In form Sam Stosur to reign in Paris
Roar Rookie By katelorimer, 20 May 2010 katelorimer is a Roar Rookie
- Tagged:
- French Open, Justine Henin, Samantha Stosur, Tennis
The French Open begins next week, and for the first time in 25 years, there is an Aussie girl at number 7 in the world. Not since Wendy Turnbull in 1985 have we had a female tennis player occupying such lofty heights, and this week Samantha Stosur took her place in the WTA Rankings.
This is well overdue for such a promising talent – a semi-finalist at Roland Garros last year – and she has been in red hot form on clay this year, winning 14 of her 16 matches on the slow surface.
Her only defeats have come against four-time French Open champion Justine Henin in last month’s Stuttgart final and to Venus Williams in Madrid. So really, we can forgive her for those, given the top level experience Henin and Williams share.
So can Sam finally crack the big time?
Well, if she gets a favourable draw on Friday, then she is definitely worth putting a few dollars on. If nothing else, the last few months have proved that “attitude and composure” can be the difference on the court. And with the big names in tennis, the Williams sisters, Clijsters, Safina, and Sharapova, all performing inconsistently recently, I believe all that stands between Stosur and lifting the trophy at Roland Garros is a tiny, but powerful Belgian named Justine Henin.
Sam collected her maiden career title on clay last month in Charleston, and her coach David Taylor justifiably rated her one of the leading chances to reign in Paris.
And I’m with him.
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The Crowd Says (5) | Page 1 of Comments
Have Your Say
- Explore:
- French Open, Justine Henin, Samantha Stosur, Tennis
May 20th 2010 @ 8:20am
Stephen said | May 20th 2010 @ 8:20am | Report comment
Hope she goes well-but wasn’t she bundled out in the early rounds of one of her ATP matches this year? Re Wendy Turnbull, what were Alicia Molik’s and Jelena Dokic’s highest rankings?
May 20th 2010 @ 11:50am
tysan said | May 20th 2010 @ 11:50am | Report comment
Jelena Dokic reached a career high ranking of number 4 but i think she was representing yugoslavia or serbia and montenegro at the time. alicia molik’s best ranking was number 8. i think sam is the favourite behind venus, henin and jankovic
May 20th 2010 @ 10:56pm
Whiteline said | May 20th 2010 @ 10:56pm | Report comment
good to see an aussie woman tennis player who is superbly fit – i think this is half the battle
May 21st 2010 @ 1:17pm
Mitch said | May 21st 2010 @ 1:17pm | Report comment
Hey she won in Osaka last year so this year was not her maiden title lol
May 22nd 2010 @ 2:07pm
Provencia said | May 22nd 2010 @ 2:07pm | Report comment
Here are the seeds for the French.
Serena Williams
Venus Williams
Caroline Wozniacki
Jelena Jankovic
Elena Dementieva
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Sam Stosur
Agnieszka Radwanska
Dinara Safina
Victoria Azarenka
The men –
Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic
Andy Murray
Robin Soderling
Andy Roddick
Fernando Verdasco
Jo-Wilfried-Tsonga
David Ferrer
Marin Cilic
With that big serve Sam Stosur should do well at Wimbledon. Nadal won in Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid this year, while Roger has made 18 of the last 19 Grand Slam finals. Whoa!