Already where, where, and on the ground from Patti Schnyder you can always expect surprises. Despite the fact that the Swiss periodically falls in the ranking, it has been regularly losing games recently to younger rivals like Peer, Chakvetadze, Ivanovich, from time to time, the talk that comes up about the close end of her career still seems premature. And on the eve of Roland Garros, Patty seemed to light a new spark in herself.
Schnyder’s game in the match against Serena was the same - the combination base, various spins that minimize the number of unforced errors, and the ability to keep the ball in the game, waiting for errors from the opponent. In this sense, nothing has changed, just Patty today managed to play her best tennis, although the wind partially helped her to defeat Serena.
Due to the wind, Williams in the first set flew out, and Schnyder, with her twists, felt almost at home in this windy environment, and eventually won the first set 6: 3. In such a game, which was in the first set, it seemed that she could finish the match in two sets, but Serena she still in Africa Serena.
In the second set, the younger Williams surprised both the audience and the rival in that she began to play more accurately. Serena for some time stopped pumping up the pace, constantly attacking, turned on all her patience and waited, but not for errors from Patti, of course, this is not in the style of Serena, but just a convenient moment to attack. Schneider, it seems, was a little puzzled by this turn of the plot and began to make mistakes much more often, as a result of 6: 2 and the set behind Serena.
Having won the second set, Williams began to “come back” - it was probably hard for her to sit in an “ambush” for a long time. But Patty, meanwhile, managed to control her nerves, and in the third set, an absolutely equal fight had already begun. Until the last moment, it seemed that Serena would still squeeze her rival, simply by an effort of will, that will, which she defeated Justin Henin. But this time, Serena did not look so confident, especially at the tie-break. In extreme situations, all the tennis players return to their usual game, and the familiar game of Serena - attack and attack again. This time it turned out - to make mistakes and make mistakes again.
In the previous match of this game day, the combinator also won. Elena Yankovich very easily dealt with Elena Dementieva. And with the same score as in the US Open quarter-finals - 6: 1, 6: 2. Jankovic for Dementieva is definitely one of the most unpleasant rivals, especially on the ground. Sharp but fairly straightforward Dementieva attacks on the ground are losing their sharpness, and Yankovitch managed to take advantage of this with brilliance. Although you can’t call the Serb a bright representative of combination tennis, nevertheless she knows how to surprise non-standard moves on the court, knows how to vary strokes, knows how to make little mistakes answering deeply under the back line. But, despite this, Dementieva still had chances, at least to fight, because Dementieva is a famous fighter and rarely loses with such a crushing score. But now Lena has not yet played out after the break, and Jankovic is just in great shape, after all, she is currently the leader of the champion race.
Now Patti Schnyder and Elena Yankovich will play with each other for the right to reach the final. It should be a very interesting match. Especially for us, because the winner of this match is quite possible to meet in the final with Svetlana Kuznetsova. It is unfortunate that another combinator, Anna Chakvetadze, did not “live out” to the semifinals. Ani has recently completely unstuck the game, but do not make a tragedy out of it. Anya herself complained that after working with Landsdorp, she began a kind of perestroika - she can’t play the old way, but she still doesn’t quite play the new one, hence some recession in the game. Let's hope for a while, and while Anna Chakvetadze is looking for her game, Svetlana Kuznetsova will play for the finals with Daniela Hantukhova.
On the ground, the girls have never met, but on the Hard of Light leads in personal meetings 5: 3. But even irrespective of the statistics of Khantukhov for Kuznetsova is a completely passable rival. Her loss to Khantuhova in the final in Indiana can more likely be explained by a combination of circumstances - Daniela has not shown and does not show such an amazing game as in that final for a long time. But even if Khantukova is good again, we know that Sveta, as always, has her main rival - herself.