Stosur and Schiavone to clash in Sydney
January 07, 2012 16:34:34 UK
US Open champion Samantha Stosur will take on old foe Francesca Schiavone in the opening round of the Sydney International tennis tournament.
Samantha Stosur faces a tough opening round in the Sydney International.Both players are famous for their 2010 French Open final meeting when they came of age to upset several big name players.
That meeting was won by the Italian woman, although Stosur did avenge that loss in the 2010 WTA Tour Championships in Doha.
Stosur is 17.00 to win the Australian Open, while Serena Williams is 5.00 and Petra Kvitova 3.50.
The Sydney International tennis tournament, which starts from this Sunday, features nine of the top 10 tennis players, which is why such a high-profile encounter between Stosur and Schiavone is taking place in the first round.
World number one Carolina Wozniacki and number two Petro Kvitova have received first round byes, while the next highest seeds Victoria Azarenka and Li Na will have to play a qualifier in their opening rounds.
Li, who won the Sydney tournament last year, said that being drawn against a qualifier is no guarantee that it will be plain sailing for her.
"This tournament is always tough, even in the qualies. It's stronger than any other tournament … I play a qualifier, and that's not easy either. I know I won last year, but this year is another story," the Chinese number one said.
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