Stosur Let Her Nerves Get the Best of Her At The Open

Written by: Staff on 17th January 2013

Stosur Let Her Nerves Get the Best of Her At The Open

epa03520797 Australia's Samantha Stosur returns to Sweden's Sofia Arvidsson during their first round match at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia, 31 December 2012. EPA/DAN PELED AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Australia’s great hope Samantha Stosur again fell foul to the nerves and anxiety that annually seem to hit her whenever she plays on home soil and admitted to choking in her second round Australian Open demise.

The entire Australian nation, desperate for the 28 year-old to repeat the US Open title winning form she showed in New York 16 months ago, shared the agony of Stosur’s 6-4 1-6 7-5 loss to China’s Jie Zheng.

But Stosur, who in 11 attempts at her home Grand Slam has never progressed beyond the fourth round, admitted she only had herself to blame. The Australian Open’s ninth seed knew she squandered a glorious and acknowledged: “Yeah, at 5-2 up in the third set, with a double break, probably is a bit of a choke.”

Stosur, who reached the 2010 French Open final and twice got to the semis at Roland Garros as well as winning the 2012 US Open title, admitted her major problem playing at home is psychological and added: “You make an error and you tighten up. Unfortunately, it kept happening point after point. Crazy things pop into your head.”

Early defeats in the build up tournaments in Brisbane and Sydney could have been attributed to a lack of preparation following ankle surgery in November but Stosur, beaten in the Australian Open first round last year, was not about to offer up any excuses.

Asked whether the problem was in the mind she said: “I think it’s 100% per cent [mental]. I got tight and then you start missing some balls. You probably think a little bit too much. You do it over and over and over again, and then, yeah, you start not wanting to miss rather than wanting to make the winner. Instead, it’s, ‘I don’t want to make the error’.”

However Stosur is determined to persevere to overcome phobia she’s developed of playing with the full weight of national expectation and concluded: “’It’s difficult,” she admitted. ”It’s just hard no matter where you’re playing. You obviously want to play your best. I know I haven’t been playing my best. I’ve been trying to get to that point. Now, unfortunately, the summer is over as quickly as what it started again.

”I’ll do what I always do and keep playing and keep trying hard. I know I’m going to get over it. It’s just you want it now, not tomorrow.”

Topics: Australian Open, Grand Slam, Jie Zheng, Samantha Stosur, Sports, Tennis, US Open