Squandering match points against Serena Williams 18 months ago helped Samantha Stosur beat the American yesterday
Squandering match points against Serena Williams 18 months ago helped Samantha Stosur beat the American yesterday
Past defeats have a way of haunting even the best of players, especially when they least need their mind to be flooded with such incidents of failure.
A similar point came for Samantha Stosur. She was serving for the match and a place in the semi-finals of the French Open and felt some nerves as she was on the verge of one of the biggest victories of her career. World number one Serena Williams took maximum advantage, breaking the Australian's serve and then going on to clinch the second set in a tie breaker.
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Once Serena won the second set yesterday, things were pointing to a repeat of the Sydney match.
"After losing that game (in the second set), she kind of stepped up a notch," Stosur said. "I didn't know if I was going to get another chance.
When Williams held match point at 5-4 in the third set, it looked as if Stosur would not be getting another chance.
But this time, she wasn't going to repeat her mistakes. The 26-year-old broke Serena to level the set and then broke the American to lead 7-6. She also kept her nerves in check to hold her serve and clinch a memorable victory.
"In that third set I just kind of hung in there," she said. "I was behind the whole time, serving second and I just tried to hang in and wait for another opportunity. Then I got one at 6-all and thankfully I took it."
Stosur admitted his mind raced to the Sydney incident and was determined to not let that happen to her again.
"There were no horrible flashbacks. But when the third set went down to the wire, I did think about the Sydney loss when I had match points and lost that match. It's good to know that I've learnt from that situation and this time didn't let it happen."
Stosur also said winning the match in three sets rather than in two made the victory all the more special.
"I would have liked to win in two sets. But to be able to come back from that point and be match point down and then win just makes it extra special in a way," Stosur said.
Stosur will meet Jelena Jankovic in the semi-finals and the Australian knows a thing or two about the Serbian, who beat Yaroslava Shvedova in the quarters.
"I haven't thought about it at all. We played each other a couple of times recently and are one each. I know she's not going to give me anything. It's a bit different from playing Justine and Serena. I will still have to play the way I want to play: be aggressive and do what I want to do and try and dictate to her a little bit more. I know she's going to hit tons and tons of balls in. I have to be prepared to be patient and wait for my opportunity a bit more.
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