French Open finalist Samantha Stosur of Australia continued her impressive run of form at Stuttgart’s WTA tournament by winning the doubles with partner Sabine Lisicki on Sunday. The pair enjoyed a 6-1, 7-6 (7/5) win over Germany’s Kristina Barrois and Jasmin Woehr in the final and Stosur walks away with a winners cheque of 35,020 US dollars. In the singles tournament, the 27-year-old knocked out second-seed Vera Zvonareva in the last eight, but lost the semi-final to local favourite Julia Goerges, who faces world number one Caroline Wozniacki in Sunday’s final. Stosur is expected to move up to the ranking of sixth in the world when the WTA rankings are next released.
Rising star Petkovic to work with Graf’s ex-coach: Germany’s rising tennis star Andrea Petkovic is set to start working with Steffi Graf’s former coach Heinz Guenthardt on Monday. The 23-year-old, ranked 19th in the world, will start working with the 52-year-old Guenthardt, who worked with Graf during the last eight years of her career, in her home city of Darmstadt, Germany.
“The point is that I will incorporate my ideas and experiences and give an input,” Guenthardt told SID, an AFP subsidiary.
“I will not be working with Andrea every day.” Petkovic reached the last eight of the Australian Open in January and was beaten in the quarter-finals of Stuttgart’s WTA tournament by current world number one Caroline Wozniacki.
Serbia’s Petar Popovic will remain Petkovic’s main coach, but Guenthardt will work with the rising star in an advisory capacity and will travel with her for her next tournament which starts in Madrid this weekend.
Guenthardt, who works as a commentator for Swiss television, had trained former world number one Ana Ivanovic from February to November 2010.
