Samantha Stosur hadn’t planned to play the Southern California Open, but following her early loss in Stanford last week, the Australian accepted a wildcard into Carlsbad and progressed into the second round on Monday by beating Varvara Lepchenko 7-5 6-1. The first set lasted 57 minutes and the 2011 US Open champion Stosur recovered from an initial 3-1, i.e. two service breaks down.
Another US Open champion was in action on Day 1 of the Carlsbad tournament – it was Svetlana Kuznetsova, but she lost to Virginie Razzano 6-2 6-4. Francesca Schiavone was the third Grand Slam champion playing on Monday at the Southern California Open and she won a thriller against Flavia Pennetta 7-6(4) 6-7(6) 6-4, after wasting a match point in the second set. (source: WTA Tour, photo: © Neal Trousdale)
