Sam Stosur puts a lid on Alize Cornet in Kremlin Cup

By Alexia Krause

Samantha Stosur survives scare at Kremlin Cup

MOSCOW, Russia (TheSportsNEXT) October 19, 2012: Top-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia backed her abilities and talent to stave off a massive scare against Alize Cornet of France and defeated her by 7-6 7-5 to book her a place in quarter-finals of the Kremlin Cup on Thursday.

The victory came for Sam Stosur not really because of her great tennis skills but an inability of Alize Cornet to execute crucial points as the Frenchwoman lost the first set by 7-6 after losing the tiebreak 8-6.

Alize Cornet, who is 43^rd ranked in the WTA Tour Rankings, was once again in a position of advantage in the second set when she was leading by 5-4 but only then she wasted three set points which ate up all the remaining confidence in her. At the same time, Alize’s inability to close the deal gave Sam Stosur enough breathing space to execute a hard-fought victory just before midnight.

In another match, fourth-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia continued her return to top draw with a comfortable 6-1 6-4 victory over Russian qualifier Valeria Solovieva to storm into quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup.

Ana Ivanovic, who will be up against 158^th-ranked Vesna Dolonc of Russia, told reporters, "I think she looked nervous, especially in the first set, because it was probably her first big match.

Her opponent Vesna Dolonc, who took Serbian citizenship last year, thrashed Simona Halep of Romania in virtually no contest by 6-1 6-0 to advance into her first quarterfinal on the WTA Tour this season.

In the men’s Kremlin Cup, top-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine didn’t enjoy the luck as good as Sam Stosur and crashed out of the tournament after 116^th-ranked Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France saved four match points to win the match by 6-3 5-7 7-6.

The 28-year-old Edouard Roger Vasselin has entered third quarterfinal this season where he will take on Ivo Karlovic of Croatia who got the better of Alex Bogomolov Jr. by 7-6 6-4 with the help of 16 aces.

Edouard Roger Vasselin told reporters after his triumph, "Dolgopolov just didn't play well on those match points. He looked a bit tense out there”.

Carlos Berlocq of Argentina, who was seventh seeded in the tournament, also was knocked out of the Kremlin Cup second seeded Andreas Seppi of Italy and fourth-seeded Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil advanced further.

Andreas Seppi edged out Igor Sijsling of Netherlands by 7-5 6-2 while Thomaz Bellucci kicked out Flavio Cipolla of Italy by 6-4 6-1.

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Sofia Arvidsson kicks Marion Bartoli out of Kremlin Cup

By Alexia Krause

Sofia Arvidsson puts Mario Bartoli on wait for WTA Championships

MOSCOW, Russia (TheSportsNEXT) October 18, 2012: Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden stunned Marion Bartoli of France in straight sets by 6-3 6-0 on Wednesday to storm her way into quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

The loss was a huge blow for world number 10 Marion Bartoli who had to win this match to stay at a better position as compared to Samantha Stosur of Australia and now will stay as the second alternate at the season-ending WTA Championships starting next week in Istanbul.

Sofia Arvidsson looked in good shape right from the start and broke her French opponent thrice before dropping service a couple of times. She excelled in the second set and gave Bartoli no chance of making a comeback into the match.

The Frenchwoman didn’t help her chances either as she had six double-faults in the second set alone.

Sofia Arvidsson is bidding to win her second title of the current season after winning title in Memphis earlier this year.

Sofia will face either seventh seeded Maria Kirilenko or Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup.

Talking to reporters after her impressive victory, Sofia Arvidsson said, “I am very happy to win this match to reach the quarterfinals. Marion is a great competitor, a top-10 player, and I knew I would have to be at my best. My strategy was to focus on the way I wanted to play and move her around the court”.

On the other hand, Marion Bartoli showed her disappointment on losing the big match for her chances of qualification in the season ending WTA Championships. She told media persons, “It would have been better for me to come to Istanbul as the first substitute, but it's always very rewarding for me to get a chance to go there. Today my body just refused to execute what my mind was telling it to do. The surface here is very slow and it didn't fit my play well”.

In the other matches played at the Kremlin Cup on Wednesday, Klara Zakopalova advanced into the last eight by getting the better of eighth-seeded Lucie Safarova by 6-4 6-4 in all-Czech match.

Local favorites Valeria Solovieva defeated Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4 6-2 to cruise into second round, while Maria Kirilekno uprooted fellow Russian Elena Vesnina by 7-5 6-1 in her first round match.

In the men's second-round action on Wednesday, eighth-seeded Tatsuma Ito of Japan won a battle of nerves against Russian qualifier Konstantin Kravchuk with final score of 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-3. In another match, Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic came from behind to topple fifth-seeded Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan by 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

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