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Date: May 25 2012
SAMANTHA Stosur has arrived in Paris looking to complete some unfinished business at the French Open, starting on Sunday.
Roland Garros was the scene of Stosur's greatest career disappointment, a shattering loss to Francesca Schiavone in the 2010 final, a year after dumping the Italian from the first round in straight sets.
On the flip side, the claycourt major was also the tournament that marked Stosur's remarkable revival from career-threatening illness with an unexpected charge to the semi-finals in 2009. Three years on and the reigning US Open champion has returned to the French capital determined not to be a one-slam wonder.
''It's funny how things always change as months move on and you get certain results,'' she said. ''Before I won the US Open, of course I just said I'd love to win one grand slam.
''But now I'm not settling for that. I've got one, now I'd like to get two and you don't want to finish there.''
Before reaching the last four in Paris, Stosur considered clay by far her worst surface. Having mastered the art of bossing her opponents around from the baseline with her high-kicking serve and brutal forehand, she has since racked up 50 wins on the slow surface.
The 28-year-old has won 14 of her past 17 matches in Paris and admits to feeling more at home there these days than at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena.
Unlike during her forgettable Australian summer, which featured a first-round Australian Open loss, Stosur insists she's feeling little pressure ahead of the season's second major. ''It's just more excitement to play,'' said the world No. 6.
Stosur is 13 from 17 on clay in 2012, with two of her defeats coming against Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, the two French Open favourites who have collected five claycourt titles between them this season.
Fellow Australians Olivia Rogowska, Isabella Holland and Sacha Jones have all failed to make the main draw in Paris after losing in the first round of qualifying on Wednesday.
■Bernard Tomic is out of the Nice Open after being beaten by Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.
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