Update 5:50 pm. There was a sense of history repeating at the Brisbane International, as local hope Sam Stosur was bundled out in the second round for the third year in succession, this time by Czech Iveta Benesova.
Despite entering the 2012 tournament as the top seed, and holding an impressive 4-0 career record over Benesova, Stosur produced an error-riddled performance to go down 6-4 6-2.
“As the match went on it got harder and harder to stop what was happening … I wasn’t able to feel like I could really get the balls that I wanted to, to then really try and dictate the points,” she said.
However, a disappointed Stosur wasn’t going dwell on the loss with an Australian summer of tennis only beginning.
“Obviously this wasn’t the ideal start but I’m not going to panic and think that it’s all lost because of today.”
Stosur, who struggled to find her range on her forehand, was broken once in the first set. The left-handed Benesova used her forehand to great effect, continually stretching the Aussie wide and often forcing her to resort to slicing the ball in order to stay in the rally.
“It’s probably a little more difficult [playing against a left-hander], just with the ways the angles match up on the court.”
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The early signs were bad for Stosur as she slumped to 0-40 in the first game, before scraping together an unconvincing hold to lead 1-0.
Not afraid to push forward in the court to counter Stosur’s top spin, Benesova shocked the Brisbane crowd when she broke mid-way through the set to go ahead 4-3 before eventually taking it 6-4.
Despite beating Benesova twice on clay in 2011, Stosur looked all at sea against her 54th-ranked opponent, conceding another break at the beginning of the second set.
As the set progressed, she continued to push her forehand long and finished the match with 20 unforced errors and just six winners, meaning a quarterfinal contest with Kim Clijsters goes begging.
“Playing Kim would have been a really good match-up for me to at least play another match against someone like her, who I’ve never beaten before.
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“Maybe I can run into her at the Aussie Open.”
The likeable Benesova said she had probably never faced Grand Slam champions in consecutive matches – but don’t take her word for it.
“I’m really bad in statistics, I know, I think I beat her once in juniors. It’s all so long ago, I have no idea,” she said.
It turns out their one encounter on the WTA circuit came way back in 2004 in Hasselt, Belgium – a match Clijsters won in straight sets.
The 28-year-old couldn’t recall the specifics but did have one very fond memory of the country.
“They have a great chocolate. I ate too much chocolate I remember,” she laughed.
She will be hoping to taste some more sweet success when she next faces Clijsters.
> Photos: Day 3 scares and comebacks