World No.15 Roberta Vinci has been knocked out of the first round of the Apia International in Sydney following a marathon 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, loss to Sam Stosur.
At the start of the roller coaster encounter, both players experienced issues in their service games with a series of breaks. Throughout the opening set Vinci won 54% of her service points compared to Stosur’s 44%. Remaining the slightly more consistent player on the court, the 2015 US Open finalist clinched the first set after serving it out to love.
Vinci capitalized on her opening set win by breaking once more during the early stage of the second set. The Italian was however still troubled with her service as Stosur, cheered on by her home crowd, broke back immediately. The Australian began to look the stronger player on the Sydney court. After failing to convert a set point at 5-4, Stosur experienced more success a couple games later. As Vinci served 5-6 behind, her opponent raced to 40-15 after the Italian hit a ball out. The set was then given to Stosur when Vinci returned a shot from the baseline into the net.
Stosur seemed on course to take the final set with ease as she swiftly opened up a 3-0 lead. Serving for the match at 5-4, the Australian encountered some late resistance from Vinci, who broke back to level the match once again. Despite Vinci’s resurgence, Stosur maintained her composure on the court against the tiring Italian. An error-stricken service game from Vinci enabled Stosur to race to three match points. The golden girl of Australian tennis only required one to take the match after error No.26 came off Vinci’s racket.
It was a far from perfect performance by Stosur. The world No.27 produced 49 unforced errors alongside her 56 winners. In addition Stosur fired 8 aces and converted 6/11 break points. After her marathon two-hour-and-25-minute encounter, Stosur spoke of her ‘relief’ following the win.
Roberta Vinci upsets Carla Suarez Navarro
Seventh seed Carla Suarez Navarro failed to maintain her recent momentum from Brisbane after suffering a 6-3, 6-3, loss to Sara Errani. Navarro, who reached the semifinals in Brisbane last week, endured difficulty on her serve. The Spaniard won only 47% of her first and 31% of her second service points during the match. Errani will play Jelena Jankovic in the second round.
Belinda Bencic clinched her second win of the season after battling her way past qualifier Mirjana Lučić-Baroni. The eighth seed required over two hours to see off the 1999 Wimbledon semifinalist, eventually winning 7-6(6), 1-6, 6-4.
Finally, fourth seed Angelique Kerber experienced a second set whitewash before battling past world No.20 Elina Svitolina 6-4, 0-6, 6-3.
