Samantha Stosur has claimed that the number of upsets in the early stages of the Australian Open are proof that there is more depth to women's tennis than in previous years.
Eleven seeds have been knocked out over the opening two rounds in Melbourne, and Stosur, who was beaten by Coco Vandeweghe on Thursday, believes that the younger generation of players are improving quickly.
"Look, again, it proves that almost anyone can beat anyone. Even though we're in one of the biggest tournaments of the year where everyone is trying to peak and do everything right, you think the seeds are going to go through in the first couple of rounds, yeah, it shows there's a lot of quality players who haven't quite gotten to that ranking yet," the Australian told reporters.
"Maybe they're a bit younger and haven't had the opportunities, but they're very good players and on any given day, they can beat someone. I think it does show the depth in women's tennis, especially at the moment. Yeah, no match is a given, that's for sure."
Stosur's defeat to Vandeweghe means that the 30-year-old will have to wait until the French Open to attempt to end a run of nine successive Grand Slams without a quarter-final appearance.
Callum Mulvihill
