World No.8 Samantha Stosur has won 21 of her last 24 matches, and her latest victory came against Patty Schnyder in the third round of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open.

Schynder was a semifinalist at the Premier-level tournament last year and has more wins on clay than any other active player, but the eighth-seeded Stosur defeated the Swiss 7-6(3) 6-2 and is marching towards the Top 5 in the rankings (she is projected to reach a career-high of No.7 next week).

Here’s what Stosur says about her continued good results:

I've been playing well since Indian Wells. That all started on hardcourt and it has been running onto the clay courts, too [Miami, Charleston, Stuttgart]. It's just one of those things. You win a number of matches in a row then you grow in confidence, and it doesn't matter what surface you're on.

Awaiting Stosur in the quarterfinals is fourth seed Venus Williams, whom Stosur has never defeated in three attempts. Actually, Stosur hasn’t won a set against Williams. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: sr_cranks)

Former world No.1 Justine Henin returned to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in January and today at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart she won her first comeback title, having finished runner-up at Brisbane and Australian Open. The Belgian’s opponent in today's final was Australian Samantha Stosur, whom she was playing for the first time.

The 26-year-old Stosur entered the Stuttgart final on an 11-match winning streak on clay, but it was not rocket science that her first meeting with four-time French Open champion Henin would be a real challenge. Henin, a wildcard now projected to return to the Top 20, didn’t need more than one break point to take her opponent’s service game and then the first set. In the following set, the Australian seventh seed, a wildcard as a late entrant, held serve throughout and broke Henin two times to win 6-2. In the decider, Henin was strong on her serve and allowed Stosur to win only one game. Final score: 6-4 2-6 6-1.

Henin won her 42th WTA singles title and her second at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Prize for the winner was $107,000 and a Porsche sports car, while the runner-up took home $56,000. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Justine Henin will have a chance to win her first title since coming out of retirement, having reached the final at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on her beloved clay. It will be the Belgian’s 60 Tour final and her opponent will be fellow wildcard Samantha Stosur.

The former world No.1 Henin didn’t have a birthday present for Shahar Peer and defeated the Israeli 6-3 6-2 in the semifinals. Even lack of sleep and cold couldn’t stop Henin, who is currently ranked four places lower than Peer.

Australia’s Samantha Stosur reached her eighth final on the WTA Tour with a 7-5 6-3 victory over 138th-ranked qualifier Anna Lapushchenkova. Stosur had to come from 5-2 behind to take the first set. By the way, if you’re interested in reading more about Lapushchenkova, I suggest a short but very informative article at Diane’s blog about women’s tennis.

Although Stosur is in excellent form, having confirmed that with the Charleston title last month, the first meeting with Henin, especially on clay, will be a great challenge. And apparently, the fact that Henin is playing her first tournament on clay in two years will not be an obstacle. In addition, the Belgian won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in 2007. (photos: sr_cranks)

Samantha Stosur won her second singles title on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour by impressively storming past Vera Zvonareva 6-0 6-3 in the final of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston.

Before we knew it the first set was over, the Australian won it in 18 minutes! The second set started in a similar fashion, with Stosur racing to a 3-0 lead. In the tenth game, Zvonareva woke up, won her first game, and soon followed it by winning two more games. However, the match remained in Stosur’s hands and she wrapped up victory on her first match point.

The fourth-seeded Stosur was a favorite on paper compared to the seventh-seeded Zvonareva. In addition, Stosur had entered the final leading their head-to-head series 4-2. However, Zvonareva had started the match with ten singles titles to her name, compared to Stosur’s one.

World No.11 Stosur earned $107,000 with the victory in the Family Circle Cup final, while world No.22 Zvonareva earned $55,500 for her runner-up position. (photo: sr_cranks)

World No.9 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia stormed into her 23rd career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final, and the first one since last October, with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Samantha Stosur at Indian Wells.

The sixth-seeded Jankovic was two points away from defeat in the third round against unseeded Sara Errani, but hasn’t really been troubled since, cruising past Shahar Peer, Alisa Kleybanova, and now Samantha Stosur to reach the final. In the semifinal against the eighth-seeded Stosur, Jankovic broke the Australian twice in each set and benefited from her opponent’s 36 unforced errors and four double faults.

Despite the loss, the world No.11 Stosur has nothing to be sad about – she can be proud of playing the semifinals of a Premier-level tournament and will move into the Top 10 for the first time when the new rankings are released on Monday.

Jankovic’s opponent in the final will be either Caroline Wozniacki or Agnieszka Radwanska. None of the two has ever defeated Jankovic. (photo: Upali Wickramasinghe)