Sam Stosur Quarterfinals Press Conference

March 18, 2010

S. STOSUR/M. Martinez Sanchez
 
6-3, 7-6
 
An interview with:
 
SAMANTHA STOSUR
 
 THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

 Q.  Can you tell us what happened on the last point?
 SAMANTHA STOSUR:  Oh, well, I thought the serve was a fault, so as soon as the ball came off my racquet I tried to challenge.  I guess the umpire may have    didn't know what point I was, what shot I was challenging, but I always wanted to challenge that serve.
 Then obviously there was a little bit of confusion after the fact.

 Q.  You know that it was her serve and not your return?
 SAMANTHA STOSUR:  Yeah, I wanted to challenge her serve, yeah.

 Q.  And what do you think she think?
 SAMANTHA STOSUR:  Oh, well, I don't know.  Maybe -- obviously she thought maybe it was a first serve or she got confused about something, but I wanted to challenge the serve and the serve was out, so it's a second serve.
 Obviously it's a little bit more big a deal because it was match point than any other point in the match.  But I thought, you know, it was    that's the way it would happen no matter what the score.

 Q.  You were surprised to see her surprise?
SAMANTHA STOSUR:  Yeah, sure.  But, yeah, again, it's just a bit of confusion, and unfortunately that can happen with tennis, I think.

 Q.  Can you speak about the whole match, please?
 SAMANTHA STOSUR:  Oh, well, it's a difficult match.  We played each other a few times recently, and she's a player that doesn't give you very much rhythm.  She plays a little bit different, as do I.
 So she serves and volleys, and you don't get too many chances to break serve when she's serving well and when she's hitting close to the lines.
 So I just tried to give myself as many opportunities as possible, and I when I got them I tried to take them, and towards the end of the second set I started to serve better and better.
 I knew it was gonna be tough and didn't get too much rhythm, but I handled it pretty well and played quite well in the end.

 Q.  Were you nervous at 6-3?
 SAMANTHA STOSUR:  Yeah, sure.  It's a little bit nervous, a little bit tight, and then especially losing my two service points didn't make me feel very good.
 But, yeah, I tried to stay in it, and, yeah, I was glad to have won the tiebreak.

 Q.  What is your feeling to be in semifinal of this tournament?
 SAMANTHA STOSUR:  Oh, very pleased to be in the semifinal.  This is the furthest I've got by far in this event, so very happy.  Yeah, hope to try to get to the final.
 But I've been playing quite well, so try and do the same thing again tomorrow.

 Q.  A straight sets wins for you.  Did the confusing circumstances at the end of the match take any of the gloss off your victory at all?
 SAMANTHA STOSUR:  Oh, sure, it was a little bit odd, a little bit of an anticlimax to the end of the match and all that.  But, you know, having come off now and we all know what happened, you know, I'm still very pleased with the win, and, you know, gonna take it.

 Q.  You're projected to reach the top 10 next Monday.  What are your thoughts?  How does that help validate your successes as you've been progressing up the tour?
 SAMANTHA STOSUR:  It's a great feeling.  To obviously have a smaller number next to your name is a great thing.  It doesn't help you win any more matches, but it's certainly been a goal of mine for a long time to try and get there.
 You know, since I was a little kid I wanted to try and be top 10 in the world, so now it's happened.  I'm sure Monday when I see it, I will be very pleased.  You know, so it's one of those things.  It's great, and I'm very pleased I was able to get there.

 Q.  To what do you attribute your rise?  You're having a wonderful year.  It's great.  Why?  What have you done that's really pulled you up?
 SAMANTHA STOSUR:  Well, I haven't changed anything dramatically this year.  I think last year I started playing very well, and definitely made singles a huge priority, an even bigger focus than what it was from the start of my career.
 But I think it's just accumulation of the hard work that I've tried to do over the last few years and really start to understand my game better and better and how I can use my strengths to my biggest advantage against a lot of the girls.
 So I think it's just been a matter of time and allowing things to come together and just having to be patient.

 Q.  What are your thoughts about your next opponent, Jelena?
 SAMANTHA STOSUR:  Well, she's obviously a very good player, been in the top 10 for quite a long time, runs a lot of balls down, and doesn't necessarily hit a lot of winners.
 But she fights for every point.  She certainly makes her opponents work for it.  I know I'm going to have to stay in rallies and not go for things too early.
But at the end of the day, I'm going to try and play my game.  I'm an aggressive player, and I'm going to try and assert what I've got on her.
 I'm going to go out there and I'm gonna have to go for it, but I'm looking forward to it.           

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