September 27, 2012 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg
French Open champion Maria Sharapova was upset by eighth-seeded Samantha Stosur 6-4, 7-6 in their quarterfinal match at the 2012 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. The second set tie-breaker was a battle where both players had multiple set points, before Stosur pulled it out 12-10. Stosur had won just one of her previous 11 meetings with Sharapova. Stosur had a 1-10 record lifetime against Sharapova coming into the match.
"One point here, one point there … it just didn’t go my way," said Sharapova. "I can play a lot better tennis than I have this week."
Next up for Stosur is Nadia Petrova, who defeated sixth seeded Sara Errani of Italy, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. Petrova came back after dropping the first set and being 4-1 in the second. Petrova leads Stosur in their head-to-head series, 5-3, though Stosur has won three of the last four meetings.
"When you don’t take a few (chances) in a row you don’t know what’s going to happen," said Stosur. "I just kept trying to go for it and thankfully it paid off."
The other Tokyo semifinal will feature Angelique Kerber, who won in a walkover against Victoria Azarenka taking on the third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, who won in straight sets against 10th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-3 in the day’s last quarterfinal match.
