Samantha Stosur vs Roberta Vinci – Quarterfinal Preview: Rogers Cup 2011
Australian tennis-pro Samantha Stosur will be taking on Roberta Vinci of Italy on Friday in the first quarterfinal of 2011 WTA Rogers Cup here in Toronto. Seeded tenth at the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tournament, Stosur
has been in decent form for the last few days and now she is looking to clinch her first title of this season.
Stosur upset 2011 French Open Champion Li Na in the third round to book her place in the last eight. Breaking the Chinese three times in the match, she dominated almost all aspects of the game. Crushing Alexandra Wozniak in straight
sets, the Australian displayed same high quality tennis in the second round play as well.
Losing her very first set of the tournament against Ayumi Morita in the opening round, Stosur had a shaky start to the tournament. However she came back strongly against the Japanese to avoid a major upset. Ranked 11th in
the world, Stosur has not looked back since then and she has improved with every passing round. If she can continue to play in same fashion against Vinci, she will be very hard to overcome.
Samantha has certainly looked to be in her comfort zone at the tournament. On court, she has done better on the hard courts of Rexall Centre than she has done in a while. The running season has proved to a big disappointment for
her as she failed to make it all the way to the final of any of the tournament she has participated in.
At the Australian Open, she was knocked out in the third round by number 25 seed Petra Kvitova. 2011 French Open and 2011 Wimbledon Championships also brought very little success to the Australian. She will be hoping to change
the course of her career with a strong performance here at the Rogers Cup.
Like Samantha, Vinci also has the wealth of experience at the international level. She has surprised many tennis analysts by reaching the quarters in Toronto. Doing so well in a tough draw, the Italian has proved what she is capable
of. World number 22 Vinci stunned Caroline Wozniacki in the second round play. She then thrashed out former world number one Ana Ivanovic in the third round to make it to the last eight.
This will be the first official meeting between the two players on the WTA tour. Considering their recent performances, a competitive encounter is expected. If Stosur can play her A game and control her unforced errors, she is
the favourite to clinch victory. However, Vinci, who has been in terrific form, simply cannot be ignored.
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