Tennis: Stosur, Dolgopolov head Kremlin Cup

MOSCOW: Australia’s world number nine Samantha Stosur and Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine, 20th in the world, head the WTA and ATP entries at the Kremlin Cup which gets underway today. Top-seeded Stosur enjoys an opening round bye along with second-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli, third seed and former world number one Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic, who is seeded fourth. The 28-year-old Stosur is hoping that her strong performance here will boost her chances of clinching a place in the season-ending WTA championships in Istanbul. Last year’s champion Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, seeded fifth this year, will start her title defence with a clash with local favourite Ekaterina Makarova.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2012.