Sam Stosur feeling confident at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • US Open champion Sam Stosur feels like she got her groove back following her Australian Open disappointment as she heads into her second round clash with Lucie Safarova today.

    The Australian world No5 crumbled under pressure at her home Grand Slam in Melbourne last month, suffering a first round exit to Sorana Cirstea, but a decent run to the final in Doha last week, preceded by two good Fed Cup wins, have put Stosur back on track.

    “Very happy with the week in Doha, definitely a nice pick up of form for me,” said Stosur.

    “Played some very good matches, I feel like I’m back on track now , so it was a very good week.”

    “It’s not like I went out and worked on anything specific, it was just sticking at it really, and maybe trying to have a clearer frame of mind and not being so uptight about everything and almost just forget about it and just play and really make it about just hitting good forehands and backhands, keeping it really simple.”

    Stosur plays an opponent who also had a strong week in the Qatari capital. Safarova upset Caroline Wozniacki and Svetlana Kuznetsova there en route to the quarter-finals and the 25-year-old Czech is plotting the perfect plan to resume her seed-toppling party this week in Dubai.

    “I think Sam’s backhand side is weaker than the forehand side. I’m a lefty, so I will try to open the court with my forehand side and push her out to the backhand,” said Safarova, who leads Stosur 3-1 in their career meetings.

    “She’s a big server, so I will try to put as many returns as possible and use the rotation, especially to her backhand as well.”

    Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki also graces Centre Court today and the 21-year-old Dane takes on Romanian Simona Halep in the last-16.

    Wozniacki has dropped from No1 to No4 in the rankings within a span of five weeks but she says the drop she suffered this week isn’t concerning her much.

    She said: “Right now I’m just happy that I have a bye today, in the first round. These are the kind of things that you want to have.

    “So obviously you want to stay in the rankings so you get a bye in the events that you play. Or that you are seeded. But your No4, or No3 or No2 it doesn’t really make a difference.”

    Recommended