No. 5 Samantha Stosur lost in the first round of Wimbledon to Estonian qualifier Kaia Kanepi, 6-4, 6-4.
Wimbledon: No. 6 Samantha Stosur, French Open Finalist, Loses to Qualifier Kaia Kanepi
While Stosur would seem to be a strong grass court player on paper, with her big serve and big forehand, her then-doubles partner Rennae Stubbs offered up a very different assessment in an interview last year with SB Nation’s tennis blog, The Daily Forehand:
“Look, grass is her worst surface. It doesn’t lend itself…she’s not a real serve and volley player—there’s big misconceptions about Sam.
She’s more a slow court, hard court player, a clay courter. For one thing, her grip is very western on her forehand, and it’s very difficult to play that type of tennis on grass. Her kick serve is not effective on grass, as it is on every other surface.
So, you know, the basis of her game is her serve, her kick serve, and her forehand, and those things don’t lend itself that great to grass.
Stosur’s loss follows yesterday’s first round exit by No. 5 Francesca Schiavone, who beat Stosur in the French Open final. This makes 2010 the first year ever in which neither French Open finalist has made it past the first round of Wimbledon.
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