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Schiavone Eliminates Stosur In Sydney Opener
By James Waterson
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Photo Credit: Natasha Peterson/Corleve
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(January 9, 2012) US Open champion Samantha Stosur's preparation for the Austrlian Open took a major hit as she fell to 11th-ranked Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the Sydney International on Monday.
Although Stosur was favored to win this match based on their respective rankings, Schiavone had more match practice going into Sydney. The Italian reached the semifinal in Auckland, while Stosur was dismissed in the second round in Brisbane.
On Monday, the Italian outplayed Stosur in all respects. The Australian, known for her excellent serve, failed to win half of her service points and was broken five times.
Schiavone moves on to face Daniela Hantuchova, who beat Italy's Roberta Vinci 7-5, 6-2.
Stosur isn't the only high profile player to lose today, as sixth-seeded Vera Zvonareva hit nine double faults en route to a 6-1, 6-2 loss to two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Zvonareva and Stosur were the only seeded players dropped out of the tournament, however.
Third-seeded Victoria Azarenka dominated 140th-ranked Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland 6-2, 6-1, Li Na beat Ekaterina Makarova 6-0, 6-3, Agnieszka Radwanska defeated her sister Urzula 6-1, 6-1 and Marion Bartoli dismissed Polona Hercog 6-3, 6-3.
Germany's Andrea Petkovic, ranked No. 10, blasted past 16th-ranked Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-3, Jelena Jankovic advanced after Julia Goerges retired at 6-1, 3-1, and Alexandra Dulgheru routed Sofia Arvidsson 6-1, 6-1.
On the men's side, Australia's Matthew Ebden upsed seventh-seeded Marcel Granollers 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, Ryan Sweeting outlasted Gilles Muller 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-5, Bobby Reynolds battled past Sergiy Stakhovsky 7-5, 6-3 and Denis Istomin overcame Pablo Andujar 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Caroline Wozniacki will start Tuesday's action against Dominika Cibulkova, followed by second-seeded Petra Kvitova taking on Dulgheru.
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