The Australian Open farewell tour continued longer than expected. Now, having played her encore, Samantha Stosur will leave the stage on a high. This second-round appearance was Stosur’s 797th tour-level singles match, of which she has won more than 450. On Wednesday, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova ensured there would not be a 798th, the Russian dispatching the Australian veteran 6-2, 6-2.
On a day of upsets in the women’s draw, this was not one of them. The defeat at Kia Arena was emphatic. There was no hint of a comeback similar to that gritty first-round performance against American wildcard Robin Anderson. But even after Pavlyuchenkova broke her serve to take a 5-2 second-set lead and successfully served out the match, Stosur’s smile was unmoving. The occasion, for once, meant more than the tennis.
