Sam Stosur, the 10th seed from Australia, was decisively eliminated from Wimbledon, losing in straight sets to Hungary’s Melinda Czink.
Although the Queenslander has historically struggled on the lawns of London, her victory against world number 3 Vera Zvonareva in the Eastbourne warm-up tournament rekindled hopes that she might create an impact at SW19.
However, Stosur was outclassed by Czink, continually making errors throughout the match. The world number 262 closed the match 6-3, 6-4 when Stosur sent a shot long on Czink’s second match point.
Stosur, aged 27, struggled to find her rhythm after a poor start, losing the first six points and finding herself down 3-0 within just seven minutes. Despite managing to recover after falling to 4-0 by winning the next three games, Czink maintained her advantage, delivering the tournament’s most significant upset to date.
In contrast, Australian teenager Bernard Tomic enjoyed better fortune, defeating 29th-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 to progress to the second round, where he will face another Russian, Igor Andreev.
Lleyton Hewitt also advanced past Japan’s Kei Nishikori, though it was a challenging match. Hewitt began strongly, but Nishikori mounted a significant challenge, making it tough for the Australian.
by Terence Johns
