Stosur out to atone at US Open

HAVING felt the French Open crown slip from her grasp, Samantha Stosur is racing the clock to be fit for another US Open title tilt.

Stosur hopes to make her return from injury in New Haven the week before the final major gets under way on August 29 in New York.

Champion at Flushing Meadows in 2011, Stosur hasn’t played since suffering a stress fracture more than two months ago in Paris.

The former Roland Garros finalist was flying until scans revealed the full extent of her injury to her right hand.

With pregnant Serena Williams and two-time champion Maria Sharapova absent and the top seeds falling like flies, Stosur was tipped to atone for her surprise 2010 finals loss in Paris to Francesca Schiavone.

Alas, injury brought her undone. Not only were her French Open hopes crushed, but Stosur was also forced to sit out the entire grasscourt season – including Wimbledon.

“It’s not a position I would have liked to have been in, but everything happens for a reason,” she said.

The one-time world No.4 has fallen to 43rd and won’t be seeded for the first time since 2008 in New York.

But Stosur hopes her layoff will freshen her up mentally.

“Obviously, we’ve seen a few champions of the game take some breaks so hopefully this can somehow help me,” the Queenslander said.