Konjuh too strong for Stosur
Sam Stosur was the latest player to fall to the Ana Konjuh juggernaut at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Dubai - United Arab Emirates, 22 February 2017 | AAP
Australia’s Sam Stosur has become the latest victim of rising Croatian star Ana Konjuh.
The 19-year-old world No.36 wasted little time sending Stosur out in the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships with a 6-4 6-3 victory that took just over one hour and 20 minutes.
Stosur wasn’t without her chances, yet couldn’t convert when it mattered; Konjuh saved an amazing eight of nine break points.
For Konjuh, Stosur is the latest on a list of high-profile players she has beaten since the 2016 US Open, a list that also includes Czech top-20 star Barbora Strycova and world No.6 Agnieszka Radwanska.
Konjuh will next play Russian eighth seed Elena Vesnina, who advanced to the last 16 with a straight sets win of her own over Japan’s Misaki Doi.
Stosur wasn’t the only seed to bow out though – the day of carnage in Dubai was just getting started.
Third seed Dominika Cibulkova was punted from the tournament by Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova 6-2 4-6 6-2.
Then French Open champion Garbine Muguruza was forced to retire from her match against Ukrainian veteran Kateryna Bondarenko with an Achilles problem.
The seeds continued to tumble when St Petersburg winner Kristina Mladenovic found her best tennis to hammer second seed Karolina Pliskova 6-2 6-4 in a dominant display.