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Can Sam Stosur start her 2015 in the right way by beating Varvara Lepchenko in the opening round of the Brisbane International? Join The Roar as we cover the 1st round match at around 4:00pm AEDT.
After playing in the Hopman Cup last year, Stosur returns to Brisbane to play at the event for the first time since 2013.
The Australian number 1, who is ranked 22 in the world, is unseeded for the event with the line-up being strong for the WTA Premier event.
As a result, she could have landed a tough draw, with 8 seeded players in the top 20.
Thankfully, she didn’t, and drew a winnable match against Varvara Lepchenko, who is 35 in the world.
Unfortunately for Stosur, winnable and Australia don’t mix.
Her record in Australia, which has been poor by her standards, has been illustrated and talked about for many years.
Every year she struggles with the expectations of the country and has lost matches she should have won.
As a result her performances are talked about and analysed by almost everyone in the media.
Her record at the Brisbane International isn’t something that will help in that argument.
In four appearances in Brisbane, she has made the second round three times, and lost in the first round in 2013.
On two of those occasions, she was the top seed for the event, and lost to players who were outside of the top 50.
Today she will be hoping to progress against an opponent who had a strong 2014.
Lepchenko made her first WTA final at the Korea Open where she lost to Karolina Pliskova in three sets.
The American also made the 2nd round of each Grand Slam for the first time in her career.
As for Stosur her 2014 had plenty of highlights despite it not being her best year on tour.
At the French Open, she made the fourth round, as she lost to Maria Sharapova in three sets.
At Wimbledon, Stosur won her second mixed doubles title, with Nenad Zimonjic.
She then won the Osaka Open in Japan for the third time in her career.
A good performance in Brisbane this year will move her back into the top 20.
This starts against Lepchenko, who she has a good record against.
In four matches between the two, Stosur leads the ledger 3-1.
In the last three matches Stosur has won all of them in straight sets.
This included a win at the Cincinnati Masters last year.
The only loss for Stosur was at the 50,000 Dothan event in the United States in 2009.
Based on form, and head to head record, Stosur should win the match against Lepchenko.
Whether she can do it on Australian soil is the big question today.
How she handles her nerves will determine who wins the match today.
If Stosur starts well, and takes the first set, then she should be fine.
If she doesn’t then anything is possible in this match.
The key to the match is the Stosur serve. When her game is riddled with nerves, the first thing that becomes troubled is her serve.
If Lepchenko gets on top of the serve then the American will control the match. If Stosur can serve well then the rest of her game will lift and it will be too much for Lepchenko.
The match is a favourable one for Stosur and it is a nice match to start the season.
I predict Stosur to win the match but it may take three nerve wracking sets to get the job done.
Prediction: Stosur to win 2 sets to 1 and start to eliminate the choke tag in Australia.
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