Sunday, May 29, 2011

Stosur chases greener pastures

Updated May 28, 2011 16:23:00

Samantha Stosur's shock exit from the French Open has raised questions once more about her ability to land a first major title.

Stosur had looked in superb touch in the opening two rounds at Roland Garros before putting in an inexplicable display in her third-round loss to Argentine Gisela Dulko.

The early departure could see Stosur lose her prized top-10 ranking but what will really haunt her is missing another great opportunity to become a major winner.

Last year's gut-wrenching defeat in the Roland Garros final to Francesca Schiavone was painful enough for Stosur.

This year's defeat will eat away at her as the remaining field is one of the weakest at a major tournament for years.

It has no Justine Henin (recently retired), no Williams sisters (absent), no Kim Clijsters (knocked out in second round) and no world number one Caroline Wozniacki (knocked out in third round).

An hour after last year's French Open final, Stosur was in shock.

This year, the reality of her shattering third-round exit on Friday seemed to have hit her a bit earlier.

She battled to hold back tears at times during her press conference and it was obvious there had been some waterworks post-match.

Stosur had blown another chance and despite putting on a brave front, she knows that tennis has a cruel habit of moving on quickly from those that do not seize the moment.

The Queenslander said she would try to use the extra time on her hands to sharpen up her skills on grass before Wimbledon next month.

Grass has traditionally not been a strong suit for Stosur, her heavy top spin tending to allow for the ball to sit up a bit too much for her rivals.

In her eight trips to Wimbledon, she has only reached the third round on one occasion.

Stosur planned on trying to quickly put Friday's setback behind her.

"I think basically that, (I have to) move on," she said.

"The year is not finished yet there is still a few months to go and this is only the second grand slam of the year.

"As disappointing as it was to leave here in the third round, I think now I have got a really good opportunity to prepare myself as best as possible for Wimbledon and try to have a good result there and then on the hard courts.

"It is obviously very disappointing, it is hopefully not the end of the world. It is not going to change the way I play and the way I go into my next match."

Stosur will play in the WTA event in Eastbourne next month in the lead-up to Wimbledon.

- AAP

Tags: sport, tennis, australia, france

First posted May 28, 2011 16:09:00


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