Venus Williams ousts Samantha Stosur to reach the semis - Western and Southern Open 2012
Former world number one, Venus Williams, continues to impress at Cincinnati, Ohio as she ousted the sixth ranked Aussie star, Samantha Stosur, in an epic three-setter to book a spot in the semi-final of the Western and Southern
Open. She won the opening set 6-2, but failed to win the second set tie-breaker 6(2)-7. However, she bounced back to take the final set 6-4 after battling for almost two hours and 34 minutes.
Williams was interviewed at the end of the match. She stated about her rival and the overall match proceedings. She said, "She played very well - I have to give her credit for that. In tie-breakers you just have to play one point
at a time, and today I let it get away from me.”
She further added, “Once that happens, you just have to move on. That's pretty much it. And that's why there are three sets in tennis - it had to be decided in the third. I didn't realize I was going to be that excited when I won.
Of course under the circumstances, serving it out 6-4 in the third, it was very exciting."
The opening set witnessed an early breakpoint for the American who piled up a lead of 3-0 upfront. A swap of breakpoints in the midst of the opening set kept the lead of the 64th ranked American intact. Williams broke
serve for the third time in the set during the eighth game and clinched the opening set with little pressure.
Stosur grabbed an early breakthrough in the second set but squandered the lead in the fourth game. Another swap of breakpoints towards the ending stages of the set made sure that the tie-breaker round was enforced to spate the
winner from the loser. The 28-year-old Aussie was strong in the critical situation and bagged the win; more importantly kept the match and enforced the final set into play.
The Aussie superstar had a dismal start to the final set, as she failed to hold her opening serve game. She went down to a trail of 0-2 and the exchange of breakpoints didn’t help her cause. She lost the battle allowing Williams
to book a date with the Chinese superstar, Li Na, for the semi-final contest.
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