Stosur Ignores Superstitions On Way To Title

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 5th August 2013

Southern California Open tennis tournament

Stosur Ignores Superstitions On Way To Title

epa03813313 Samantha Stosur of Australia holds up the trophy after defeating Victoria Azarenka from Belarus in the final at the Southern California Open tennis tournament in Carlsbad, California, USA, 04 August 2013. EPA/MICHAEL NELSON |

Samantha Stosur did want to jinx herself. The Australian thought long and hard about the same hard court schedule that eventually lead to her sole Grand Slam title at the 2011 US Open.

That year, she fell early to Sabine Lisicki at Stanford and thought about taking a wild card into the next week’s tournament in Carlsbad (now called the Southern California Open), but declined to take a wild card. She went on to reach the final of Toronto and then stunned Serena Williams to win the US Open.

After going down hard to Olga Govortsova the week at the 2013 Bank of The West Classic at Stanford, Stosur wasn’t sure whether she should risk changing the routine. Players can be very superstitious. But the 29 year old had not reached a semifinal this season and knew she needed matches and fast. So she went in another direction and at least in the short term it has paid off.

She won her first title in nearly two years when she took down two time Aussie Open champion Victoria Azarenka 6-3 6-2 to win Carlsbad. It was her first win over the Belarussian in nine attempts. That made her she and her team’s choice to take the one-hour flight down from the San Jose airport well worth it.

“I knew that that was the past,” Stosur said. “My coach David Taylor and I spoke about all the pros and cons. You can practice all you want, but at some point you got to put it into play in matches. That’s why I came, and obviously now very, very pleased with that decision.”

Somewhat amazingly, Stosur hadn’t even reached a semifinal final prior to the Southern California Open, but there she also knocked off No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska in a three-setter in the quarters and the tough veteran Virginie Razzano in the semis.

It was her first title since she raised the big trophy at the 2011 US Open and she immediately made herself a player to watch there in a few week’s time.

“I think winning tournaments is the absolute proof that you’re a good player and you’re able to beat whoever you come across,” she said. “That’s obvious if you’re winning tournaments. Doesn’t always happen every time. I know I’ve only won four in my career. But I know how I’m capable of playing and doing what I can do, then I know I’ve got a chance. I guess this week kind of helped prove that. It’s great to be able to have now two top 5 wins in a week when I hadn’t had one in quite a while. That is a huge confidence boost.”

Stosur has had trouble with elite players before, including Serena, Azarenka, Radwanska and a notable tall blonde Russian, but she keeps working at her craft, which is why she didn’t enter the final with little hope. She had come close to beating Azarenka at the 2012 US Open and 2013 Rome, so she knew she had a shot if she kept her wits about her.

“I guess it’s a different psyche each time you play someone,” she said. “I went through something similar when I played Maria Sharapova a bunch of times. I think it took ten times for me to be able to beat her. I knew it was possible one day against Vika, but the last two matches that we played have been very, very close. I felt like I was almost in winning positions with those two. So I think going into today there was no reason to believe that I wasn’t going to be able to turn that result around and win today. It’s a matter of playing well and doing it when it counts.”

While the Aussie wasn’t on the tip of anyone’s tongue when thinking about US Open contenders coming into the week, she is now. She may not be the favorite, but she’s shown in the past she has an ability to win the tournament and after knocking off two fine players in Radwanska and Azarenka, she cannot be counted out of another title run in New York.

“This is a huge boost for me,” said Stosur. “I haven’t had great results all year, so to be able to bounce back from last week’s first round loss [at Stanford] and play better and better each day and come away with this is a good boost going into the last Slam of the year.”