Roland Garros - Women's Wednesday Preview

Samantha Stosur vs. Simona Halep

Samantha Stosur is looking in top form and ready to do some damage at this years second Grand Slam. She will be facing Simona Halep from Romania in the second round of the 2011 French Open.

Samantha Stosur is ranked at number 6 in the world. On the other hand Romanian, Simona Halep is ranked within the top 70 at 67 among the WTA rankings.

Stosur has been fighting with her own performances this year and has been trying to take her game to an improved level of perfection. After her quarterfinal performance at Dubai, the Australian went on reach the semi-finals at Stuttgart. She then managed to reach the final at Rome and defeated Na Li in the process. She will face Halep in the second round of this event.

Halep has been trying to get close to a title win but always came short of it. The Romanian took the points reached the final in Fed defeating Greta Arn in the process. She lost in the qualifying rounds in Rome and followed it with a first round defeat at Strasbourg. Halep will try to take the game to the next level and win a few matches.

Both the players have met once before and the head-to-head stands at 1-0 in Stosur’s favour. The last time they played was last year’s French Open where Stosur won in two tough sets. Stosur has the ability to blast forehands and angled serves in the match. Halep can also smack forehands and backhands from the baseline.

Julia Goerges vs. Lucie Safarova

After making a solid start at the French Open, German Julia Goerges is ready for a tough second round opponent Lucie Safarova.

German giant killer Julia Goerges takes on Czech Lucie Safarova for a place in the third round of the 2011 French Open, season's second Grand Slam event being played here at Roland Garros in Paris, France. After claiming her maiden WTA singles title last year in Bad Gastein, Julia Goerges surprised everyone when she held a considerable set and a break lead against one of WTA's finest Maria Sharapova. More success followed when she beat players like Victoria Azarenka, Samantha Stosur and World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki to claim her first premier level title in Stuttgart, Germany at the Porsche tennis Grand Prix.

Goerges once again outclassed Wozniacki in a tight three setter weeks later in Madrid to prove that her win was not a flash in the pan. With so many achievements in a single season, Goerges has emerged as one of the favourites to win the title at this year's Open. Goerges defeated Mathilde Johansson in straight sets in the opening match on Sunday.

Lucie Safarova made a statement with her power packed performances this year, the most notable of which was her final run in Kuala Lumpur where she lost to a rejuvenated Jelena Dokic. Currently ranked No.37 in the world, Safarova has 4 WTA singles titles to her credit, the last of which came in 2008 in Forest Hills. Safarova's best claycourt run came in Madrid where she reached the quarterfinals before bowing out to Serbian Jelena Jankovic. In the first round here at Roland Garros, Safarova beat Belgian Kirsten Flipkens 6-1, 6-1 to advance to the second round.

Both players have contested two matches before and the head-to-head is tied at 1-1. Where Safarova won the pair's first meeting in 2009, Goerges picked victory in three gruelling sets in Indian Wells last year.

Of course, Goerges has come a long way ever since and has a premier level title to boast about along with several confidence boosting wins.

Jelena Jankovic vs. Vera Dushevina

Without a title for more than a year now, Serbian star Jelena Jankovic is hoping to end the title drought here in Paris. What are her chances in this year's championship? More importantly, how is she going to perform in today's match against a tricky Vera Dushevina? Let’s see.

Former World No.1 Jelena Jankovic takes on Russian Vera Dushevina for a place in the semifinals of the 2011 French Open, season's second Grand Slam event being played here at Roland Garros in Paris, France.

Jankovic last held a winner's trophy in March 2010 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, which was also one of her biggest career triumphs. The Serbian did manage to give some consistent results later including back-to-back wins over Venus and Serena Williams to reach Rome final, but failed to get past Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. After finishing the season in top 10, Jankovic made attempt to find title glory this year but failed miserably besides a grace saving semifinal finishes in Dubai and Doha. Jankovic's inconsistent play somehow always gets the better of her at the crucial stages of the tournaments.

Jankovic's opponent, Russian Vera Dushevina is currently ranked No.61 in the world. winner of 1 WTA singles title in Istanbul, back in 2009, Dushevina's strongest ally is her groundstrokes. In the first round, Dushevina shocked Australian powerhouse Jelena Dokic in three sets.

Both players have contested six matches before and Jankovic leads the head-to-head 5-1. In the pair's previous meeting in Cincinnati, Jankovic scored a tough three sets win over the Russian.

Not only Dushevina knows how to beat Jankovic, she also manages to stretch the Serbian to limits in most of the pair's matches.

Aleksandra Wozniack vs. Caroline Wozniacki

Aleksandra Wozniak from Canada has not played much this year and has opted to kick into Roland Garros. She will be facing first seed, Caroline Wozniacki in the second round of the 2011 French Open.

Caroline Wozniacki is ranked at number 1 in the world. On the other hand Aleksandra Wozniak is ranked within the top 200 at 162 among the WTA rankings.

Wozniacki has been taking charge at every tournament and reaching the finals of all tournaments played so far this year. She has won four titles this year and will be trying her best for a Grand Slam title. She looked in top form in the first round match when she eliminated Kimko Date Krumm in two easy sets. She will face Wozniak in the second round of this event.

Wozniak played intensively on tour in 2008 and 2009 but has disappeared this year. She has hardly played any tournaments this year and will be considerably low on match exposure. Her best performance this year has been a first round loss at Memphis. She will be trying to obtain a few victories here in order to get her level up a notch.

Both the players have met seven times before and the head-to-head stands at 6-1 in Wozniacki’s favour. The last time they played was last year at the Australian Open where Wozniacki won in two easy sets. Wozniacki is known for her one of a kind defensive strategies and aggressive forehands while Wozniak can crank her backhands to any corner from the back of the court.