Samantha Stosur upsets Victoria Azarenka at Southern California Open

Samantha Stosur, winner of the 2011 U.S. Open over Serena Williams, defeated top-seeded Victoria Azarenka for the first time in her career in a 6-2, 6-3 upset in the finals of the Southern California Open for her first tournament victory since that stunning U.S. Open title.

Azarenka started slowly and finished the same way. She lost the opening two games, with her serve broken at love when she had consecutive double faults.

Despite having a 40-30 advantage in the third game, Stosur blew a chance at a 3-0 lead when she double faulted and had two forehand errors and was broken. Stosur then broke Azarenka in the fourth game and saved five break points in the fifth game for a 4-1 advantage. It was an advantage she never really lost.

Stosur came into the match Sunday with a 0-8 record against Azarenka. Her first-set win was the third set she’d won against Azarenka.

In the first game of the second set, Stosur held serve after saving five break points. Azarenka was only one of 12 on break opportunities.

Stosur, seeded fifth, earned $125,000 for the victory. She was a late entrant into the tournament, accepting a wild card after losing her first match at the last tournament in Stanford.

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