Samantha Stosur Chokes, Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters, Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco Advance At The Us Open!

For all the progress Australian Samantha Stosur made this year to reach the top ten in women’s tennis, her one problem is still her mind. Stosur is too nice, she needs a bit more “grit” and “fire” to win a grand slam.

Australia desperately wants a new  female grand slam singles champion. An Australian woman hasn’t won a grand slam singles title in thirty years!  I believe Stosur “can” win a grand slam. The real question is, when will Samantha Stosur step up and win one?

Stosur is very well-respected by her peers, but who cares? At the end of the day, all the WTA Tour players are competing for millions of dollars and huge titles!  Samantha needs to focus on reaching the top of women’s tennis and in order to do this she needs to get “meaner” on the tennis court!

I am not suggesting Samantha should not give “credit” to her opponents but she doesn’t need to go overboard either!  However, the key for Samantha is, she’s got to believe this too!

I was stunned that Francesca Schiavone won the French Open in June 2010  over Samantha Stosur. However, Schiavone wanted the win “more” than Stosur. Stosur played “tight” tennis she guided her shots and did not play aggressive tennis.

Stosur clearly has so much talent, she beat multiple slam champions Serena Williams and Justine Henin to reach the French Open final this year! Very few women can say they beat Justine and Serena back to back in a grand slam.  Stosur has the total package but not the self confidence yet, to win a grand slam. Stosur is not old, she is only twenty six but she must realize in women’s tennis she must grab an opportunity and go for it!

Last night, Samantha Stosur had a million chances to reach her first US Open semifinal but she let a huge opportunity slip through her muscular fingers.

Stosur’s body is so strong, her rippling muscles allows her to hit incredible kick serves. Very few women tennis players can hit a “kick serve”.

Stosur admitted she blew a huge chance to finally reach the next level. After losing to Clijsters Stosur said, “I’m going to be disappointed about this one,  I

think. “You can’t break serve and have chance after chance after chance and blow it in a quarter-final. It’s just too big of an opportunity to kind of let go, and unfortunately that’s what I did today.”

Stosur choked several times during her quarterfinal match against Kim Clijsters of Belgium. The end result,  Clijsters defeated Stosur 6-4 5-7 6-3. However, Stosur lead 4-1 in the first set she also broke Clijsters to start the final set. Stosur also lead  1-0, 2-1, and  3-2 but could hang on for the victory.

Clijsters did not win this match Stosur lost it!  I am very disappointed in Samantha, she has so much talent. Samantha has all the ingredients to become a champion! Samantha is so physically imposing her huge muscles allow her to serve monster serves. Samantha also volleys well, moves well, and can hit penetrating groundstrokes,  but the one critical component missing in her game is belief. Where is the belief and self confidence?

I thought Samantha turned a corner when she outlasted Elena Dementieva in the fourth round and fought off four match points to advance to the quarterfinals.

Now,  Clijsters moves into the women’s semifinals  she will face two win champion Venus Williams. Venus Williams is a very unpredictable woman.

Last night, Venus was steady she held firm in the big moments to overcome French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 7-6 6-4. In the first set, Schiavone held two set points leading 6-5 but Venus summoned the courage to pull through the match. Clijsters and Venus head to head series is tied 6-6. However, at the US Open Clijsters leads Venus 2-1. In fact, Clijsters has won the last four professional meetings against Venus Williams. Venus hasn’t beaten Clijsters since February 2005 in Antwerp Belgium. Clijsters is the favourite to reach her third women’s US Open final.

Meanwhile, in the men’s competition, Spanish stud Fernando Verdasco proved he is not only sexy but he has the heart of a lion. Fernando fought from two sets to love down but outlasted fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 5-7 5-7 6-3 6-3 7-6 to reach his second consecutive US Open quarterfinal. Some people have criticized Fernando for focusing on modeling and photo shoots and not on his tennis. Fernando proved last night his mental toughness is improving.

Rafael Nadal also advanced with a comfortable 6-3 6-4 6-4 over countryman Feliciano Lopez he meets Verdasco in the quarterfinals.

Stanislas Wawrinka has lived in Roger Federer’s shadow for most of his career.  Yesterday, Wawrinka won another thriller he outlasted American Sam Querrey 7-6 6-7 7-5 4-6 6-4 to advance to his first career grand slam quarterfinal. Wawrinka proved his upset victory over American Andy Murray was no fluke. Wawrinka always had a lot of talent but not the mental toughness he is finally demonstrating he wants to reach the next level. Mikhail  Youzhny of Russia dispatched Spaniard Tommy Robredo  7-5 6-4 2-6 6-4 to advance to the US Open men’s quarterfinals. Wawrinka and Youzhny will meet in the next round.