Henin Streak Ends at French Open; Stosur to Face Serena Williams

Justine Henin’s streak of 24 consecutive match victories at Roland Garros came to an end on Monday when the former No. 1 was out-muscled 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 by Australia’s Sam Stosur in fourth-round action at the French Open.
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Stosur will next face world No. 1 Serena Williams, who easily handled Israel’s Shahar Peer 6-2, 6-2.

“Obviously beating Justine is going to give me lot and lots of confidence,” Stosur said. “It’s a great achievement for me, but it’s not over yet. I’m just in the quarters and going to play the No. 1 player in the world next.”

No. 4 Jelena Jankovic and unseeded Yaroslava Shvedova will also meet in the quarters after winning in straight sets, Jankovic beating No. 23 seed Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-2, and Shvedova topping Aussie wildcard Jarmila Groth 6-4, 6-3.

Henin’s backhand wing collapsed in the third set against Stosur, producing a un-Henin-like flurry of unforced errors.

“I just wanted so much that the adventure could keep going,” Henin said. “My nerves were simply not strong enough today. I felt very nervous, very upset, which is normally not the way I am. Maybe today I was feeling some nervous fatigue. Maybe that nervous fatigue prevented me from seeing things in a calmer way.”

Williams says she will need to continue playing her game against the Aussie in a match where both opponents will try and out-muscle the other.

“I seem to always be able to turn it up during this particular stage,” Williams said. “Hopefully I turn it up again…You can never underestimate anyone, and Sam is actually a wonderful claycourt player. She’s someone you can’t overlook.”

On court Tuesday at Roland Garros are (17) Francesca Schiavone vs. (3) Caroline Wozniacki, and an all-Russian encounter in (5) Elena Dementieva vs. (19) Nadia Petrova.