Tennis special edition: Top ten greatest surprises this year – Part III
Here is the third and the last part explaining the top ten most surprising moments of the 2010 tennis calendar.
4. Samantha Stosur's stunning year
The Australian tennis sensation Samantha Stosur is widely regarded as one of the most consistent contenders on the WTA tour, however, prior to this year the Australian was unable to breakthrough in a Grand Slam event.
The 26-year-old Stosur, who had been much more successful in doubles as compared to the singles competition right from the start of her professional life, posted her career best finish in three of the four Grand Slams in 2010.
The Roland Garros, without any question was the highlight of her season, as the Australian successfully advanced into the finals for the first time, however her final eight show down at the United States Open in New York also raised a couple of eye brows
that never expected her to go that far in one of the most difficult major towards the end of the season.
In the women’s game of tennis, where accuracy and consistency is hard to find, the professional tennis player from Australia is a rarity.
3. Caroline Wozniacki the new number one
The 20-year-old Dane, Caroline Wozniacki is the new top ranked player in the world on the WTA tour, who has yet to grab her first Grand Slam title in her career.
She is the third player after Dinara Safina and Jelena Jankovic to have reached the number one position without even winning a single major which is quite surprising for majority of the tennis fans. A lot of critics have already started raising questions
about whether she actually deserves to be the new number one or not?
Anyhow, no matter you like it or not, she is the new top ranked player on the WTA tour at the moment, and it is not because of her major performances but in fact the Dane has played some great tennis in a variety of different tournaments in 2010.
To be more exact, Caroline has taken part in a total of twenty one competitions which is fifteen times more than the world number two Serena Williams from the United States of America.
Williams, undoubtedly is one of the tennis greats, however she is now ranked number two on the tour. One good thing about this young tennis sensation from Denmark is the fact that she performs consistently and contests in a couple of small level events as
well apart from the major ones.
2. Jurgen Melzer/Philipp Petzschner lift Wimbledon Doubles crown
This year’s men’s doubles draw was filled with some strong contenders therefore no one thought the unseeded side of Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner to turn out as winner in the end.
Even more surprising was the fact that both of them were playing with each other on the very first occasion in their career. They got the better of sixteen seed pair of Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau to win the title in Wimbledon. The crown came as their
first Grand Slam title as pair.
Not only they fell on their knees after hitting the finals shot at the All England Club but in fact they also took the ball they used in the match with them.
"I said that if we win the championship I will take the ball home with me and put it on my wall. But Melzer said what about me? So I said we will take two balls,” reflected Petzschner after the match.
1. Francesca Schiavone triumphs in Roland Garros
The 29-year-old Francesca registered her name as the oldest female tennis contender to capture a Grand Slam title since 1969. Not only her age was a topic of discussion but in fact the way she won it grabbed every one’s attention without any question.
The Italian veteran to be straight played the match of her life to win the title battle where she got the better of Samantha Stosur from Australia in two sets. The final match score was 6-4, 7-6 (2).
Such was the height of excitement, that she first took off her pumps, laughed in delight and then even skipped on the clay court.
It was really an ultimate Cinderella story and everyone was along for the ride.
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