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QATAR TOTAL OPENFebruary 15, 2013Samantha StosurDOHA, QATAR M. SHARAPOVA/S. Stosur THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Seems like it's tough to gain some confidence back today. Maybe you got into it a little bit late. Can you elaborate? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, I think‑‑ I mean, at the start, probably the first set and a bit, she was playing very well, but I feel like my balls were maybe a little bit short, and I probably didn't do enough to stop her playing well. Then from 3‑Love I really tried to return better and started serving a bit better, I think. Yeah, I was able to put a bit of pressure on her, and I found myself back in that second set and had break points to get it back to 4‑All, and she served very well to get out of those. I mean, those break points I couldn't change anything. She, you know, came up with the goods. But, yeah, I think I left that play probably a little bit too late. Q. Do you have any pain left in your foot? Are you 100% now? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, when I'm playing, I feel fine. It still gets a little bit achy or sore afterwards or at nighttime, but it's all manageable and nothing that's stopping me doing anything on the court or training or anything like that. Q. You're not afraid of the memory, like, Oh, I'm getting injured if I make this move, or... SAMANTHA STOSUR: Oh, no, no, no. Because of the injury that it was, I'm not concerned about anything, you know, going wrong again or anything like that. So, you know, it's fixed now. Now it's just a matter of dealing with, yeah, the achiness and that stuff I think just from the surgery, not from the actual injury itself. Q. Serena might come back to No. 1. In case of that happening, could you speak about it, the fact that she could be the oldest one for being No. 1? What does it tell for you? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Oh, well, okay. I didn't know that. Yeah, I think regardless of how old she is, I think the way she's been playing the last year, especially the last, what, six, seven months, I think she deserves to be No. 1 at the moment. You know, to go through winning a couple of Grand Slams, the Championships, the Olympics and all that, I think, yeah, you probably should be No. 1 in the rankings. But, you know, it works out the way it works. I guess we'll find out tonight if she does it this week or maybe later in the year, but, no, I think the way she's always able to come back and commit herself back to the tennis and play the way she can, yeah, it's obviously fantastic for her and I think it's good for the sport. Q. I guess at this point in time we think of you having a slow start to the season. Have you gotten to a point where that's just how it is or it still bothers you or what? SAMANTHA STOSUR: No, I'm not just gonna say, you know, my season usually starts in February so that's okay, but, you know, I guess it's one of those things. I can't do anything about the way it started, once again, so you rock up the next week and you start again. You want to keep playing well and keep improving. Regardless of how I did in Australia, I'd always come here expecting to play well. Again, I'm glad with the way that I played this week. You know, it wasn't as many rounds as last year, but I'm still happy with the way I'm slowly getting back my form, I think. I'm happy with that, and hopefully I can keep improving. Q. If I can, can I just ask you a little bit about your thoughts on Ashleigh Barty? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, I think she's got a very promising future. I mean, I hadn't seen her play that much before last week, and then at Fed Cup obviously practicing together and, you know, hanging out a lot more than what I ever have with her, I think she's doing very well. I think she's got all the game. You know, she's got very good technique on all her shots. She knows what she wants to do out on court. She's very into her technique and how she's going to improve things. Always you can see her kind of thinking about what she's doing. I think, for a young 16‑year‑old, that's very maybe unusual but at least very good to see. I think she just obviously needs to get a little bit bigger and a little bit stronger, and she will start getting even better results. Q. I would like to talk about your dancing talents, about the Gangnam style you have been doing with Laura Robson and Eugenie Bouchard. I would like to know how did she come to you for doing this stuff? SAMANTHA STOSUR: She just asked me in Beijing, and I kind of said, Oh, no, it's okay. Thought she was joking. And then the last week she kind of got me, and along with obviously some of the other players. I think it's just something she wanted to do, and obviously it came out ‑‑ I thought it came out quite well, quite funny. I guess it shows maybe another side of her at least that, you know, she likes to interact with the other players and have a bit of fun while we're all out here trying to play tennis and be very serious about things on the court. Q. Could you imagine that it will be all over the Internet? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, I knew she was going to put it on there, so that was fine, but, you know, maybe surprised how much momentum it got. But, no, again, it's just something fun. I think it turned out all good and just pretty harmless video. Q. My last question is about your earrings. I have noticed that Johanna Larsson has the same. Did you know that? SAMANTHA STOSUR: No. Q. I was wondering if there was some kind of gift that you won at one tournament or something? SAMANTHA STOSUR: No, not at all. I got these at home. So I don't know whether she went shopping in Sydney, but... Q. So you might ask her. SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah. Q. Any comments on the Oscar Pistorius incident? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, look, I don't know really that much about it other than watching it on the news for a couple of minutes last night. Obviously it's a horrible tragedy for his girlfriend. You know, I guess we'll all see what it all means down the track, and, yeah, it's hard to comment. It's just a horrible thing to have happened. Q. Was he a hero of sorts? Did you follow him at the Olympics or even otherwise, given what he's achieved? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Oh, yeah, I guess ‑‑I watched one of his races and, you know, of course it was something that, you know, a spectacle everyone wanted to see. Yeah, I guess I watched it like everyone else. But I certainly didn't‑‑ you know, I didn't make a point of being at home at that specific time when he was running or anything like that. I think it was just something interesting that everyone found, you know, good to watch during the Olympics. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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