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ROLAND GARROS

May 27, 2015

Samantha Stosur

PARIS, FRANCE

S. STOSUR/A. Hesse
6-0, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Did you want to get back and watch State of Origin?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, I do but I have doubles as well, trying to make a quick day. No, I obviously played very well today, first game, was in control of the match. Yeah, it's a good feeling.

Q. You seemed to have a lot of clarity on court. Selections were quite impressive. Is that something to do with your new relationship again with Dave?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, it's got something to do with it probably. Just knowing what obviously you do best and then how you're going to make that happen time and time again. Today, yeah, playing the player I was playing against, it was pretty clear straight up what I had to do, so I just tried to stick to that every game and go for it every single time. You know, I tried to work on a couple of little serve/volley things and couple other things as the match went on, feeling like you're in control of the match. Doing what comes pretty naturally is a good feeling.

Q. Obviously Maria is next. That's a whole new challenge.
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, look, playing Maria is always a big challenge for me. No matter what surface it's on, I don't have a very good record at all. Obviously we played last year. That's the last time we played against each other. So it's always a big challenge, and I've got to be ready to have to play, you know, as well or maybe if not better than what I have been doing. So it's one of those matches that's a tough matchup, but I know I've got, you know, the game that can trouble here, and hopefully I can do it well and we will see what happens.

Q. Obviously last year only a couple of games away from winning in the second set. Does that give you confidence?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, look, last year was very close, and all of a sudden it was very far away. Yeah, that's certainly a position I'd like to try to get in again, and hopefully this time if I do get in a position it won't fall away so quickly. But, yeah, I do feel like I'm playing well. I have had, like I said the other day, I have had a good leadup and now I have played another really good match here, and it's all going to help me going into this next one.

Q. When it's a hotter, drier day here, is that something that you're aware of in the sense that if it's cold and damp you feel like you might have to work a little bit harder with your game style in Paris?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, I mean, the conditions can change a lot here day to day, and when they do change from being like this to being a bit drizzly and you keep playing, it's a lot harder work. So if it stays like this, then I will be very happy and it makes life a little bit easier for me to use the parts of my game that, you know, I can trouble my opponents. I don't have to try so hard to do that stuff. So it's one of those things. You've got to be ready for anything here, but if it can be like this, then obviously I probably much prefer it.

Q. What about not having to play at night? If there were night sessions, those would be a little cooler too, right?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, for sure. More than happy to keep playing in the day here in France (smiling).

Q. How are your confidence levels and head space compared to this time last year?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Very different (smiling). Yeah, I mean, right now I feel like I have really kind of turned a corner, playing the way I know that I can and the way I enjoy and doing the things that, you know, obviously make me have good results. So that's a much better place to be than where I was this time last year.

Q. What is it about Maria that makes her so tough?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, I mean, I think you'd probably say she's one of the best competitors there is out there. She fights from the first point to the last point. Doesn't give much away, and, you know, when her back is against the wall she keeps swinging and going forward. She can make that ball on the line and then all of a sudden get herself back into it. She's one of those players that you have to go at the whole time and not let up, and, yeah, keep striving to play the way you know you have to to win.

Q. A little slow start to the season. You've been playing very well now. What do you attribute that to?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, I mean, I guess a change of coach again, back to the old coach who I obviously had my best results with. I think going back with Dave, that's given me confidence and it's just been a very easy transition from when we first started again to now to then, okay, yeah, get on the court, kind of back to what it was two years ago, knowing what I've got to be doing. It comes easily again now. That's probably a contribution, and then playing on a surface that I feel good on. Been able to get over a couple of injuries again. It all I guess makes for a better kind of couple of weeks.

Q. Speaking of the clay here, how would you describe it? Not only just how it plays but how it looks to you and the emotional feel of being here and seeing it.
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Look, I enjoy playing here. I mean, this Grand Slam has given me some of the best wins in my career. I have had lots of good moments here. I enjoy coming back every single year. It's a surface I enjoy playing on, and, I mean, it's a bit of a shame there is kind of only so few tournaments we get to play on the red clay. But like I said, it makes you want to make the most of it while you're here.

Q. When you're staying at a house or flat compared to a hotel, what are the things you enjoy of having your own space when you're at a tournament?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Being able to do my laundry. That's a big one. Made dinner last night. Yeah, just not having to go out all the time to eat. You can have breakfast in your pajamas if you want. You don't have to go downstairs to the lobby and get dressed and that kind of thing. Those simple, easy things that, yeah, it feels you're more at home. Yeah, you don't have to be out and about every single time you want to eat something and get organized.

Q. Here, are you staying at a hotel?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: No, I'm in an apartment, yep.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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