Right time for my latest look at the 2015 French open which is now getting near the end of its run so this will post will cover the action from the ladies set of the net on days 11 and 12 of the event. So let's get cracking....
So Day 11 started with Serena Williams taking on Sara Errani for a place in the last four and their match has so far been a bit of a nightmare for poor Sara as she has always been on the receiving end of Serena's raw power. And this match proved to be no exception either as right from the start the plucky Italian failed to hold onto her serve and deal with Serena's explosive returns as she battered Errani's slow 1st and 2nd serve right back at her with interest as she went up a double break and served out the 1st with ease. In the 2nd set Errani tried her best to keep things competitive and she did a bit better as she managed to level the scores to 3-3. However that was as good as it got for the former finalist and after that Serena broke Errani once more and as Errani tried her best to make Serena serve it out, Serena yet again demolished Erran's tame serve and ultimately the Italian crumbled under the World No.1's physical might as Serena reached the semis with an emphatic 6-1, 6-3 win. There is no doubt that this match would be one way traffic as right from the get go it was obvious that Errani could not cope with Serena's power and in the end there was always going to be only one winner.
As for the other match of the day we had two unlikely quarter finalists in the 23rd seed Timea Bacsinszky against the Belgium player Alison Van Uytvanck (good name!). And this match proved to be a far more even and competitive affair as both players went at it but it was the seeded player, Timea that broke the Belgium's serve to take the opening set. The 2nd set was a tight affair as well with both players going at it again but the seeded Bascinszky again proved to be that bit more consistent as she went on to break her opponent again and seal the deal to reach her first ever career grand slam semi final with a 6-4, 7-5 win. Its always good to see new players get into the deep of the the major tournaments so this was a great win for Timea who is an excellent player who at one point had even considered dropping out of tennis and get into the hotel management business but no doubt she will be happy she stuck with her tennis!
Right so now we get onto day 12 which saw the ladies semi finals matches take place as the last four battled it out for a place in the final. The first match up was between Ana Ivanovic, the former 2008 champion and Lucie Safarova, the 13th seed who has had a very impressive run so far in the tournament and had beaten the defending champion, Maria Sharapova in the 4th round. The match itself promised to be a very competitive one and it was just that as both women fought it out on Court Philippe Chatrier even though it was Ivanovic who got off to an early lead who went 4-1 up. However Safarova soon broke back and levelled the scores and went on to break Ivanovic as well to move ahead and she closed out the opening set. In the 2nd set Safarova went up an early break herself and she consolidated it until 5-4 where she was serving for a place in the final when she got tight and dropped serve in her attempts to serve it out to let Ana back into the match. However Ivanovic herself struggled again on serve and was broken again by Safarova who then on the second time of asking did the job and secured her first ever major final with an impressive 7-5, 7-5 victory. This was a great win for Lucie Safarova and it was wonderful to see yet another player on the tour make their maiden grand slam final and Safarova herself is a well liked and respected player among the female players on the tour so its great to see her finally make it to the final of a big one.
Next up we had the other semi final which was between Serena Williams and Timea Bascinszky which had its own drama about it as Serena prior to match had been ill with a virus of some kind. And the match itself for Serena was not helped by soaring temperatures on court and she repetatedly had to call for ice packs to cool her down. So as for the match itself well it was quite a competitive one and Timea came out strong taking advantage of Serena's weakened form she managed to grab a break and went on to serve out the 1st set. In the 2nd set however Serena, even though she was still struggling with her form she managed to break Timea and went on to level the scores at a set all. And in the 3rd set despite her continued physical ailments, Serena managed to steamroll her opponent who's challenged quickly faded and she dished out the Swiss player a bagel to finish off the match and in doing sealed her place in her third final at the French open with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 win.
Well this was quite a peculiar match which clearly saw that Serena was way below her best and physically not feeling well either, yet somehow she still managed to dig out this win. The troubling thing about that though is it did remind of the similar situation with Novak Djokovic earlier this year at the Australian open when he appeared fatigued and injured during the match yet he pounced on Andy with great physical prowess during the points, and the same happened here with Serena. And this was especially evident as the match progressed as during the points Serena fired up and energised and outmanoevering her opponent but afterwards she would move weakily back to the service line. Its almost like the scene in the Star Wars prequel, Attack of the clones, where Yoda one minute using his walking stick to aid him to move about and the next minute in his fight with Count Dooku he's like a superhuman athlete spinning and doing somersaults all over the place! And while I'm sure Serena was clearly suffering with some sort of illness it still seems bizarre how she could physically play those points so well as if there was nothing wrong with her. And we all know that Serena herself is no stranger to drama. However in the end drama or not she is still one of the greatest players in the history of the game and one way or another she knows how to get it done.
So this sets up a very intruiging final between Serena and Lucie Safarova which should be hopefully quite a good contest as Lucie has been known to give Serena a few problems in the past. However Safarova unforunately has never beaten Serena in any of their previous 8 meetings which is the bad news for her but on the other hand if Serena is still hampered by her illness to an extent than just maybe Lucie could use this to her advantage. The only problem of course is that Serena has proven time and time again she is able to overcome just about any resistance and ultimately the only person that can beat her is herself.
So who will win this one???? Well its hard to look past Serena as she has proven she can beat anyone on a tennis court and having already an emphatic head to head of 8-0 over Safarova its difficult to see any other outcome. However Safarova will no doubt have her chances and she herself is an aggressive player with a big serve and a powerful forehand so she can do a fair bit of damage herself in this match. But in the end it will come down to who plays the big points better and more often than not Serena is the person who has done that. So while I think a Serena victory is inevitable I do think it will be quite a close match and I can see Serena being pushed to a 3rd set yet again in order to claim the title but I think she will do it.
Anyway so that's it for my look at the ladies match now let's look at the men's quarter finals.
Back in a bit.
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