DUBAI: Samantha Stosur appears to have her best chance to win a first title since the US Open after reaching the quarter-finals of the Dubai Open yesterday.

It is five months since the Australian captured the first Grand Slam title of her career in New York, but during her 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1 win over Lucie Safarova she showed glimpses of a return to title–winning form.

Safarova, who beat former world number one Caroline Wozniacki in Doha last week, found more chances to flay her lefthanded forehand cross court into Stosur’s backhand in the second set.

But in the third, Stosur was able to reimpose her serve, one of the finest in the women’s game, and with some help of some forceful follow-ups, restored the earlier patterns of the match.

“I don’t think I did much wrong in the second set and thought I played a good match,” said Stosur. “I held serve and in the third set I took my opportunities to break.”

Stosur’s cause may also have been significantly aided by top-seeded Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka pulling out shortly before her match with an ankle injury.

That follows the pre-tournament absence of the second-seeded Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.

With Li Na, the French Open champion from China, missing with a bad back, and Vera Zvonareva, the former Wimbledon finalist from Russia, absent with a hip problem, the draw has opened up for her invitingly.

Stosur next plays Jelena Jankovic, the former world number one from Serbia, who reached the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Flavia Pennetta, last year’s conqueror of Azarenka.

Asked if she was surprised at Azarenka’s withdrawal, Jankovic said: “We play pretty much all year round. You know, I think sometimes the schedule is tough, because after Melbourne most of us had Fed Cup.

“That’s really not easy to do. It’s tough on our bodies. I got injured in Fed Cup. I pulled my muscle. So all the players have some issues.”

Agnieszka Radwanska, the fifth seeded Pole who overcame the Israeli Shahar Peer 7-5, 6-4 on a strictly monitored outside court, had a different interpretation of the casualty list which has left her one of the three most likely players to win the title.

“It’s also an explanation that sometimes in the off season the girls are doing too much,” she said. “Then suddenly you have some tough match in the beginning of the year and then it’s too much for the body.”

Radwanska now plays Sabine Lisicki, the Wimbledon semi-finalist from Germany.

Meanwhile Peer, who in 2010 here became the first female Israeli athlete to compete in the UAE, departed celebrating another diplomatic success for her and the ground-breaking Dubai Open.

Serbian Ana Ivanovic is also through to the quarters after defeating Russia’s Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 7-6 (7-4). – AFP

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