TENNIS FRENCH OPEN:ELENA DEMENTIEVA shocked Roland Garros when she limped out of the French Open with a torn calf muscle, gifting Francesca Schiavone a place in tomorrow's final – but the lucky Italian will have a tougher time of it against the player of the moment, Samantha Stosur.
It is a final few expected, but it has a back story fit for the season’s second grand slam. While the shattered Russian contemplates missing Wimbledon (she has already withdrawn from Eastbourne), Stosur is a testing afternoon’s work away from becoming the first Australian to win the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen since Margaret Court in 1973, while no Italian has won the event in the professional era.
Stosur, whose profile grows by the day, took a mere 60 minutes to dismiss the number four seed and sometime choker Jelena Jankovic in yesterday’s other semi-final, and has even persuaded the Nine Network in Australia to broadcast the final live. The match will start around closing time Down Under and ought to attract an enthusiastic audience in the nation’s living rooms. Tennis needs a fillip in Australia; Stosur could be the player to provide it.
Stosur has not exactly come from nowhere – she is seeded seventh and has been the form clay-court player this year – but her odds have shortened further since she beat Justine Henin and Serena Williams this week in two tough, close matches.
“I can’t believe I’m there,” said Stosur, who reached the semi-final last year. “We’re both in our first grand slam final, so we’ll just have to see what happens.”
This has been an Open of many upsets and Schiavone, who has beaten Stosur only once, five years ago, is playing near her best. “I think it’s my time now,” the 29-year-old Milanese said. “Maybe before I wasn’t ready.”
For Dementieva, day 12 was not such a sunny occasion. The moment she lost the tie-break in the first set, the fifth seed headed straight for the exit, covering her tears in her sun hat and leaving her opponent and the crowd mystified. “I’m not going to Eastbourne [which starts on June 14th] because of this injury,” she said later. “I have to withdraw because I need some time, and I’m not sure if I will be able to play Wimbledon.”
Stosur dropped only three games in beating Jankovic and has enough momentum to sweep away Schiavone, too. She beat her in the first round last year and holds a 4-1 career advantage.
Jankovic, who had played steadily throughout the tournament, barely showed up. It was the sort of undemanding muscle-loosener Stosur would have begged for, given the intensity of her earlier matches. Fittingly, she sealed it with a trademark forehand, surely one of the best in the women’s game.
Stosur’s all-round game has no real weaknesses and, working cleverly behind a big serve, she has the weapons to frighten anyone at the elite level.
A prodigy of sorts since she was 14, when she was picked up by Australia’s feted academy system, Stosur has come through some bad moments too. Three years ago she left Paris feeling drained and was later diagnosed with Lyme disease, a tick-borne bacterial infection with arthritis-like symptoms.
That knocked her out of tennis for several months. It took her a while to rediscover her form but she exudes confidence now, clearly muscled up and buoyed by results.
Women’s Singles
Semi-finals: (7) Samantha Stosur (Aus) bt (4) Jelena Jankovic (Ser) 6-1 6-2. (17) Francesca Schiavone (Ita) bt (5) Elena Dementieva (Rus) 7-6 (7-3) ret.
Men’s Doubles
Semi-finals: (3) Lukas Dlouhy (Cze) Leander Paes (Ind) bt (10) Julian Knowle (Aut) Andy Ram (Isr) 6-4 6-2. (2) Daniel Nestor (Can) Nenad Zimonjic (Ser) bt (4) Wesley Moodie (Rsa) Dick Norman (Bel) 6-0 6-3.
- Guardian Service
