SYDNEY, Australia - Australian No.1 Samantha Stosur made a strong start to her $618,000 Medibank International Sydney campaign on Monday, edging Yanina Wickmayer in a tight two-setter on Center Court, 75 64.
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Stosur, the No.4 seed this week, had been pushed to three sets in both of her previous WTA-level matches against Wickmayer, and lost their only ITF-level match; but with a single break of serve in each set she managed her most comfortable win over the Belgian this time. Her poise on big points was solid as ever: she converted on both break points she got, never facing one herself.
"Against a player like Yanina you might not get too many chances," Stosur said of the break points. "When you have a break opportunity, if you get a second serve or you get the ball back in play, you really want to make the most of that chance. I really hung in there on her service games and tried not to give too much away. It's definitely pleasing to get two for two in today's match."
In Stosur's first tournament of the year, last week in Brisbane, she lost in the second round to fellow Australian Jarmila Groth. Groth had never beaten a Top 20 player before that match but got past the No.6-ranked Stosur, 62 64.
"I was disappointed, but you can't dwell on matches too long. Jarka played very well against me," Stosur said. "I had chances in the second set there too - it's easier to take a loss like that than if you fall down in a heap. It's disappointing to lose, but there's always the next tournament. They come by pretty quickly."
The next-highest seed in action, Stosur's conqueror in last year's French Open final, Francesca Schiavone, didn't make the cut. The No.5-seeded Italian fired 10 aces but fell to Alisa Kleybanova in their first meeting, 67(5) 61 62. No.6 seed Jelena Jankovic was also sent home, falling to Aravane Rezai, 75 26 63; Rezai has now won four straight matches against Top 10 players.
"I was able to get back into it after losing the first set. I didn't have as many ups and downs in the next two sets," Kleybanova said. "Francesca is obviously a great player and I was looking forward to playing her. We're friends - we play doubles together. I'm really happy with the result. It's my first win of the year."
The No.7 and No.8 seeds, Victoria Azarenka and Li Na, both made it through their first round matches as well, albeit in far different fashion. Azarenka battled back from a first set blowout and a 3-1 deficit in the third to overcome qualifier Ekaterina Makarova, 26 62 64, in a match that lasted three hours and five minutes; Li took 55 minutes to beat wildcard Anastasia Rodionova, 61 62.
Winner in matches between unseeded players were Shahar Peer, Flavia Pennetta, María José Martínez Sánchez, Dominika Cibulkova, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Bojana Jovanovski and Virginie Razzano.
In doubles, No.1 seeds Gisela Dulko and Pennetta were ousted by Klaudia Jans and Alicja Rosolska, 36 64 107. After splitting the first two sets, Dulko and Pennetta led 7-4 in the match tie-break; the Polish duo of Jans and Rosolska, finalists in Brisbane last week, took six straight points to prevail.