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Less than two weeks into the new tennis season and already Lleyton Hewitt, Bernard Tomic and Marinko Matosevic are showing signs of a promising Australian Open for the locals.
Meanwhile, our highest ranked player, Sam Stosur is hiding down in Hobart away from the spotlight. Not that I blame her, last summer Thea from Leafbusters saw more screen time than the world number 18.
So why is Stosur the only Australian chance of winning the first Grand Slam of the year?
Her early form this season has been patchy; three losses in Perth followed by two three-set matches at the Hobart International against lower-ranked opponents.
There is no doubting Stosur feels the pressure playing at home; her unforced error count climbs and she becomes tighter when closing out matches.
It’s hard to believe this is the same player who demolished Serena Williams in a US Open final just over two years ago.
However, this year will see her enter the Australian Open with the most number of sets under her belt since 2005.
Along with match fitness, her wins in Hobart should also provide her with a little confidence in closing out matches.
The main factor going for Stosur is her ability to match it with the best in the world.
Hewitt and Tomic simply don’t have the talent to match it with Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray or Rafael Nadal in a Grand Slam match at this stage in their respective careers.
Stosur’s seeding also means she will avoid another seeded played until the third round and avoid a top eight player until the fourth round. With no local seeds on the men’s side, the Australians face the luck of the draw and contemplate facing anyone from Djokovic to a lucky loser in the first round.
It really is hard to believe that Australia’s most fragile player is also the best chance to win.
However, Stosur is the only Australian to win a singles Grand Slam title in the past ten years and it could be a long time until we see one more. Who knows, perhaps Stosur’s name will live on in the future in a ‘Fred Perry’ sense.
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