Samantha Stosur to work on her mental preparation for Australian Open – Tennis News
Australia’s highest ranked tennis player, Samantha Stosur, will be working with her sports psychologist to handle things better at the first Grand Slam of the season, the Australian Open.
Stosur will be the only hope of her country for a local champion, male or female, at the next edition of Australian Open. The world number nine, who became first female Grand Slam champion from her country in a long time by winning last year’s US Open, faced
some tough moments in 2012.
The Australian star could not handle pressure well at those crucial moments, so she has planned to increase her mental toughness level during the off season.
In a recent interview, the Australian star said, “I'll be doing work with my sports psychologist. We've been working together a good couple years. She'll come down to Sydney for a little bit in a couple weeks' time. We'll do the usual things - there's nothing
magical you can change or do, I just have to be aware of what's going on and handle it better than I have in the past.”
After earning status of a legend by capturing her maiden Grand Slam title at the 2011 US Open, Stosur made a poor start to this year. She succeeded in winning only a single match in three events during the Australian summer season.
Plying her first tournament of this year, the 28-year-old lost to low ranked Czech player, Iveta Benesova, in the second round of the Brisbane International. She got stunned in the first round at the Apia International Sydney and Australian Open at the hands
of Italy’s Francesca Schiavone and Sorana Cirstea of Romania respectively.
Stosur added, “I didn't handle it well at all last year. It was disappointing - but if anything, that disappointment will spur me on this year. And at the end of the day you've got to keep it simple and just play tennis.”
The Australian player could not defend her US Open style but gave a series of above average performances in the last couple of months of the season to finish in the top 10.
Tags: