2015 French Open finalist Lucie Safarova has exited the competition at the third-round stage, having suffered defeat to Samantha Stosur in three sets this afternoon.
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The number 11 seed was beaten 6-3 6-7(0) 7-5 at Roland Garros to bring her hopes of a first singles Grand Slam success to an early end.
Both players were able to hold their serve in the opening set, but Stosur showed the nerve required to break the deadlock in that regard when breaking her opponent in the eighth game.
Safarova did level up the contest in an entertaining second set that went all the way, storming to a 7-0 success in the tie-break to seemingly swing momentum back in her favour.
A loss of serve in the second game of the decider saw Safarova get off to a shaky start, though, until digging deep to peg her opponent back with a fourth break point in a tense seventh game.
Once more it was Stosur who pushed on to taste victory, however, seeing the match through with a 7-5 final-set triumph to open the way for a meeting with Simona Halep in the round of 16.
Daniel Lewis
