Stosur, who skipped the Fed
Cup playoff against Ukraine at the weekend to focus on her claycourt
preparation, saw her work pay off as she fought back from a set down to beat
the Russian, who broke a staggering nine strings and briefly played with her
coach's racquet.
Stosur will now face 22-year-old
Julia Goerges, ranked 32nd, who beat fellow German Sabine Lisicki 6-4, 6-4.
"It is the best match I
have had all year," Stosur said in a courtside interview. "To come
through as close and as tight is just wonderful." An opening game lasting
14 minutes set the tone for a tight encounter with second-seed Zvonareva
breaking her opponent on her ninth opportunity.
The Russian held serve
comfortably and got another break when the Australian whipped a crosscourt
forehand wide to go 4-1 up before taking the first set 6-2.
Stosur initially looked
uncomfortable on Stuttgart's indoor red clay in an error-strewn first set
performance.
The 27-year-old battled her
way back into the contest, serving with much more kick and hitting a better
forehand to lead 5-3 and grab the second set when Zvonareva fired a service
return long.
The Russian was not
distracted by the number of times she had to switch racquets even when she
broke strings on two consecutive points.
The pair traded blows in the
third set before Stosur played a near flawless tiebreak to clinch the match on
her first match point when Zvonareva's return flew long.
In an all-German hard-hitting
battle, Goerges outgunned Lisicki to book her spot in impressive style.
The pair traded bludgeoning
blows from the start and Lisicki, ranked 155th and getting back to her best
after an injury-plagued 2010, recovered despite being a set and a break down to
lead 4-3.
But Goerges fired two
forehand winners to snatch another break and go 5-4 up before serving out the
match.
Two
more Germans are in action later on Thursday with Andrea Petkovic taking on
world number one Caroline Wozniacki and Ristina Barrois facing Poland's
Agnieszka Radwanska
