Samantha Stosur defeats Serena Williams, Reaches Semi final French Open
Samantha Stosur of Australia has cleared a daunting challenge Wednesday, when she overcame top-seeded Serena Williams of the United States 6-2, 6-7 (7-2), 8-6 in the quarterfinal rounds of the French Open.
Stosur, ranked No.5 in the world, utilized crosscourt and baseline shots to overcome Williams’ power advantage.
Stosur, 26, produced 6 aces and 30 winners but had minimized her unforced errors, which appeared to be a huge factor in the match.
Williams, who dominated Stosur with 13 aces and 39 winners, committed a lackadaisical 46 unforced errors, 22 more than Stosur’s miscues.
First serve percentage and total receiving points were also important statistics that had shaped the outcome of the match,
Williams completed 63 percent (72 of 113 shot) of her first serves, while Stosur landed 66 percent (73 of 110) of her first serves.
Williams was also outscored in total receiving points won, tallying only 35 percent (38 of 110 attempts) while Stosur managed to score 40 percent (45 of 112 attempts).
Stosur also racked up 17 consecutive points in first set of the match that ignited the crowd at
Court Philippe Chatrier.
Packed with powerful forehands, Stosur successfully scoured against Williams, who had been struggling with her shots in the early going.
The Aussie started again the second set with a flurry of crosscourt and powerful forehands that gave him a 5-3 advantage.
However, Stosur committed miscues (including her lone double fault of the match), allowing Williams to eat the lead and force a tiebreaker.
The American launched powerful serves and succession of forehands shots to take the second set 7-6 (7-2) and forced a deciding set.
In the deciding set, Williams aggressively outplayed Stosur in the first 10 games of the set with a 5-4 advantage.
Williams had an opportunity of closing out the match after Stosur missed couple of shots – including an easy volley on the baseline.
However, Williams blew a match-point opportunity and the chance to reach her first semifinal stints since 2003 after her forehand went an inch far outside the line.
Stosur seized the opportunity and unleashed two solid ground strokes to win the 13th game of the third set.
Stosur put the final nail in the coffin when she blasted a thunderous serve that finally ended Williams’ run at Roland Garros this year.
After the game, Stosur had a chance to speak about the game and her expectation in her second semifinal stint in this Grand Slam tournament.
“When I got that next chance (to serve it out) at 7-6, I wasn't going to let the same thing happen again," Stosur told reporters during a post-game news conference.
Stosur also became the first player in 10 years to oust both Williams and Justine Henin in the same tournament.
Prior to her quarterfinals match against Williams, Stosur already made headlines when he defeated Henin, the four-time French Open titlist, 2–6, 6–1, 6–4 in the fourth round.
"Two great matches back to back for me which is fantastic. It is not over yet. I am in the semis and I want to definitely try and keep going." Stosur told reporters Wednesday.
Stosur is also aiming to be first Australian to advance in the French Open women’s singles final since Wendy Turnbull in 1979. Margareta Court was the last female Grand Slam champion in 1973.
Stosur will be facing another tough challenge Thursday, when she plays No.4 seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in the semis.
Jankovic, overwhelmed unseeded Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 7–5, 6–4, will be playing for his third French Open semis after bowing out in the fourth round last year.
In an unexpected twist, this year’s semifinalist has not won any Grand Slam titles in their careers.
Elena Dementieva (French and US Open in 2004) and Jankovic (US Open 2008) had finals stints, but Stosur and another surprising Francesca Schiavone of Italy are still searching for their first Grand Slam finals stints.
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