Sam broke Allez Bitch's streak of 24 consecutive wins at Roland Garros (2-6 6-1 6-4). While I thought that Allez Bitch had an excellent chance to win the French Open, I didn't think she was the overwhelming favorite. Tennis is a game of probabilities, and even champions who are supposed to win can lose. She had a couple things against her: a dodgy/inconsistent serve and a draw from hell. Sam was one of those obstacles she had to but could not surmount. All credit to Sam, as she played her game. JuJu praised Sam's game yesterday.
She has beautiful qualities on clay because she plays kind of a man’s tennis. I mean, she has very heavy balls. She is a very powerful girl.
The keys to the match, in my opinion, were whether Sam could maintain her nerves when she got ahead. After JuJu handed Sam a service break at 2-1 with a double fault, Sam had the match on her racquet but gifted the break back with two double faults. Sam finally made a crucial hold at 3-4, and then broke JuJu's service game.
How did Sam get the momentum? From what I saw, Sam had a more reliable 2nd serve that would keep her ahead in the points, and Sam's fearhand was doing a better job of dictating play especially out of an inside-out shot to the backhand. In the 3rd set, JuJu kept trying to thread the needle of getting the ball into Sam's weaker BH but refused to go for the BH DTL (or inside-in FH) when Sam was so clearly favoring her FH in ad crosscourt exchanges.
Henin
Stosur
Unforced Errors
29
33
Winners
14
26
1st Serve %
56%
54%
Aces
4
2
DF
7
7
1st Serve % Pts Won
32/45 (71%)
29/44 (66%)
2nd Serve % Pts Won
14/29 (48%)
21/30 (70%)
Break Points Won
3/7 (43%)
4/6 (67%)
Net Approaches
6/8 (75%)
15/19 (79%)
Total Receiving Points Won
31/81 (38%)
35/81 (43%)
Total Service Points Won
46/81 (57%)
50/81 (62%)
Total Points Won
77/162 (47%)
85/162 (52%)
From the stats, there is no question that Sam was the better player. Sam was able to use her forehand to get to net more frequently and effectively, and was able to defend her second serve more effectively. Hopefully, this will give JuJu some time to work on her 2nd serve.
Sam will face ReeRee to play for a place in the semis. On clay, Sam has a better chance since it will be harder for ReeRee to overpower her opponents. Sam will have to maintain her nerves against ReeRee's gamesmanship. And she should since she has the firepower to keep up.
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