Stosur destroys Jankovic to gain berth in Final

Samantha Stosur, the 7th seed from Australia, totally dominated 4th seed, Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in the 2010 French Open semifinals, winning 6-1, 6-2.

It was Samantha’s third straight win over a player who has held the #1 ranking. She defeated 4-time French Open champion and former #1 Justine Henin of Belgium in the 4th round, and 2002 Roland Garros champ and current #1 Serena Williams of the USA.

Dementieva retires after 1st set putting Schiavone into final

Francesca Schiavone of Italy is into her first Grand Slam final after Elena Dementieva retired following the first set of their semifinal match at the 2010 French Open in Paris.

Elena came out onto the court with both thighs wrapped, but seemed to be playing normally at the beginning of the match. With one break each, the 1st set went into a tie-break, which Francesca won 7-3.

At that point, Dementieva walked off the court shaking her head. She went up to a surprised Francesca, sitting in her changeover chair, and offered a concession handshake.

Stosur stuns Serena Williams at French Open

No. 7 seed, Samantha Stosur of Australia stunned the tennis world by taking out World No. 1 Serena Williams of the USA in a 3-set thriller, 6-2, 6-7(2), 8-6 in a quarterfinal match at the 2010 French Open in Paris.

Samantha came out strong, dominating play on her serve and against Serena’s serve. Samantha played patiently, slicing her backhand deep, waiting for the short one which she could put away with her powerful forehand. Serena was obviously frustrated throughout the match with Samantha’s backhand slice.

Dementieva into semifinals over Petrova

The No. 5 seed, Elena Dementieva of Russia, survived a bit of a scare against No. 19 seeded countrywoman, Nadia Petrova. Final score: 2-6, 6-2, 6-0.

Both players were slowed by leg injuries which were not helped by cold and rainy conditions. Petrova was hampered by a strained left thigh, which she had rewrapped midway through the first set. Dementieva also received treatment during the 17-minute break, when a trainer taped her right thigh.

Elena hit 25 winners with 24 unforced errors; Nadia had 27 winners, with 27 errors. Elena scored on 6 of 10 break points she held against Nadia; Nadia converted only 3 of 11 break points she held against Elena.

Schiavone ousts No. 3 seed Wozniacki

No. 17 seed, Francesca Schiavone of Italy, proved once again that experience can overcome youth as she took out No. 3 seed, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-2, 6-3 in the Quarterfinals of the French Open in Paris.

It was a dominating performance by the 29 year-old Francesca, the oldest woman left in the field, as 19 year-old Caroline, the youngest quarterfinalist, struggled to find her forehand. Both players had trouble holding serve, but Francesca’s nerves held out better as she kept Caroline running corner to corner. Francesca’s offense eventually won out over Caroline’s defense.

Venus Williams cruises to easy victory over Santonja at French Open

Venus Williams of the USA advanced easily to round 3 with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over unseeded No. 59 ranked Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain at the French Open in Paris.

The match pitted two of the older players on tour against each other – Venus, age 29 versus Arantxa, age 27.

Wozniacki breezes into round 3 with easy win over Garbin

No. 3 seed, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, had an easy victory over unseeded, No. 56 ranked Tathiana Garbin of Italy. Caroline took the match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.

Caroline had little trouble against Tathiana, relying on her forehand to break five times in a one-sided contest. She wrapped up the win after just 68 minutes when Garbin fired a forehand long.

Caroline will now face No. 31 seed, Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania.

Kuznetsova squeaks by Petkovic at French Open

No. 6 seed, Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia had a scare today, and barely squeaked by unseeded No. 41 ranked Andrea Petkovic of Germany in round 2 of the French Open in Paris. Final score: 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.

In a match interrupted by a 1 1/2 hour rain delay, Andrea won the first set, and was up 5-2 in the second set. Svetlana came back, but Andrea served for the match at 5-4. Andrea got up 40-love, but sent a backhand into the net, a forehand long, and a backhand wide to waste three match points. On her fourth match point, she put another backhand into the net.

Sharapova survives 1st round at French Open

Maria Sharapova is relieved today after winning her 1st round match against Ksenia Pervak, 6-3, 6-2 during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris.

It was an all-Russian match, pitting No. 12 seed Maria of Nyagan, Russia against unseeded Ksenia of Chelyabinsk, Russia. Ksenia came out determined, and Maria came out a little shaky, resulting in Maria losing her first service game. Ksenia then held to go up 2-0, but Maria began hitting out on her shots and got grooved in, looking more like her old self.

Safina bounced out of French Open in 1st round

Ninth seed and former World No. 1 Dinara Safina of Russia came to a crashing halt in the French Open Tuesday as she was defeated by Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Safina, a beaten finalist here in 2008 and 2009, took the first set but Date Krumm stuck to her task and claimed victory on her first match point when the Russian sent a lazy backhand well beyond the baseline.

Date Krumm, 39, became the second oldest winner of a Roland Garros match after Virginia Wade and will face Australian wild card Jarmila Groth
Jarmila Groth in the second round.