Stosur ousts Zvonareva to reach Stuttgart semis

Stuttgart: Samantha Stosur admitted Thursday`s quarter-final win over second-seed Vera Zvonareva was her best of the year so far as she reached the last four at Stuttgart`s WTA tournament.

The 27-year-old Australian fifth-seed battled back from losing the first set for a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) victory over the Russian, who is ranked third in the world, in just over two-and-a-half hours. Having made an early exit from January`s Australian Open, Stosur is hoping to use Stuttgart to recapture the form which helped her reach the French Open final at Roland Garros last year. "That`s probably the best match I have played all year," beamed Stosur after reaching the last four of a tournament for the first time in 2011. "It is very encouraging to beat a player as good as her in a tough, tight match." Zvonareva repeatedly broke her racquet strings and even played parts of the match with her coach`s racquet. After the Russian had dominated the first set, the match turned in the second when the 26-year-old needed lengthy treatment for a problem with her right shoulder with the score at 2-1 to the Russian.Stosur capitalised with a series of strong serves to take a 5-3 lead when she then broke the Russian to take the third set. There was drama in the third with the scores locked at 5-5 as both players broke the other to set up the tie-break.Stosur raced into a 5-0 lead before Zvonareva rallied briefly, but the Australian hung on to go into the semi-finals where she will face either her German doubles partner Sabine Lisicki or Germany`s Julia Goerges. "I am not surprised the Germans are doing so well here," said Stosur. "They have good players and a lot of support here after their Fed Cup win.” "I have been playing with Sabine this week, so I know what a good player she is." Bureau Report