Australian Samantha Stosur, who came second in Roland Garros this year, made a quick transition from clay to grass when she defeated Melanie Oudin in the first round of the Eastbourne Championships. Stosur defeated the American teenager in straight sets to mark her first victory in the grass court season.
Stosur had a great tournament in France where she overcame big names such as former top seed Justine Henin, current top seed Serena Williams, and Jelena Jankovic to reach her first Roland Garros final. She was in similar form in Eastbourne, as she fired a total of 10 aces in her match against Oudin. She defeated the American with the score of 6-4, 6-4 to reach the second round.
Stosur started the match confidently, as she broke the American early in the set. She held her lead to eventually seal the set. The second set was a completely different story, as Oudin took a lead of 4-1 at on stage. Stosur, capitalizing on her experience, fought back to level the scores at 4-4. She then broke Oudin in the following game and held her serve in the subsequent game to complete her victory. The match lasted around an hour and 15 minutes. Stosur will be hoping to carry her Roland Garros form to Wimbledon, which will start later this month. And this time she would be hoping for nothing less than Grand Slam gold.
Marion Bartoli, another Grand Slam runner-up, also progressed to the second round when she overcame belligerent Russian Vera Dushevina. French Bartoli defeated the Russian in straight sets with the score of 6-4, 7-5 to reach the second round. Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova also emerged victorious on Tuesday, when she defeated British Anne Keothavong 6-4, 6-2 to begin her quest for the Eastbourne title. Meanwhile, in men’s tennis, French and third seed in the tournament Gilles Simon defeated Kazakhstan’s Evgeny Korolev in the three set match. Simon won the match with the score of 6-3, 6-7 (6) and 6-4.
On the other hand, in Netherlands, former World No.1 Justine Henin made a winning start to her first grass court tournament in three years, when she won her first round match at Den Bosch Open. She defeated German Angelique Kerber to reach the second round. She won the match with the score of 6-4, 6-2. Henin will be using her practise in Den Bosch to boost her chances at Wimbledon, which will be starting on the 21st of June. Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam that has evaded the Belgian. This victory also served as a morale booster to Henin, who was eliminated in the fourth round of the French Open by Australian Samantha Stosur. With her current form, she is certain to make an impact at the only grass surface Grand Slam. Henin, who came back out of retirement early this year, will meet Italian Roberta Vinci for a place in last eight. Roberta Vinci earlier defeated Czech Republic’s Barbora Zahlavova in straight sets with the score of 6-4, 7-6.
Joining Henin in the second round is another former World No.1 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia. Ivanovic won the match against Swedish Sofia Arvidsson with the score of 4-6, 6-0, and 6-1. Unlike Henin, Ivanovic needed three sets to overcome her opponent in a close and competitive match. Ivanovic will meet German 7th seed Andrea Petkovic for a place in the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, sixth seed Italian Sara Errani lost to Austrian Sybille Bammer 6-1, 6-3 in her first round match. Similarly, 8th seed Spaniard Medina Garrigues lost to Dutch wild card entrant Arantxa Rus. Rus won the match with the score of 4-6, 6-2 and 6-3. Russian third seed Maria Kirilenko won against Romanian Raluca Olaru with the score of 6-4, 6-1. Fifth seed Alexandra Dulgheru, another Romanian, defeated France’s Julie Coin 4-6, 7-6 and 7-6.
In men’s circuit in Den Bosch, 6th seed Dutch Thiemo de Bakker was eliminated in the first round. He was defeated by his compatriot Igor Sijsling 4-6, 6-2 and 7-6. Meanwhile, all other top names including Xavier Malisse of Belgium and Colombian Alejandro Falla qualified for the second round.
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