At 30-year-old Sam Stosur didn’t have the finest season of her great career, but at least she has managed to win a title…at the very end.
Seeded no.1, Sam has won all matches in Osaka without dropping a single set. The same happened in the final against world no.37 Zarina Diyas. After surviving a tough first set when Stosur had to recover from 1 break down and then she had to save a couple of set points in the tiebreak, Sam managed to have a far smoother second set (2 breaks for the Australian, no service game dropped). Eventually Stosur won 7-6 (7) 6-3.
Some numbers
The match was so even that Sam won just 8 points more than Zarina (79 vs. 71). The key of the match was the better break point conversion rate for Stosur (3/6) while Diyas succeeded in converting just 1 of 4. Match Stats
Stosur: Better late than ever
Sam commented “It’s great to win a title, and I left it pretty late to try and win one this year, so better late than never! But I really love playing this tournament. Three times now – it’s just a great feeling to come back here each year, and if you win the title then it’s even better, obviously!”
