Roland Garros 2010: Women's Final Preview

Francesca Schiavone ITA (17) vs.

Samantha Stosur AUS (7)

BY MadProfessah

One of the most surprising grand slam tournaments in recent tennis history is coming to a conclusion with a final where for the first time in 6 years neither of the combatants has been in a major final previously. World No. 7 Samantha Stosur has reached this point by beating a series of excellent clay court players, one after another starting with a tight dismissal of Justine Henin, followed by outlasting Serena Williams and ending with a 2-set blowout of Jelena Jankovic. On the other hand, Francesca Schiavone has had the best luck of anyone in the tournament, having won every set she has played except for the very first, all the while facing a significantly lower level of competition. In her last match, her opponent Elena Dementieva retired after losing a close tie-break set!

In 2009 Schiavone and Stosur met in the first round of Roland Garros and the Australian won easily 6-4 6-2. Head-to-head Schiavone won the first match the two played in 2005 and has not won in 4 attempts, with two of these matches occurring on clay.

Although Schiavone is a big match player and will probably handle the pressure of playing in her first major final better than Stosur, the Australian has so much more power in her game that even with a slump she should still win her first major singles title relatively easily.

MadProfessah's pick: Stosur in 2 sets.

Roland Garros 2010: Women's Semifinals Preview

BY MADPROFESSAH

I previously made predictions of the four women's quarterfinals and four men's quarterfinals and got 4 of 8 results correct at this year's French Open.

Serena Williams USA (1) Samantha Stosur AUS (7) vs. Jelena Jankovic SRB (4). Samantha Stosur has the most clay court wins of anyone on tour this year. She showed that she can take out players who are expected to beat her with two exceptional, consecutive 3-set wins over 4-time French Open champ Justine Henin and 12-time major champion Serena Williams. She may possess the best serve in women's tennis right now. It was this difference which was most glaring in her defeat of Serena in the quarters. Stosur had quieter (but more effective) service stats (6 aces to one double fault) than Serena (13 aces, 9 double faults). Her second serve has a wicked kick which will push almost any opponent deep behind the baseline. Her next opponent is Jelena Jankovic who has lived up to her seeding (the only member of the Top 4 to do so) and is appearing in her sixth career major semifinal. Stosur is appearing in her second. Jankovic also sports a 3-1 career head-to-head edge over the Australian, but then again so did Serena Williams, with all their previous encounters occurring on hard courts. I actually like and appreciate both players' games so I will not be upset which ever player wins. In this case, I think Stosur will have the larger momentum and greater boost of her confidence having already beaten two great champions to reach this point. I think she will not stop until Stosur becomes a grand slam champion herself.
MadProfessah's pick: Stosur in 3 sets.

Caroline Wozniacki DEN (3) Francesca Schiavone ITA (17) vs. Elena Dementieva RUS (5). This was supposed to be where Venus Williams was supposed to take advantage of the top heavy draw and finally make her way to another French Open final. Sadly, that dream was deferred by the excellent play of Nadia Petrova who then could not sustain a lead against her friend and doubles partner Elena Dementieva, an ended up choking on 3rd-set bagel. Francesca Schiavone is a big match player. A few weeks before her 30th birthday she is in her first major semifinal, the first woman from Italy to be in a major final in over a generation. Although I love her game (that one handed backhand! the shotmaking!), I predicted that the World's 3rd ranked player would take her out easily but Schiavone flipped the script aruond and dismissed Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 6-3 in a match that was not as close as the score indicates. This match is the hardest one for me to predict. The two have played 10 tour matches, with only one on clay (won by Dementieva) and with the Russian holding a slight 6-4 edge. Just as Schiavone has indicated her mental toughness in big matches, Dementieva has shown the opposite. I think that either Dementieva will be so nervous that Schiavone will blow her off the court in straight sets, or if Dementieva is able to win a set, she will be able to gut out an ugly 3-set win for her 3rd major final, her first in over six years. MadProfessah's pick: Schiavone in 2 sets or Dementieva in 3 sets.

Roland Garros 2010 Day 9 Order Of Play

Reuters

Jurgen Melzer follows up his upset-of-the-tournament victory over David Ferrer and has just become a Grand Slam quarterfinalist for the first time in his career at the ripe old age of 29. Raise your hand if you saw this coming.


AP

The little backhand that couldn't. It was a long time coming, but Justine Henin finally loses her first match at Roland Garros in six years. Samantha Stosur got over herself and sent the diminutive one packing.

Schedule for Day 9: Monday, 31 May 2010

Court Philippe Chatrier 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Robby Ginepri (USA) v. Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3]
2. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Serena Williams (USA)[1] v. Shahar Peer (ISR)[18]
3. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)[24] v. Rafael Nadal (ESP)[2]
4. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Jelena Jankovic (SRB)[4] v. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)[23]

Court Suzanne Lenglen 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) v. Jurgen Melzer (AUT)[22]
Not Before 13:00
2. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Justine Henin (BEL)[22] v. Samantha Stosur (AUS)[7]
3. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[7] v. Nicolas Almagro (ESP)[19]
4. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Jarmila Groth (AUS) v. Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)

Court 1 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Lukasz Kubot (POL)/Oliver Marach (AUT)[6] v. Stephen Huss (AUS)/Andre Sa (BRA)
2. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Julien Benneteau (FRA)/Michael Llodra (FRA)[15] v. Wesley Moodie (RSA)/Dick Norman (BEL)[4]
3. Women's Doubles - Fourth Round
Liezel Huber (USA)/A. Medina Garrigues (ESP)[3] v. Gisela Dulko (ARG)/Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[5]
4. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Monica Niculescu (ROU)/Shahar Peer (ISR) v. Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/Jie Zheng (CHN)[10]
5. Women's Doubles - Fourth Round
Serena Williams (USA)/Venus Williams (USA)[1] v. Maria Kirilenko (RUS)/Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)[11]

Court 2 11:00 Start Time
1. Girls' Singles - First Round
Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor (ESP) v. Leolia Jeanjean (FRA)
Not Before 13:00
2. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Thierry Ascione (FRA)/Laurent Recouderc (FRA) v. Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/Marcin Matkowski (POL)[8]
3. Mixed Doubles - Third Round
Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)/Oliver Marach (AUT)[3] v. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)/Max Mirnyi (BLR)[5]
4. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Alona Bondarenko (UKR)/Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)[4]/Samantha Stosur (AUS)[4]

Court 3 11:00 Start Time
1. Boys' Singles - First Round
Taro Daniel (JPN) v. Lucas Pouille (FRA)
2. Girls' Singles - Second Round
Ester Goldfeld (USA) v. Amandine Hesse (FRA)
Not Before 13:00
3. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/Bruno Soares (BRA) v. Cara Black (ZIM)/Leander Paes (IND)[2] To Finish 5-7 2-0
4. Boys' Singles - Second Round
Gianni Mina (FRA)[3] v. Alessandro Colella (ITA)
5. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Vania King (USA)/Christopher Kas (GER) v. Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)