What's Next? WTA No. 9, Sam Stosur

Throughout the next four weeks, our What's Next? series will look at every player who finished in the ATP or WTA Top 10 this season, and consider their future in three different ways.

Like the two women right in front of her in the rankings, Li Na and Petra Kvitova, Stosur followed a major-breakthrough 2011 with a season that was equal parts successful and disappointing. Like those two women, she showed that winning big, in her case at the ’11 U.S. Open, didn’t mean her game had changed and all of her problems were solved. The 28-year-old Aussie with the powerful serve and the powerful nerves was just as dangerous, and just as frustrating as ever. Deep runs at important events, including the semis and quarters at the French and U.S. Opens, respectively, were balanced against first-round losses at the Australian Open and the Olympics, and a second-round exit at Wimbledon. By now, we know what we’re going to get from Sam—anything at anytime.

Best Case Scenario: OK, so Stosur will never be reliable in pressure matches, and she won’t have her best each week. But she can still dictate rallies with her serve and her forehand. Which means that, unlike some of her more consistent and defensive peers, she can hit with the Top 3. And, maybe, possibly, beat them when it matters.

Worst Case Scenario: As I said, she can hit with Vika, Serena, and Maria, and she has recorded wins over each of them. But not many—she’s 6-27 against them lifetime. If they’re all healthy and in form in 2013, that will be a major three-person roadblock at most events for Stosur.

Australian Open Outlook: It looks, based on the past, pretty grim. Stosur has admitted in the past that she wilts under the pressure of playing in front of sports-mad home fans. It showed last year when she went out in the first round to Sorana Cirstea. That said, with the right mindset and draw, she should be able to do damage on the courts in Melbourne.

More What's Next?

**- ATP No. 10, Richard Gasquet

- WTA No. 10, Caroline Wozniacki<em>*  

- ATP No. 9, Janko Tipsarevic
- WTA No. 9, Sam Stosur
*- ATP No. 8, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

- WTA No. 8, Petra Kvitova**  

- ATP No. 7, Juan Martin del Potro
- WTA No. 7, Li Na
- ATP No. 6, Tomas Berdych
- WTA No. 6, Sara Errani