News & Photos / Interviews / Interview with Samantha Stosur

S. KUZNETSOVA/S. Stosur

6‑4, 6‑7, 6‑3

An interview with:

SAMANTHASTOSUR

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You did very well to turn around the tiebreak from 2‑5, and couldn't youkick on from there? What happened in thethird?

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Um, I don't know. I think ‑‑ I mean, at the start, we wereboth holding serve pretty easy those first four games. I had that one break point, I think it was 30‑40at 2‑All, and probably maybe should have backed myself a little bit more andtried to run around it rather than taking a backhand.

But hit a good serve,and then lost serve, and then I felt like the match was still pretty even but Iwas 4‑2 down. You know, I tried to thelast point, but you go a break down in the third, it's not as easy to try andget it back.

Q. Is there any way to prepare yourself as a professional for the situationthat you're in today, the first time that you're at that level?

SAMANTHA STOSUR: I guess not really. I guess, you know, a first‑time semifinal youdon't know how you're going to feel or anything like that. But I played big matches before, you know, aquarterfinal obviously just yesterday, and Grand Slam doubles finals and mixedfinals and stuff like that.

I think every day youdon't necessarily know what to expect, but I thought I handledthe occasion really well. I feltreally good out there physically and mentally, and gave it my best shot.

I don't think the occasion over‑awed me oranything like that.

Q. Howlong do you think it's going to take you to overcome today's disappointment andrealize what a great performance and achievement you had here?

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, I mean, obviously losing you're alwaysdisappointed, but I think there's so many positives I can take from this weekand also this match.

So, yeah, I'll bedisappointed, but I'll wake up tomorrow and know that I had a great two weekshere and definitely will be looking forward to the next time I come back.

So there's far more positives than negativesright now.

Q. Justwondering, at home, were your mom and dad watching it on TV?

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah.

Q. On the Gold Coast?

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yep.

Q. Have you had any reaction from them? Have you spoken?

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Mom sent me an e‑mail. I just read it coming up the stairs. She said, You should have heard us all cheering and yelling andscreaming for you. I think they allenjoyed it.

I mean, I'm sureeveryone was behind me. I've had so manytext messages and e‑mails and stuff like that. I'm grateful for all the support that I've got from my family, but alsoall my friends and everyone else back home. It's awesome.

Q. What will you take from this tournament going into Wimbledon?

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Um, gee, I haven't really thought about Wimbledon just yet. But, yeah, I mean, it obviously gives me a lot of confidence. Obviously a completely differentsurface. I've got to adapt a few littlethings for the grass, but certainly looking forward to getting in there foranother Grand Slam.

Hopefully can bring outsome of the same kind of tennis and find myself in a similar position. It would be great.

Q. You hadn't played Svetlana in five years I think it was, and you said, rightlyso, that should be thrown out. Can youtalk about the energy that she brings to the court and also about heroffcourt? I've always heard she's one ofthe most sort of outgoing, popular women in the locker room.

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Yeah, I was getting ready to her hip hopmusic or whatever it was this morning, as well. You can hear it in the hall locker room, so that's kind of fun when Kuzyis around.

She's a nice girl. We get along well off the court. She is fun out there, so it's one of thosethings.

Yeah, as far as on the court, sometimes youdon't know what you're going to get. Atthe start of the match, it was kind of a didn't know if she was going to hitthe ball really hard or throw in a slow serve or something like that.

She kind of does that throughout thematch, so you've really got to be on your game against her and really ready foranything.

Q. Ifyou can go back to when you arrived in Paris,how much have you surprised yourself? Imean, did you ever think you were going to get this far into the tournament 10days ago?

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Um, no. I mean, I guess I didn't. I'venever done it before, so...

But, yeah, I obviouslycame here with expectations to play well, and that won me five matches orwhatever it was. I didn't set any goalsas far as a round to get to. I justwanted to go out there and play well, and that's what I did. I didn't play one bad match. I played well, and she just got me in three.

I mean, I'm obviously disappointed with theloss, but very pleased with where I got to.

Q. Asyou said, you've had some big matches before. But let's face it, pretty much figure that a Slam singles semi is alittle bit different. Can you tell us asan athlete, an experienced one, what the difference really was like going inthere today?

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, kind of like I said before, I think Iwas probably more nervous about everything yesterday than what I was today.

I really can't say thatI wish I could have handled it differently, because I went out there and feltgood physically, and like I said, mentally. I knew that I had a shot.

From the start, holding that first game, youalways feel better about things if you can get that first service hold underyour belt, and that's what I did. Thatwas that.

So I don't know. It was obviously ‑‑ it's a big moment,but I tried to enjoy it as much as I could and not look at it as a burden oranything like that.

Q. She'scome through two very tough matches and has sort of a rep for mental fragilityin tight times. Did she change youropinion in any way after feeling her like you did today, how she handled themoment?

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Um, no, not really. I mean, again, I think I've watched her playa few matches, obviously, and she had been in semifinals and Grand Slam finalsbefore.

I think it's ‑‑sometimes you don't know what you're going to get. But, I mean, she beat Serena yesterday andshe beat me today, so you can't say that there's really anything going wrong.

So I don't know. I think it will be an interesting final, andI'm sure she'll shape up fine and it should be a good match.

Q. Thatwas my next question, which is who do you pick?

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Um, I don't know. I think ‑‑ well, I think Kuzy is theonly person that's beaten Safina on clay this year. It's sort of interesting.

Maybe Safina will be alittle bit better physically just because she's had these two longmatches. But I don't know. Maybe Safina, but it wouldn't surprise me ifSvetlana comes through.

Q. Top 20 player now. You will beafter this tournament. How does thatchange you, if it does, and do you feel now that you can mix it with the bestin the world?

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, for sure. I mean, I thought I could kind of do thatbefore this week, but I guess I've kind of proven I can do it in a Grand Slamand where it really counts. That'ssomething that I'm really pleased about.

I don't think it willchange me as far as anything goes. Iwanted to get to top 20. Now that I'mgoing to be there, I've got to look further ahead and set some more goals.

It's great, but I'm going to keep pushingforward for sure.

Q. Top20, it was a goal. Do you have a newgoal now?

SAMANTHA STOSUR: No, I haven't even thought about that yet,but I'll see whatever number I am on Monday and decide.

Q. There's been some controversy about noises players make, like gruntingand so on. Do you have an opinion aboutthat, whether that's an issue that needs to be cracked down on, and was it anissue at all in today's game?

SAMANTHA STOSUR: I don't think so. You know, I've played a few of the girls thateveryone would say are the loudest on the court, but when I'm out there, I'veactually never noticed it. Never bothersme.

I notice it a lot morewhen I watch them. It can be a bitannoying. But as far as a player down onthe other end, it's never affected me, myself, anyway, on the court. It's ‑‑ I guess it is what it is.

Q. Your success here and Jelena Dokic, she was doing quite well before sheinjured her back. Casey Dellacqua wasdoing well before she had her injury, as well. What do you think your success means for Australian women's tennis atthe moment?

SAMANTHA STOSUR: Well, I think it's great. For the last couple of years now, women'stennis back home has been definitely moving in the right direction. And with Jelena's success in Melbourne, and now mine here and everything,I think everyone is going to look at that and want to try and follow.

Isabella and Olivia, Ithink, were watching my match today, and they came yesterday and watched a fewtimes. So, you know, I've practiced withboth those girls, so I hope they can look at this and realize it is possible.

There's definitely a good group of girlscoming up, so I think we're definitely in a good spot.