losses at the Pan Pacific Open and the China Open, both to Maria Kirilenko. However, on 9 October 2011 it was announced that Stosur had qualified for the year-ending WTA Championships in Istanbul. Stosur was runner-up at the HP Open where she was defeated by second seed Marion Bartoli in the final. Along the way she defeated Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, Misaki Doi, seventh seed Chanelle Scheepers and Zheng Jie. Stosur was placed in the white group for the Tour Championships. Her first match was against second seed Sharapova, winning the match in two sets. In this match, not only did Stosur cause an upset against the second seed, she won her first match against the Russian after losing to Sharapova in their previous nine encounters. In addition, Stosur has won six of her last seven matches against current top-2 players. (The only loss against a current top-2 player at that time was against world No. 1, Serena Williams, in the 2010 Australian Open.) In Stosur's second round-robin match, she lost to fourth seed Victoria Azarenka. This was her fifth loss against Azarenka and has yet to win a single set from Azarenka. Stosur beat fifth seed Li Na for the loss of one game in her final round-robin match to advance to the semifinals for the second straight year, where she met maroon group winner Petra Kvitová for a spot in the final. She lost the match in three sets, despite being 7–5, 1–0 up with a breakpoint to go 2–0. Despite the loss, this was the first time Stosur won a set against Kvitová. Kvitová went on to defeat Azarenka in the final, making it the second consecutive year that Stosur lost to the eventual champion in the semifinals. Because of her performance at the WTA Championships, Stosur replaced Vera Zvonareva as the world No. 6, and finished the season ranked No. 6 for the second straight year. 2012: Continued success Seeded first, Stosur started the year by losing in the second round of the Brisbane International to Iveta Benešová. She then suffered two first-round defeats at the hands of Francesca Schiavone at the Sydney International, and then by Sorana Cîrstea, at the Australian Open. Stosur admitted that she could not cope under the heavy weight of home expectations, especially after winning the US Open. Despite the result, Stosur's ranking remained at No. 5 due to her not having many