Samantha Stosur battles past Varvara Lepchenko to enter the fourth round – US Open 2012
Current US Open defending champion, Samantha Stosur, battled past the local contestant, Varvara Lepchenko, in the third round of the Grand Slam event being played at the Flushing Meadows Park on Friday. Stosur ousted her
rival in straight sets 7-6(5), 6-2 and qualified for the fourth round at the USTA Billie Jean King National Centre in New York, United States.
The seventh seeded Stosur faced a tough combat in the initial set and both the players were unable to retain their initial serves, squaring scores three times in the set. The opener ended up in a close tie-break and the Aussie
emerged as the expected victor at 7-6(5).
The 26-year-old local challenger lost her zeal in the following set and tried to level the scores in the start, but was unable to hold her serve initially. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the former world number four
nudged past her opponent and topped the score line with her 6-2 win.
The world number seven had a brilliant first serve rate of 82 percent, converting 13 of 14 points in the final set. She also clinched two of four break serves presented to her. Unlike her rival, 31st seed Lepchenko
delivered 59 percent first serve on target in the set, bagging 10 of 16 points. Stosur did not give her rival a single chance to clamp break point and unfortunately, Lepchenko coughed 11 unforced errors to finish on the losing side in the end.
The 28-year-old Aussie will face a tougher challenge against the British Olympic silver medallist, Laura Robson, in the next round. She recently surprised Li Na by giving her a straight sets defeat in the third round of the
Championship.
Stosur talking to the media said, “She's obviously full of confidence and had two very, very good wins. I definitely can't go into that match lightly. I have to go out there and be on my game and ready to play some good tennis.
I have to do some homework and talk to my coach a little bit about that. She's probably got nothing to lose. She's had two of probably the best wins of her career and she's starting to maybe live up to some of that potential. You've got to be aware that. She's
going to come out swinging maybe and have that confidence behind her”.
Her match against Robson will be played on Sunday’s eve.
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