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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 21, 2010

Samantha Stosur

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

S. STOSUR/K. Barrois
7-5, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Must be pretty exciting to be in the third round.
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, definitely. Very happy to make it back to the third round. Definitely gonna try and push to get to the fourth.

Q. Starting to find your game do you think?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, I was actually really pleased with the way I played today. Thought I moved well and hit my forehand really well. Probably could have probably knuckled down a little harder once I got at break in the first.
Apart from that, really happy with the way I played. Even the end of that first set really knuckled down and got that set. Second set I thought I played pretty well and continued it.

Q. Who's your next opponent?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Brianti. I obviously don't know too much about her. I remember her from a long, long time ago but haven't seen her play for years. Maybe have to do a little bit of research and go from there. Being Italian I'm sure she's gonna be pretty talented and have some flashy shots and be able to do everything of.
I'll have to go out there and worry about my game more so than hers.

Q. Is it possible to let your mind wander to a possible match with Serena?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: To be honest, I haven't really thought about it that much. I know that I don't want to get too far ahead of myself because I'm not there yet.
First things first. I have to play the third round before the fourth.

Q. With two wins here, compare that to how you felt in Perth. Is it more confidence? Parts of your game are gelling?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, everything. More confidence, I feel like I'm hitting the ball better and have a much better rhythm and groove on the court a lot more sure of myself.
I think at Hopman Cup I was a little more tentative and, I don't know, uptight about certain things. Obviously that didn't work too well. Really just tried to find my way the last week.
Now being out on court and playing two matches, I'm starting to feel really good and can feel my confidence lifting. Hopefully it's gonna keep going that way.

Q. Is it hard to go out and play doubles? Do you feel physically tired now?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Maybe a little bit. But that's all part of being a tennis player. If you enter both events, you gotta be ready for it. After being a set and a break up, maybe went off with the fairies a little bit.
Before you know it, you're out of the doubles tournament. Yeah, now just got singles, so I guess it's not gonna be an issue this week.

Q. When you were a kid and playing tennis, is this the tournament you always thought about? Did you watch it and come here as a young person?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, I loved it. I remember we were living in Adelaide at the time, and mum and dad flew all of us down here, all of my, my brothers and myself down here for the women's final one year. We watched Seles play Graf. It was the best day ever. Best weekend of my life up until that point.
Yeah, I always wanted to be here. Definitely watched it as a kid all the time.

Q. Part of the expectations that are on your shoulders, do you really feel it? Because you're 30 in the world now. You weren't this time last year.
SAMANTHA STOSUR: I don't know. Everyone keeps telling me there's all this extra expectation. But I think at the end of the day, the thing that I need to handle the most and the best is the expectation I put on myself being in that place.
You know, no matter what anyone says, you kind of gotta block that out and not let everything get too big. I think initially in Hopman Davis Cup and Sydney I wasn't able to do that very well. I've started to manage it a bit more, and obviously feeling like you're playing better out on court helps all that as well.
Yeah, I think the biggest expectation I've got is the one of myself. That's what I need to be able to handle. When things aren't going as well as I want them to, just to be able to accept that and know that it can change and not get down on myself. Okay, you're 13 in the world. You shouldn't play like that.
It's just something I've gotta get more used to. Every day I think I get better at it. It's the way it is. It's not a bad thing at all.

Q. Is it nice to have Lleyton into the third round? Seems like one big happy family with the two entourages?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: I think it is. Everything is great.

Q. Obviously with Nathan and Giselle and everything, did you spend much time with Lleyton in the summer?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Not really. We went to do one session together and I canceled. I couldn't go, which I was a bit bummed about. No, obviously down in Sydney for the month and trained a lot with Nathan and Giselle. It was a great time.

Q. Was that a fitness or hitting session?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: No, Fitness. We went to do some swim runs, and I couldn't do it. My foot was too sore.

End of FastScripts

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