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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 20, 2011

Samantha Stosur

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

S. STOSUR/V. Dushevina
6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. You told the crowd you thought that was probably the best tennis you played this summer. How does that rate?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, I think, God, overall very pleased with the way I hit the ball. Everything seemed to be coming out of the center and I felt like I moved well, made good decisions.
I don't think Vera played too bad. I was just really on it tonight. It was really pleasing to go through a match like that and feel like I pretty much did everything pretty well.

Q. What does it feel like to be in that kind of zone where just about everything you try works?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: It's great. You don't have these days every day, so you've got to enjoy them when they come.
I guess to play a match like that here is even better than when it usually happens somewhere on a backcourt at a smaller tournament. So, yeah, it's a nice feeling to be able to play that well in front of a home crowd.

Q. Sounds like you have your next opponent a bit better pegged this time around than last time you played her.
SAMANTHA STOSUR: I hope so. I can definitely do a bit more homework and research. She's been around a little more longer than the match I played her at the French Open. She's a good player. She won Brisbane. She's obviously feeling pretty comfortable down here in Australia, but so am I, so I guess I have the home-court advantage. I'll try to use it to the best of my advantage.

Q. Have you watched her much?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Bits and pieces here and there. Played her in doubles once or twice as well. Definitely know her game reasonably well. But, yeah, like I said, she's a tough player. She's only moving up in the rankings.

Q. What are the threats you see from her?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, firstly, she's a lefty, so that's a little bit different straightaway to begin with. I guess a matter of trying to read her serve a little more and see where she likes to place it being a left-hander. I think her backhand is pretty good. She's a pretty tall girl. If you're going to get it high, you have to make sure you get it high out of her hitting zone. There's a few things I can work on going into the match.

Q. Do you feel like you're building some good momentum now?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, I hope so. I guess it's the way you want to be going. Yeah, it was clean, out of the center, hitting it pretty hard. Yeah, it was nice.

Q. You spoke on court about those months of being out with the fairies. What do you do to recover that concentration?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: I guess it's a matter of noticing that it's actually happening. Okay, made a couple bad decisions there or didn't think too much about what was going on, you throw in a double-fault like I did. I guess it's just a matter of, A, noticing that that's what's happening, and then B, being able to switch it around straightaway.
You know, it's not easy to go through a whole match and play every single point absolutely perfect. So if it only happens two or three points a match, you can regroup, get back on it straightaway. That's what really matters.

Q. It's different this year from your success last year where every round the screws get turned tighter. Have you thought about talking to someone maybe like Andy Murray with the pressure he gets at Wimbledon or Andy Roddick at the US Open or Mauresmo at the French Open? Do you see that as something you need to do?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: I don't know. If ever the situation I guess presented itself, there's only I guess good things that could come out of a conversation like that. So far to date I haven't really spoken to any current players or past players about that kind of thing.
But definitely had many conversations with my coach and other people around me who try and help me with those kinds of things. I guess at the end of the day it's how you handle, and everyone can go through that differently.
Yeah, so far I haven't. But maybe, yeah, in the future that's something I can look at doing. At the moment I'm pretty happy with the knowledge and the help I'm getting.

Q. Are you ever conscious of this is probably the peak period of your career, being fully appreciating it, saying that you enjoyed it at the time?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, I think I want to make a conscious effort to enjoy it while it's actually happening. I can't remember who said it, but a past player, they never really enjoyed it at the moment because they found they couldn't to get the best out of themselves. Looking back, they can have all those memories. I can understand that as well because it's hard to really, you know, embrace every situation and all that.
But I guess if I'm aware of it, it is something I want to enjoy while it's happening 'cause I love what I do and I know it's not going to happen forever. I guess it's a fine line between really getting to do that and not going overboard and still doing what you have to do.
Hopefully I can enjoy it now and later.

Q. It's been a long time since an Australian woman won a Grand Slam. Is that something that you think about or try to keep out of your mind?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: I haven't really been thinking about it this week, you know, leading up to the Aussie Open. I know it's been a long time. I'd love to be that person to break that drought. At the end of the day, I've got to play good matches, and I've got to do seven of them to win the tournament.
You know, it's one of those things, yes, I'd love to do it, all that, but it's not something I can go to bed thinking about each night. You have to think about all of the things you have to do to get to that point rather than the end result. I guess it's work in progress.

End of FastScripts

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