Stosur captures second season title in Memphis

With regular partner Lisa Raymond, Australian world No.1 Samantha Stosur has captured her second doubles title of 2006 at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships & Cellular South Cup in Memphis.

The final saw reining US Open doubles champions and top seeds Stosur and Raymond capture their seventh WTA Tour doubles title as a team with a 7-6(2) 6-3 victory over the impressive young wildcard pairing of Belarusian 16-year-old Victoria Azarenka and 15-year-old Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.

For proven doubles specialist Raymond, it was her 52nd career Tour doubles title, while the win was the 21-year-old Stosur’s ninth career doubles crown.

The world’s top pairing added the Memphis trophy to their first season title at Tokyo a fortnight ago, moving on from the disappointment of being upset in the Australian Open final by the Chinese pairing of Yan Zi and Zheng Jie.

Earlier in the week, fifth-seeded Stosur was a first round casualty in the singles draw, upset 6-4 6-3 by 85th-ranked American Ashley Harkleroad.

In the men’s draw, Australia’s 19th-ranked doubles specialist Todd Perry, with regular partner Simon Aspelin of Sweden, was knocked out in the semi-finals of the doubles.

The No.2 seeds, who entered the 2006 Memphis tournament as defending champions, were ousted by the South African-Croatian first-time pairing of Chris Haggard and Ivo Karlovic.

The duo of Perry and Aspelin saved two match points in the match tiebreak – a rule introduced by the ATP at the beginning of 2006 to enhance the appeal of doubles to spectators and the top touring singles players – but were unable to save a third, eventually succumbing 4-6 6-3 12-10.

In singles, Davis Cup representative Peter Luczak stumbled to a first round loss in the week following Australia’s 3-2 Cup victory over Switzerland, while Tour veteran Wayne Arthurs held match point and served 33 thundering aces in his second round defeat at the hands of world No.3 Andy Roddick.

Despite playing some of his best tennis of the season, the loss was the last match for three months for the 34-year-old Arthurs, as he heads home to Melbourne to await the birth of his first child.

•  Have a view on this story? Send us your feedback!