Melbourne VIC, Australia, 19 December 2016 | AAP

This summer, Sam Stosur will be trying her hardest not to try her hardest.

Australia’s most recent Grand Slam champion is preparing for a home campaign that has so regularly fallen short of the sky-high expectations of the sporting public.

Stosur hasn’t won more than two matches at her home event since 2010, when she reached the fourth round before a loss to Serena Williams.

That, along with a fourth-round finish in 2006, remains her high water mark at Melbourne Park.

But another summer gives hope that the much-admired 32-year-old will reach the second week at the year’s first major event.

This campaign, the tactic is to relax.

“It’s a matter of going out there and playing and trying to embrace it,” she said.

“Sometimes it’s been a little bit hard and you can try almost too hard to get this result. Like anything, sometimes when you try too hard it doesn’t work.

“So it’s really treating (the Open) like it’s any other match and trying to let your best tennis come out.”

Read the full story at samstosur.com.