Stosur crashes out in Sydney

Samantha Stosur’s Australian Open preparations hit another hurdle today as the US Open champion was beaten in straight sets by Francesca Schiavone in the first round of the Sydney International.

Stosur, the fifth seed in Sydney, never looked likely against her conqueror in the 2010 French Open final, giving up five breaks of serve against the world number 11 before going down 6-2 6-4 in one hour and 30 minutes.