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As the third set of the quarterfinal match between Serena Williams and Sam Stosur went into overtime, you got the feeling that Serena would not, could not lose the match from there. Countless times before this Serena had been in a similar situation at a Grand Slam, and countless times she had managed to emerge as the last woman standing, letting loose her inner gladiator and ferociously announcing ‘you don’t mess with a Serena in full battle cry!’. Today it all turned out differently, which is why the way in which Serena surrendered her serve in the penultimate game of the third set, together with the abruptness of Stosur’s last service game, made the whole scenario distinctly surreal. Perhaps the effects of Soderling’s giant-kiling act yesterday still lingered over Philippe Chatrier Court, doing their best to give the match a ghostly feel.
That this match was played on clay, by far Serena’s worst surface, did have something to do with the result, of course. But what was a greater contributor to the upset was the simple fact that Stosur refused to be intimidated or overawed by Serena’s aura. The rapid strides that Stosur has made in the last year or so, specially with respect to the mental side of her game, has given new meaning to the term ‘Most Improved Player on Tour’. Today she came to the court fully prepared to lock horns with the fiercest fighter the game has ever known, and after nearly two and a half hours of clawing and scratching, it was Stosur who emerged victorious, much to the surprise of nearly everyone who watched. This was a shining new Sam Stosur, a Sam Stosur we’ve all wanted to see for about 5 years now. In a display that can potentially launch her career to world-beating levels, Stosur won the battle of the forehands and shockingly, the battle of the serves too. And she didn’t just emerge as the last woman standing in this match – she is also the last woman standing from the ‘quarter of death’, having been handed the trickiest draw of all women in the tournament and yet managing to stay afloat till the semis with aplomb, fashionable sunglasses in tow. I don’t know about you, but it’ll be really hard to root against the earthy Aussie for the remainder of the tournament, no matter who she plays against.
On the men’s side, Rafael Nadal continues to march towards his 5th Roland Garros crown, handing countryman Nicolas Almagro a straight sets defeat in their quarterfinal match today. But as I write this, Novak Djokovic has just huffed and puffed his way to a jarring 5-set defeat to dropshot-happy Jurgen Melzer. I know what you’re thinking – there’s just no way Melzer has enough game to get past a player of Djokovic’s caliber in a Grand Slam quarterfinal. Yes, it’s going to take us some time to register this new setback for Djokovic. But alas, no amount of time or analysis will ever be able to tell us what goes on inside that complicated head of Novak’s.
My head, meanwhile, is still abuzz with Robin Soderling’s win over Roger Federer in yesterday’s quarterfinal. I know a lot has already been written about that monumental upset, so I’ll just state two of my observations about the match. The first is that Federer’s streak of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinal appearances, which was abruptly snapped yesterday, is such a ludicrous statistic that I’m not sure any streak in any other sport can rival the sheer unlikelihood of its occurrence. Amidst all the talk of 16 Grand Slams, 237 straight weeks at No.1 and 5 straight wins at both Wimbledon and the US Open, this is the one record that will possibly be the preserve of Federer till the end of time. Maybe someone can remind Roger about that to make him feel better about his loss?
The second thing that I noticed while watching the match is just how dramatically Soderling’s approach to playing the top players has changed over the past year. In last year’s final Soderling seemed almost deferential to Federer’s greatness, and the straight sets result felt like a definitive reflection of the difference between the places in history of the two players. This time, however, Soderling seemed eager, right from the word go, to impose his will on the court, refusing to be held in awe at Federer’s magical skills. And that kind of mindset, coupled with the terror-inducing power in Soderling’s game, can make for an almost unbeatable combination on a good day. One point in particular encapsulated this change in attitude that I’m talking about. Deep in the third set, with Federer looking to break Soderling and serve for a two sets to one lead, Soderling drove a shot deep into Federer’s corner to set up an overhead smash, which he executed almost perfectly. But Federer, as always, was ready, lunging upwards to send a trademark slice lob back into the court. Normally when Federer plays that kind of shot, it seems that time stands still, and the opponent can usually only shrug his shoulders or shake his head in resignation at what he’s up against. But this time, Soderling, faced with the prospect of hitting a backhand stretch volley (oh Andy Roddick how we miss thee!), Soderling made sure he made no mistake, ending the point with a winner. The air seemed to go out of the court and also out of Federer after that point, and you got the sense that the end of the streak was inevitable.
If Stosur has given new meaning to the term ‘Most Improved Player on Tour’ on the women’s side, Soderling has added to that tag a “Thank you, but I’ll take it with a pinch of bravado and a spoonful of power”. Who misses Del Potro when we’ve got Rockin’ Robin to blast away those fuzzy little green balls with such alarmingly thrilling force?
