Sorana Pays Back Heavy Dues

When the women's draw was announced, one of the battles that immediately stood out was the clash between Romanian Sorana Cirstea and home hope Samantha Stosur. The two share some kind of a history, as they both rose to prominence at the same time, at the 2009 French Open when the Aussie prevailed in their quarterfinal match. While Sorana failed to make an impact since, struggling with injuries and poor form, Sam's career took off. An established top 10 figure now, she won the 2011 US Open crown and, as the number 6th seed, she started the encounter as the huge favourite. However, she has always struggled when playing at home. She has never made past the fourth round in Melbourne and, after early losses in Brisbane and Sydney, the Romanian was in with a chance of her own. Moreover, the latter started the season in much better fashion, holding two match points before succumbing to Germany's Angelique Kerber in the Hobart quarterfinals. The last few months saw a rejuvenated Cirstea working hard to re-ignite the spark that took her to number 23 in the rankings in August 2009. This match was about to be just another testimony of her recently found groove.

Procedures were tense from the very beginning, as both players were feeling the pressure. It was Stosur though who lost her composure, allowing her opponent to wrap up the first set tiebreaker 7-2. As the Australian continued her misery in coping with the huge expectations of a packed Rod Laver Arena, Sorana remained clearheaded. She found her shots and after breaking for a 5-3 second set advantage, she witnessed Samantha crumble once more under the immense burden that was put on her shoulders. The Aussie hit a looping forehand over the baseline and, at the third time of asking, the Romania sealed the victory 7-6,6-3. 

While joking that "probably the whole country hates me now" [sic], Cirstea was delighted with the win, especially as she got to pay some heavy due to her nemesis, who won their two previous meetings in straight sets, both coming in key moments in her career. While she goes on to face Polish Urszula Radwanska, Stosur was left speechless by her inability to perform well in front of the cheering crowd. In her press-conference she confessed her disappointment, saying that this was "certainly not the way that I wanted, not just this tournament, but the whole summer," to play out. "There's not any other word for it but a total disappointment."

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