Only Serena Survives
On a day that began with light raindrops, three heavy underdogs turned the tables on Kim Clijsters, Venus Williams and Kaia Kanepi leaving tears of joy on the All England Club’s hallowed grounds.
On a day that began with light raindrops, three heavy underdogs turned the tables on Kim Clijsters, Venus Williams and Kaia Kanepi leaving tears of joy on the All England Club’s hallowed grounds.
Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will square off in a much touted Round of Sixteen pairing that began to look like a mismatch on Saturday.
The tour players were exhilarated to meet the queen and after their curtsies went about creating some very regal performances of their own.
Top seed, Serena Williams, chalked up her 43rd consecutive first round Grand Slam victory and led a bevy of beauties into the second round at the All England Club.
Venus and Serena Williams won the first four games of their women’s doubles final match and then put it on cruise control the rest of the way. The 12th seeded team of Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik were overmatched and unnerved by the pace of play and the sheer power of the Williams sisters.
Francesca Schiavone won the only set she needed and then Samantha Stosur crushed Jalena Jankovic to complete the championship pairing nobody expected.
In a stunning reversal, Samantha Stosur outplayed Serena Williams in the clutch and joins fourth seed Jalena Jankovic in the semifinals at Roland Garros.
In a weekend of startling upsets, the final French player retired after just one set while 3rd seeded Andy Murray was eliminated and 2nd seeded Venus Williams suffered an unexpected setback in the women’s division.
On a day where top seeds prevailed, Robin Soderling and Marin Cilic are set to square off in the round of sixteen and Maria Sharapova is set to meet fireplug Justine Henin in round three.
Rafa Nadal and Justine Henin, the two best clay court players in their divisions, powered to first round wins as other in-form players strutted their stuff on Tuesday.