Samantha Stosur vs Sara Errani
Wow. That’s the only word you can really say about Stosur’s quarterfinal match. Just wow. After the match, Dominika Cibulkova compared Sam Stosur to a man playing tennis. And no, that’s not an insult. Stosur plays an absolute power game and when she is hitting the ball hard, cleanly, and accurately, there really isn’t much anyone on the women’s tour can do to stop her. She has one of the biggest pure power games in women’s tennis, including a huge serve and she also puts a ton of topspin on her shots, which really bite off the clay. Unfortunately for her, she only seems to be able to produce her top level at the rarest of times. But if she can do it consistently, she’ll be nearly unbeatable.
Errani also did very well to beat Angelique Kerber. Errani is in the midst of the best season of her career and it feels like she’s improving almost every tournament. Errani plays smart tennis around the entire court and makes up for her lack of power with smart and precise shot-making. She is probably the most comfortable of the 4 semifinalists on clay. Of course, none of that will matter if Stosur can hit her shots the way she did in her quarterfinal. Stosur hasn’t ever really played consecutive matches at her peak level in her career, but if she can produce that quality of tennis no one left in this draw is beating her.
Prediction: Stosur in 2
Maria Sharapova vs Petra Kvitova
Sharapova came through her quarterfinal match with ease against a seemingly disinterested Kaia Kenepi. Sharapova played well and finally showed a bit of consistency, even if it was against an opponent that wasn’t really going for her shots. Sharapova still had some trouble with her serve, as it feels is always the case now, but was solid enough from the baseline to overcome that.
Kvitova had some trouble in her quarterfinal match. Shvedova put a lot of balls back in play and it really flustered Kvitova. Kvitova hit a lot of errors just from the depth of Shvedova and from having to hit extra shots. Of course, Sharapova doesn’t play the more defensive game that Shvedova does. Sharapova plays a power game which is just less powerful than Kvitova’s-as we saw when Kvitova absolutely blasted her off the court in last year’s Wimbledon final. However, Sharapova has won their last two matches, is the more consistent player, and is more comfortable on clay.
Prediction: Sharapova in 3
For my men’s semifinals preview, please click here.
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