Francesca Schiavone upset US Open champion Samantha Stosur's preparations for next week's Australian Open with a straight sets opening round win at the Sydney International Monday. The Italian matched home favorite Stosur's power with aggression to secure a 6-2, 6-4 win in 90 minutes in the feature match on Ken Rosewall Arena. The loss followed Stosur's second-round exit from the Brisbane International last week and has left the world No. 6 short of match practice heading into the season's first grand slam starting in Melbourne on Monday. Schiavone, ranked 11, has been a tricky opponent for Stosur, beating her in the 2010 French Open final and in last year's Fed Cup tie in Australia. Stosur, who mastered Serena Williams in last year's US Open final, said she failed to cope with the center court crowd's expectations. Defending champion Li Na, third seed Victoria Azarenka and eighth seed Marion Bartoli all progressed to the last 16. China's Li needed just an hour to sweep past Russia's Ekaterina Makarova 6-0, 6-3 after reeling off the first nine games of the match. The French Open champion next faces South African Chanelle Scheepers for a place in the quarterfinals. “Last year is over,” the world number five said. “I don't have to think about what I did already last year. I mean, everyone has to look forward to see what you should do right now.” Azarenka only dropped three games in a 6-2, 6-1 defeat of Swiss qualifier Stefanie Voegele and takes on former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic in the next round. French Open semifinalist Bartoli beat Slovenia's Polona Hercog 6-3, 6-3 to set up a showdown with Australian Jelena Dokic. Elsewhere, two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova upstaged sixth-seeded Russian compatriot Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 6-2 and Dominika Cibulkova defeated China's Peng Shuai 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to face world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in Tuesday's second round.
