Beijing, China, 1 October 2017 | Leigh Rogers

Sam Stosur is in Beijing this week feeling refreshed and healthy after a long injury lay-off derailed her 2017 season.

After winning her ninth WTA singles title in Strasbourg in May and making a promising start to her Roland Garros campaign, the 33-year-old’s momentum was halted by a right hand stress fracture. It forced the former world No.4 to miss Wimbledon and the US Open, snapping a streak of 37 consecutive Grand Slam main draw appearances.

After making her return to the WTA Tour in September, the No.44-ranked Stosur is aiming for the first win of her comeback when she takes on Czech world No.47 Katerina Siniakova in the China Open first round today.

On how her hand is feeling…

“It’s been fine. Playing a few two-and-a-half-hour matches has been a very good test for it, but it’s been pulling up fine, so that’s good.”

On how she feels her comeback is going…

“It would be better if I’d won some matches (laughs). In Tokyo (her first tournament back) I got food poisoning the second day I was there and then I was just wiped out and struggled through that match, but the last two I thought I played pretty well. They were close matches and I put myself in winning positions both times, I just wasn’t able to quite finish it off. I’m happy with where I am at and how I’m hitting, hopefully it’s just a matter of time before I get across the line for a win.”

On her chances at the China Open…

“I’ve been here for a couple of days practicing. It is really different conditions to where we’ve been, where it was really hot and humid, so it takes a bit of getting used to but I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and give it my best shot.”

With two tournaments left this season (Beijing and Hong Kong), how she’s rated her year…

“It definitely has been a bit strange. I’ve never had three-and-a-half months off mid-season before, except when I had Lyme’s disease which is 10 years ago now. I was coming off playing my best tennis for the year through Strasbourg and the French Open, then all of sudden I couldn’t hit for six weeks. It makes you feel like you’ve stopped and started again, but that’s just the way it is. I really enjoyed my time at home, given I couldn’t be doing what I necessarily wanted to be doing. You have to find something good out of injury, and when it was for that long, it was a good opportunity for me to knuckle down and get stuck into fitness work, as well as enjoy a bit of a more normal life at home.”

On what she discovered during her injury time-off…

“It makes you realise you really want to get back out there to play and compete. At the end of the day I’m a tennis player, I can practice or stay home as much as I want, but you’re doing all this to be out there to play matches and hopefully win.”

On how she coped with missing the US Open, where she was the 2011 champion…

“I was like ‘let me go, let me go’. I really wanted to get to the US Open but I just wasn’t ready. Even Tokyo I was only borderline ready, then I got sick anyway, but there is only so much training you can do before you want to test yourself in that environment.”

On the strength of women’s tennis in Australia right now with three top 50-ranked players for the first time in 28 years…

“To have three in the top 50, it’s a good position to be in. It’s great to see Dasha (Daria Gavrilova) is nearly top 20 and Ash (Barty) will now be seeded at next year’s Australian Open, which is incredible considering where she has come from within a year. I’m trying to get myself back up to where I think I should be too.”