Samantha Stosur will play qualifier Jana Cepelova of Slovakia in the first round of the 2016 Brisbane International at the Pat Rafter Arena. This will be the second time that Stosur and Cepelova have clashed in a professional tour.

In the last seven years, Stosur has suffered early round exits to unseeded players in Brisbane. In 2009, she lost in the second round to Lucie Safarova, 6-4 6-4. She also lost in the second round to unseeded and fellow Australian Jarmila Groth, 6-2 6-4. In 2012, Stosur suffered yet another second-round defeat to Iveta Benesova, 6-4 6-2. The World No. 27 Queenslander was eliminated in the first round, losing to Sofia Arvidsson, 7-6(7) 7-5 and Varvara Lepchenko, 4-6 6-4 7-5 in the 2013 and 2015 Brisbane International, respectively.

Stosur trails 0-1 in her head-to-head record against the Slovakian. The duo’s first and lone meeting took place in the second round of the 2014 Qatar Total Open where the Australian suffered a three-set loss, 6-4 4-6 6-1, to Cepelova. The winner of the match will play sixth seed Spanish tennis star Carla Suarez-Navarro, who beat wild card Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia, 6-1 6-2.

Cepelova qualified in the main draw after scoring victories Shahar Peer, 6-1 6-1 and compatriots Kristina Kucova, 6-2 6-3 and Margarita Gasparyan, 6-1 6-4 in the qualifying draw. Two other players who qualified for the main draw are scheduled to play their first round matches on Monday.

Russian qualifier Elena Vesnina will play former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka at the Pat Rafter Arena. Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko is currently playing against unseeded Madison Brengle for a place in the second round.

Maria Sharapova is the defending champion in Brisbane. The third seed Russian will begin her title defense against fellow compatriot Ekaterina Makarova in the second round.

RELATED STORIES