Stosur: US hardcourt lead-up an individual choice

Eight years ago, the top eight seeds at the WTA event in Stanford were all ranked in the top 15.

In 2017, the field is a lot thinner. Casting an eye over the draw reveals a field that, beyond the top two seeds Garbine Muguruza and Petra Kvitova, falls away pretty quickly.

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In 2009, the eighth seed in Stanford was world No.15 Marion Bartoli. This year, it’s 43rd-ranked CiCi Bellis.

It’s somewhat curious that, given this is a Premier-level WTA event three weeks removed from Wimbledon, more players haven’t decided to commence their US Open preparations here. The only other tournament competing with Stanford on the schedule this week is the lower-level event in Washington DC.

So where is everyone?

Sam Stosur, currently sitting out with a right hand injury, believed there were several factors at play influencing a player’s schedule at this time of the season.

“I think a lot of players, like a (Johanna) Konta I guess, would’ve played more through the grass (season). So I can understand someone like her maybe missing a couple of weeks before getting back,” Stosur said.

“If you want to back yourself to do really well in two tournaments before (the US Open) in Toronto and Cincinnati, maybe going into a Grand Slam that’s the best way to do it. But for a lot of players, it’s good to be on court too.

“I think with Stanford and Washington, if you play those it does become a long stretch. But someone like myself, I probably would have wanted to play something like that – to play on the hard courts in the summer where I like it. But I wouldn’t have played all of the grass season.

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“So I think a lot kind of depends on where you like to play and maybe what you’ve done prior. Someone like a (Simona) Halep, who’s played a ton of matches, may not always choose to do that. And she’s a wildcard (in Washington) so she obviously hadn’t necessarily planned to play that.

“But I think there’s still good events that you can still get a lot of good stuff out of it if you want to be there.”

Stosur is hoping to return to the court in time for the US Open, and is hopeful she can also take part in lead-up events in Cincinnati and New Haven.