The Williams sisters have never previously led the doubles rankings. "It's an achievement that I never thought would happen," Venus said. "To clinch No. 1 in singles and doubles is an honor, and to be able to achieve it in doubles with my sister is just wonderful." The sisters won their only French Open doubles title in 1999. They are seeking their 12th Grand Slam doubles title together and fourth in a row.
Serena and Venus Williams beat Liezel Huber of the United States and Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the French Open women's doubles final. Venus and Serena will now be ranked the #1 doubles team for the 1st time in their career. Wednesday's match was played about an hour after Serena Williams
Serena Williams hasn't made it to the semifinals at the French Open since 2003. Sam Stosur made it last year. Serena Williams had played seven clay court matches this season prior to the French and sported a pedestrian (for her) 5-2 record. She won neither of the two tournaments she entered. Sam Stosur came into Roland Garros sporting a 14-2 record with one tournament win on the surface. She had beaten tournament favorite Justine Henin in the previous round.
Serena Williams losing on clay often feels like a self-fulfilling prophecy. She knows it's not her best surface, so she often plays down to it. Defeats aren't as much surprising as they are inevitable. Sam Stosur is what they call a "clay court specialist."
Serena Williams started off poorly Wednesday and appeared frustrated throughout most of the first two sets. She yelled toward her box about Stosur's slices and frequently gave the "what's going on?" motion with her hands. Sam Stosur was completely in control from the outset.
Serena Williams isn't the best women's tennis player in the world for nothing, though. With Stosur two points from victory, Serena flipped on like a light switch. Sam Stosur was two points away from beating the best women's tennis player in the world. And she began to play like she could think of nothing else.
Serena Williams almost won the match at 5-4 in the third set, except for a forehand that flew a few inches long. Sam Stosur looked done. The roles had reversed. Serena Williams couldn't hold her serve at 6-6 in the third, though. Sam Stosur did and advanced to her second straight French Open semifinal with the 6-2, 6-7 (2), 8-6 victory.
Numerically and nominally, this is a surprise. In reality, it's not. Don't call it an upset. Call it what it was: the match of the tournament and a career-making win for Sam Stosur.
The French Open has always been the most difficult of the Grand Slam events for Serena; the cloying clay is not conducive to her power game. She knows it, and so do her opponents. Stosur, a 26-year-old from Brisbane, Australia, moving like a cat on the clay at Roland Garros, mixing artful backhand slices with deep, penetrating forehands and a feisty kick serve, was throttling the world No. 1 for a set and eight games Wednesday.
But then, serving for the match at 5-3, Stosur (almost predictably) shrank from the greatest moment of her tennis life when it first presented itself. She threw in her first double fault and made a truly egregious shot choice as Serena broke her for the first time. The tiebreaker was a foregone conclusion. And so, apparently, was the match. "After losing that game, yeah, things kind of stepped up a notch from her," Stosur said after the match. "Yeah, I didn't know if I was going to get another chance."
"That third set just kind of hung in there, and I was behind the whole time serving second. Just tried to hang in and wait for another opportunity. When I got that next chance at 7-6, I wasn't going to let the same thing happen again." Somehow, Stosur weathered Serena's (also predictable) charge, mastering her frayed nerves, saving a match point in the 10th game and saving her best tennis for the end. Stosur broke Serena with two ludicrous passing shots -- a fiery cross-court forehand and a lunging backhand -- and prevailed 6-2, 6-7 (2), 8-6.
Williams hit 13 aces but also nine double-faults and committed 46 unforced errors to 24 for Stosur. ''Had I played better for two minutes, maybe the result could have been different. But it didn't work out,'' said Williams, who missed a forehand by an inch or so when she held a match point at 5-4 in the final set. ''Just wasn't playing well today. Last year, I choked. I guess it's a redundant story with me.'' "It was my match and I lost it. That's basically what happened," she said. "I made so many errors and I definitely was nowhere near my best today. But she (Stosur) played really well. "I just couldn't believe that I played like that.''
