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AEGON CLASSICJune 12, 2014Samantha StosurBIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND C. DELLACQUA/S. Stosur THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Tough match obviously. Being friends with Casey and not playing her on tour in over a decade, sort of weird feeling out process on the court, switching gears with her a little bit. SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, it is a little bit strange. Yeah, obviously better friends with Casey than most people probably out here. We know each other's game very well. We practice all the time on the Fed Cup especially, and a little bit when we're in Sydney together. Yeah, it is a different prospect playing someone like that when you do know them so well. At the end of the day, you got to be on the other side of the net and just play and not really think about that. Going out there we know both of us wanted to beat each other, and, yeah, that's the way it is. Q. She was 2‑Love up on you going into in this match in terms of your head to head, but that was way back in like 2003 the last time you played. SAMANTHA STOSUR: I don't even remember the match. That's how long ago it was. Q. What is it about her game that caught you today? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Look, I think it's bit of a tricky matchup for me against Case because on this surface especially I think she's obviously got that lefty serve and she can cut it away and get me out of court and get me in a part of the court where you've got to hit a really good shot, otherwise you got this whole bit open. Look, I think that combined with I think she quite likes playing on grass. It's probably one of her favorite surfaces. She can get down and really hit a good first strike on the ball. When she is set to hit she hits it very well, and it makes things very difficult. So, look, it's just one of those things. It's harder for me to play someone with her kind of game style. Not to say I can't do it, but today it was obviously a little bit too good for me. Q. You said yesterday that you were playing some really good tennis. You obviously seem quite positive coming out of this. What's next now? SAMANTHA STOSUR: I'll go to Eastbourne and then Wimby, so I guess I've got another few days to try and work on things and really work hard and knuckle down on what needs to improve and be ready for my first round in Eastbourne. I think yesterday was really good; today was pretty decent, but obviously not good enough against someone like Casey. So there are still definitely lots of things that I feel like I can work on going into next week and obviously the week after. Q. What have you made of her year so far? I think she's risen 200 spots in the rankings in about ten months or so. SAMANTHA STOSUR: Look, she's having a very good year. She's won tons and tons of matches. Every times she's had to play quallies, and she won't really be in quallies anymore, which is great for her. But whenever she was in quallies, she was always seeming to go get through that and win a round here and there. Now she's in these main draws and doing really. So, look, I think she was always better than being outside 100 in the rankings. It's nice, I guess, for her to have that reward now for sticking at it and winning these matches back to back. Now she's at a ranking where she should be. I don't think she should be outside of 1oo. Q. You said yesterday it was very much for you about trying to figure out how your game works on grass. After a day like today, do you go back to the drawing board, or is it the same sort of pattern; just need a little bit more time? SAMANTHA STOSUR: I think probably a bit of both. I mean, maybe think, Okay, this worked or this didn't work, and I've got to really do better at it. And you've got to‑‑ you can't just do it for a set. You've got to do it for two sets and you've got to really focus on certain aspects a lot. You know, first set I served great and she didn't really get much of a look in much of my service games until late in the set. Then second set, serve percentage drops, she gets an early break, and then you feel like you're playing catch‑up the whole time. There are a few little things probably early in sets that you've got to be aware of to really do and not get down and behind and then feel like you've got to play this catch‑up game on grass. For me, I think it's a lot more difficult to do that on this surface in particular. Q. I don't know if you care about this, but would you like Casey to go on and win the tournament? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Sure. Why not? I got a good knack at losing to winners at tournaments, so it that means Casey can win, then I would be very happy for her. Q. Do you think she can the way she played today? SAMANTHA STOSUR: I've actually got no idea who she plays now. But, look, I think she likes playing on this surface, I think she likes playing here, and I think she's playing pretty well. Hopefully for her she can get better and better as each round goes on. And if she does find herself in that position, then, yeah, good for her. Q. Obviously yesterday you had a great start, well, the first match you had a great start to your match: 5‑Love up in inside course of an hour. Today the start of the match was a little hairier, shall we say. SAMANTHA STOSUR: Uh‑huh. Q. Does that set a tone for your mindset for the rest of the game? Whether it's going to be, Okay, I'm really confident or I've really got to dig in here, and how do you deal with both sides of the that? SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, I think yesterday things were really easy sailing and I was playing well. I don't think Christina was playing that great at the start of the match. Yeah, up 5‑Love and you don't really feel like you've had to do too much, so confidence is high. Today, even though I did get the lead ‑‑ I mean, I was down Love‑30 in maybe two of my service games, so you know she's knocking on the door. You've got to really stay on it in those moments. You can't let the starts of games really get away. Even though I won that first set, I knew that it was still a fairly tight match. I think that's what probably let me down then in that second set. I didn't come out of the blocks firing and I didn't get off to that start where ‑‑ you know, you win that first set, you playing a good service game or a break earlier, and then they're feeling like they're a long way to come back. So the way you start a match can definitely set the tone, but I guess it's almost more important how you end a match than the way you start. Yeah, it's a tricky thing. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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