SAMANTHA Stosur wasn’t reading a lot into her comfortable win at a Roland Garros charity match on the eve of the French Open.
Australia’s top women’s player beat Spain’s Lourdes Dominguez Lino, who is ranked No. 83, 6-2 in the annual Benny Berthet exhibition competition on Saturday. But, perhaps in an indication of how seriously some take the pre-tournament hit out, clay king and world No. 1 Rafael Nadal was defeated by little-known Argentinian Brian Dabul. Stosur hopes her win was a good omen for the French Open, where she has been seeded 30th. “I just wanted to try and get a good set in and that’s what I did,” Stosur said. “It was all obviously light-hearted and everything, it doesn’t mean anything at the end of the day, but it’s nice to walk off the court feeling like you’ve played pretty well.” The charity event provided Stosur, 25, with a good chance to hone her game after her scheduled practice session on the red dirt was interrupted by rain.
Her opening-round match against Italian world No. 41 Francesca Schiavone will be played on Monday or Tuesday (Paris time).