US Open 2010: Samantha Stosur breezes into the quarterfinal round in New York
The Australian tennis player Samantha Stosur has reached the quarterfinal round of the United States Open tennis tournament 2010 after a tight three-setter clash against Elena Dementieva on Monday. The final match score was 6-3 2-6 7-6 (7-2).
As a result of this victory, Stosur will next meet the 2009 United States Open winner, Kim Clijsters in the final eight showdowns at the Flushing Meadows on Tuesday.
Elena and Samantha started their fourth-round clash at 10.57pm local time and concluded at 1.37am. It was the latest concluding women’s singles clash in the history of the United States Open tennis tournament 2010.
The season’s final major is notorious for noisy crowds and late night clashes, however, one of the tennis greats Martina Navratilova said that it was not fair as far as Samantha and Elena were concerned; they had to play so late at night on the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Martina questioned the scheduling, “No player is trained to go out on the court and play matches at midnight. Off course, no one can be ready for that. They forcefully keep themselves awake by taking coffee over and over again, which is extremely unfair. I never participated in such late night matches throughout my career.”
Stosur although started off the match quite well, however, lost control in the second set. Elena rightly grabbed the opportunity and went on to win the next set. However, the Australian did not give up and fought hard to bounce back in the decisive set, and at last won the clash in a time period of two hours and thirty eight minutes in New York.
‘‘I am feeling extremely glad and a little unbelievable as well at the moment. I think both of us played really well and it was a tough fight till the end. We gave our hundred percent in the match, and I am sure the crowds must have enjoyed it to the fullest as well,” said Stosur after the match on Monday.
While commenting on the overall conditions at the Flushing Meadows, the Australian further added, “The conditions are great out here. The timing obviously was odd; however, when the crowd is there to support you and remains there till the end, it always feels great.”
Some of Samantha’s sizzling power-hitting enthralled Martina and her compatriot former top-ranked Tracy Austin, who after the match commented, ‘‘that is only possible when you are playing at your very best. She has played some phenomenal tennis today and I am sure they are hitting harder than the guys in the first clash.”
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