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ROLAND GARROS

June 2, 2018

Samantha Stosur

Paris, France

G. MUGURUZA/S. Stosur

6-0, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please.

Q. You ran into a formidable opponent today. Talk us through it.
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah. To be honest, the first few games especially, I was, like, geez, I don't feel like I've done that much wrong here, and I'm 3-Love down, 4-Love down. And then, before I knew it, the first set was done.

And, yeah, on the scoreboard, looked really completely out of the match, but I didn't necessarily feel like that. I felt like, you know, I was not playing too bad.

But it was really hard to get the ball away from her today. I thought she played extremely well. And, you know, even serving, trying to serve the corners, every ball was this far from the baseline, and I just never really got a look in.

So it was kind of -- it was hard out there, because I was thinking, okay, what else can I do? And I would chip my backhand a little bit, give her no pace, and then I thought, okay, I've just got to go for it here.

And then, yeah, you get a slight -- a shorter ball. You try and do, you know, a little bit more, and then you make an error.

So it's kind of -- it's not an easy one to be out there playing today.

Q. Obviously, the milestone of making third round ten straight years is something positive to take out of the week?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Oh, sure. I mean, I still feel like I've had a good tournament. I was really happy with my first two matches.

And again, even today even though the score was, obviously, terrible, thought, you know, I did everything I could. Held my head high and gave it my best shot. That's kind of the way it goes.

I mean, I just played doubles. I played really well. Lost that one in three. All of a sudden, the tournament is over. I woke up this morning feeling great, and now, yeah, what do I do now? I'm kind of like, where to?

Q. Your ranking is going to take a bit of a hit, but you also have no points to defend the next few months. Have you still got the desire to sort of build them all back and continue playing, and do you take some inspiration from Serena and some of the other players as well?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah. Kind of from now until the end of the year, it's only up for me. So I know -- I think I'm probably dropping out of top hundred now, I think, but anything from here on is going to help. So I'm definitely motivated.

Just literally two seconds ago I was talking about is there another tournament I can get to before Mallorca and see from there.

So we've got a bit of thinking to do tonight, but I definitely intend to keep going and try to really get myself back where I think I'm capable of being.

Q. So what is your exact schedule between now and Wimbledon, pending tonight's decision?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Mallorca, Eastbourne, Wimbie, and then I'm going to start on clay again after Wimbledon.

So, yeah, apparently there's a couple of tournaments -- well, I know there's a couple tournaments before Mallorca. And so, yeah, obviously, I haven't entered anything, so who knows?

But I may have either a holiday or I'll be playing against next week.

Q. How concerning is it on that ranking aspect?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: To be honest, right now, I'm less concerned about it now than what I probably was in March/April at the start of the clay court season.

And it certainly -- I mean, was obviously in the back of my mind. I knew going into this time of the year it was pretty crucial for me to, obviously, win matches. And it would have been nice to do a bit better in Madrid and Rome where there's big points up for grabs.

But it's over now and, yeah, whatever I end up being, I am. And now I can kind of just build from there. So certainly had its moments where I think, oh, geez, what am I going to get left with here and where is my ranking going to be at?

But to be honest, now that it's happened, it's not as bad as what I thought it was going to be.

Q. And getting back to the match, as those games were falling away and you had lost the first eight, did it feel like, okay, short of a bit of shell shock out there?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, I mean, I guess in some ways, because it was kind of like what -- hard to work out where I could make inroads.

And, you know, I kind of would get 30-All or, you know, battling on serve every single time. And up until, yeah, today's match, everything had kind of -- I was getting a few free points; whereas, today I was just not getting any. And, obviously, playing someone top 5 in the world, they're capable of doing that.

But, yeah, even so, I didn't feel like I was panicking out there and, you know, absolutely no answers. I kept fighting, and, yeah, unfortunately, it just wasn't enough.

Q. And is it easier to get over a match like this or is a loss is a loss? The fact that it wasn't easy or the fact that she was so awesome out there?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah. Sometimes you got to give your opponent credit too. I think she did play exceptionally well today.

And sometimes probably they're easier to handle than if you go out and put in a really terrible performance.

But, yeah, certainly it wasn't the third round I was looking for today, but unfortunately it happens.

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