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Samantha Stosur is Australia’s last player standing at the French Open after compatriot Jarmila Groth was bundled out in straight sets by fifth seed Jelena Jankovic.
Serbia’s former world No.1 made quick work of it by defeating the 22-year-old Victorian 6-1 6-1 at Roland Garros in 106 minutes.
Groth’s departure leaves Stosur as the only Australian left in the main draw after she earlier secured her slot in the final 16 with a surprise 6-3 4-6 6-1 win over Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva.
Stosur was delighted with her best result at Roland Garros and at ending her losing streak to 2004 finalist Dementieva.
The elegant Russian last defeated Stosur at the Australian Open in January, when she won in straight sets before making the semifinals.
Stosur, who was seeded 30th for this tournament, was knocked out of Roland Garros in the second round in 2008 after having made the third round the previous year.
“It’s great, I’m really happy,” she said of her successful breakthrough into the round of 16.
“I thought I came out playing pretty well (against Dementieva).
“I wasn’t too nervous or anything and tried to handle the conditions as best I could.
“It was pretty windy out there and I think it really picked up in the second set and especially at the start of that set I kind of struggled down that end with the wind, balls were kind of getting away from me.
“But then even though I lost the set I thought I was still right in there.
“Those last couple of games were close and just knew I had to keep plugging away in that third set and got ahead and just kept the lead and just went for it.”
The 25-year-old Queenslander will next face France’s Virginie Razzano who beat Italy’s Tathiana Garbin 7-5 7-5.
Stosur has faced Razzano just once before, with the Frenchwoman losing their first round match at the 2004 US Open.
Earlier this week the unseeded Razzano, who is ranked No.36 in the world, upset Spanish 18th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues.
Dementieva said she had not been at her best physically and made too many unforced errors against Stosur.
“I just feel I am far away from being in good shape,” she told reporters.
“She was playing very solid, with a very good first serve.
“I was not ready to play at the level that I want to play. It’s a very physical game when it comes to the clay courts, so it’s not good for me.”
Groth was also disappointed with her performance against Jankovic.
“I started well but then I guess it wasn’t my day,” she said.
“She runs a lot, she gets a lot of balls back and if you want to beat her you can’t really make as many (mistakes) as I did.
“As much as we had a lot of games where it was 30-30 and deuce and all that, it wasn’t kind of my day.
“I had way too many errors and could not finish the games I started well with and the more we played then I guess the more the mistakes came and the frustration came as well.”
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