Samantha Stosur is furious at failing to fire in a third-round French Open loss to defending champion Maria Sharapova.
Sharapova ended Stosur’s campaign with a 6-3 6-4 victory in cold and blustery conditions at Roland Garros on Friday, leaving young guns Thanasi Kokkinakis and 29th seed Nick Kyrgios as Australia’s last remaining singles hopes.
Stosur was livid after 34 unforced errors in the one-hour, 40-minute encounter undermined her challenge.
“Today is a match where I felt really good going into it,” she said.
“I’m just incredibly angry with myself right now that I wasn’t able to do more and give myself more of a chance to really feel like I was in the match.
“It was all round a bit sloppy. Never really felt like I played really well for long period of the match.
“Never any momentum, never any rhythm or anything to the match. It was incredibly frustrating.”
It was Sharapova’s 13th success in 15 encounters with Stosur, but the titleholder was nevertheless thrilled to advance.
“We have had many tough matches despite my record and it’s not something that I look at very lightly when I go up to that match,” said the world No.2.
“I know that I have to beat a good player, and she’s been playing really well and she loves playing here.
“For a third-round match, I thought it was a great result for me.”
Out to atone for a three-set, fourth-round loss last year to Sharapova, Stosur made a statement on the opening point, rifling a high-voltage backhand winner down the line to place the titleholder on early notice.
Stosur was unable to convert from love-30 in the first game, but three unforced errors from Sharapova handed the Australian the first service break for a 2-1 lead.
She gave it straight back, though, double-faulting and floating a slice long, and then dropped serve for a second straight time to fall behind 4-2.
Sharapova invited Stosur back into the set with three double-faults of her own in the next game, only to hit straight back with an angled backhand winner and scorching forehand crosscourt return on break point.
Stosur saved one set point with an advancing forehand winner, but there was no denying the Russian as she closed out an error-riddled first set after 40 minutes.
Stosur thought she’d secured an early break in the second set, only to find an all-or-nothing forehand return narrowly missed the line.
Sharapova safely held after the let-off and, despite raising her game, Stosur was unable to crack the world No.2 and dropped her own serve with another double-fault in the seventh game.
Sharapova recovered from a mid-match coughing fit to hold twice more and prevailed on her third match point to set up a fourth-round meeting on Sunday with 13th-seeded Czech Lucie Safarova.
