Stuttgart, Germany, 26 April 2017 | tennis.com.au

Sam Stosur has gone down in the opening round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart after falling in three sets to Anastasija Sevastova.

Sevastova, who had lost her two previous meetings to Stosur, won 6-1 4-6 6-3 to move into the second round of the indoor claycourt event.

While the Latvian only dropped serve once for the match, Stosur was broken three times in a forgettable first set.

Although the 2010 Stuttgart finalist recovered in the second stanza, Sevastova resumed control in the third set, breaking in the eighth game and then closing out the match in one hour and 49 minutes.

Stosur finished with 22 winners yet these were cancelled out by 34 unforced errors.

The Aussie did score a win in doubles, combining with Andrea Hlavackova to beat Darija Jurak and Mirjana Lucic Baroni in straight sets.