In what her coach said would need to be "the match of her life" for her to win, Sam Stosur snapped one of the longest French Open winning streaks of all time, beating Justine Henin in a thriller, 26 61 64.Though seeded No.7, many picked Henin - the No.22 seed - as the favorite in the fourth round clash. And that seemed like a worthy prediction after Henin claimed a routine first set, 6-2; but from there the all-court attacking game that took Stosur all the way to the semifinals last year began hitting its mark.
Stosur stormed through the second set and broke to lead 3-2 in the third; Henin broke back and held to lead 4-3, but Stosur came back at her, breaking for 5-4 then drawing several backhand errors from Henin while serving the match out.
Stosur improves to 18-2 on clay this year, a 90% winning percentage - her only losses came to Henin in the final of Stuttgart and to Venus Williams in the quarterfinals of Madrid. Nobody has won more matches on clay this year.
Henin had won 24 straight matches at the French, third to Chris Evert (29) and Monica Seles (25). Before being pushed to three sets by Maria Sharapova in the third round, she had also equaled the longest set streak with 40 consecutive set wins (tied with Helen Wills Moody). She has won the title four times.
Awaiting Stosur in the quarterfinals will be No.1 seed and 2002 French Open champion Serena Williams. Earlier in the day, Williams faced the player who had won the most overall matches on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour this year - Shahar Peer - and eased past the No.18 seed with little drama, 62 62.
"I felt really consistent today. I felt like I was hitting the right shots and the balls were going where they needed to go," Williams said. "I felt really powerful today and able to dictate. Even when she would put me on the run, I was still on the offensive. I always seem to be able to turn it up during this particular stage."
Williams and Stosur have played four times before, with Williams leading the head-to-head, 3-1. But Stosur had match points in one of Williams' wins, a 63 67(4) 75 victory at Sydney last year, and this will be their first meeting on clay.
"You can never underestimate anyone, and Sam is a wonderful clay court player," Williams said. "She proved that last year, and this year she has only lost twice on clay. She has a good chance to go all the way. She's amazing."
Also booking a quarterfinal berth on Monday was No.4 seed Jelena Jankovic, who snapped a two-match losing streak to Daniela Hantuchova with a 64 62 win over the No.23 seed. Jankovic had lost to Hantuchova at Charleston and in Fed Cup earlier in the clay court season, but after breaking for a 5-4 lead in the first set was in total command, hitting her down-the-lines crisply and serving strong. She will next face Yaroslava Shvedova, who reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal with a 64 63 win over wildcard Jarmila Groth.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Singles - Fourth Round
(1) Serena Williams (USA) d. (18) Shahar Peer (ISR) 62 62
(4) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. (23) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 64 62
(7) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. (22) Justine Henin (BEL) 26 61 64
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) d. (WC) Jarmila Groth (AUS) 64 63
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