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DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS WOMEN

February 16, 2011

Samantha Stosur

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

S. STOSUR/S. Errani
6-0, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. That must have felt good.
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, very good. To get off to a start like that in any match is good, and especially here in Dubai where I've struggle in the past. To play like that, it's a good feeling.

Q. Especially in the first match of a tournament as well, to get that kind of start.
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, exactly. The last few matches I've played I've lost in a couple of tight three-setters. Obviously the Aussie Open one was straight sets, but still a good match.
So to be able to turn those few losses around into a win like today is really pleasing.

Q. Obviously Sara went quite deep in Pattaya. Not to take anything away from your display, but do think that affected her performance? Do you think she might have been a bit fatigued or tired?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, well, Daniela and Petra, they won tournaments last week as well and went out first round. So obviously because you have a good week the week before doesn't necessarily mean it's going to carry on. Yeah, like I said out there, it's different conditions and they have maybe had a little bit less time to get used to them and prepare.
So, I mean, either way I think I played well today, and I'm happy with that. Yeah, I'm sure after a week of making singles and doubles finals she's probably feeling a little bit tired.

Q. Is there sort of a worry when you're sort of cruising as easily as you were that a sort of complacency creeps in? I mean, you were generous enough to give her a game at one stage. Does that become a worry, that it gets too easy and then your focus drains away?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Um, yeah, I think that definitely can happen, and for sure it's happened in matches with me in the past when I wasn't as experienced or mature or any of that. It can definitely happen.
You know, winning 6-Love in the first set can sometimes be a kiss of death. You never know what can happen. They've got nothing to lose at that point, and sometimes they come out swinging and just go for it.
But I would like to think now I'm a little more composed, I guess, and professional that I hopefully won't let that happen too often.

Q. When get to a tournament a few days early as you've done and you can just kind of casually hang around and practice, but with the intensity of the tournament, is it sometimes difficult then you go up and a gear and say, Okay, now it's time to work?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Um, maybe sometimes; and then sometimes you never know how -- feeling relaxed and practicing and leading into a tournament can make you do very well as well. I mean, my coach wasn't here until yesterday morning, so I had to do a few practices by myself, which is a little bit different for me.
But I guess, you know, I know what I need to work on and practice and how I need to practice, so you go out there and do what you need to do. I guess there's those extra few days you don't have to freak out and panic if you're not hitting the ball well straight off the bat. You know you've still got a couple of days up your sleeve. Having played that doubles match on Monday I think maybe helped me a little bit, too.

Q. What was it like for you post-Aussie Open, which must have been a disappointment? How quickly did you put it out of your mind?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, it was disappointing, but I don't think I played a really bad match. I was quite happy with the way I played. I think she played very well, and she's kind of proved she is doing quite well at the start of the year.
As disappointing as it was, it wasn't any disappointment in how I went about things and played or anything like that. Sometimes you come up against a player who plays well.
I always want to do better in Australia than I have done, but I was able to I guess move on pretty quick and get over it and not dwell on the fact that I lost third round.

Q. Did you feel a greater weight of expectation than you have before?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Not necessarily any more than the year before. I mean, for sure the last couple of years the expectation and all that has definitely grown for me.
But I don't think that was a debilitating factor in my summer the way it went.

Q. If things go to form, an awful lot of the seeds are going to progress. I think only Victoria Azarenka was in a third-set tiebreaker as we speak. An awful lot of the seeds are going to progress, and as result of the quality of the field, there's a chance they face each other in the last 16. Whereas you woke up this morning and Ana Ivanovic is gone from your side of the draw. It opens up for you now, doesn't it? It's a good opportunity for you to go quarterfinals, a bit further?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, yeah, I would like to think I have a good opportunity, but Patty must have played half decent to beat her last night. That's who I play next, isn't it?
Patty is a difficult opponent in her own right. She's been around a while and lefty and plays a little bit crafty. And then I think Jankovic is the next one.
So, yeah, I mean, if a couple seeds go out, you can look at it on paper that's it's an open draw, but at the end of the day, you still got to beat the other person on the other side of the net.

End of FastScripts

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