Order Clomid Without A Prescription - HQ Pharmacy

Stosur edges Vesnina

31 August 2010

Fifth seed Sam Stosur has fought back from a set and a break down in the second to topple enterprising Russian Elena Vesnina on day one of the US Open in one hour and 52 minutes. Vesnina came out swinging in the first to surprise her more highly fancied opponenent, taking it 6-3. Early in the second Stosur looked to be in trouble as she went down a break before turning the tables. The Australian dug deep, wrestled the break back and forced the set to a tiebreak. The world No.6 raced to a 5-0 lead in the tiebreak before her Russian foe could get on the board, but it was too little too late, the Australian had it all under control, closing out the tiebreak 7-2. The final set was a different story altogether. With her confidence restored, Stosur broke early in the third game to take a commanding lead. With her ground strokes finding the lines, the Queenslander pushed Vesnina over the edge, breaking her again in the fifth and seventh games to take the deciding set 6-1. The win equals Stosur’s best effort at the US Open – the second round, which she achieved in 2004 and 2009 – and sets up a showdown with countrywoman Anastasia Rodionova in the second round. Earlier in the day Rodionova edged out Serbian Bojana Jovanovski 7-5 6-4. "To get through a first round at a tournament where you've never done that great is always a bit of a relief," Stosur said. "As the match went on, I thought I played better and better. To get through that is really pleasing." Stosur, who has never progressed beyond the second round at Flushing Meadows, strangely did not serve one single ace - but couldn't blame her arm for that. "It's 100 per cent again," she said. "So I'm pleased with that progress, for sure, to now play another tight three-setter and not have any problems. Hopefully that's going to keep going that way. "There's not a lot I can actually do for it. If it's going to bother me, it's going to be during a match or practice. "So if I've got through that all right, then, yeah, it's just a matter of making sure that everything else is moving correctly and making sure my back's good and things are all in place to try and keep as much pressure off the arm as possible." Stosur has beaten Rodionova in three of their four encounters, including last-up on a Stanford hard court two years ago. "It's going to be tricky," Stosur said. "She's been playing quite well recently and is never an easy opponent. [I'm] definitely going to have to be on my game and go out there and play well."

View Comments

Looking forward, not back

30 August 2010

Armed with a top-eight seeding for the first time in New York, Australia's great hope says don't count her out at what is being billed as the wide open Open in the absence of Grand Slam heavyweights Serena Williams and Justine Henin. Stosur - the only player this year to have conquered Williams at a major - launches her assault on Monday (early Tuesday AEST) against Russian Elena Vesnina feeling mentally fresh and physically strong after two mid-season layoffs. The French Open runner-up's initial break followed a torrid claycourt campaign and first-round Wimbledon defeat and the second came out of necessity due to a "stress reaction" to her serving arm, which copped a pounding while helping Stosur to seven successive quarterfinals or better in 2010. Stosur says her arm felt "absolutely fine" during her return last week in New Haven, where the world No.6 lost in the quarterfinals to Nadia Petrova, and is hoping the twin spells from the game may prove advantageous. "It's not always bad to have a break," Stosur told AAP between a double practice session on Saturday with coach David Taylor. "There's only about four tournaments left after this so all of a sudden the year's nearly done, so you can really try to make the most of it. "This is the time when players start to get a little bit tired and they don't want to work hard because of the year they've had. "So if you can stay strong you can have really good opportunities and I grew up playing on hard courts, so now I can look to be on my favourite surface. "We get to play on it for nearly nine months straight so hopefully I can really try and make some big gains." Despite her preference for the hard stuff, Stosur has a poor record at Flushing Meadows, having won only two matches from six visits to the Big Apple, and the 26 year old is hungry to correct the anomaly. "I've never done well so if I can change that, then that will obviously be a good turnaround," the tournament's fifth seed said. "But I've also never been in this position playing here before so hopefully I can really draw on that and use that experience and really get some matches. "I probably haven't played as many as I'd like to lately, but you can only do what you can do and so you draw on other things that can get you through. "If I can get through my first match, then a couple more and if I'm still here in a week's time, then that's when I'll really start to feel good. "The tournament's definitely wide open. It's shown in the lead-up tournaments - no-one has really dominated."

View Comments