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BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL PRESENTED BY SUNCORP

January 4, 2016

Samantha Stosur

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

S. STOSUR/J. Cepelova

6-4, 3-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Nice wrist jewelry. Need to get a scan or not that serious?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: No, I don't think it's necessary. I mean, I spoke to my physio very quickly. I've just done my cool down and showered and that's it. I don't think it's anything serious.

For some reason as the first set was going on I could fell feel it on my forehand. Yeah, I don't know. Never had a problem with this wrist. Hopefully it's nothing too important, I guess.

Q. That forehand really worked for you the rest of that set; third set it was wonderful.
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, like I said out on court, I wasn't going to step off the court, so I had to try and block it out. And even though it was still sore, it's still my best shot so I wasn't going to change my tactics and not hit it anymore. I had to still go after it.

Yeah, probably the last 20, 25 minutes of the match was the best I played. I guess that's a really good thing.

Q. Wasn't your best tennis overall, but a win that you really wanted and needed.
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, it's hard to play your best tennis every day. I don't think anyone is probably playing their best tennis the first time they step out on court for the year.

If you win you give yourself another chance, and that's something I haven't been able to do for a few years here. Yeah, I am really pleased to walk away with a win, especially being down in that third set and then find that, yeah, ability to come back and play well and win it when you are down, to turn things around.

So there was lots of positives I could take out of that.

Q. Any concern with the wrist? You've got to be back on court again tomorrow evening.
SAMANTHA STOSUR: No. I mean, I'm not freaking out about it. Like I said before, I need to go see my physio and do whatever we need to do tonight.

Then tomorrow playing night match there is that little bit of extra time if it is a bit sore. I'm sure we'll come up with a plan and be out on court ready to go.

Q. Every player has rust in their first match. Where did you feel the rust most in today's match and what were you pleasantly surprised about with respect to your performance? Probably I mean I thought I was at the start always hard the movement and those kind of?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: At the start I think it's always hard, the movement and all of those kind of little details with your feet and just being at the ball at the right time and all that kind of thing can be probably the thing that you find the hardest.

I thought today it actually wasn't too bad. My fitness and everything, I felt good out there apart from this. So that's a really good thing. Sometimes in a long three-setter, first match, no matter what, even though you've done all the work, playing matches is always different. I'm sure tomorrow morning I'm going to wake up feeling pretty sore.

I think my footwork was pretty good. I was pretty happy with especially my slice first serve. Probably mostly the way I was able to hang in more so than any particular one shot.

I thought my forehand cross was good, but I think there were other things that were probably more important today, and that's what I did well.

Q. What about coming up against Carla tomorrow?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: I don't know what our head-to-head is, but I've won some, I've lost some. She's a very good player probably the last 18 months or so.

She had a bit of a rough trot last year with a string of losses, but probably the last 18 months, two years has been the best of her career. She's a quality player. She's very nice looking groundstrokes and does everything well.

So I'm going to have to play well, there is no doubt about it. Yeah, it gives me another chance to get out on court, and I'm looking forward to that.

Q. You practiced with her the other day, and you would've known you were playing her. Would you normally withdraw from that situation in that scenario?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Some players do. To be honest, didn't really bother me. It's not like we had to play the next day. And like I said, we've played a bunch of times. It's not like going and practicing the other day together it's all of a sudden you've found the secret formula to beating her.

I wouldn't have been surprised, you know, maybe against some other players if they did pull out, but we're both I guess more the relaxed kind. We did our practice set and we were happy with that and that's fine.

So, yeah, I mean, like I said, we've played many times. There wasn't anything glaringly obvious because of the practice the other day.

Q. If you want to get back into that top 20, beating players like Carla, they're the players you've got to be beating, huh?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, exactly. Players like today are the ones you've got to be beating. I mean, for me, I like to -- I guess for everyone, you want to beat all the players ranked below you, and then you get the chances to play the players that are ranked higher than you. Yeah, playing those girls is really good opportunity.

Tomorrow is important for me no doubt to try and keep rising my ranking. Every time I step on court it is.

Q. How happy were you to come back from the 3-0 deficit, and where were moments where you felt like you had let this match slip way?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: No, I never felt like I was down and out. Maybe because it was similar almost in that first set. I was able to turn things around. But I was pretty clear on what I was trying to do, and knew that on certain areas of her game I was going to get opportunities.

So I think it was more a matter of staying calm and not panicking and thinking, Okay, it's 3-Love. It's so far to go. It was one break. Little by little you get that back. Like I said, probably the last 20, 25 minutes was the best I played.

If you can raise at that point in time, then that's always fairly good. Even if I lost, at least I was able to play better and give myself a chance.

Q. As you go into this season, do you feel any different in terms of your perspective or your goals or anything as you go into 2016 than 2015 or 2014?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Probably the last year or so I have had a bit better perspective. I still remember the first week that Dave and I started back together in May. Driving to the airport we had a really good chat about, Okay, where I want to be and what I want to get out of my tennis and kind of just what am I doing and why do I want to do this and how am I going to achieve that the best way.

I think I have been able to have a better perspective on my tennis. I know what I've got to do. I know what I'm good at and not so good at. I know how I'm going to feel. I know all these things. Like I said yesterday, I'm very aware of a lot of things, but you've got to, I guess, make adjustments when it counts. That's when you're as the on the court.

First and foremost I want to enjoy my tennis, and I feel like I'm doing that again. That's a really good start. If I can do that, then I know my best tennis is going to come out.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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