US Open 2010: Stosur all set to make an impression at Flushing Meadows
The Australian tennis ace, Samantha Stosur is hoping that her recent time off will help her in regaining her lost form at the upcoming United States Open tennis tournament, starting from Monday.
The twenty-six year old Stosur was shocked in round 2 by a wild card entrant from the United States of America, Vania King, in straight sets.
However, Stosur, who reached her first major final at the clay court French Open tennis tournament earlier this season, improved her WTA World ranking to as high as number five back in July. Then she took a break and pulled out of the Championships in Montreal as well as Cincinnati.
“There is certainly no justification at all that why I can’t perform well at the United States Open tennis tournament and I don’t know why I haven’t had good results there so far in my career”, Stosur said of the only major tennis event where the Australian has yet to pass round 2.
“Last season, I competed in a great variety of matches prior to heading into the United States Open tennis tournament in New York which was a little tiring and somehow or the other did affect my performance, however this season I will try my level best to perform well at the Flushing Meadows as I have taken some rest as well”, added Stosur.
The muscular Samantha suffered a right arm injury earlier this month that contributed a great deal to her defeats at the hands of Flavia Pennetta as well as Victoria Azarenka at Championships in San Diego and Stanford.
The former World number one, Stosur, complained of a “heavy ache” and was thus forced to skip the competitions in Montreal as well as Cincinnati. Doctors suggested she take ten days to rest in order to come out strongly at Flushing Meadows this year.
Samantha, who refused to play doubles contests this season at the US Open, did accept a wild card entry into this week’s warm up event in New Haven.
She captured her second WTA Tour trophy at the Family Circle Cup earlier this year in April. Saying that she has not made any major changes as such to her game, however, with time she has developed a playing style that suits her.
“It’s not like I have changed my game or technique drastically overnight. The only thing is that I have discovered the kind of game that suits me”, said Stosur, who is seeded fifth to win the title at the United States Open tennis tournament, starting on the 30th of this month.
“It’s just a kind of reward for my all my hard work and struggle over the last few years and now it’s all paying me back. Once you manage to produce some good results, it further strengthens your belief and that is exactly what is happening to me at the moment”, said Stosur.
Her confidence increased after upset victories over former French Open winners Serena Williams and Justine Henin on her way to the final round in Paris earlier this season.
Despite her recent injury, Samantha feels she can make an impression at Flushing Meadows. The one positive side to the injury is that this season, the fifth seeded Australian will come in with a fresh state of mind.
“With the kind of season, I have been having and with the way I am performing, I am pretty much sure that I can play well at the Flushing Meadows,” she said. “Last season, I played well in the championships before and then as a result had a huge mental letdown. Anyhow now I have learned how to tackle with it”, added Stosur.
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