Australian No.1 Samantha Stosur has always struggled with the pressure of high expectations on home soil and this year she had an additional burden in the form of insufficient preparations due to a minor ankle surgery a month and a half ago. Even though Stosur said that she didn't feel as huge a frustration or weight on her shoulders as last year, two first-round losses to kick off the 2013 season, no matter how close they were, must be hurting.

After falling to Sofia Arvidsson 7-6(4) 7-5 in the first round of the Brisbane International, in Monday's night match at the Apia International Sydney, Stosur bowed out to Zheng Jie 6-3 6-7(7) 6-4 in round one. Despite another defeat, Stosur is glad for winning a set and climbing up a break in the third set. In seven years, Stosur has managed to win just two matches at the Sydney tournament, while in Brisbane she's never been past the second round in four tries.

The world No.9 Stosur is now heading to Melbourne and the Australian Open which starts next Monday. She has never done better than the fourth round at the Australian Open and with such poor 2013 lead-up to the Grand Slam, her prospects look quite grim. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

In January this year, Women's Tennis Blog's faithful contributor John Bolan was brave enough to share with the world his predictions about the 2012 year-end ranking and asked you to join him in foretelling the WTA standings, offering the best predictor among you one Top 10 WTA player autograph. Isn't it exciting to see now how John and about 30 of you who joined did?

John was absolutely correct in placing two players – John's No.1 Victoria Azarenka and No.2 Maria Sharapova have finished No.1 and No.2. He misplaced Serena Williams by just one spot, Li Na by two, Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska by three and Caroline Wozniacki by four.

Three of John's Top 10 players didn't make the cut. Kim Clijsters was John's No.3, but in the middle of the year she decided to retire and actualized the decision after the US Open, while injuries pushed John's No.8 Vera Zvonareva and No.10 Sabine Lisicki to No.96 and No.37 respectively. Year-end No.5 Angelique Kerber and No.6 Sara Errani are the biggest top surprises of the season. Let's give the word to John!

I'm thrilled with the outcome since seven of the predicted players finished as final Top 10 players. The fact that my first two picks were exactly correct is a feat I have not been able to do in previous years. The fans using the comment section to submit their own picks also did better than in 2011.

Injuries were once again the biggest issue for great players not finishing in the Top 10. Kim Clijsters, Vera Zvonareva, Sabine Lisicki, Venus Williams and Andrea Petkovic were casualties during 2012. The hardest part of picking the Top 10 is the big unknown of which players will not be able to compete for the entire season. Read more »

After the first three days at the WTA Championships, Maria Sharapova, alongside Serena Williams, was a sure semifinalist, but she had to play against Samantha Stosur on Day 4, just for the sake of completing the round-robin format and Sharapova made quick work of it, with a 6-0 6-3 win.

Stosur joined the WTA Championships action as a replacement for Petra Kvitova, and after being bageled in the third set against Sara Errani yesterday, her despair continued today against Sharapova as she won just five points in the first set to lose it 6-0 in 21 minutes. The Australian gave some resistance in the second set, but the inevitable was just around the corner, and from 2-3 Sharapova won four straight games to cruise in one hour and five minutes.

Sharapova is now 3-0 in the White Group, ensuring that her semifinal opponent will not be the Red Group Serena Williams, as the leading player from one group plays the second-ranked player from the other group and both Sharapova and Williams are leaders in their groups. Sharapova is also keeping her year-end No.1 hopes alive, but if Victoria Azarenka doesn’t lose to Li Na tonight, Sharapova doesn’t stand a chance. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Samantha Stosur stepped in as a replacement for ill defending champion Petra Kvitova, but was soon ushered out of the WTA Championships by Sara Errani, first-time qualifier, who lost to Maria Sharapova on Day 1, but has now earned her chance to fight for a spot in the semifinals. There will be a tough obstacle, though. Errani is 0-22 against Top 5 players and her next opponent in the White Group is world No.4 Agnieszka Radwanska.

Today Errani cruised to a 6-3 2-6 6-0 victory over Stosur, whose aggression paid off in the second set, but she failed to build up on the momentum and berried by a total of 49 unforced errors to Errani's 15 she lost the match, finalizing it with the seventh double fault. Their winners count was 44 for Stosur and 18 for Errani. It's interesting that Errani hit more aces than Stosur, although it is two aces to one.

Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova have certainly qualified for the prestigious semis, while the other two qualifiers will be determined in tomorrow's matches of Sara Errani vs. Agnieszka Radwanska (the second match on schedule) and Victoria Azarenka vs. Li Na (the third match on schedule). Friday's action opens with a match between Maria Sharapova and Samantha Stosur, but its outcome will not affect anything. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Shockingly, defending champion Petra Kvitova has pulled out of the WTA Championships in Istanbul, citing viral illness. After her yesterday's loss to Agnieszka Radwanska, accompanied by 41 unforced errors, tear-eyed Kvitova mentioned extreme nervousness that froze her fingers and legs, but there were no hints about sickness.

First alternate Samantha Stosur will replace Kvitova in the White Group. She will have time to adjust to the situation, as no matches are on schedule for her today. On Thursday she is set to play Sara Errani, and then her remaining round-robin match will be against Maria Sharapova.

Update: Thanks to the tweets of Beyond the Baseline, I'm learning that Kvitova said she misinterpreted her body shaking with nerves. Interestingly, she still plans to play an exhibition match with Maria Sharapova in Prague and lead the Czech Republic in their Fed Cup title defense against Serbia next month in the city. (source: Tennis.com, photo: Moo's Tennis Blog)