Sam Stosur wasted no time confirming her place as an Australian favourite, brushing aside America’ s Lauren Davis in two sets, 6-1, 6-1. Lasting just 53 minutes in duration, Stosur played at her brutal best to take down wildcard Davis, and admitted there was little she could have improved on. “Yeah, I thought I played very well,” the Australian No.1 said. “There’s not too much I did wrong, I don’t think. Was able to set up points, rally well. When I got a chance to hit the winner, I did. So, yeah, a very good way to start the tournament.”
“During the warmup, I started feeling pretty comfortable with the ball I was getting. Kind of had the feeling if I set up the point, hit a good shot to begin with at the start of the rally, I was going to be able to dictate, do whatever I wanted to do. I was pleased I was able to do that pretty much from the first point to the last point.”
Things looked ominous for Davis from the start as Stosur opened with a love service game, and used her impressive forehand to streak ahead into an early lead. The 17-year-old American, playing in her first Grand Slam event, struggled against Stosur’s kick-serve, and before long was staring at a 0-5 scoreline in the opening set. Davis finally registered some points on the board after a couple of rare mistakes from the Australian, but the fifth seed was able to take the set with another love service game.
The 26-year-old Queenslander continued her unbeatable form in the second set, but not without the pocket-sized American showing some teeth. Climbing back from three break points down to win her first game of the second set at 0-4, the young Davis, currently ranked No.443 in the world, showed why she is a highly-touted prospect. But that was as far as she was able to go as Stosur went on to win the next two games, taking the set 6-1, and round off a comfortable victory.
Australia’s highest ranked player, Stosur said she felt for her teenage opponent. “It’s not easy walking out not only your first Grand Slam but on centre court.”
“So, yeah, it wasn’t an easy task for her. I tried to, again, right from the start play well so that she would feel that, because I wanted to get off to a good start and really set the tone for the match.”
Despite Davis’ inexperience, the world No. 6 said she wasn’t too concerned about the American’s mental state. “For me I’ve got to go out there and focus on myself and what I want to do. You can’t have anything like that pop into your head, because tennis is too easy to swing things around very quickly.”
The Aussie favourite is confident and calm coming into Australian Open 2011, having lost to Serena Williams in the fourth round last year, and believes that playing on home soil gives her an advantage. “It’s a fantastic event. To be an Australian playing in your home Grand Slam, there is no better feeling.”
“I love playing out there and have the crowd behind me and the support. Like I say, it doesn’t happen too often that you can play at home, so you’ve got to make the most of it when you can and really savor that experience.”
“I guess Australians are known for their chants, trying to get behind their players. So, again, that doesn’t happen everywhere around the world that you get to play. I guess it helps maybe relax you a little bit.You know, you can take a few more seconds between points when they’re rattling on with whatever they’re doing. It’s a good feeling out there.”
