Samantha Stosur sails into the final eight of Mutua Madrid Open – Tennis Special
Last year’s US Open champion and top ranked Aussie, Samantha Stosur moved into the final eight at the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday, 9th May 2012. Stosur sailed into the quarterfinal round after doing away with Czech Petra Cetkovska. The hard hitting Aussie took only 72 minutes to secure an easy breezy, 6-3, 6-2, win over her Czech opponent.
Playing for only the second time this year and in their career, Stosur was able to go two-nil in the lead in the pair’s head-to-head score. The two had met at Doha earlier in the year with Stosur emerging as the victor in the end.
Kicking off the third round match at Madrid, Stosur won the toss and opened serve in the first set. The pair engaged in a toe to toe run for the first four games, keeping the scoreboard ticking on even terms. At 3-2 in the set to Stosur, the par exchanged back to back breaks with Stosur leading 5-3. Losing only two points in the ninth game, Stosur served out the set to clinch a 6-3 win going one up in the set score.
Down and definitely out, Cetkovska failed to make any stand in the second set. Broken in the third game, the Czech lagged 1-3 on the scoreboard. A second successful break later, Stosur poised at 5-2 in the second set before serving out another set successfully to seal her straight sets victory over the Czech.
In an hour and twelve minutes, Stosur capitalized off the Czech’s eight double faults. Adding her own five aces to the mix and a 69 percent win on her first serve, Stosur was able to ensure her survival at the event.
The Aussie now moves into the final eight of the event where she will play either Russian Ekaterina Makarova or Cetkovska’s compatriot, qualifier Lucie Hradecka. Both rising stars registered outstanding wins in their second round matches.
Makarova secured a twin set 6-4, 6-4 win over sixteenth seeded compatriot, Maria Kirilenko. However, Hradecka registered the biggest upset of the event after doing away with 2011 champion here. The Czech met and defeated her third seeded compatriot, Petra Kvitova in a surprising 6-4, 6-3 win over the higher ranked countrywoman.
Although Stosur looks to play her quarter-final match yet, she may very well look forward to a potential 2011 US Open final rematch in the semifinal against Serena Williams who plays former world number one Dane, Caroline Wozniacki.
Stosur is currently 21-9 in the running season and is battling hard to get her vintage form. She stunned the entire tennis world last year when she outsmarted the former world number one, Serena Williams, to win her maiden Grand Slam tournament at the US Open. Her form has been suffering from a terrible slump since her emphatic Major title victory. Stosur is eyeing to break in this year’s winners’ circle by bagging the Madrid Open championship and is just a couple of steps away to achieve glory on the blue clay courts in Spain.
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