by Savannah
Sometimes it hurts to be right. I said that neither Venus Williams or Serena Williams would make the singles final at Roland Garros. Serena came out wired and as a result played tentative tennis. When their backs are to the wall they revert to being the hard court players they are. Despite the sun the court was not in hard court mode today and while Samantha Stosur won because she played the clay better at least Serena won a set.
With Serena's exit there are no more American's in either singles draw.
Order of Play Day 12 - Ladies Semi Finals
Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[17] v. Elena Dementieva (RUS)[5]
Samantha Stosur (AUS)[7] v. Jelena Jankovic (SRB)[4]
A first time Slam winner will be crowned on Saturday.
Meanwhile in the ATP...
Twenty nine year old Jurgen Melzer fought his way into his first Grand Slam semi final defeating Novak Djokovic in a thrilling fifth set that saw a missed line call, a play on a shot that seemed to be going out, and other thrilling aspects of clay court play. In the final analysis neither the blown call or the questionable play had any effect on the match. On the way to his win Melzer blew a gimme match point that could have derailed his victory. Instead he sucked it in and won.
The men's semifinals will feature Rafael Nadal vs Jurgen Melzer and Robin Soderling vs Tomas Berdych.
Miscellany
ESPN showed live tennis today. Mark your calendars. They also made the right call in reairing the Serena Williams vs Samantha Stosur match which was first up on Chatrier this morning.
They also aired the end of the Federer/Soderling match. For the third time. That I don't get.
3 comments:
So Samantha Stosur plays 6 women so far to get to the final. 3 of the 6 women that she has played so far have been top 10 players. 2 of them are multiple Grand Slam champions. 1 of them has come out and said that Stosur plays like a man. She then went on to say why she thought she played like a man. The other Grand Slam champion made the point that Stosur played very well and that she (Serena) had the match and blew it. She complimented her opponent but more of the focus was on herself. Today, Stosur played another top 10 player who again says that Stosur plays like a man. She also mentioned how big she is physically. I have also heard commentators mention about Stosur's serve and her forehand and that it is almost Nadal like with the amount of spin she gets on the ball. Now, I want to ask a question, is there something that these players are saying that we are not hearing or is it just sour grapes? I do not get it. I admit that Stosur has bulked up somewhat in the past year and her forehand is clocking but is there something else going on?
Karen they are referring to the fact she hits kick serves (something that not a lot of women are capable of doing) and she hits a very heavy forehand. Not a lot of the women have the weight on the forehand like Sam hence the plays like a man comment. In person she is really not that imposing or bulked up and has for the past couple of years played this style of game so I don't think they are suggesting anything untoward. She has been missing the right mental attitude so her game has never been dangerous so the comments were not made.
Yes, they are saying it without saying it. Many people think she is juiced. If you read the interviews they all complimented her but....
She has made huge progress in singles, because she used to play the doubles.
But now she's a top player in the singles. She has beautiful qualities on clay because she plays kind of a man's tennis. I mean, she has very heavy balls. She is a very powerful girl. She has a beautiful forehand and a very good backhand, as well.
Justine
http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/news/interviews/2010-05-30/201005301275225314882.html
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No woman can serve like that-Mary Jo Fernandez during JJ/Stosur semi FO on ESPN.
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Q. Big kick serve. It's kind of a rarity in the women's game. There was another guy from your part of the world who had quite a good quick serve. Questioner to SS.
http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/news/interviews/2010-06-03/201006031275583745919.html
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Martina Nav. said her serve is rare for a woman.
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To be honest, she kind of has like almost the game of a man. That's what it feels like. When I look at how the men play, she has kind of a similar she has a very good kick, which not many women can not women have. It's a very heavy, you know, spin.
JJ on SS
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