Serena Williams vs. Samantha Stosur; Match Preview
The No. 1-seeded Serena Williams from the United States of America will face the Number 7-seeded Samantha Stosur from Australia in the French Open quarterfinals tonight at Court Philippe Chatrier. A speedy paced match is expected as both the players have been serving beautifully throughout the Tournament. Stosur however has the highest number of clay-court wins for this season than any other player. On the other hand, Serena has more Grand Slam Titles to her name than any other acting player.
Stosur with her win in the fourth round against Justin Henin took a giant step in her career. Although, she was dropped in the first set of the match but successfully ended up by beating the four-time French Open Champion. This victory of Stosur has shown her patience as well as her ability to stay cool in crucial situations of the game. Her kick serve has been magnificent. However the question remains that are these traits enough to beat the former 2002 Champion in a Grand Slam Tournament?
Having defeated her first four opponents at Roland Garros, Serena Williams will come in to this match with a lot of confidence. Stosur has won only two tour titles while the Number 1 seeded William has won 36. She took her first 2010 Grand Slam title in Australia and has been playing good tennis since then. Hence, she is definitely the favourite to win today’s match and it will be a strong challenge for anyone to snatch two sets off the American Tennis star.
The perception about Stosur’s style of play has been largely changed after her recent victory against Justin Henin. No doubt, she has been playing wonderful Tennis in the recent past and is surely capable of defeating any seed at the moment. At the Bank of the West Classic last year in Stanford, she knocked Serena in a three-set match on hard court.
Two of the four matches both of them have played so far were just three setters. Stosur’s majestic kick serves and smart game that did the trick for her in the match against Henin will not work as good against Serena Williams as she knows well how to keep the topspin forehand and kick serves low down the clay. She is so perfect in the return that she will look to impose points even while receiving her serve. What is important for Stosur in today’s match is her ability to not give a chance to Williams for a big swing at the ball.
The most crucial part for Stosur will be her return game. Williams has a much greater serve than the tiny Henin and in case of short return, the Number 1 seeded Williams is well capable of grabbing the ball early and leaving behind her opponent flushing into the corners. Her forehand looks much more strong and composed, along with her fierce demeanour.
Due to Serena’s quality of raising her game to a high level especially in case of Gram Slam Events, she seems to be the favourite one to win today’s match. On the other hand, Stosur in spite of improving her game to a great extent still finds some serious issues in her match up against Williams. So the match as expected to be a close would be an absolute delight to watch. However, Serena is likely to prevail in the straight sets beyond any doubt.
Having seen the top seeds kicking out on regular basis in the French Open 2010, one thing is for sure that Serena William’s won’t be taking any single match lightly in this tussle. Both the players met at the 2010 Australian Open in their most recent clash. Serena Williams won the match by beating Stosur 6-4, 6-2. William has not played a lot of Tennis this season, but still has successfully managed to win every time she has come to play. On the other hand, Stosur has a winning percentage of around 80% this year. Meaning, that today’s clash is definitely going to be an exciting one!
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