2011 champion and world number 22 Samantha Stosur needed just 53 minutes to defeat Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, 6-1, booking her place in the third round. In order to return to the second week of the US Open, Stosur will have to defeat 16th seed Sara Errani who defeated Latvian youngster Jelena Ostapenko after losing the first set 6-0.
Smooth Sailing for Stosur in the Opening Set
To begin the match, Stosur held to love. It was clear that her big serve was going to give Rodina problems in this opening set. In the next game, the Australian number one was able to break the Russian at the first time of asking to open up a 2-0 lead. From there, Stosur continued her dominance on serve with a hold to love to consolidate the early break. Things went from bad to worse for Rodina as despite her best efforts, Stosur broke once more, to open up a sizeable 4-0 lead.
To the unseeded Russian's credit, she fought hard to break and to recover one of the two breaks, thanks to some errors from the Australian. Now up 4-1, Stosur was not hindered by Rodina's late fight back as she was able to use her heavy ground strokes to great effect, to earn herself a few break points. The former US Open champion needed three chances but it was a case of third time lucky for Stosur as the 31-year-old broke once more. Now up 5-1, Stosur closed out the opening set at the first time of asking, as she held to love to win it, 6-1.
More of the Same from Stosur in the Second Set
Stosur began the second set just like she did with the first but in more dominant fashion. The Australian won the first eight points of the second set to break and hold in succession, opening up a 2-0 lead. Now with Rodina serving, Stosur continued to use her heavy ground strokes to give the Russian trouble. At 5'7'', the Russian had to hit a lot of shots at her shoulders, forcing her to hit shots she is not comfortable hitting. Because of this, Rodina continued to make errors that cost her most of the match. Capitalizing on her opponent's struggles, Stosur broke on her second break point chance of the game, to go up a double break.
Now up 3-0, Stosur continued to hold her service games at ease, as her big first serve and kick serve were working really well against an opponent who had no answers. She would go on to hold for a 4-0 lead. Despite all of the trouble the Russian had encountered on this warm morning in Queens, New York, she managed to hold serve for the first time in the match to get on the board. The Aussie replied with a hold of her own, to go up a sizeable 5-1 lead. Stosur was looking to close out the match then and there and she did just that on her second match point. The 2011 champion had cruised past Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, 6-1 to advance to the third round for the fourth time of her career.