Stosur flies Aussie flag in Doha
Sam Stosur is the lone Aussie in action in this week's WTA Premier event in Doha while three of her male compatriots have headed to Memphis.
Melbourne VIC 3004, Australia, 13 February 2017 | tennis.com.au
Sam Stosur will look to build on her confidence-boosting run at the Taiwan Open when she lines up for this week’s Qatar Total Open in Doha.
Stosur, who snapped a nine-match losing streak in Taiwan en route to her first WTA quarterfinal in seven months, opens her Doha campaign against Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova.
The winner would face a likely second-round meeting with No.8 seed Barbora Strycova.
Stosur skipped Australia’s Fed Cup tie against Ukraine to concentrate on the Middle East swing, and after Doha will head to Dubai.
Meanwhile, three Aussies – Bernard Tomic, Jordan Thompson and Matt Ebden – will be in action at the ATP Memphis Open.
Tomic leads the charge as the fifth seed and takes on qualifier Darian King in the first round.
Thompson and Ebden have landed in the top quarter of the draw headed by No.1 seed Ivo Karlovic.
Should Thompson get past Nikoloz Basilashvili he would play Karlovic in the last 16, while Ebden opens against fellow qualifier Peter Polanski for a shot at either eighth seed Yen-Hsun Lu or American Taylor Fritz.
While Ebden managed to win two qualifying matches to secure a main-draw berth, Matt Barton wasn’t able to join him; the New South Welshman fell in the final round of qualifying to Polansky.