Stosur crashes out of Hong Kong
Sam Stosur fell to 0-3 in this year's Asian swing after a straight-sets loss to Nao Hibino in the opening round of the WTA Hong Kong Tennis Open.
Hong Kong, 12 October 2016 | tennis.com.au
Sam Stosur’s forgettable Asian swing has continued after the Aussie fell to Nao Hibino in the first round of the Hong Kong Tennis Open.
Stosur, seeded No.4 in Hong Kong, lost 6-3 6-4 to the world No.84, finishing the match with three doubles faults.
The result follows on from straight-sets losses in the first round at both Wuhan and Beijing.
Stosur reached the semifinals in Hong Kong last year before eventually going down to Angelique Kerber.
This was her last tournament of the season, unless she scrapes into the field for the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, China.
That tournament is open to players ranked between No.9 and No.19, plus one wildcard.
Stosur is projected to fall one place to 19th in next week’s rankings.
Another Aussie, Daria Gavrilova, remains alive in Hong Kong; the eighth seed takes on Katerina Siniakova for a likely shot at world No.1 Kerber in the quarterfinals.