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Grand slam champions Stosur and Li exit Wimbledon

June 28, 2012 -- Updated 0954 GMT (1754 HKT)
Arantxa Rus celebrates her second-round victory over Australia's Samantha Stosur on day three at Wimbledon.
Arantxa Rus celebrates her second-round victory over Australia's Samantha Stosur on day three at Wimbledon.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur loses to unseeded Dutch player Arantxa Rus at Wimbledon
  • Defeat leaves Australia without a player in either singles championships
  • Heather Watson becomes first British woman for 10 years to reach third round
  • Italy's Sara Errani completes first-round win without hitting a ball

(CNN) -- U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur suffered another early Wimbledon exit as she crashed out to unseeded Dutch player Arantxa Rus on Wednesday.

The fifth seed's surprise exit means there are no Australian players remaining in either singles championships at the grass-court grand slam.

Defeats for Lleyton Hewitt, Bernard Tomic, Matthew Ebden and Marinko Matosevic meant Australia were left without a player in the men's second round for the first time in 1938.

Rus's 6-2 0-6 6-4 win meant Stosur joined Casey Dellacqua, Ashleigh Barty, Anastasia Rodionova and Jarmila Gajdosova in making a hasty exit from the women's draw.

Rus, ranked 72nd in the world, had never won a match in the main draw before this year's championships. She will next face China's Peng Shuai, who reached the fourth round last year.

Great detail is taken as grounds crews prepare Centre Court for Sunday's historic match between Roger Federer and Andy Murray in the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London. Federer is seeking to tie the record for most men's singles titles at Wimbledon, and Murray is shooting to become the first British male to win his nation's major singles championship in 76 years. See the action as it unfolds here, and visit CNN.com/tennis for complete coverage.<br/><br/> Great detail is taken as grounds crews prepare Centre Court for Sunday's historic match between Roger Federer and Andy Murray in the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London. Federer is seeking to tie the record for most men's singles titles at Wimbledon, and Murray is shooting to become the first British male to win his nation's major singles championship in 76 years. See the action as it unfolds here, and visit CNN.com/tennis for complete coverage.

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"I'm very happy with this win, especially on the grass," said the 21-year-old, who beat former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters at the French Open last year and reached the fourth round in Paris this year.

Chinese 11th seed Li Na was another grand slam winner to exit early, losing 6-3 6-4 to Sorana Cirstea. The Romanian's reward for beating the 2011 French Open champion was a third-round clash with Russian 17th seed Maria Kirilenko.

Meanwhile, Heather Watson became the first UK woman to reach the third round for 10 years.

The 20-year-old walked on to Centre Court wearing headphones and deep in thought, but was soon tuned into the home crowd's enthusiasm for a British player.

She cruised to a 6-1 6-4 win over American Jamie Lee Hampton to move past the second-round stage of a grand slam event for the first time and set up a clash with Polish third seed Agnieszka Radwanska.

"I always knew I could play this well, that l'd get far in these tournaments, but it's different playing like that in practice from bringing it onto the match court at big occasions with pressure," said Watson, who lost in the first round last year and in 2010.

Radwanska went through with a 6-2 6-1 demolition of Russia's Elena Vesnina, who knocked out five-time champion Venus Williams in the opening round.

German 15th seed Sabine Lisicki lost the first set to Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski before recovering to win 3-6 6-2 8-6. A semifinalist last year, Lisicki will next face American debutant Sloane Stephens.

The 19-year-old Stephens, who reached the fourth round at the French Open, followed up her opening win over Karolina Pliskova by beating another Czech, 23rd seed Petra Cetovska, in three sets.

Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm, the oldest player at the tournament at 41, lost 5-7 6-3 6-3 to Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko in her first-round match. Bondarenko will next play Serbia's former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, the 14th seed.

But French Open finalist Sara Errani made it through to the second round without having to hit a ball on Wednesday. Her match with Coco Vandeweghe was halted by rain on Tuesday, with Errani standing at match point.

When they resumed on Wednesday, the American twice served into the net to double fault and secure a 6-1 6-3 victory for Errani.

Top seed Maria Sharapova, who beat Errani in the Paris final, will resume her second-round match against Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova on Thursday.

The Russian battled back from 5-2 down against the 2010 semifinalist to lead 7-6 (7-3) 3-1 when play was halted due to bad light.

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