Victoria Azarenka vs. Samantha Stosur: At the French Open, Youth Will Triumph

As we have seen in recent years, women’s tennis is as unpredictable as the weather. With Serena and Venus Williams aging and not playing in the French Open this year, the field is wide open.

The number one seed for the tournament is Caroline Wozniacki. Wozniacki has consistently shown she cannot win the big matches. She has been to semi-finals in the Australian Open and the finals in the US Open but has not been able to eek out a victory.

She is a counter-puncher, and that is why she doesn’t win championships. In this era, champions need power; they need a big serve and they need to hit winners.

Victoria Azarenka will win the French Open. Currently, Azarenka is ranked number four in the world, and she has an easy draw. Her mobility and power make her a favorite to win.

This year Azarenka has a 17-3 record on clay. One of her best victories on clay was against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia.

Azarenka’s first challenging match will be against Petra Kvitova. Azarenka is a shoe-in to beat Kaia Kanepi in the round of 16, having triumphed over her in three head-to-head meetings and never losing a set in the process.  

Kvitova will most likely face Na Li, in the round of 16. Kvitova is ranked lower than Na Li, but she beat Na Li pretty easily on clay earlier this year, with a 6-3, 6-1 victory.

Azarenka and Kvitova are tied in their previous matches at two wins apiece. It will be a close match, but Kvitova will not be able to handle Azarenka’s heavy strokes.

In the semifinals, Azarenka will most likely play Kim Clijsters. Clijsters is coming back from an injury, and many didn’t think she would make it to the French this year.

The last match Clijsters played was against Azarenka in the finals of the Sony Ericsson Open on Apr. 4, and Clijsters lost. In addition to a having had a long lay-off, Clijsters will not have played on clay at all this year.

Clijsters is a great player, but Azarenka is younger. Clijsters hits the ball a little harder than Wozniacki. However, Azarenka and Clijsters' games are similar. Azarenka will capitalize on the rallies with Clijsters by shortening the points and going for more winners.

Stosur has surely not forgotten her defeat in the French final last year, and this year she will return determined to win.

Stosur reached the final last year by beating former champions Serena Williams and Justine Henin. With so much momentum, she was heavily favored to win, but she cracked under pressure, losing to Francesca Schiavone.

With another year of experience under her belt, Stosur is not likely to succumb to nerves this year.

Stosur will cruise to victory all the way until the quarterfinals, where she will likely play Wozniacki. Stosur has won in their last two meetings, which gives her an advantage. Stosur’s strong serve and net game is likely to overpower Wozniacki’s baseline-to-baseline play.

Stosur's semifinal match against Vera Zvonareva will be one of her easiest matches. Stosur’s only loss in the seven times she has played Zvonareva occurred during their first match.

Like Wozniacki, Zvonareva is steady and consistent but lacks strength. She also is not mentally tough.

With a commanding four wins and no losses overall to Stosur, Azarenka will ink her name on the list of French Open champions in 2011.