I was taking a little run through old posts about Superhero Sam, just to find some interesting things I’ve said about her, and also to find the origin of the awesome name. I put her in the “buy” category for “Buy, Sell” (nevermind that I also said buy Trumpet and sell Venus…) and loved this little gem:

I got a chance to see her beat Kuz in Toronto, and then beat Gypsy 6-3, 6-1, in what was one of the biggest dominations I saw all year. Gypsy was powerless against Sam’s power, and when she would start to come in, Superhero would beast backhands cross-court, forehands down the line or cross-court. And then when it seemed like Gypsy might be on to something, Sam would just come to the net and start volleying the shit out of everything, and as I’ve noted many a time, all Gypsy could do was curse at the sky… she finished the year at 13, and don’t be surprised if she breaks the top 10 this year.

What can I say, I clearly described it pretty well. /Roger

Here is the origin of the nickname:

I think if you were to call one WTA player a superhero, it would probably be Sam. She looks totally normal, and is quite funny off court. Hell, she looks quite pretty in her TTV mugshot. But on court? First of all, she’s jacked up. As all hell. And her sunglasses, hat, and tied back hair all create her epic disguise (those sunglasses just ooze badassery), and she serves big, and is willing to track down any ball. She also doesn’t really follow through on her serve, which is weird as hell.

Sam has been absolute dynamite these past two weeks, and it’s been a treat to watch. Like I said, she has the weapons to beat just about anyone. I think the beginning of this year was really just fine tuning things, especially the forehand, which I seem to remember was pretty wild at the beginning of the year. Pretty sure she’s putting a bit more spin on it too and that’s keeping things in the line.

JJ was really no match for her; she was a step behind the entire match. Sam just knows how to construct points on clay to give herself a chance to hit a winner with the angles, and she also has the shot making skills to pull the trigger when the opportunity arises. Also, just like Rafa, it buys her just that much more time to run around the forehand, which she does done so damn well this Roland Garros.

Franny has played a great tournament, but in all honesty, Superhero’s game is firing on all cylinders and she’s showing a new mental strength that is equally impressive. A music professor once said to me “we don’t practice for the days that we play the best, we practice for the days where we play the worst”. A pretty similar thing applies for Sam in pressure situations. She’s at the point that her game is so solid, it doesn’t matter how nervous she is, she’s closing it out. I’d fully expect her to close out this tournament on Saturday just the same.