TENNIS in DEPTH.

Samantha Stosur believes she will cope much better with the pressure of playing in her home tournament when the Australian Open gets under way next month. A first-round success at the Brisbane International (January 2-8) could secure the 26-year-old a coveted top-four seeding at Melbourne Park and avoid facing a higher-ranked opponent until at least the semi-finals. Stosur bowed out of the 2010 Australian Open at the fourth round stage, but hopes to improve on that after a stellar season that saw her reach the final of the French Open.

“It was quite difficult last year, it was harder than what I thought it was going to be and I thought I was ready for all the hype and the extra attention, but didn’t really handle it too well in the first couple of weeks. “But as the Aussie Open went on, I started to feel a bit more comfortable and started playing quite well. “So now that I’ve had a good taste of that, not only January this year but throughout the whole year, I think I’ll be much better prepared. “I guess it’s a matter of just keeping your head and really focusing on what’s important and that’s getting on the court and being prepared for matches.”

Stosur also believes that being able to train in Australia will give her an advantage. “I’m one of the few players that are here now training – on the (Plexicushion) court, in the sun, getting used to the conditions, so I think it can only help throughout January,” she said. “It’s not so easy for the Europeans who have been in winter or training somewhere else. “They’ve got to have a long flight over here, a short preparation going into the first couple of tournaments, so hopefully it will put me into a good spot.”

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Brazil’s Tiago Fernandes has earned himself a memorable 17th birthday present, winning the Australian Open junior boys’ championship at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday.

Fernandes, who turned 17 on the eve of the final, overcame an early surge from Australian wildcard Sean Berman to win 7-5 6-3 in one hour and 50 minutes.

The win was the Brazilian’s first junior Grand Slam title, his previous best result being a quarter-final finish at last year’s junior US Open.

Seventeen-year-old Berman, a South-African born and New Zealand-raised player who now represents Australia, claimed the early momentum by hitting a series of quality forehand winners to break Fernandes’ serve and hold to take a 2-0 lead. However, Fernandes soon rose to the challenge, and leveled at 2-2 after breaking the Australian in a lengthy fourth game.

At 5-5, Fernandes fought off two break points against his own serve to hold and then broke Berman in the following game, claiming the set 7-5.

The 14th seed looked to be running away with the match early in the second set as he raced out to a 3-0 advantage, hitting some of the best of his 27 winners through this period.

The players then exchanged service breaks midway through the set, with Fernandes then holding to take a 5-2 advantage.

Serving for the championship at 5-3, the Brazilian managed to save three break points and eventually close out the match with an ace.

Upon claiming the championship point, the animated 17-year-old rushed over to his coach Carlos Eduordo in his players’ box to celebrate the win.

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