A year ago, Sam Stosur wasn't sure why she was still playing tennis, but seems to be regaining her form after a 6-2, 6-4 win over Sesil Karatantcheva in the first round of the Family Circle Cup.
The 2011 U.S. Open champion and former Roland Garros finalist struggled during the clay-court season last year, and a loss of motivation was one of her reasons.
“I was really struggling,” Stosur told the The Post and Courier. “I wasn’t happy with the way I was playing, and I wasn’t necessarily enjoying playing. When you are not getting the results that you necessarily want or believe that you know you are capable of, it gets tiring to be out here all the time.”
Currently ranked No. 26, the former No. 4 finished 2014 on a good note, reaching the semifinals of Beijing and then winning Osaka. But this year has been a struggle; she's failed to win more than one match at any tournament.
“Sometimes you are out on the court and questioning whether you even want to be there,” she said. “And then you step back and think about it logically. You realize, I do still love what I do and think there’s nothing I would rather be doing.”