They Just Want to Have Fun

There are 16 women remaining in the singles draw and a quarter of them are American.  A superficial tennis fan would think we were talking about the US Open, or maybe Wimbledon.  But no, Americans are having a lot of success on the clay of Paris, and it should not be surprising anymore.  Serena Williams leads the pack, as she is the number one seed at the French Open.  The other three remaining Americans all have different backgrounds, that will now examine.

SERENA WILLIAMS: Plays Roberta Vinci in the Round of 16.
Serena has made her way through to the Round of 16 without dropping a set.  And in the 6 sets that she has played, she has lost a grand total of 6 games.  So if you do the math, that is only 1 game lost per set (Pfftt, who says you don't use math outside of school?).  She is the number 1 seed in the tournament and she has been virtually untouchable all year, so it is no surprise that she is still playing this late in the tournament.  If she doesn't go all the way to the final, that is what would be surprising.  She's looking to win her first Roland Garros crown since 2002.

BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS: Plays Maria Kirilenko in the Round of 16.
Bethanie has fought her way into the fourth round, and that fight didn't just begin at the beginning of the week.  Her ranking has dropped well out of the top 100 in recent months, however with this good run she will easily be back there.  This matches her best run at a slam, as she made the Round of 16 at Wimbledon in 2008.  In order to do so, she had to defeat Dominquez Lino and Ormaechea, with an upset of Li Na thrown in between.  She has been very well tested as her last two matches went three sets, expect another good test from the Russian, Maria Kirilenko.

JAMIE HAMPTON: Plays Jelena Jankovic in the Round of 16.
Jamie Hampton made a name for herself when she battled with Victoria Azarenka in the Australian Open in the beginning of the year.  She lost that match, but she has been on the rise ever since then, which is proven by her run of good form in Paris.  She had never been past the second round of a Grand Slam before this year, however she made the third round in Melbourne and is in the fourth round now.  She defeated two seeded Czech players along the way, Safarova and Kvitova, and also took down Schmiedlova along the way.  She'll have to face a tough veteran in her next match.

SLOANE STEPHENS: Plays Maria Sharapova in the Round of 16.
Sloane is one of the more known up and coming names in the USA, as she is the 17 seed of this tournament.  This is only her 8th Grand Slam but she has made a Round of 16 and a Semifinals appearance before.  She defeated Serena at the Australian Open this year and she has brought that form with her to Paris.  She has won 2 of her three matches comfortably, but she hasn't faced another seeded player yet.  Her match with Sharapova could go many different ways, but if she continues to play the way she has, then she will be fun to watch for the rest of the tournament, and her career.