Samantha Stosur bows out to Kirsten Flipkens in the opening clash – UNICEF Open 2012
World number five, Samantha Stosur, bowed out to the Belgian qualifier, Kirsten Flipkens, in her first clash of the UNICEF Open on Monday. She was ousted in straight sets 6-7(7), 3-6 in a battle that featured a successful resistance
of an hour and 35 minutes from the 26-year-old Belgian.
Stosur started off well with a serve hold to love and broke serve immediately to push her opponent on the back foot early in the set. She was forced to hold serve from deuce but didn’t panic and built upon to the initial two games
lead.
Flipkens did well to hold serve in the following game and resisted impressively to limit the trail to just two games. Scores moved on to 4-2 in favour of the top seed Aussie starlet who looked set to take the first set. However,
the tables were turned upon her in the following game when the 262nd Belgian broke serve and coupled it with a comprehensive serve hold to tie the scores at 4-4.
Aussie top seed was under the cosh in the following serve game but did well to deny her opponent from taking a lead. Soon, the tie-breaker round was enforced and after a very cautious start, it was the Belgian qualifier who inched
ahead with a smart winner down the line to bag the set.
The momentum kept running in favour of the Belgian who broke serve in the second game to take an early lead and posted a resounding score line of 3-0 at the start. The Aussie starlet couldn’t test the Belgian at all throughout
the set; rather faced a lot of troubles in hanging on to her serves. In the end, it was Flipkens who came out with the biggest upset of the day ousting the top seed in the opening round.
Flipkens mentioned in a post-match interview, "I think I needed to be 200% to win against her because she's a Top 5 player. This is by far my best result ever and it's all the more enjoyable after the wrist injury and other health
problems I've had in the last year. In the beginning I wasn't feeling totally confident and fell behind. But once I started to feel comfortable I began to enjoy myself and at the end I was playing really well."
The Belgian qualifier will lock horns with the winner of the match between her compatriot, Yanina Wickmayer, and fellow qualifier, Daria Gavrilova.
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