Sara Errani stuns Angelique Kerber to reach her maiden Major semi-final – French Open 2012
Rated at number 24 in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Rankings, the Italian tennis ace, Sara Errani has continued with her dream run at the second Grand Slam tournament of the running season, the French Open. The 25-year-old
Italian diva has made it to the semi-finals of the coveted clay court even in Paris, France, after stunning the world number 10, Angelique Kerber, in the quarter-final brawl on Tuesday.
21st seed Errani register yet another upset in the tournament by dumping the hot favourite German out of the tournament in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(2), to get among the final-four. The Italian stepped on Court Suzanne
Lenglen as the underdog against the in-form world number 10 but surprised everyone with her amazing power-hitting to turn the tables on the superior-ranked opponent. She cruised through the opening set to get the upper hand in the contest early but had to
labour extremely hard in the second set before concluding her memorable victory.
"The second set was a really tough set. Not just the end, but also in the beginning I was feeling a little bit tired," Errani commented. "Even though I was behind I just tried to stay in there, because I knew the match would be
long. I just wanted to keep fighting for every ball and every point out there. The match, the tournament, I'm very happy with how I'm playing. To win against Angelique today in a Grand Slam, in Roland Garros, it's just great."
It was the second encounter between these two contenders this season, with Kerber winning the prior battle at the season-opening Moorilla Hobart International. The German number one was supposed to replicate the similar sort of
performance to reach the semis at the Roland Garros on Tuesday but she was outplayed by the smart game play of Errani.
The crafty Italian has already defeated a number of top class players, including the former world number one, Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova, en route to her first ever Grand Slam semi-final. It can be the similar scenario
like the last year’s French Open when a Chinese underdog contender, Li Na, came out from nowhere to lift her maiden Grand Slam title. Errani’s current form at this coveted event hints that she might stun everyone by lifting gold in Paris this year but it is
easier said than done.
The 21st seed will face the last year’s US Open champion, Samantha Stosur of Australia, in the semi-final battle.
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