Samantha Stosur was unable to disguise her anguish after suffering yet another forgettable first-round Australian Open flop in Melbourne.
“You get a bit sick of this feeling,” Stosur said after being consigned to the most miserable summer of her otherwise decorated 15-year career.
Britain’s Heather Watson sent the out-of-sorts Australian No.1 packing on Tuesday with a rollercoaster 6-2 3-6 6-0 victory on Tuesday.
The defeat was Stosur’s ninth in a row and followed first-round exits in Brisbane and Sydney, leaving the fallen grand slam champion winless over an Australian summer for the first time since her Melbourne Park debut as a teenager back in 2002.
The deflating defeat leaves Stosur in danger of relinquishing her Australian No.1 ranking for the first time in eight years.
But, despite turning 33 in March, the world No.21 has no plans to throw in the towel.
“I still feel like I’ve got good tennis in me,” she said defiantly.
“I don’t feel like it was all bad today or it was a big disaster.
“I know there’s obviously things I need to improve. I need to do it quickly, work out a few things.
(But) I do feel like it’s still possible for me.”
Stosur made a confident-enough start on Tuesday.
The veteran showed great speed and touch to mow down a crosscourt drop and flick a backhand lob winner over Watson’s head on the way to breaking Watson Brit in the second game.
But she lost six of the next seven games in an all-too-familiar collapse to drop the first set in the blink of an eye.
Stosur again broke Watson early in the second to go 2-0 up before surviving a marathon seventh game in which she saved a series of break points to surge to 5-2.
The hold proved pivotal as she closed out the second set with a signature one-two punch, pounding a serve wide and delivering an off-forehand winner to draw back on level terms.
Alas for Stosur, she lost a series of epic games in the deciding set to bow out after two-and-a-quarter hours.
“It’s one of those things. You’re disappointed, you’re upset, angry, what could I have done?” Stosur said.
