Stosur advances at Mercury Open
Current world number five Samantha Stosur beat out American Melanie Oudin with a 6-4, 6-4 victory at the opening round of the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad, CA.
26-year-old Stosur, who hails from Australia, and the number two seed at the tournament, began the match with a shaky start, losing the first three games to the 18-year-old American. The Australian was nevertheless able to come back full force to defeat Oudin and claim the match victory in one hour and 24 minutes.
Stosur admitted that at the start of the match, she was not dong well with the placement and timing of the ball, although she was able to gradually improve her shots as the match continued.
"I dictated and thought I served well. Overall, I was very happy."
In their one and only previous face-off, Stosur defeated Oudin, with the score between the two women being exactly the same as yesterday's final tally. Notwithstanding her loss, the young Oudin seemed relatively happy with her performance.
"Sam is a really tough opponent for me because of her serve, especially her kick serve. She plays with a lot of spin and was hitting the lines with it," Oudin said.
It is unlikely that Oudin’s expectations were too high for this match, considering that Stosur is ranked as one of the top five players in the world. Considering her competition, the fact that Oudin managed to stay in the lead at the outset of the match, and held her serve without giving away the points to Stosur is somewhat of an accomplishment in itself.
Oudin was content at the chance to play the second seeded Australian, who fired out her characteristic big serve throughout her aggressive game against the young American.
"I thought hardcourt would be my best surface to play her, or grass, but she's No.5 in the world and I'm still happy with my performance. I was still in there."
Stosur confident of good run to US Open
Stosur has been playing well, recently making it to the semifinal round at the Best of the West Classic in Stanford, where she was defeated by tournament champion, Victoria Azarenka. Stosur has previously held the world number one ranking and hopes to climb up the rankings once again with a strong showing at the summer tournaments this season.
Stosur said that her confidence level was high. "I think I'm going along the right path to, hopefully, having a good U.S. Open."
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