2011 Sony Ericsson Open WTA Part IV: Samantha Stosur
World Number 5 Samantha Stosur
Gold Coast resident Samantha Stosur of Australia is currently one of the highest-ranked tennis players on the Women’s Tennis Association. The player has been part of the pro circuit since 1999, and has spent over eleven years on
the WTA Tour. She is 26 years old, and will turn 27 later this week. The Australian pro is a right-handed player, and her best shots are her forehand groundstrokes. She also assimilates Pat Rifter’s backhand slice, which has improved her game substantially.
The player is considered one of the most athletic players on the WTA, especially after her recovery from an episode with Lyme’s Disease. Her serve is also thought to be one of the best on the WTA, and she considers hard courts her best surface.
Samantha Stosur’s first appearance at the Miami tournament was in 2004, when she was ranked World Number 101. She participated in the qualifying rounds, but could not make it past the first round and did not play in the main draw.
Her performance at the Sony Ericsson Open was quite mediocre until two years ago.
The Australian player was ranked World Number 42 at the 2009 Miami tournament. She was unseeded, and began her campaign in the first round against pro Sofia Arvidsson. Stosur took one set from Arvidsson and was two games ahead
of her in the second one, when the Swedish pro retired from the match.
Stosur’s next match was against Austrian pro Sybille Bammer, who was ranked World Number 24 at the time. The Aussie pro defeated Bammer in straight sets with two fries, and went on to face former World Number 1 Dinara Safina in
the third round. Stosur upset her Russian opponent, and went on to set up a meeting with French player Amelie Mauresmo. The Aussie scored yet another easy victory over her opponent, and extended her run to the quarterfinals of the tournament against Victoria
Azarenka. The Belarusian player ended Stosur’s surprise run in straight sets.
Last year, Stosur reached the quarterfinals of the tournament once again. She was seeded as World Number 10 at this time, and faced players like Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain and Virginie Razzano of France to set up a fourth round
meeting against Serbian pro and seventh seed Jelena Jankovic. After winning the match, she went on to suffer defeat in the quarterfinals at the hands of comeback queen Kim Clijsters, who was ranked World Number 14 at this time.
Stosur posted average results at last week’s Indian Wells tournament, reaching the third round after defeating Laura Pous-Tio of Spain. The Australian was easily ousted by Safina in this round. The player is a bundle of surprises,
and her performance at the Indian Wells tournament is not necessarily a preview of her Miami results.
Tags: