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U.S. OPEN

September 4, 2011

Samantha Stosur

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

S. STOSUR/M. Kirilenko
6-2, 6-7, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Sam.

Q. You sound fresh. Do you feel fresh?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: I actually feel better after this match than what I did the last match. I guess that's a good thing. Who knows how I'll feel tomorrow morning. But, yeah, so far so good.

Q. What was it like to be in that tiebreak? Did it feel like a record-setter while you were playing it or just trying to get through?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, obviously I knew it was pretty long. I lost track of the score. Didn't know at one point if I was serving or receiving or when we should be changing ends, what was going on.
Obviously with all those challenges in the tiebreak as well it was super exciting. The crowd was really into it. Couldn't really hear myself think at times because it was so loud out there.
Obviously it ended up being a record, so I've got another record here at the US Open, which is cool (smiling). But, yeah, it was a shame I didn't win it.

Q. Those challenges, they all went against you, but by ridiculously small margins.
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah. The backhand chip thing that I hit when she was at the net, I thought that was in. There's no way I thought that was out. Then those match points, the forehand I didn't know if that was in or out. When she hit that backhand winner, I was pretty certain that landed on the line, much to my dismay.
But I guess that's the great thing about Hawk-Eye: it's always a fair match and you don't get ripped off if you've got it.

Q. When they go against you by such small margins, is it harder to take when it's a millimeter or whatever it was?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, I guess so. But I think it's more the circumstance that it was all under that made it that extra maybe disappointing or exciting or whatever you want to call it.
I guess it's just the way it goes. When you're talking millimeters, you know, you hope it goes your way.

Q. What was it like after that tiebreaker, you lose the tiebreaker, starting all over with the third set?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: To be honest, once I left the court -- well, we both left, got changed, whatever else, came back and sat down, for some reason I didn't find it too difficult to stay mentally strong.
I knew if I was going to have a chance to win the match, I had to do that. So it was basically do it and maybe win it or don't do it and more than likely lose.
So, you know, I just came back out and thought about what I had to do. I processed that disappointment well. I thought, Okay, how am I going to play this next set and start from scratch all over again.
I think I was able to bounce back really well. That's probably the most pleasing thing for me to get out of that match, is just to be able to come back from that, play well, get that lead, and really hold onto it.

Q. Now your reward is to play Vera, who seems to be really on her game. How do you physically recover and mentally prepare?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, I'll do what I normally do to try and recover. Like I said, that's the beauty of playing in a Grand Slam: you get at least that day off.
So tomorrow I can have a really chilled-out day and just do whatever I need to do to get ready, and obviously expect another tough one. Playing Vera, it's never easy. We've played each other many, many times. We both probably know what to expect.
At the end of the day, you have to go out there and play well and see if that's enough.

Q. You played her nine times and won the last seven. Do those matches mean anything when you go out for a quarterfinal at the US Open?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: I don't know. I think obviously it's a nice record to have against someone. But at the end of the day now we're playing in a Grand Slam, and I can't remember the last time we played in a Grand Slam.
I'm sure she wants to get one back. Obviously it's a big moment for both of us in the quarters. I'm going to have to go out there and play well. You can't think because you won the last seven you're going to win the eighth without playing good tennis.

Q. You were really impressive the first five games. I don't think she won a point for a while. Did you feel like you were in a zone?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: I felt fantastic those first five games. I felt like I could pretty much hit whatever shot I wanted. Most of them were turning out to be winners. Obviously I felt fantastic.
I wasn't necessarily expecting that to go through the rest of the match, but I stayed positive and just kept going for it.

Q. The crowds here seem to really take to you. Do you know why? How much does that help?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: I don't know. I guess maybe they like the way I play. The last two matches have definitely been very exciting. So even maybe if you didn't know who I was, you're going to go out there and watch. I think everyone is entertained from the last two matches I played.
I don't know what it is, but, yeah, I've always seem to have good support playing in the States, whether it's here or the normal tour events. So whatever the reason, I'm thankful that they come out and support me.

Q. Do you feel like you've got a bit more of a presence? You seemed a bit more assertive in your body language. Is that something you've worked on at all?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: No, I think it's just something that's happened. These last two matches have been really exciting with the atmosphere and the crowd, and for whatever reason I've probably been more pumped up in the last two matches more than I ever have been in my whole life.
Like I said, it's just the ride of adrenaline playing out there.

Q. With the recovery after last year, it wasn't that long afterwards, does that give you confidence you can get your body in shape?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: I think so, for sure. To bounce back from my last match to now and feel pretty decent right now I guess is a good thing. Maybe I can take away some experience from what happened last year and decide what I'm going to do tomorrow and not do too much, really try and use that experience to my advantage to try and be as best as I can for the next round.

Q. You got a code violation for obscenity. Were you surprised.
SAMANTHA STOSUR: I never had one. The only disappointing thing to come out of the match. I'm not proud of it, but I guess I released whatever I had to release and moved on.

Q. You were saying you were more pumped up. Does that say a lot for your state of mind at the moment?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, I guess I'm trying as hard as I can out there and don't want to leave anything out there. You don't want to get a code violation or do something wrong, but if that's what you have to do to release it and be able to play the next point well, then so be it.
Yeah, I guess it's a new thing I've got next to my name now (laughter).

Q. Kirilenko said she wasn't happy with the court change and the delay, and hinted it might have contributed to your slow start. What were your thoughts?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: For sure, I mean, I was as disappointed, I'm sure, as what Maria was that we got changed. There was a real lack of communication. We knew if it was 4:30 there's a chance we weren't going to play on Ashe.
When they finish at 4:39 and nobody comes up to tell you that if the tiebreak finishes, you're still not going to be on the court, and then you might have another three- or four-hour delay after a men's match, I think that's pretty disappointing.
We both had to handle it. It wasn't the way that we both wanted to be waiting around, but Grandstand is not a bad court either. As it turns out, you can't do anything about it now.

Q. Are you proud of the sort of hard way you've been able to fight out these last two matches? How do you do that?
SAMANTHA STOSUR: Absolutely I'm proud of myself for getting through these two matches. I haven't always been known for my competitiveness out there, to really fight hard.
But for it to come out back to back days, it's definitely very rewarding. I know now I can do it. You want to keep doing it every single time you step out on the court.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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