(Adds details, quote)
By Toby Davis
PARIS, June 7 (Reuters) – Underdog Sara Errani upset the
heavy-hitting sixth seed Sam Stosur 7-5 1-6 6-3 at the French
Open on Thursday to reach her first grand slam final.
The nimble-footed Italian, who stands only 1.64 metres tall,
had been expected to struggle with Stosur’s high, kicking serve
and heavy topspin groundstrokes, but after losing the opening
two games she quickly got on top.
She stepped inside the baseline to take the Stosur serve
early and edged the first set with some deep, penetrating
groundstrokes.
The Australian struck back, however, with a dominant display
of power hitting in the second set which she wrapped up in only
36 minutes.
The 28-year-old Stosur might have hoped her experience would
help her kick-on in the decider, but it was the favourite who
tightened up and froze on the big stage.
The 21st seed claycourt specialist, who had already knocked
out former champions Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova,
exchanged breaks with Stosur at the start of the decider before
capitalising on a string of unforced errors to wrap up the
match.
“I have no words, it is incredible,” a teary-eyed Errani,
who collapsed on to her back in her moment of victory, told an
on court interviewer.
Errani will play the winner of Wimbledon champion Petra
Kvitova’s semi-final against second seed Maria Sharapova on
Saturday.
(Reporting by Toby Davis; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
