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After bowing out in the first round of the Australian Open four years in a row, Samantha Stosur is determined to enjoy every last moment at Melbourne Park.
An upbeat Samantha Stosur is determined to enjoy every Australian Open moment whatever the results may be on-court.
After bowing out in the first round at Melbourne Park for the last four years, the Queenslander has a golden opportunity to snap her nightmare streak.
Unseeded, Stosur will face a qualifier to kickstart her 18th Australian Open.
While the world No.97 admitted there had been challenges in Australia, she considers herself lucky to play a home grand slam despite the pressure.
"You have to go out there, enjoy those experiences and when I can be like that, I play better tennis," Stosur told AAP.
"There's only four countries that get to have a grand slam and we're one of them, so we're pretty fortunate
"There's a lot of names people probably don't know that can do very well in these tournaments, so it's a matter of sometimes playing a good player and they beat you on the day.
"But because we're at home playing in Melbourne it seems so much worse, when in reality it's not."
The 35-year-old Stosur is well aware she's closer to end of her career than the start, but wants to be back at Melbourne Park in 2021.
"I don't think this will be my last Aussie Open," she said.
"I don't know how much time I've got playing out here, but I'm pretty confident I can make it through the year and come back again.
"I love what I do and I know once I stop, then I'm 100 per cent stopped because it's going to be hard to come back at this stage.
"While I've got these opportunities, I want to make the most of them."
The 2011 US Open champion has had a mixed lead-in to the tournament, including a win over former world No.1 Angelique Kerber in Brisbane.
But she lost to Russian youngster Veronika Kudermetova in Hobart.
Singles wins have been hard to come by at the Australian Open for Stosur, but she is the reigning women's doubles champion after winning the final last year in partnership with China's Zhang Shuai.
