Madrid: Samantha Stosur says she is itching to get back to Paris to relive some of the golden memories of her run to the 2010 French Open final.
The 27-year-old Australian caught fire during last season's claycourt swing, winning in Charleston and reaching the final in Stuttgart before dispatching Justine Henin and Serena Williams on her way to a heartbreaking defeat by Francesca Schiavone of Italy in the Roland Garros title match.
This year the Brisbane-born snorkelling enthusiast has not quite been so impressive although she did reach last week's Rome final where she turned in an error-strewn performance and was outclassed 6-2, 6-4 by resurgent Russian Maria Sharapova.
Leaning back in a white armchair in the players' lounge at this month's Madrid Open, where she had just been knocked out by unseeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round, Stosur said she was not far away from her best form.
"Last year I hit a real purple patch and obviously that continued through Roland Garros," she said.
"I am almost close to playing as well as I was last year but now second year around it's a different ball game.
"I guess when you have done it once people are expecting you to maybe do it again and if you don't then they think something is wrong.
Expectations
"Everyone has to deal with the pressure and the expectations from themselves in different ways so I don't think it's bad but I'd like to be playing a bit better than I am.
"Every time I think about it it seems like I've had a bad year but then if I look back and really think about it it hasn't actually been that terrible."
"I can't wait to get to Roland Garros where I can hopefully relive some of those great memories in 2011." The athletic Stosur, known for her trademark sunglasses and cap and wicked spinning serve, said going out in the third round this year in Charleston, which she lists as her favourite tournament, had been disappointing.
Her performance in Stuttgart, where she eliminated world number three Vera Zvonareva in the quarter-finals, had been much more satisfying.
"I was very pleased that I was able to turn it around from not feeling like I was playing so well to Stuttgart where I felt like I was playing well and hitting the ball well," she said.
