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Sam battles her way into third round

26 June 2009

[caption id="attachment_1011" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Sam Stosur is into the third round at Wimbledon for the first time in her career."][/caption] Australia's Samantha Stosur finally broke her second-round hoodoo at Wimbledon, staging a remarkable comeback to beat little-known qualifier Tatjana Malek on Thursday. The German threatened to become known as the Aus-sassin after dispatching Stosur's compatriot Jelena Dokic in the first round, but a gutsy performance from the No.18 seed secured victory 4-6 7-6(6) 6-4 in two hours and 14 minutes. It is the first time in seven appearances at the All England Club that Stosur has advanced beyond the second round. Against Malek, the French Open semifinalist could not find her rhythm as she struggled with her two main weapons, faltering on her serve and repeatedly firing her forehand long. The world No.101 made early inroads, breaking the Australian in the fifth game. She had four opportunities to break her opponent again to claim the set, but Stosur fought off each of them. Stosur's reprieve was short-lived, however, when Malek converted the first of two set points on her next service game. As Stosur's unforced error count soared, she served a double fault and then sent a forehand long to hand Malek three break points in the third game of the second set. The 25-year-old Queenslander saved two, but when a forehand hit the net cord and bounced out, Malek had another early break at 1-2. Stosur converted her first break point of the match to draw level at 4-4. She fought back from 0-40 down in the 12th game, but missed the chance to break her opponent and claim the set when she sent a backhand return wide and Malek went on to hold serve to force the tiebreak. Stosur dug herself out from 0-4 down in the tiebreak to win five points in a row. After a marathon 31-stroke rally, Stosur took a 7-6 lead and sealed the set on Malek's serve when the German sent a backhand wide. Malek raced to a 3-0 lead in the decider. Stosur broke back in the seventh game, however, and was forced to save a break point in the next game before levelling at 4-4 as Malek vented her frustration by smashing her racquet into the ground. When Stosur made the crucial break in the next game, she earned the right to serve for the match and, at 40-0 up, she won with a drop shot Malek could not get back over the net. Stosur was pleased with her ability to come back from adversity. "It wasn't easy out there, I didn't start the way I wanted to start and was getting quite frustrated with the way things were going," she said. "Every time I had no choice but to pull myself back together, I did. "Things went bad again at the start of the third [set] but I had no choice but to back myself and pull myself back together again." Stosur lost in the opening round in her first three attempts at Wimbledon and bowed out in the second round on the next three. She is the only Australian woman left in the singles draw after Jarmila Groth was humbled by No.2 seed Serena Williams on Wednesday. Williams signalled her intention to thwart older sister Venus's bid for a third straight title by completely outclassing the Australian 6-2 6-1 in the second round. Stosur, who next plays Serbian No.13 seed Ana Ivanovic, admitted breaking the second-round barrier had played on her mind. "I thought that during the match," she said. "I remember being in this same room saying I want to get past the second round. "I would have been very disappointed if I didn't get through today. I'm very pleased that I've gotten over that hurdle."

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Sam shifts her sights to Wimbledon

10 June 2009

[caption id="attachment_987" align="aligncenter" width="516" caption="Photo: Ron Angle"][/caption] AAP Brimming with confidence from her career-best performance at the French Open, Samantha Stosur is setting her sights on making another major mark at Wimbledon. PHOTO GALLERY: Sam takes part in a Lacoste photo shoot in Paris Despite losing a tight semifinal 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3 at Roland Garros to Russian seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, the Australian says she can do at least as well at the famous grasscourt Grand Slam. The 25-year-old Queenslander said her performance in Paris, where she defeated world No.4 Elena Dementieva on the way to making her debut in a Grand Slam final four, had given her a massive confidence boost. "I've got to adapt a few little things for the grass, but I'm certainly looking forward to getting in there for another Grand Slam," Stosur said. "Hopefully I can bring out some of the same kind of tennis and find myself in a similar position. "It would be great." Despite having previously been touted as a potential Wimbledon champion by her former coach Gigi Fernandez and former Fed Cup captain John Alexander, Stosur has never gone beyond the second round at the All England Club in six previous attempts. But coach Rene Moller said Stosur's performance in Paris boded well for another long run at Wimbledon. "Luckily we'll have a week to practice and try to get a feel for the grasscourts," he said. "I know it's a cliche but she still has to go out there and take every match at a time and by the end of the two weeks if she's in the final, then that would be great." On the back of her dramatic run to the French Open semis, Sportingbet have slashed her price to win Wimbledon from $101 to $51. Serena Williams is the $3.50 favourite. Stosur's remarkable run in Paris made her the first Australian woman to reach the last four since Nicole Bradtke (nee Provis) 21 years ago. Stosur put in an almighty fight to come from one set down and 5-2 behind in a second set tiebreak to force Kuznetsova to a third set on Thursday. But the Russian was too strong and seized her chance to set up an all-Russian final against world No.1 Dinara Safina. Glued to their TV set on the Gold Coast were Stosur's parents, Diane and Tony, who sent their daughter a message of support after her match. "Mum sent me an email ... [saying] `you should have heard us all cheering and yelling and screaming for you," Stosur said. Stosur's consolation prize from Paris will be to see her world ranking rocket up 14 places to about No.18 and pocket €265,000 (AUD$468,400) in prize money – nearly double what she has made this year. The Australian started 2009 wanting to crack the top 20 and now she has done that is aiming even higher. "I've kind of proven I can do it in a Grand Slam and where it really counts," she said. Stosur said her own success in Paris and that of compatriot Jelena Dokic in making the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in January augured well for the women's game in Australia. "For the last couple of years now, women's tennis back home has been definitely moving in the right direction," she said. "And with Jelena's success in Melbourne and now mine here ... everyone is going to look at that and want to try and follow. "There's definitely a good group of girls coming up, so I think we're definitely in a good spot." Mark Woodforde, who with Todd Woodbridge won 12 Grand Slam doubles titles including one French Open and a record six Wimbledons, said it was "about time" Australian tennis fans had someone to celebrate at a major. "Back in Australia we've been waiting for someone to make a real push in the latter stages of a Grand Slam," he said. "Dokic earlier this year was a fabulous result and Sam's got a formidable game and hopefully she can now recognise how deep her strengths are."

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