By Melaine Schumilas
By the fourth round of the French Open, only four of the top 10 seeds on the women’s side were still competing.
Out of the remaining eight players in the top half of the draw, half of them were unseeded. In fact, two players barely scraping inside the top 100 – No. 100 Andreea Mitu and No. 93 Alison Van Uytvanck – were amongst the final 16 at the French Open. The WTA never fails to be random at Grand Slams.
A nervous Ivanovic coughed up a 5-2 lead to lose the first set 7-5 in the semifinals against Safarova.
The draw continued to be as awfully surprising as possible, as only first-seeded Serena Williams and seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic, out of the top eight seeds, made it to the quarterfinals. This was Ivanovic’s first quarterfinal appearance since winning the tournament in 2008.
It was surprising to see Ivanovic back in the quarterfinals after seven years, especially considering her mediocre season. She may be ranked seventh right now, but she went a disappointing 2-3 during the clay court swing, with two first round exits to players outside the top 20.
73 percent of people voted that Ivanovic’s new boyfriend, German soccer star Bastian Schweinsteiger, was her good luck charm, but in the semifinals this proved to be absolutely untrue.
Ivanovic was up 5-2 in the first set before evidently choking and ultimately losing to 13th-seeded Lucie Safarova 7-5, 7-5. This tweet accurately explains Ivanovic's implosion:
Ivanovic’s heartbreaking loss to Safarova catapulted the Czech into the finals for the first time in her career. In fact, it’s the first time a woman from the Czech Republic has been in the final of the French Open since 1981.
Safarova will meet Williams in the final on Saturday for the pair’s ninth meeting. Williams has won all their previous eight meetings and seems to beat Safarova on clay the easiest. In their two meetings on clay, Safarova has only managed to win six games off the 19-time Grand Slam champion.
While I’m unsurprised Williams is in the final, considering she’s only lost one match all season, her road there wasn’t as breezy as expected.
Williams has had to battle through four, three-set matches thus far. In each three-setter, she dropped the first set before eventually storming back, with her loud scream/grunt in tow.
The two-time French Open champion struggled with illness on the hottest day of the tournament in her semifinal match against 23rd-seeded Timea Bacsinszky.
Williams looked ill as she dragged her feet around the court and coughed heavily between points.
The 25-year-old Swiss – who has previously never made it past the second round at the French Open – took the opening set 7-5, as Williams put ice-cold towels on the back of her neck and face and shuffled slowly around the court.
Bacsinszky came out firing in the first set, pounding 16 winners, but unfortunately tapered off to just 10 in the last two sets. In contrast, Williams reeled off 24 winners in the deciding sets, and punished the first-time semifinalist 6-0 in the decider.
With Williams fatigued and ill, it might be Safarova’s chance to win her first Grand Slam title and win over Williams in her career. The Czech has enjoyed straight-set victories over six rounds, which included massive wins over second-seeded Maria Sharapova and Ivanovic, both of which have won titles on the Paris clay.
As the rest of the WTA flip-flops every week, there’s something wonderfully consistent about Williams. It’s safe to say she’s been the most dominate player for the past three years, as she’s won six Grand Slam titles and spent an astounding 120 weeks straight at No. 1, the third longest streak among women in the Open Era.
An even more intimidating statistic for Safarova is that Williams is an incredible 19-4 at Grand Slam finals, with her most recent title coming at the Australian Open in January. More importantly, she’s 2-0 in French Open finals, with wins in 2002 and 2013.
William’s undeniable dominance in Grand Slam finals paired with a historic 2015-campaign give little hope to Safarova. Ultimately, I pick Williams to win this match due to years of experience in Grand Slam finals and the fact she always tries and plays her hardest at Grand Slams.
If Williams does capture her third French Open title on Saturday, she will be only two away from Steffi Graf’s record 22 titles, which is the most Grand Slam championship wins in the Open Era.
Who is your pick for Saturday?
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