Hometown star Stosur slumps to first-round exit from Australian Open

Melbourne, Jan.17 (ANI): Australian tennis star Samantha Stosur has slumped to a stunning first-round exit from the Australian Open, losing in straight sets to World No.59 Sorana Cirstea this afternoon.

In her first grand slam appearance since winning last year's US Open, Stosur was thoroughly out-served and out-muscled in the 7-6 (2) 6-3 boilover that left Rod Laver Arena feeling stone cold, the Herald Sun reports.

The upset caps a shattering campaign on home soil for the sixth seed, who spoke openly about the challenges of meeting local expectations after last week's first-round defeat to Francesca Schiavone at the Sydney International.

But few could have predicted her Melbourne Park tenure would last a mere 91 minutes against the unsung Romanian.

Cirstea, however, kept Stosur on the back-foot with a deep strategy and served magnificently to score a much-deserved victory.

Stosur saved three match points in an epic final game, but couldn't hold serve a fourth time as she sent a forehand floating long to become the tournament's highest-ranked casualty thus far. (ANI)