A triumphant Sam Stosur after defeating Serbia's Jelena Jankovic 6-1 6-2. Stosur has booked a place in the final of the French Open. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
SAM Stosur has now beaten three world No.1s in her charge towards her maiden Grand Slam singles final at the French Open in Paris.
Early today Stosur dropped serve only once in a lightning quick 56-minute semi-final trouncing of fourth seed Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) 6-1 6-2.
Jankovic claimed the No.1 in August 2008 and held it until the end of the 2009 Australian Open the following January when Serena Williams won.
Willliams, the current world No.1 and top seed at Roland Garros, was another Stosur "victim" on the famous red clay this week losing to the Australian in a three-set quarter-final on Wednesday night, Australian time.
Stosur also knocked out four-time Roland Garros champion Justine Henin in the fourth round. Henin held the world No.1 ranking for two years straight in 2006-07.
It is proof of the quality of Stosur’s game at present. She is 20-2 in clay court wins-losses this season – the best of anyone on the WTA Tour. Stosur’s big weapons of the serve and forehand are perfectly suited to the slowest surface of the four Slams.
"Why not?" Stosur said, when interviewed courtside on Philippe Chatrier Court on whether she was ready for her first Grand Slam final. "Saturday will be no better day than any other. I’ve been playing well and if I keep up this form I think I’ve got a good shot."
Stosur, seeded seventh, will meet another woman in her first ever Slam singles final – Italy’s 17th seed Francesca Schiavone.
The Australian holds a commanding 4-1 lead over Schiavone in career meetings, including two wins on clay – 2007in Rome and the first round of last year’s French Open.
Schiavone also had an easy passage into the final when fifth seed Elena Dementieva retired in their semi-final 7-6 (7-3) with a recurring calf injury.
But the Australian nation is today celebrating with the 26-year-old from the Gold Coast, even if there is still one match to go.
Stosur is the first Australian woman to make a Grand Slam final in nearly 30 years. The last was Wendy Turnbull who lost the Australian Open to Hana Mandlikova in December 1980.
That year was also the last time an Australian woman won a Slam singles trophy when Evonne Goolagong Cawley beat Chris Evert at Wimbledon.
The last Australian to win the French Open was Margaret Court in 1973.
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