Stosur leads Aussie ladies into the Fed Cup top echelon.

Samantha Stosur has hauled Australia back into the Fed Cup top-flight with a 6-4 6-1 victory over Germany’s Andrea Petkovic in Stuttgart. Stosur backed up her opening day straight-sets win over world No.14 Angelique Kerber to dismiss the returning Petkovic in one hour and 14 minutes on indoor red clay at the Porsche Arena. The win handed Australia an unbeatable 3-0 advantage in the tie and secured the nation a berth in the elite eight-nation World Group next year. Stosur entered the weekend with a 1-5 record this year against top-20 players following a mixed start to 2012. However the combination of the European spring and red dirt under her feet again proved agreeable as the 2010 French Open finalist produced two impressive wins before Roland Garros next month.

Following Gajdosova’s shock win over Julia Goerges on the opening day, the Germans decided to replace Goerges with world No.11 Petkovic on Sunday. It was a gamble considering that Petkovic had not played a match for three months because of back stress fractures, and the home girl was not able to cope with Stosur’s game in front of a parochial German crowd.

 

Final eight decided in Guangzhou Open.

Defending champion Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia advanced to the quarter-finals of the Guangzhou Open by beating Mandy Minella of Luxembourg 4-6 6-2 6-3 on Wednesday. Top-seeded Maria Kirilenko also advanced, defeating Iryna Bremond of France 6-3 6-1. Zheng Jie, the last Chinese player in the tournament, moved into the next round by beating Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand 6-3 7-5, while Zhao Yijing of China lost to Tetiana Luzhanska of Ukraine 6-4 2-6 7-5.