The home crowd in Stuttgart has something big to cheer for this year: Julia Goerges, who is unseeded, upset 5th seed Sam Stosur today in the semifinals. Goerges defeated Stosur 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in a very well-played contest between two forehand-favoring players. The Goerges forehand, with its elaborate preparation, works well on clay, and Goerges moved expertly throughout the match.
Goerges will have plenty to do in the final. Her opponent is world number 1 Caroline Wozniacki, who defeated her friend Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5, 6-3 in the semifinals. Radwanska's serve was the best I have ever seen it, and I thought the match was going to three sets. Radwanska saved six match points, which added some excitement to the latter part of the match.
Stosur, by the way, is still in the doubles competition. She and Sabine Lisicki won their semifinal match against Vitalia Diatchenka and Mariya Koryttseva. In the final, they will play Kristina Barrois and Jasmin Woehr, who defeated Kathrin Woerle and Katalin Marosi. Lisicki and Stosur are wild cards; Barrois and Woehr are unseeded.
I watched both matches this morning and boy Georges was hitting that ball for all it was worth. I have to disagree though that she does not move particularly well on the clay. I think I was spoiled by Justine Henin and her movement on the red stuff, but I always expect players to slide into their shots in the same way that she did. Georges stumbled a lot today on the red stuff.
ReplyDeleteAs for Stosur, I have no idea what is going on there, but she needs to get a grip.
As for Chris Evert's view that Wozniacki will win the French Open. Really, she really thinks so? Wozniacki cannot finish a match without calling her father down court side. She will have to be extremely lucky with a draw in order to be able to win a major and she will most definitely need to work on that forehand. Also, watching her matches in Stuttgart she moves incredibly poorly on the red stuff. She does not slide into the shots and while her anticipation is great, against players who know how to move on the stuff and who have power in abundance, she is going to be in a spot of bother.
Goerges did stumble a bit in the semifinal, but in general, she has moved well this week. She has a comfort level in Stuttgart that she didn't have in Charleston.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right about Wozniacki at the French Open. There really aren't that many top players who are extremely comfortable on red clay--Kuznetsova, Schiavone--to name a couple, and can slide at will with fast recovery. And yes, that was a huge part of why Henin did so well in Paris.