Sensazione!!

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Coming seemingly from nowhere, M5W Francesca Schiavone won the French Open 2010 today by outfighting M1W Samantha Stosur 6-4, 7-6.

It was the first grand slam final for either player, but the higher-ranked ex-Komusubi (Junior Champion II) Stosur had entered the match as favorite, in view of her better ranking, excellent clay court seaons, and the way she had played in the tournament thus far, beating the Yokozuna (=Grand Champions) Serena Williams and Justine Henin before blasting away ex-Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I) Jelena Jankovic in the semifinals. Stosur with her muscular, top spin based baseline game seemed on course to establish herself as something like the female counterpart to Rafael Nadal. In the final, however, the veteran fighter Schiavone matched Stosur game for game, and then displayed a steadier game at the big points.

Both Schiavone and Stosur will be promoted to Sekiwake after this tournament, the 36th and 37th of the open era. Schiavone reaches this rank at an age of almost 30 years. She will be the only female Sekiwake bar Barbara Jordan and Chris O'Neil to have won a grand slam title without reaching the semifinal in any other slam. But while O'Neill and Jordan won the 1978/79 Australian Open in a depleted field, Schiavone overcame full-fledged compeition, beating the former (and future) Ozeki Elena Dementieva, former and future Sekiwake Caroline Wozniacki and Sekiwake Na Li on the way to the title.

Now should Schiavone reach the quarterfinal at Wimbledon, she would even make it to Ozeki (=Champion). Stosur would need a semifinal at the All England Championships to this end.