Cold temperatures, torrential downpours of rain, and gusts of wind all have combined to make for terrible conditions for tennis at Roland Garros.
The first round saw the Australian Open winner Angelique Kerber lose in a three set match to Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands. As is often the case, the pressure of expectations once you are a major tournament champion can be difficult to handle. But even though Bertens took down the #3 seed in Kerber, it is highly doubtful that anyone predicted she would play her way to a place in the semifinals to face world #1 Serena Williams.
The other semifinal is a match up featuring #4 seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain against #21 seed Australian Samantha Stosur.
Roland Garros: Womens Semifinals Preview
Bertens vs Williams
The match between Bertens and Williams provides an interesting contrast of “situations”. Williams, #1 in the world, is attempting to win her 22nd Major tournament. Bertens, #58 in the world, is playing in her first semifinal at the Major level. Williams is the defending Roland Garros champion; Bertens lost in the first round last year. But before you guarantee that Williams will have an easy win, consider this: Williams has only played one warm up clay tournament, in Rome, which she did win. But Bertens also won a warm up clay event in Nuremberg, defeating the top seed Roberta Vinci for her first top ten win. And with partner Joanna Larsson, Bertens won the doubles title as well.
Tennis isn’t just about the ability to hit the ball. Confidence and the belief that you can win are key intangible factors. And right now Bertens has plenty of both. Bertens is also enjoying her Cinderella run, post match tears of happiness and lots of giggles and smiles. Williams as usual maintains an expressionless demeanor on court, almost looking bored at the whole process.
All the pressure in this match up will sit with Williams, so if Bertens can just stay in the moment and continue to hit the ball early and aggressively she could give the world #1 a battle.
Stosur vs Muguruza
The Stosur versus Muguruza match up is also intriguing. Although Stosur is the lower ranked seed, she is a Major tournament title holder, the 2011 US Open, which she won by defeating Serena Williams in the final. A career high ranking of #4 in the world in 2011, she has struggled to maintain her winning form in recent years. Stosur is playing well at Roland Garros, having defeated last year’s finalist, #11 seed Lucie Safarova, and followed that win with an upset of the #2 seed Simona Halep in a rain-plagued match.
A lot has been expected of Muguruza since she announced her arrival on the tour with a defeat of Serena Williams at Roland Garros in 2014. Growing up in Spain, Muguruza was expected to do well on the red clay, so her run to last year’s Wimbledon final was a bit of a surprise. Her ranking at # 5in the world currently is just below her career high of #3 reached in October of 2015. Muguruza has clearly benefitted by the early dismissal of seeds Radwanska, Halep, and Kvitova in her half of the draw as her toughest challenge in the tournament so far was her match against Svetlana Kuznetzova, the #13 seed, and she handled her in straight sets.
If conditions remain cold and damp the advantage may lie with Stosur as her ball will kick up more on the red clay and Muguruza’s powerful groundstrokes may not travel through the court as easily as they would on a hot dry day. Stosur also has the experience and the variety of shot, especially her kick serve and slice backhand, to not allow Muguruza to get into any rhythm.
The pair have met once before, with Stosur winning a three-set battle on clay in Madrid, 2014. That was before Muguruza really broke through at the highest levels, though. Both of these players try to keep opponents behind the baseline with their deep shots, so whoever is able to hold their ground and not retreat behind the baseline throughout the match will be more successful.
The two matches will be played concurrently, but if Serena somehow loses her match first, that would put both players in this match the potentially nerves-inducing situation of being the favorite to win the title.
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