June 25, 2008

Casey Dellacqua kept the flag flying for Australia's women at Wimbledon as she moved into the third round with a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over France's Pauline Parmentier.

However, Sam Stosur blew a golden chance to set up an all-Australian third round clash as the wildcard crashed 2-6, 6-0, 4-6 against Czech 18th seed Nicole Vaidisova.

Dellacqua, No.43 in the world rankings, stunned No.12 seed Patty Schnyder in the first round to earn her first ever Wimbledon win and built on that with another impressive display against Parmentier.

She had beaten former Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo and Marion Bartoli, last year's runner-up here, earlier this season, so shouldn't have been lacking in confidence.

But Parmentier, ranked no.59 in the world, broke early and raced into a 3-0 lead before confidently closing out the set.

Dellacqua regrouped in the changeover and was transformed in the second set.

She started to pound fierce forehands from the baseline and broke in the fourth game to go 3-1 and took the set. That set up a tense decider that went Dellacqua's way when she broke late in the final set.

Meanwhile, Stosur, 24, had recovered from dropping the first set to level the match and then led 3-0 in the final set against Vaidisova.

She had won nine games in a row to get to that position but ran out of steam as Vaidisova dug deep to snatch a gutsy win.

Stosur, who struggled with a debilitating virus for several months, will be devastated by the missed opportunity but she can take heart from the way she competed against one of the sport's leading players.

The Queenslander had a dismal record against the Czech teenager, losing all five of their previous meetings and she made an awful start, dropping her first two service games to go 3-0 down and effectively surrender the set.

The vociferous backing of the Aussie fans who packed onto Court Three lifted Stosur at the start of the second set and she broke early when Vaidisova sent a smash carelessly wide.

She managed to save three break points on her next service game and Vaidisova seemed to give up on the set. Stosur, returning with growing confidence, broke again to ensure the match went to a final set.

Stosur was full of confidence now and broke early in the decider when Vaidisova tamely netted a forehand.

That should have been the signal for Stosur to seal the match as Vaidisova looked down and out.

Somehow the Czech managed to break in the fourth game and change the whole momentum of the match. She was suddenly performing like a top 20 player again and broke for the second time to go 4-3 up and close out the tie.