|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
U.S. OPENAugust 25, 2012Samantha StosurNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK THE MODERATOR: Questions please. Q. I think last year was kind of Samantha who for a lot of tennis fans. Do you think this year it shows that 2011 was not a fluke? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, sure, but I think even if I don't win the tournament I don't think it was a fluke anyway. It was one of those things of course you want to come back and do just as well as the year before. I have been trying hard and training well, and really looking forward to this year's tournament, as well. Q. I know you were getting shuttled around to a bunch of pretournament things. How has the preparation for this tournament been different from other ones you have had? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, I guess it's just a couple of other little things to get done and all that, but I have still been able to do my practice and do my training and everything else that I need to get done to make sure that I can I play as best I can when the tournament starts. It's all part of it. It's all the good experience. Yeah, you don't come back to defend a Grand Slam every year or every tournament, so it's good. It's exciting. Q. What has Kim Clijsters mean to the tour, and what are your thoughts about her ending her career at this time? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, I mean, I think it's going to be a loss for the tour, and she's obviously been a great player and a great champion and great role model to a lot of people, you know, out here on tour and probably, you know, all the kids playing at home. So, you know, she's one of those players that people like to watch and come out and see. I guess for her she's decided it's time. You know, I can imagine this is the perfect place for her to stop given the success she's had here in the past. Yeah, it will be disappointing to see her go. Obviously she's decided it's time to go, and that's good for her. Q. What does she mean to her fellow players? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, like I said, I think we very much respect her for the tennis, but also the person that she is. She's very gracious and always been, you know, a very good competitor but always fair. They are the kinds of players you don't want to see go. Again, it's her time, and what a great career she's had. She's still so young and she's accomplished so much. Q. As defending champion, normally you'd be talked of as a repeat champion or one of the favorites, but everyone talks about Serena. Do you prefer it when you're under the radar as opposed to being talked up? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, I mean, it is what it is. It's fine whether you're talked of being the favorite or not. At this point of time during the tournament I think it doesn't really matter. Everyone is starting from scratch at the moment, and obviously things become clearer as the weeks go on. I think Serena is probably the favorite coming in given her recent form. No matter who you are, I don't think you can really deny that. Q. Do you think back much to the final last year, and do you think that was the best match you played? SAMANTHA STOSUR: I think it's definitely up there with one of the best ones given the court we're on, the stage, the final at the US Open against Serena, 9/11. All those things combined and the way that I played is definitely one of the best matches I have played. Other matches I have played that come to mind where I feel like you could not miss a ball, and you kind of think, Oh, am I going to wake up from this and things will kind of become normal again? I don't think I had one of those days, but I am very proud of the way that I did play given all the circumstances and all that put together. Q. Would you have liked to maybe build on that success more this season, maybe the Grand Slam? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Of course I would wish I would've done better for the first part of this year, but, you know, everything goes the way it goes for whatever reason. You know, obviously Aussie Open and Wimbledon were quite disappointing. French was good. It was semis. You know, I think there is still ‑‑it's been a year where, you know, certain tournaments where I think I could have done better and all that, but having said that, I think I have done everything I can to try to get those good results. Hopefully it just means it's a matter of time before it really starts happening again. I have been doing everything. I'm playing well. You just have to put it together at the right time. Q. I think you said last year you really fed off the atmosphere and you enjoyed the tournament and obviously enjoyed winning it. In a way are there less pressures coming to places like here as opposed to Melbourne and playing in front of your fans? SAMANTHA STOSUR: It's just different. I don't know whether it's less pressure or what word you want to put on it, but certainly playing at home for any player I think is different. There's more of that maybe outside expectation, maybe that extra little bit of you that wants to do better, you know, get that great result and do well. But, you know, you can't‑‑ no matter what you do, you do the same thing every tournament, but you can't all of a sudden change it while you're at home. I think it's just different, and I think everyone playing a home Grand Slam would say that. Q. At home you're playing for them and here you're playing for yourself? SAMANTHA STOSUR: No, but, again, I guess you just feel that it is different. You know, Melbourne, you go out for breakfast and you see yourself on the front page or back page of the newspaper. I don't see that here. There are all those other things that, yeah, I guess add up. But you can't make that, you know, make you play better or anything like that. Q. What do you take from all the different names who have won majors in the last two years? Nobody's been able to duplicate that. SAMANTHA STOSUR: I don't know. I think it's just the same answer to the same question, but, yes, we have had a lot of winners over the last couple of years, but I think it's not because the competition is lacking or anything like that. I think we're just in this period of time during the women's tour where it has been like that, and there's not one dominant standout player. It doesn't mean everyone is rubbish. I think we're all very competitive and everyone is playing extremely well. We're just finding that, you know, certain players are finding their time at these big events, and not one particular person has been able to replicate that again over and over again like some of the players, the guys. Q. What does it say about the depth on the tour? SAMANTHA STOSUR: The depth by the women? Well, I think it doesn't mean that it's bad. I think it's very good. I think it shows that there is great competition out there that sometimes right from the first rounds the top seeds are going to be on their game. You can't take anything for granted no matter who you're playing. Q. Did winning last year open up the corporate endorsement? A lot of people didn't know who Samantha Stosur was. Did you find suddenly Fortune 500 companies were knocking on the door for you? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Not necessarily. A few things came out of it, which is nice. But, again, it's harder to ‑‑ harder to, you know, where you fall in the markets. The more you win obviously the more opportunities that come by. Q. Have you had a chance to practice on Ashe yet? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah. I came here, my first practice was Thursday and got out there straight up. Yeah, that was really nice to walk back out onto that court, and little things kind of pop into your mind as you're walking out there again. It was great to get out there. Q. What were some of those little things? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Probably the forehand winner I hit on match point. That was the one thing that came back probably first. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|