One American Remains – By: Cheryl Jones

Written by: Staff on 4th June 2013

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

One American Remains - By: Cheryl Jones

epa03730463 Serena Williams of the USA in action during her quarter final match against Svetlaba Kuznetsova of Russia at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 04 June 2013. EPA/CHRISTOPHE KARABA |

The second week of Roland Garros began with hopes for a female player from the US making Coupe Suzanne Lenglen their own. For the first time in nearly a decade, there were four American women still in contention. The tide quickly turned on Monday, leaving only one. No surprise to those who follow women’s tennis, it was Serena Williams.

An American last took home a trophy at Roland Garros in 2002. Then, it was a 19-year-old, Serena Williams’ whose victory announced to the world she was a force to be reckoned with. She defeated her sister, Venus in a match where questions were raised about their father, Richard, calling who would be the designated “diver”. (An inference that suggested the winner of a match between the sisters was predetermined by their coach/father and not actual competition. Each of those involved vehemently denied the premise and soon it was no longer a topic of conversation. Now, it is immaterial, as Venus has been sidelined by Sjogren’s Syndrome, an autoimmune disease that leaves her with little energy. Still, she occasionally competes. (She lost in the first round in this tourney.) But there are flashes of her former greatness, now and then, yet it’s apparent that she is no longer the player she once was.)

Serena moved a step nearer her dream of adding another trophy to her already overflowing collection. She faced Svetlana Kuznetsova in the leadoff match on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. At the onset, it looked as if the 31 year-old Florida resident would run away with the match. Kuznetsova had other ideas and took the second set, easily, 6-3. Williams has never stopped working to reaffirm her dominance in the women’s game. It didn’t take her long to regain her on-court composure and she wasted no time making a 6-3 comeback to move just a bit further up the ladder that might be the route to a successful tournament. Next up, she will face a feisty Italian, Sara Errani.

Errani, who calls Bologna, Italy home, is a tiny, but tenacious player who never waivers in her focus on the prize at the end of a tournament. She defeated Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-4, 7-6 on Court Philippe-Chatrier, virtually at the same time Serena was carving out her win. The Warsaw, Poland resident has changed her appearance drastically since last she appeared on the scene in Paris. Now, she’s blond, which is quite different than her former look, when her tresses were dark as night. It may be a good luck charm, because up to now the furthest she has gone in the draw at Roland Garros was to the fourth round in 2011. Next year, who knows – maybe she’ll be a red-head.

After the match Radwanska spoke about her opponent in glowing terms, “I think she can really do every shot. I think this is also the side of her that is very good and that’s why her ranking is like that, you know. She can really – especially on clay she can really do a lot of good shots and very consistent. She’s very consistent from the beginning till the end. You know, she was playing her game and she didn’t give me any free points.” Semifinal matches can often seem as if the outcome is a foregone conclusion, but the tiny Italian will be a tough opponent for Williams in their semis match-up.

Errani was runner-up to winner, Maria Sharapova in 2012 and her ranking is a strong number 5. There may be more than merely facing Serena across the net on her mind – the carrot at the end of the line may be enticing, and she definitely knows how to stay the course. Next stop – the semifinals.

Tomorrow, the other quarterfinal encounter will decide who moves on. Maria Kirilenko will face Victoria Azarenka and Jalena Jankovic will try to give last year’s winner, Sharapova a run for her money. It will be an interesting matchup of talents who are all veteran players from Eastern Europe. The two Maria’s are Russian; Azarenka is Belarusian and Jankovic is Serbian.

No one is placing any surefire bets on the outcome of the final. Each of the contestants has a realistic chance at taking home the Coupe. Serena is one step closer as is Errani. Tomorrow two women from Eastern Europe will go home and the other two will move on. Each of them is trying to tread carefully on a path that will lead them to the match on Court Philippe-Chatrier this coming Saturday that decides it all.

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: French Open, Maria Kirilenko, Roland Garros, Serena Williams, Sports, Suzanne Lenglen, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Tennis News, Victoria Azarenka