Tennis News

BRISBANE, Australia – Garbiñe Muguruza withstood a spirited comeback from Samantha Stosur to triumph in a thrilling opening-round encounter at the Brisbane International on Monday.

To the disappointment of a partisan crowd, Brisbane native Stosur was unable to prevent Muguruza winning, 7-5, 6-7(2), 7-5, in  just under three hours.

Historically Stosur has struggled to produce her best tennis in Brisbane, winning only four matches in her six appearances. And under the roof of the Pat Rafter Arena she was in trouble early on, falling behind 0-30 and facing a break point at 2-2 only  to bail herself out with a couple of heavy-duty deliveries.

.@GarbiMuguruza wins a brilliant point against @BamBamSam30 at @BrisbaneTennis – but the first set is still on serve. pic.twitter.com/NGM8C4s2O1

— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017

They stayed locked on serve until very last game of the set, when Stosur took advantage of a lapse from Muguruza to bring up three set points. But the Spaniard refused to crack under pressure, crushing a deep backhand deep to reach the safety of deuce. A flurry of errors from Stosur in the next give Muguruza the opening she needed to take the set.

Targeting the Stosur backhand, Muguruza twice broke at the start of the second. Each time the hometown favorite hit right back, going on to level in a one-sided tie-break. She carried this momentum into the decider, yet despite forging 4-2 ahead, the ghosts of past appearances came back to haunt her as the No.4 seed produced the more authoritative – and assured – tennis to take a place in the second round.

.@SvetlanaK27 starts 2017 with a big milestone! pic.twitter.com/Fvzzcg8xD8

— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017

There she will face Daria Kasatkina. Should she come through that test, another russian, No.5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, is her likely quarterfinal foe. Kuznetsova enjoyed a more straightforward start to 2017, registering her 600th career win by easing past Louisa Chirico, 6-2, 6-4.

Also advancing was No.8 seed Roberta Vinci, after she dig deep to see off lucky loser Kateryna Bondarenko, 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 7-6(5).