Aftershocks rumbled around Roland Garros as Serena Williams became the latest champion to topple, but Rafael Nadal proved rock solid by staying on course to regain his French Open title on Wednesday.
The day after defending champion Roger Federer’s hopes were shattered by Robin Soderling, Williams suffered a devastating quarter-final defeat, losing a three-set cliffhanger to Australia’s Samantha Stosur after squandering a match-point.
Novak Djokovic, the former Australian Open champion, suffered a similar fate when the men’s third seed blew a two-set lead against journeyman Jurgen Melzer of Austria.
PHOTO: EPA
It was the fall of world No. 1 Williams that made the biggest impact, however, as she had seemed to be closing in on a 13th Grand Slam title and her first in Paris since 2002.
The American amazingly lost 17 consecutive points midway through her match with Stosur, but still came back fighting and but for a forehand that missed by less than a ball’s width, she would have survived to fight another day.
As it was, steely seventh seed Stosur stayed the course to win 6-2, 6-7 (2/7), 8-6 as some Gold Coast-like sunshine finally returned to illuminate Court Philippe Chatrier after most of the clay-court Slam had unfolded under gray skies and drizzle.
PHOTO: REUTERS
It was a first victory against a current world No. 1 for Stosur, who stunned four-time champion Justine Henin in round four, while for Williams it was her first Grand Slam defeat having held match-point since the 1999 Australian Open.
“I expected to play better. I’m a little disappointed in the way I played,” the 28-year-old Williams told reporters. “Had I played better for two minutes, maybe the result could have been different. It was my match and I lost it. That’s basically what happened.”
Her loss meant only one of the top four women’s seeds reached the semi-finals, that being Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic, who prevailed 7-5, 6-4 against Kazakhstan’s unseeded Yaroslava Shvedova to seal a clash against Stosur.
With Russia’s Elena Dementieva and Italy’s Francesca Schiavone contesting the other women’s semi-final, one thing is certain — this year’s French Open will have a first-time Grand Slam champion.
“Two great matches back-to-back for me, which is fantastic,” said Stosur, who served for the match at 5-3 in the second set. “It’s not over yet. Now I’m in the semis, and I want to definitely try and keep going.”
With Federer off in search of grass courts and Djokovic out of the way, Nadal’s route to retake his title and the world No. 1 spot looks enticing, although danger lurks in the form of Soderling, still the only man to beat Nadal in 37 matches at Roland Garros.
Apart from a careless start against Nicolas Almagro on Wednesday and a couple of warnings for taking too much time between points, despite Nadal sporting a US$500,000 wristwatch, the Spaniard was faultless.
He needed to be to earn a 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 victory against a pugnacious opponent who went toe-to-toe with the four-time champion in a high-intensity baseline battle.
“I’m very happy how I played the tiebreaks. I played aggressive, very focused, and in the important moments I think I played better than the rest of the match,” said Nadal, who is now victorious in 22 consecutive matches against fellow Spaniards.
Nadal even indulged in some tricks usually reserved for grass-courts, saving a break-point at 4-4 in the second set with a classic serve and volley, before losing his rag with the umpire after being rapped for time-wasting.
“I thought I was being very fast. I didn’t even take the time to wipe my face,” he said. “I didn’t want to be fined or get a penalty-point, but I have a watch, I should check it.”
Match of the day was staged on Court Suzanne Lenglen where Djokovic and Melzer grafted for more than four hours.
Djokovic looked razor sharp when broke to lead 2-0 in the third set after bossing the opening two, but the wheels fell off and Melzer played the match of his life to win 3-6, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 and become the first Austrian since Thomas Muster in 1995 to reach the last four of the French Open.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS