Samantha Stosur became the highest seed to fall in the third-round Saturday action at the Australian Open, as Petra Kvitova followed up her Brisbane International title of two weeks ago with a 7-6(5) 6-3 victory over the fifth-seeded great local hope.
The Australian never recovered after losing a tense 63-minute first set, leaving her fourth-round showings in 2006 and 2010 as her best results from nine Australian Opens. Stosur served no aces, compared to Kvitova’s 5, and had just 11 winners, while Kvitova scored 35.
The world No.28 Kvitova is now leading Stosur 2-0 in their head-to-head record. The Czech won their first encounter as well, which was at the 2008 French Open, when she handed Stosur only three games.
Third seed Kim Clijsters survived her first test of the 2011 Australian Open to defeat Alize Cornet 7-6(3) 6-3 on the day of the Frenchwoman’s 21st birthday and advance to the fourth round. Second seed Vera Zvonareva is through as well, but also after a match which featured a tiebreak, an 11-9 tiebreak in the second set against Lucie Safarova. Final score was 6-3 7-6(9).