Samantha Stosur stuns Maria Sharapova in first round robin match – WTA Championships 2011
Second seeded Russian Maria Sharapova lost to 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur in the first round robin match of the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships 2011. The players had taken up the gauntlet on indoor hard courts of Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, Turkey. After just one hour and thirty three minutes the former world number one Sharapova was stunned as Aussie Stosur triumphed in straight sets of 6-1, 7-5 on Tuesday the 25th of October 2011.
Kicking off the first round was Stosur and she had taken the Serena taming form to play Sharapova. The Aussie successfully held her service game and initiated the scoreboard to 1-0. She then capitalized on a breakpoint and placed herself on the scoreboard with a mini lead of 2-0. Stosur had further shifted the scoreboard to 3-0 by holding her service game. Mean while, Sharapova finally managed to win a service game by the end of the fourth game.
Stosur held her service game in the fifth game and then capitalized on a pivotal breakpoint in the sixth to take the lead at 5-1. She was now only a game away from gaining the competitive edge and as she held her serve, she clogged the opening game with a breadstick victory.
The second set was begun by the former world number one and this time she got off to an amazing start as she held her serve. She then capitalized on a break point and once more held her serve in the third game and took a mini lead of 3-0 on the scoreboard. However, Stosur was quick to reduce the deficit as she held her serve and then broke Sharapova but it was in the sixth game that she closed in on the deficit with a hold of serve at 3-3.
The players matched an eye for an eye in the following four games and the score had tied at 4-4 and then 5-5 by the end of the tenth game. However, Sharapova was unable to minimize her double faults and once for repeated the mistake of endorsing a crucial break point to Stosur. On the contrary, Stosur had benefitted from the break and was now only a game away sealing her victory. As the Aussie served for the match, she smashed a marvellous backhand winner down the line and sealed her victory of the set and the match.
The big hitting Aussie, Stosur will now be facing Belarusian Victoria Azarenka next.
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