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A pair of former grand slam champions made winning starts at the Southern California Open on Monday, with Samantha Stosur and Francesca Schiavone both advancing into the second round. |
Stosur, the 2011 US Open winner, took full advantage of the wild card she received after crashing out as second seed in a second-round upset last week in Stanford, with the number 13 Australian defeating American Varvara Lepchenko 7-5, 6-1.
Stosur dropped out of the ranking top 10 after a third-round loss in Paris against Jelena Jankovic and had been a member of the WTA elite since March 2010. Her 2013 has been modest with quarter-finals at Doha, Dubai, Indian Wells her best showings.
She began the year in Australia where she managed only one win from her first six matches.
Schiavone, who won the French Open in 2010 and played the final a year later against Li Na, had to go the distance to put out Italian compatriot Flavia Pennetta 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (6-8), 6-4.
Schiavone first played the tournament in 2002 and last appeared in 2005 at the Californian resort venue
The winner needed three hours to advance, with the Italian pair combining for 17 double-faults, nine for Pennetta, who also lost her serve 10 times, with Schiavone earning a massive 17 break point chances.
Schiavone now stands 6-2 in the series.
France’s Virginie Razzano spoiled the return of 2010 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova after injury as she beat the two-time grand slam champion Russian who has not played since Roland Garros in early June 6-2, 6-4.
The tournament on hardcourt marks the return of Victoria Azarenka after the world number three quit before her Wimbledon second-round match after hurting her knee in a fall in her opening win.
“I’m excited to be back on the tour and glad to be here,” said the LA-based Belarus player whose only appearance at the tournament came in 2007 when she won a match.
“I had to go through a lot of rehab but it was a good test for me. I had a bad fall. But I think it made me stronger to go through it. Rehab really tests you.”
Azarenka takes the top seeding ahead of Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova and Italian Roberta Vinci.