There were high hopes of an all-Williams final at this year’s French Open, but they were dashed by the weekend’s turn of events. Venus Williams, who had been playing well prior, crashed out of the Grand slam in the fourth round. To date, she’s never won it. The silver lining, though, is that she made it farther this time than she ever has, which earned her enough points to hold steady at No. 2 in the rankings.
Now, the weight of the United States rests solely on the racket of the remaining Williams, world No. 1 Serena; all the American men were sent packing along with Venus. Serena advanced to the qtr finals, decisively beating Israeli Shaheer Peer 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday.
Serena is the strong favorite to win the tournament, especially since her nemesis and strongest competition, Justine Henin, bit the dust on Monday. Henin, hailed as the Queen of Clay, was beaten by huge serving Aussie, Sam Stosur (7), to the tennis world’s surprise. Stosur, the most improved and winningest clay court player this season, is Serena’s next opponent. The two have a head-to-head record of 4-1, in Serena’s favor. Having beaten the clay court specialist and seven-time Grand Slam winner with a winning streak of 24 consecutive French Open matches, Stosur certainly isn’t chopped liver. A sound showdown is imminent between the two. It’s scheduled for Wednesday night.
Serena and Venus are still the favorites to win the doubles title. –gerald radford
