Roland Garros Up Date

Samantha Stosur proved me wrong, and I am glad. Mental toughness makes a big difference in sport. I always suspected that the Aussie wasn’t always consistent at times because of that. And, it also happened yesterday when she was serving for the match, but she hung on in there and when she finally had a second chance, some sixteen games later, she seized it.

It wasn’t the best match of Serena Williams, but the American always finds a way to mess up with her opponent’s head but this time, Samantha Stosur was up to the challenge. She shows great strength in many aspects of her game not only today, but all week long, beating also Justine Henin, who some people like to call The Queen of clay. That will gave her a lot of confidence and she will need it in her next match.

The higher seeded remaining in the draw, world number 4 Jelena Jankovic is also having a good tournament. Nothing as impressive as Stosur, but she defeated along the way, players who once deprived her to go further in a tournament: Kanepi, Bonderenko, Hantuchova and Schedova. So in short, Stosur will be her toughest Challenge up to now, and if someone is up to it, it is Jelena.

I do believe that it is going to be a very close match. Stosur is playing unbelievable and she might have a slight advantage going into the match even if the Serbian is leading 3-1 in their encounter. Stosur is stronger, but Jankovic move better. Both use brilliantly every aspect of the game, Stosur with power, Jankovic with fineness. The key to the match is the first serve % and the consistency. The one that top that, will go out as a winner, not only of this match, but the tournament.

Elena Dementieva comes a long way: I’ve never seen her with so many bandages of her entire carreer. Wozniack scared her for a moment, but not able to capitalize, the Russian ran away with the victory. Petrova also gave her some thought moments, hammering her with winners in their first set, but with no surprise, Nadia had a mental break down and it was so easy afterward. It is a ninth grand slam semi finale for Elena and she will face the surprising Italian Frencesca Schiavone..

I knew she would have a good run, but that good : hell no. Nobody gives her a real chance to beat Dementieva, but be aware, she shows mental toughness this week and she might surprise us all! Well, the chances are slims, but they are there. Don’t count her out yet, this is going to be a real fight.