For the second straight year, Sam Stosur was knocked from her hometown tournament, the Brisbane Open. The No. 1 seed was uprooted by Iveta Benesova, 6-4, 6-2. Stosur held a 4-0 record against Benesova, including two victories on clay against her in 2011.
Brisbane Open 2012: Sam Stosur Knocked Out, Andy Murray Advances
Stosur committed 20 unforced errors to Benesova’s 12.
The No. 54-ranked Benesova will meet Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals.
Seventh seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was also upset on Tuesday, losing 6-0, 6-3 to Kaia Kanepi.
For No. 2 seed Andrea Petkovic, it took 79 minutes just to win the first set in a tiebreaker. However, Petkovic sailed through the second set, not stopping to give up a game. Petkovic advances to the quarterfinals as the biggest threat in the bottom half of the draw.
On the men’s side of the tournament, Tommy Haas withdrew from Brisbane with a calf injury. Haas was scheduled to play Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin, but pulled from the tournament at the start of the day. Istomin will face No. 8 seed Bernard Tomic in the quarterfinals.
Andy Murray also suffered from an injury, but held on for a win against Mikhail Kukushkin.
Murray reportedly battled knee and back pains during his opening match in Brisbane. Despite the hindrances, Murray said he will be ready for the Australian Open beginning Jan. 16.
From the Herald Sun:
“My body’s just a bit sore,” he said after the scare from Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.
“It takes some time to get used to competitive matches. I have a few niggles which I hope will be gone by the Australian Open.”
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