French Open--what they said

Some people say the woman tennis is really boring. What's your point of view about that?
"I think they're kind of wrong."

Samantha Stosur

"In the third I had an opportunity and I got really tight, and I pretty much gave it to her. It was like, 'Here, you know, do you want to go to the semis? Because I don't.' She was like, 'Okay'."

Serena Williams

When you had to interrupt your career because of Lyme disease, at that time when youwere down, did you ever imagine that you would be able to come back and play at such a level? Did you ever imagine you could reach one day a Grand Slam semifinal?
"I guess I wasn't really thinking about Grand Slams or winning tournaments or anything like that at that stage. It was more just trying to get healthy and leave my apartment, basically."

Samantha Stosur

"I would say normally I would think that she would win first set and I'll have to win second set. So it was very confusing."

Svetlana Kuznetsova, on playing her quarterfinal against Serena Williams

Do you wish there was more of a gap between the seasons?
"No, I mean, because now it's like, Okay, well, I lost here. Maybe I can do better at Wimbledon. I wish it were tomorrow."

Serena Williams

The men say always in this tournament they are playing almost on cement. This is hardcourt, it's not clay. You're insisting about saying about clay, clay, clay. So what it means? You are a specialist on clay? It's really clay or not? What about this surface?
"Well, did you see the sand? I still have after clay in my hair. I think it's the clay."

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Kuznetsova wins battle of nerves against Williams

Today at Roland Garros, Svetlana Kuznetsova ended Serena Williams' chance to win a second French Open by defeating her 7-6, 5-7, 7-5 in the semifinals. You could look at this match from two perspectives: 1. Kuznetsova, through a mental collapse, caused this match to go on much longer than it should have, or...2. Kuznetsova, through an impressive display of mental toughness, took this match away from Williams just when it appeared she owned it.

Both perspectives would be correct. And if you looked at the stats, you might assume that Williams won the match: She had a better first serve win percentage than Kuznetsova, and she hit eleven more winners. The players' break point conversion stats were identical, as were their net win stats. It was indeed a close match, and it took almost three hours to play it.

In the first set, serving at 5-6, Kuznetsova saved a set point. She would go on to win that set with a decisive 7-3 score in the tiebreak. In the second set, Kuznetsova was up 4-2, 40-30, but when she went to return a ball, her toe caught the clay and she fell onto her side. There was no harm done to her ankle, but her momentum was interrupted, and it was obvious that the injury was to her psyche. Covered with clay, she returned to the game, but was broken. Williams evened the score, and then broke her again. At this point, Kuznetsova was making errors and looking tired, and the momentum was obviously with Williams, who won the set, 7-5.

If you follow women's tennis, and you expected Williams to take charge of the third set and go to the semifinals, you have no reason to second-guess yourself. So many times, we have seen Kuznetsova fail to recover from a mental collapse. And so many times, we have seen Serena turn straw, grass, and even clay to gold just when the pressure was at its greatest.

But not today. Today it was the other way around. Kuznetsova found her groove again in the third set, and it was Williams who could not hold her nerve when it counted. Williams did go up an early break to take a 3-1 lead, and she saved two match points at 4-5. At that point, it was natural to predict that the momentum would go right back to Williams again, only it didn't. After Williams converted the score to 5-all, she became error-prone, and Kuznetsova moved in to break and hold, taking the set at 7-5.

Black and Huber out of French Open

Today at Roland Garros, the 2008 French Open champions--Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual--defeated the top seeds, Cara Black and Liezel Huber, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2. Medina Garrigues and Ruano Pascual now go to the final, in which they will play 12th seeds Victoria Azarenka and Elena Vesnina. Azarenka and Vesnina defeated 9th seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai 6-3, 7-5.

Black and Huber, the number 1 team in the world, have never won the French Open.

Who would have thought it? Sam Stosur in the semifinals

Samantha Stosur has always had a variety of really useful tennis skills, like a great first serve, great second serve, strong forehand, heavy topspin, and a wonderful sense of touch at the net. Her fans yell "Smash 'em, Sam!" when she plays. But Stosur has also always had--in singles, that is--a big deficit: She has tended to come apart mentally at big moments.

Stosur had to stay away from the tour for several months because of a really bad case of Lyme Disease, which led to a case of viral meningitis. She returned in the spring of 2008, and began trying to put her career back together. She was supposed to play doubles with Rennae Stubbs during the Australian season only, and then concentrate on singles. The pairing with Stubbs has continued, however, and Stosur's French Open results indicate that her singles game has gone to another level.

In her semifinal match against Sorana Cirstea, the player who took out Jelena Jankovic, Stosur hit twice as many winners as her opponent, did a great job at the net, and had a lot of success with her first serve. Her next task, however, will be much tougher--she plays Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals.

French Open--what they said

In the beginning of the second set, your serve went down a little bit. What happened there? Was it the wind that bothered you?
"No, I don't know. It was just something with my emotion. I didn't feel it. I didn't know what was going on. I have no idea."

Victoria Azarenka, on her loss to Dinara Safina

What’s your least favourite training exercise?
"Talking tactics. It drives me mad!"

Dominika Cibulkova

"I'm not really happy with my game today."

Dinara Safina

"You know, it was my tactic, you know, to play close to the baseline and, you know, to make her move and not to be scared of her first, two, three, like fast shots. I knew that if I managed to put it back, then I have my chances."

Dominika Cibulkova, on her match again Maria Sharapova

"It was his weaker part, I guess, his emotions. It was also for me. It's good that I managed to change it. I knew this is my weakness, and I deal with it. That's why I think I did such a big jump."

Dinara Safina, speaking of Marat Safin

"When it was 6‑0, 5‑0 and 40‑30, that's when I realized like what is happening? 6‑0, 5‑0, it's too much, I think, against Maria."

Dominika Cibulkova

On a scale of 1 to 10, where would you place your physical?
"Um, I don't really like scales, so I don't know. I don't know where it is. I don't like numbers, either."

Maria Sharapova

Robson exits French Open in 2nd round

Top seed and 2008 junior Wimbledon champion Laura Robson was defeated today in the second round of the French Open. Robson lost to Sandra Zaniewska, 7-6, 1-6, 6-3. Robson has had some injury problems lately, and has also been more focused on her schoolwork.

Thrill Ride tosses Azarenka off at French Open

In the first set of their French Open quarterfinal, Victoria Azarenka threw everything she had at world number 1 Dinara Safina. Playing practically flawless tennis and making only one unforced error, the 9th seed made it difficult for Safina to do much of anything. Azarenka dictated every point, used the net to her advantage, and appeared everywhere on court she needed to be without missing a step.

That kind of play cannot last, and it didn't. After winning the first set 6-1, Azarenka came back down to Earth and started making errors. Whether Safina got herself together during the break or whether she simply saw an opening and took it--I don't know. But she became more sure of herself in the middle set, and as her confidence grew, she became more focused, and her shots became more precise. She went up 4-1, but her opponent then staged a comeback to even the score. At 4-all, however, the top seed began to look like Dinara Safina again, taking charge, and also taking the set, 6-4. The third set was all Safina, with Azarenka melting down in frustration and anger, muttering and pounding her racquet into the clay. The world number 1 claimed that set 6-2, and thus claimed the match.

As a rule, Safina prefers to be a set and 2-5 down before she takes it to a tough opponent. Today was a little different: She was a terrible set down and tied at 4-all. Still a Thrill Ride.


Photo of Safina courtesy of Angelica
Ferris wheel image provided by Classroom Clipart