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DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS WOMENFebruary 23, 2012Samantha StosurDUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES J. JANKOVIC/S. Stosur THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Tell us how you feel about that match. SAMANTHA STOSUR: Not so good. I definitely didn't play as well today. I mean, she played all right. She served quite well. I felt like I was getting pushed back. But I probably didn't do enough to change things the way that I needed to to try and get through this match. Q. What is it about her game that's obviously very difficult to play against? SAMANTHA STOSUR: I don't know. I think today she stayed up on the baseline quite well and I didn't. Yeah, she likes hit through the lines, which is a little bit different and that kind of thing. But I think it was more that‑‑ I don't think my forehand was as good as what it needed to be. Then when I was trying to run around and get to the forehand wasn't really paying off and couldn't, yeah, get my balls through the court enough to try and get on top of the points and dictate the play. Q. Do you feel as under the weather as you sound? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah. I think maybe it's finally caught up with me today. I definitely didn't feel as good out there and felt a bit flat. You know, sometimes you don't feel good. You can't really use that as an excuse. You're out there to play, and you do your best on the day. But, yeah, I think it's catching up with me. Q. How much does the traveling catch up with you? Looking at your last month or so, Australia, back to Switzerland, back here. SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah. Q. Does that catch up with you in the end? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Maybe it does, but that's just the circumstances. Couldn't do anything about it. That's the way it always worked out. This part of the year can sometimes be a bit tricky with those Fed Cup ties. Sometimes they're not in the most perfect location for the upcoming tournaments, but it wasn't too bad. Yeah, I think maybe the weather conditions as well is playing a ‑‑ I'm not the only one who is sick. I think we're all kind of suffering through it together. Q. How do you cope generally with a change in time zones? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Not too bad actually. I think I try and sleep as much as I can on the flights. I think that first day is the most important thing when you land somewhere. If you get that all right, then you're usually going to be okay. Again, it's part and parcel with what we do. Q. We were talking to Jankovic yesterday about the Fed Cup. For years there's been an idea that in Davis Cup it should be truncated into a two‑week window maybe in October or something like that. SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah. Q. And then just play with World Group nations in one event and play it as a knockout there. SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah. Q. That would be a bit more sensible for Fed Cup, especially that the women have got a little bit more time to play, right? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah. I mean, I think they tried that, I don't know, maybe eight or ten years ago trying to play it all in one week. But I don't know. I'm not really sure what the answer is, to be honest with you. I think everyone is trying to work through it and work out the best possible scenario for it. I know that having it all done in one week, yeah, great, but you kind of lose the effect I think of having the home and away ties and the excitement that that can bring. Maybe that's part of Fed Cup, too. I don't know. I think maybe it'll be good if you have to play on the surface that the circuit is on at the moment. Who wants to go back to Australia to play an Australian tie in April? I think maybe stuff like that common sense should prevail and we could improve it that way maybe. Q. You probably have it tougher than anyone, don't you, because there's three weeks where tennis is in your part of the world, and then off it goes miles away again. SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, exactly. I guess we've got to get through the whole year, but then once we're back home we get a few months at the end of year. So I guess there is a bit of give and take. Yeah, for sure if we ended you said drawing someone and we had to go back to Australia in April, that's not idea for me, any of my team, and certainly not the other team. So I think that's where, yeah, it can be a bit of a burden on the players to want to play, but then also logistically there is just no chance then that you can play a tournament that next week. Q. Can I talk to you on another matter and refer to you as one of more experienced members of the tour? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Nicely put. Q. Now, I was talking to one of the leading players coaches the other day, and he said being a women's coach is so much different than being a men's coach, in that you're much more a psychological coach as well. With the on‑court coaching, is too much importance put on the role of the coach in the women's game? SAMANTHA STOSUR: I think sometimes, yes. And I think that might be the fault of some of the coaches out there making themselves feel like they need to be so important. But, you know, I am one of the older players out here, and I've learnt to know what I need, what I like, what I don't like, and kind of take parts of information and whatever you think is not going to work and... Q. Because David is really low‑key and has not sought the spotlight at all. SAMANTHA STOSUR: No, not at all. And he's the first one to say, You're the one out there doing the job. At the end of the day it's up to you and it's your victory and not his with me. I think, yeah, sometimes too much is put on. I don't know ifthere is a ‑‑ sure, women in general are maybe more emotional than guys. But I heard from one guy, a coach, went from women's to men's and then women's, and he said the guys are just as crazy as what we are. (Smiling.) So I think it depends who you talk to. Yeah, I think sometimes that can be the fault of the actual coach making themselves need to be more important than what maybe they are. Q. Do you call David onto court much? SAMANTHA STOSUR: No, we don't do it. We don't use it. Q. Why? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, first, you can't do it in a Grand Slam. I think if you got to work it out through those tournaments and they're the biggest ones we've got, then you should almost be working on that throughout the year. I think to make myself a better player then, you know, you've got go through that. That's the way it was and should be. I don't agree with the on‑court coaching. Yeah, that's what we both think. Q. One player said the other day she was just about to serve for the match and her coach agitated and wanted to come on to see her. And he did. He came on. I mean, you could never envisage such a situation for yourself? SAMANTHA STOSUR: No, I mean, I think if you're serving for the match something must be going all right, so why change it? Again, yeah, I think sometimes it can unsettle the rhythm. Whether your winning or losing, maybe it does unsettle you. Yeah, it's not really necessary. I don't actually know how many times a coach coming onto the court is going to change the effect of what's going on during the match. Q. But when you're playing Fed Cup it's the same guy sitting next to you. SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah. Q. Do you just get on with what you're doing, or does he have much to say to you? Does he have an input then? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, we'll talk. Again, that's part of Fed Cup. Different scenario. For sure he'll tell me what he thinks at the time. Okay, do this or try that or pick up on little things that maybe the opponent is doing. In that scenario I have absolutely no problem with it. That's part of that event. I enjoy it there, and it's a little bit different because he's there the whole time, too. So you can have a bit of a chat every two games. It's not just, oh, yeah, lost those four games in a row, come down and tell me what I'm wrong. Q. What's your sort of scenario now, to try and stay in good shape over the American swing and then to build for the Grand Slam, or do you think of America as an important goal in itself? SAMANTHA STOSUR: For sure I think America is. Yeah, Indian Wells, Charleston, they're huge tournaments. I'll get to the States. I'll probably leave tomorrow and maybe take a couple days off, get used to time change, get over this cold, and start practicing again and really try and keep this good form going into Indian Wells and Miami. They're two big events, so I want to be as well‑prepared as what I can. Q. Looking at the past few years at the French, you've got to be one of the major contenders. Is that the way you're looking at it? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Sure. I would hope to be. I have had good results there. Last year was a little bit disappointing, but yeah, it's another new year. Hopefully I can build on a good clay court lead‑in again like I had done the two years prior. Yeah, once Indian Wells‑Miami is done, then it is focusing on the clay. I play Charleston and then and off to Europe. Definitely got a bit of good lead‑up going into the French this year, and hope that I can be playing well then. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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