French Open Day 7: Tracking the progress of seeded players (Women’s singles)
June 1st, 2013 – Round 3 action
FALLEN SEEDS
#7 Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic)
Jamie Hampton
The big shock of the day came courtesy unseeded American Jamie Hampton who dumped out the 7th seed Petra Kvitova. She beat the Czech in straight sets, 6-1 7-6. The American returned extremely well, winning a high percentage of points on Kvitova’s 1st serve. The Czech’s big shot – her booming forehand – also broke down, reeling off a ton of errors from that wing.
#9 Samantha Stosur (Australia)
Jelena Jankovic
No.18 seed Jelena Jankovic beat the Aussie brawler 3-6 6-3 6-4 in a re-match of the 2010 semi-final. Stosur had won on that occasion before going on to lose the final to Francesca Schiavone. Stosur looked like she was going to repeat that result as she came out of the blocks flying to win the first set. The Australian served exceptionally well, even staying perfect on her 2nd serve winning 6/6.
Her serve dropped in the 2nd set and that allowed Jankovic a way back as she began reading the Stosur serve a lot better. Carrying the momentum from the 2nd set win, Jankovic opened up a 3-0 lead in the decider before Stosur fought back to level. She had picked up her 1st serve percentage, but Jankovic continued to return well, having got a grip of things. She broke again in the 11th game and, after some tense moments serving for the match at 5-4, finished it in style with an ace down the line.
#13 Marion Bartoli (France)
Francesca Schiavone
Francesca Schiavone is playing unbelievable tennis. In her match yesterday against the crowd favourite Bartoli, she displayed a level of tennis capable of winning a Grand Slam; a throwback to 2010 when she won the title. In 78 minutes, she had laid her opponent to rest in a 6-2 6-1 demolition. Schiavone moves superbly on this surface and she gave Bartoli no chance as she controlled the points beautifully. The Frenchwoman had no answer to the Italian’s brilliance – Schiavone broke serve 5 times, hit 32 crisp winners with just 14 unforced errors, a +18 differential in that column.