SAM Stosur will chase revenge
against French Open defending champion Maria Sharapova after bulldozing
Amandine Hesse with one of the most dominant performances of her career.
The US Open winner was within two points of upstaging Sharapova in a tense fourth-rounder last year, only to surrender the next nine games.
That defeat cut Stosur badly and, judging her nearly perfect 6-0 6-1 rout of Hesse, the Queenslander means business.
“Last year was very close and all of a sudden it was very far away,” Stosur said after reaching the last 32 in Paris for the seventh straight time.
“That’s certainly a position I’d like to try to get in again and hopefully this time if I do get in a position, it won’t fall away so quickly.
“I do feel like I’m playing well. I have had a good lead-up and now I have played another really good match here, and it’s all going to help me going into this next one.”
Stosur was spectacular against Hesse, smoking 23 winners and three aces, while restricting the unforced error count to 13.
The 2010 finalist was impressively ruthless, denying new French darling Hesse a game until the 12th game.
Sharapova holds a 14-2 record against the Gold Coaster and is unbeaten against the Australian on clay.
But while the overall tally is heavily lopsided in Sharapova’s favour, Stosur should have won the pair’s fourth round clash at Roland Garros last year.
Stosur led 6-4 4-3 and had an edgy Sharapova fretting at deuce on serve before the eventual champion reeled off nine straight games.
No comments:
Post a Comment