourites of this tournament... She's playing very, very well. I think she'll do it.”
Margaret Court is another. No player in women’s or men’s tennis has won more Grand Slam titles than Court, and the 24-time Grand Slam champion now says Stosur could be on the verge of Grand Slam glory at the French Open.
“I think she can win. She’s playing with a lot more confidence than before,” Court is reported to have said in Australia’s Herald Sun. “She’s always had the strokes. It’s been more about what’s in her head in the past. Now she believes she can win, which is a big thing.”
Most importantly though, Stosur has played with all the conviction of a Grand Slam champion on her way to the final, and if she does so in it, it will be a tough task for Schiavone to stop that belief becoming a reality on Saturday afternoon.
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