Thaindian News

Melbourne, Jan 7(ANI): Ahead of the 2011 Australian Open, Belgian tennis ace Justine Henin has hailed Samantha Stosur’s stunning metamorphosis from a doubles gun to grand slam singles contender saying that the powerful player hits the tennis ball like a man.

The winner of seven majors and a former world No.1, Henin was on the receiving end from Stosur at the French Open last year.

Stosur also beat Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic en route to the final at Roland Garros.

“She improved so much. Everyone was talking about her as a doubles player, I would say probably two, three years ago, still, and after that in singles she really found her confidence,” Fox Sports quoted Henin, as saying.

“She has a pretty heavy game. She can hit the ball very heavy, more like a man, I would say, especially with her forehand. Big serve, big forehand and, physically, she is really into great shape. It’s pretty amazing the way she has improved.”

“On clay it’s very heavy and if you’re not at your best, if you’re not really aggressive on every shot, she can give you a lot of trouble. I experienced it in Paris,” she added. (ANI)