Stosur retires in Charleston third round

 Samantha Stosur (photo by Daniel Ward)

Sam Stosur came to Charleston while still undergoing rehab for a calf strain she sustained in Indian Wells. Her leg didn't bother her in her opening round, but tonight, she retired not long after second round play began. Stosur played Eugenie Bouchard, who was dictating most of the points, and who won the first set 6-1. The Canadian player got an early break in the second set, but the match ended when she went up 2-0.

Bouchard said she did notice that Stosur wasn't moving as well as usual, but she assumed it was because the stadium court surface was kind of slippery. Stosur did call for the trainer at the end of the first set, but it looked as though the trainer was simply re-wrapping Stosur's leg.

The match--scheduled for 6 p.m. because of an all-day rain delay--had to be

postponed until 9 p.m. because there was so much water collected on the court surface. Fortunately, the Club Court drained in time for a 6 p.m. match, so Jelena Jankovic and Jessica Pegula played there instead of in the stadium.

Jelena Jankovic (photo by Daniel Ward)

This time around, Jankovic was moving in her classic style--and she didn't fall down. She breezed through the first set, 6-0. Pegula got an early break in the second set, but Jankovic broke her back for 3-all. After losing the break advantage, Pegula began to unravel, hitting her racket against the back fence in anger. She was broken again, and--serving at 4-5 to stay in the match--she was broken at love. To make matters worse, she gave Jankovic the final point with a double fault.

Jankovic said later that she had made the adjustment from hard courts to green clay, and felt much more comfortable moving on the court than she did at the beginning of the tournament.

Stefanie Voegele (photo by Daniel Ward)

Eugenie Bouchard (photo by Daniel Ward)

Stefanie Voegele upset 10th seed Julia Goerges, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. Goerges was suffering from some type of respiratory ailment throughout the match.

In the only doubles match played today, top seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Liezel Huber advanced to the semifinals with a straight set victory over Chan Hao-Ching and Olga Govortsova.

Tomorrow will be a very busy day as players endure double match play in order to catch up. The night match will feature Stefanie Voegele and number 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki.

(photo by Daniel Ward)