World No. 2 Maria Sharapova takes on Sam Stosur Friday at 10:00 a.m. ET in one of the last round robin stage matches at the 2012 WTA Championships in Istanbul.
The Russian has made a great start to the week and will be keen to add another victory to her tally and boost her ranking points as she aims to finish the year as the world No. 1.
Sharapova has overcome against Agnieszka Radwanska in three sets with a 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 score line and defeated Sara Errani of Italy in two sets with a 6-3, 6-2 score line.
Stosur, on the other hand, must count her blessings for even given the chance to compete in this matchup.
The Aussie was ranked outside the top eight but was still given the chance following the early withdrawal of Petra Kvitova. Stosur was unable to capitalize and fell to a 6-3 2-6 6-0 defeat against Sara Errani on Thursday in her first tie.
"I really wanted to try and play a good match tonight and be at least one match up, but obviously the result wasn't quite that way," Stosur said after the match.
"It was a little bit up and down - in the second set I got off to a good lead and then was able to hold onto that and win the set, and then I had a break point in the first game of the third and missed a return, and then it was like all the energy went out of me."
This will be the 13th meeting between both players in their WTA career. The last time the pair met was at the 2012 Tokyo WTA Premier quarter finals where Stosur clinched the victory in two sets with a 6-4, 7-6 score line.
However, in head-to-head matches all-time against each other, Sharapova 10-2.
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