The French Open 2010 had been quite conventional until yesterday. It looked like this year’s French Open would have the usual suspects of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams in the final weekend. After all, Federer always makes it to the last rounds of a Grand Slam, while Nadal usually owns this tournament, and Williams didn’t have her sister to contend with. However, the floodgates opened when the men’s No. 1 was knocked off – in what could be his last match as a No. 1 for awhile. But the French Open 2010 truly entered uncharted territory with today’s latest upset.
Serena Williams looked set to cruise to a title, as the other high seeds were getting knocked off, and no other Grand Slam champions were left. Her quarterfinal opponent was Samantha Stosur, who was considered an upset winner over Justine Henin in the fourth round, despite being a higher seed. Yet Stosur truly became a giant killer in the French Open 2010 with today’s win.
Stosur easily won the first set, 6-2, and actually served for the match in the second set. But Williams rebounded for a 7-6 second set win, then went up 5-4 in the third. Williams actually had match point, yet Stosur rallied to extend the match. Finally, she broke Williams at 6-all and secured a 6-2, 6-7, 8-6 victory.
The French Open 2010 now has both No. 1 seeds out of the running. However, Williams is a less surprising upset victim than Roger Federer. Williams still hasn’t made a semifinal at Roland Garros in years, while Federer hasn’t missed a Grand Slam semifinal in about seven years. Yet Robin Soderling ended that streak yesterday in four sets.
Soderling and Tomas Berdych secured semifinal berths yesterday, with the other French Open men’s semi to be determined today. Third seeded Novac Djokovic is up a set over Jurgen Melzer, while Rafael Nadal will compete later today against Nicolas Almargo. Nadal can now reclaim the French Open title and the No. 1 ranking at the same time, due to Federer’s defeat.
Without a Federer-Nadal final, the French Open 2010 may now have to hope for a Nadal-Soderling final instead. Soderling already beat Nadal in the fourth round last year, and has only improved his giant killer status since then.
But the buzz around Roland Garros is surrounding the women, as their big favorite has been sent home. No one is left who has won a Grand Slam, although Stosur reached the semis last year. To go further, she must beat fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic, who beat Yaroslava Shvedova in straight sets today. Elena Dementieva and Francesca Schiavone are already set for the other semifinal.
The French Open 2010 is now almost down to the final four in each bracket – and each looks a lot more wide open than it did before the quarterfinals.
Sources
Fox News- “S Williams loses to Stosur at French Open”
