WTA Toronto: Samantha Stosur vs. Roberta Vinci

Samantha Stosur will be pleased with her progress this week in Toronto, as she’s emerged from a competitive field to make it through to the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup. The Australian had been expected to win her opening matches against Ayumi Morita and Aleksandra Wozniak, but she demonstrated her ability to beat the best by getting past sixth seed Na Li on Thursday, 6-2, 6-4.

Stosur’s opponent in the last eight will be Roberta Vinci of Italy. Vinci has endured as tough a run in as anyone, but she’s played superbly to get past Yanina Wickmayer, Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic respectively. Incredibly, Vinci won all of these matches without dropping a set. She should be able to cause Stosur plenty of trouble on Friday.

Whilst Stosur and Vinci both have a wealth of experience at this level, this will be the first competitive contest between the pairing. Stosur is ranked above Vinci at the moment, but it looks like an upset could be on the cards. Stosur still has every chance of winning here, but Vinci’s form so far simply can’t be ignored.