Stosur faces big test against Sharapova

Samantha Stosur’s clay court hot streak comes under threat when Australia’s Fed Cup hero faces career nemesis Maria Sharapova for a place in the Stuttgart semi-finals.

Stosur avenged her semi-final defeat last year to Julia Goerges with an impressive 6-2 2-6 6-3 victory over the defending champion.

The US Open champion’s seventh win from eight clay court encounters this month, including four straight at Stuttgart’s indoor arena, set up a quarter-final showdown between the past two French Open runner-ups. Stosur trails Sharapova 9-1 head-to-head but will be buoyed not only by her sizzling form but also her breakthrough success over the triple grand slam winner in their most recent outing at the WTA Championships last October.

Australia’s world number five had to dig deep to defeat Goerges for the first time in three meetings in a win to back up Stosur’s dual Fed Cup triumphs on the same court over the weekend against fellow Germans Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic.

“I started well and thankfully I then got through the third. Clay still works very well for me,” Stosur said.