Abby Brammell

By Mike Dickson

Eye off the ball: Serena Williams was beaten in three sets by Samantha Stosur


When you have beaten a career threatening disease then perhaps staring down and beating Serena Williams, the most intimidating player in women's tennis, is not quite the tall order that it might otherwise seem.

Australian Samantha Stosur did just that yesterday when she displayed the same courage to conquer her nerves and the top seed to take her place in an unlikely-looking semi-final quartet at the French Open.


The 26-year-old from Brisbane put aside the disappointment of coming within two points of a straight-sets victory to eventually win 6-2, 6-7, 8-6 and deny the world No 1 the chance of her first Roland Garros title since 2002.

Stosur's rise to world No 7 has been all the more admirable because she missed large chunks of 2007 and 2008 after contracting Lyme Disease, an illness caused by bacteria from tics which can be very serious and attack the central nervous system.

Barely 12 months after recovering she reached the semifinals here last year and has a decent chance to go one better when she faces Serbia's Jelena Jankovic today.

One thing guaranteed is that there will be a new women's Grand Slam champion on Saturday because the other semifinal also features a pair who have never won a major, Russian Elena Dementieva and Italian Francesca Schiavone.

Stosur, a rare throwback to the days when Australians dominated the tennis world, is fired by the knowledge that she is lucky to be playing at all.


Victory is mine: Samantha Stosur has now claimed two major scalps in her run to the French Open semi-finals


'I didn't let myself think too much about it but, from what I've been told by the doctors, it's not a good thing to get,' said Stosur, who had knocked out Justine Henin in the previous round. 'From what I hear, I was lucky to get back and be healthy relatively quickly, compared to a lot of stories I've heard.

'I actually think I may have caught it here in Paris, or it might have been in London. I've had to learn a lot about Lyme Disease.'

A fine athlete with a great serve and excellent all-court game honed by playing lots of doubles, Stosur took advantage of Williams' early erratic play and refused to crumble after playing a poor tiebreak, facing an improved performance by the American as the match went on.

Somehow you doubt that when we get to Wimbledon there will be a repeat of a semifinal situation without a Williams sister in sight.


Next up: Serbia's Jelena Jankovic earned her semi spot with a win over Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova


Spaniard Rafael Nadal had just enough to see off a belligerent challenge from his big-hitting compatriot Nicolas Almagro 7-6, 7-6, 6-4. Regardless of Roger Federer's exit, it remains hard to see how he is not going to regain his title.

In the semi-finals he will face Austria's world No 27 Jurgen Melzer, who played the match of his life to come back and beat third seed Novak Djokovic 3-6, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 in four and a quarter hours.


source :dailymail