Samantha Stosur’s home woes continue with first-round Australian Open loss to Heather Watson
IF Australia makes a Federation Cup final in the near future, it’s arguable that Sam Stosur would fare better if the venue was shifted from Melbourne Park to Paris, New York or even somewhere in remote Siberia.
Stosur doesn’t win in Melbourne — a record of failure that remains intact after her seesawing struggle with Britain’s Heather Watson, who “upset’’ sputtering Sam 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 in an awfully predictable outcome.
“You get a bit sick of this feeling,’’ said Stosur after this latest exit. “It’s one of those things. You’re disappointed, you’re upset, angry, what could I have done.’’
The popular theory for Stosur’s serial failures at “home’’ – in defiance of sporting norms — centres largely on psychology, rather than any particular facet of her game or suitability of surfaces.
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Jelena Dokic, who had the opposite form — she performed at her best in Melbourne — offered this potential diagnosis for Stosur’s Yarra River Fever: That she wanted to succeed in Melbourne too badly.
“She really wanted to do well here,’’ said Dokic, adding that Stosur’s desire to succeed could mean ‘’you get a bit nervous.’’
Stosur herself has acknowledged that there has been an above-the-shoulders problem in Melbourne, where she’s never progressed beyond the last 16 and has now gone past the second round only one in the past six Australian Opens.
This time, Stosur feels she’s “done everything I can to try and prepare as best as I can’’ for this Open. ‘’I gave it my best shot, and it didn’t happen again.
“So you can kind of blow things out of proportion and think that everything’s a disaster or you can kind of look at it maybe a little bit more logically and think, Okay, what do I have to do to keep getting better?’’ At 32, though, the sand is running through the hourglass.
If there are reasons Stosur performs worse in Melbourne than Indian cricketers, two other factors in her defeat shouldn’t be overlooked.
One is that Stosur’s pre-tournament form was as worrisome as her record in Melbourne. She had been eliminated in the first rounds in Sydney and Brisbane and had not won a singles match since the US Open; her ranking of 21, thus, belied the reality of recent results.
The other factor was the opponent. Watson, while ranked around 80, had been no. 38 in 2015 and plays a crafty, cunning style — comparable to Martina Hingis, albeit Watson’s no Hingis. The Brit had just the kind of cerebral game to create doubt in the mind of Stosur.
Watson had given Serena Williams a scare at Wimbledon and anyone who can do that is more than capable of beating Stosur on the surface that gives her the jitters.
That said, Stosur had beaten Watson in their two previous encounters, including a straight sets result in Montreal on hardcourt last year.
Stosur bolted from the gate, opening up a 2-0 lead, but quickly fell apart and was soon down 5-2 and conceded the set 6-3 — despite landing 86 per cent of her first serves. While Stosur rallied to take the second set and lifted a notch, the third set saw a rout (6-0).
There’s no point analysing the shots that worked, the number of unforced errors (many more to Sam), or indeed anything.
Stosur was playing in Melbourne, at the Australian Open, in an early round. That’s enough.