Sports Then and Now

Samantha Stosur continued her struggles with a first round loss at Wimbledon.

Samantha Stosur’s latest early Wimbledon exit further calls into question her ability to compete at majors. Combined with her freezing in the French Open final last year and a record of just three quarter final or better efforts at slams, it suggests the world number 10 cannot find her best game when it matters most.

The Australian’s poor Wimbledon record is one of the great anomalies in tennis. Stosur has fallen in the first round five times, reached the second on three occasions and has a best finish of the third round, achieved in 2009. Anyone with a free bet on US Open action may  want to bear her poor form in mind.

In that tournament she reached the doubles finals for the second consecutive year, which hints at why her singles record at SW19 is so hard to understand. Stosur is one of the best doubles players in recent times, possessing as she does a big and varied serve and excellent volleying ability. She is seemingly tailor-made for grass.

Perhaps Stosur is too aware of this, putting herself under excessive pressure. She is gaining a reputation as being vulnerable when a favourite and performances like the one she served up in losing in straight sets to world number 262 Melinda Czink reinforces this. The US Open tennis betting 2011 indicates she could struggle to bounce back from this defeat.

This mental fragility – not a characteristic usually associated with Australian sportspeople – suggests she is a big outsider for the US Open. She lost in the quarter final last year when a break up against Kim Clijsters, having got past the second round for the first time in seven attempts. On the other hand, being an underdog might work in her favor.