"Oh-oh, say can you see?" blasted from the speakers in Arthur Ashe Stadium while Maria Kirilenko and Sam Stosur played a historic second-set tiebreak in the Grandstand Stadium. If she could have taken a moment, Kirilenko would surely have answered a resounding "No! They can't see at all!"
On three occasions during that tiebreak--at deadly crucial times--line officials made incorrect calls against Kirilenko. She challenged all of them, and was able to breathe freely for a moment after each correction. The tiebreak, won by Kirilenko, went to 17-15, making it the longest tiebreak played by two women in a major tournament. In the course of that tiebreak, the Russian player, seeded 25th, saved five match points. She won the set on her sixth set point.
The third set was competitive; Kirilenko saved two more match points, but it was Stosur who advanced to the quarterfinals, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3. The match lasted two hours and 37 minutes; the second set lasted an hour and 24 minutes.
9th seed Stosur will play 2nd seed Vera Zvonareva in the quarterfinals. Zvonareva improved her 3-0 winning record over Sabine Lisicki to 4-0 when she defeated 22nd seed Lisicki 6-2, 6-3 tonight. Lisicki made 28 unforced errors, while Zvonareva made only eleven. Zvonareva was the runner-up at the 2010 U.S. Open.
Stosur has had a poor grand slam record since making the final of last year's French. Hope this is the slam that she gets back on track.
ReplyDeleteStosur does overcomplicate things, when that kick-serve and booming forehand should suffice. What an incredible tie-break. Maria Kirilenko played her heart out on every point in this compelling match. A lesson for any young tennis players watching.
ReplyDeleteI thought for sure once it went to the tiebreak that Maria would win but Sam proved me wrong. Well done...finally!
ReplyDeleteMel
That match was a lot of fun. Anything that followed it would have been a letdown.
ReplyDeleteWho's Nostradamus now? :)
ReplyDelete