opponent was Petra Cetkovská. Stosur won the match in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals, where she lost a tight match to Lucie Hradecká in two tiebreaks. Her final tournament before the French Open was the Italian Open, where she defeated Sara Errani to make the third round, where she lost to Venus Williams. At the French Open, as the sixth seed, Stosur advanced to the quarterfinals without dropping a set. She defeated Petrova in the third round, and then outplayed Sloane Stephens in straight sets. She defeated Dominika Cibulková in two sets to reach her third French Open semifinal losing to Sara Errani in three sets. Stosur lost her second-round match against Arantxa Rus at Wimbledon. In the London 2012 Olympics, Stosur lost in the first round to Carla Suárez Navarro. Stosur won the first set but lost the second and then the third set 8–10. Stosur played mixed doubles with former world No. 1, Lleyton Hewitt. They reached the quarterfinals together, but lost to crowd favorites Andy Murray and Laura Robson, who were competing for Great Britain. At the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Stosur entered the tournament as the third seed. Stosur had a bye in the first round, and she played Anabel Medina Garrigues in the second round winning in three sets. She played Ekaterina Makarova in the second round, comfortably prevailing in two sets. In the quarterfinals, Stosur played wildcard and former world No. 1, Venus Williams, who won in three sets. Defending a Grand Slam title for the first time, Stosur comfortably made it through the first three rounds at the US Open against Petra Martić, Edina Gallovits-Hall, and 31st seed Varvara Lepchenko. Stosur only lost 13 games in the first three rounds. She was then up against rising star Laura Robson. Robson had defeated Kim Clijsters and Li Na en route to the fourth round. Stosur comfortably defeated Robson in straight sets but lost in the quarterfinals to world No. 1, Victoria Azarenka, in a thrilling three-set showdown, which is regarded as the match of the championships. She succumbed seven points to five in the final-set tiebreaker and was two points away from clinching victory. It was the first time Stosur had ever taken a set of Azarenka. Despite not defending the title, Stosur did win the inaugural US Open Sportsmanship Award. Her next tournament was the Pan Pacific Open. As the