Stosur through to Indian Wells semis

Stosur through to Indian Wells semis

19 Mar 2010
samstosur.com.au

Sam Stosur is through to the semifinals at Indian Wells after defeating Spain’s Maria-Jose Martinez Sanchez in straight sets today.

Stosur started well taking the first set 6-3 before Martinez Sanchez got an early break in the second.

At times in the second set Stosur appeared frustrated as unforced errors crept into her game. Martinez Sanchez took confidence from this and looked to have the second set sewn up, but a brief lapse let the eighth-seeded Australian back in.

As Australian tennis royalty Rod Laver watched on from the stands, Stosur attacked her opponent’s serve to get the break back and send the match to a tiebreak.

Down 0-2 in the tiebreak, Stosur reeled off four consecutive points to wrest back control. Stosur extended her advantage to 6-3, before Martinez Sanchez turned the tables and won the next four points.

Just as the set appeared to be slipping away from Stosur again, she composed herself to bring up another match point.

A Martinez Sanchez double fault amidst some on-court confusion sealed the match for the Australian, which Stosur admitted did take some of the gloss off what was a big win for her.

“It was a bit of a weird ending, a bit of an anti-climax for me to win the match on a double fault when your opponent’s a little bit confused about what’s going on,” she said.

“I challenged that first serve, I thought it was out. I don’t know, I think they might have thought I was challenging my return but right from the start I wanted to challenge that first serve.

“It just happened to be on match point, it could have happened at any point in the match but, yeah, that’s tennis.”

Despite the confused ending to her quarterfinal, Stosur was happy with her progress at one of the biggest tournaments outside of the Grand Slams on the tennis calendar.

“It’s definitely the furthest I’ve been here by far. It’s a great tournament and I’ve always felt good playing here, I’m very pleased it’s been able to come together here and I’m playing well and find myself in the semis,” said Stosur.

“You want to try and peak at these big tournaments and try and play well, and I’ve been able to do that.
“It’s the start of a long year but I’m very pleased with the way it’s all going so far.”

Stosur said she wasn’t feeling 100 per cent at the beginning of the tournament, but after surviving a slow start she’s now feeling like she’s back to her best.

Stosur will now meet sixth-seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic for a place in the final, a match the soon to be top 10 Australian says she is looking forward to.

“She’s obviously playing well as well, it’s going to be a tough match. I know she’s going to hit a lot of balls, run a lot of balls down and make me work for it.

“I’m going to go out there, play my game, enjoy it and hopefully it’s going to work alright.”

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  • Nicole

    Well done Sam!! So glad I finally got to watch a match too! Good luck against JJ!!

  • Tony Wong

    Congrats Sam. Great to see your continued progress up the rankings…welcome to the Top Ten! Again, you and your travel group were so friendly and respectful to us volunteers at the LA Open last year (I drove your group from the airport to your hotel), we're fans and want to see you succeed. My friends and I watched your doubles match on Monday. You and Petrova make a great team. Good luck rest of the way.

  • Emily

    Good job Sam!! You're doing Australia proud. Good luck tomorrow!

  • James

    Congrats on today's win. Looking forward to SS vs JJ tomorrow. Good luck, Sam. Drive her into the ground with your forehand:)

  • davidmar

    Great comeback from 3-0 down in second set. Me too–here in the states they finally showed one of your singles matches–and it was an outstanding one to watch. Good luck vs. JJ

  • david mar

    Great comeback from 3-0 down in second set. Finally, they showed one of your singles matches in the states and an outstanding one it was. Good luck vs. JJ

  • BennyG

    Congrats Sam on making the semis! :) It was great to see you play your QF match & I' am glad you were able to pull it through when things got tight. Keep the wins going & you may go even further :) Good luck against Jankovic.

  • Atich

    Well done Sammy !
    It's great to see you so far in this tournament and congrats beeing now a TOP 10 ! You really deserve it.

  • Sten

    Well done against Maria!
    I know You can beat Jelena as well.And good luck in the doubles!

  • Carl

    Many congratulations on your win against Martinez Sanchez. The kind of player that can be tricky, but you came through it. I'm so glad that I stayed up to watch even though I feel exhausted today! It was worth it. Am staying in this evening to watch you against Jankovic – my partner rolled his eyes when I said that I CAN'T go out tonight — LOL! You are unintentionally causing domestic problems with your success! And we celebrate you in the top ten!

  • Drine

    I still can't believe you're in the semis of Indian Wells in singles AND in doubles !!! Pretty amazing :)
    Plus a new career best in the top 10 next Monday…plus your birthday coming soon !!! So many reasons for celebration !!! ;)
    I'd love to see you grab 2 more trophies this week (singles+doubles), would be just unbelievable !!!
    Go Sammy and good luck !!!

  • Guada

    Woohooo congrats Sammy!! Good luck against Jankovic!! and congrats for the top 10 too!! :)

  • ai

    Best of luck to you in your match with JJ !!
    Go Sam!!!

  • kaygeo

    Good luck Sam. Congrats on your win and hope you go all the way.

    I also really appreciate your attitude and work ethic. It's so nice to see such grounded and humble comments from a top player. Keep up the great work – I would be ecstatic to see you and Caro in the final!

  • Drine

    Well….I'm sad and disappointed for you Sam !!! Tough loss against JJ. You didn't seem at ease today.
    Way too many mistakes and your serve let you down a bit as well. It's really a shame but you know what…you can be proud of what you've achieved this week and icing on the cake, you're in the top 10 now. You'll have many other opportunities to win a title this year :))
    Indian Wells is not over though, Nadia is waiting for you !!! ;)

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