• What the Deuce

Staying on track

Sam Stosur will play her first tournament as a grand slam champion © PA Photos

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• Profile: Petra Kvitova | Maria Sharapova | Sam Stosur

With the destination of the year's majors already decided, the tennis circus heads to the Far East, and with plenty of prize money and ranking points up for grabs, players will be looking to end the season on a high, although for very different reasons.

US Open champion Sam Stosur is in Japan as she makes her first appearance following her New York heroics. Having upset the applecart in the Big Apple, overwhelming the red-hot favourite Serena Williams in the final, all eyes will be on the new champion to see how she fares in Tokyo.

Her performance at Flushing Meadows was one of a player assured of her own abilities and many believe her triumph in New York was just the start. Finally fulfilling her potential on the biggest stage could give Stosur an extra spring in her step - and Novak Djokovic has shown just how big a difference confidence can make.

It remains to be seen whether Stosur approaches her matches any differently, but her rivals almost certainly will do. As US Open champion, she will be the player the others want to beat, and that added pressure could prove too great. But despite the inevitable fanfare that came with being Australia's first female grand slam champion since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980, Stosur seems to be keeping her feet firmly on the ground.

"This week is a new week. You win a week before and there are no guarantees for the next week," Stosur said. "So I have to get back on the practice court and keep training hard and being fully prepared for the first round."

One player who could warn Stosur of the dangers of not building on a major triumph is Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. The Czech has been a rising star of the WTA Tour in 2011, rising steadily up the rankings before announcing her arrival in emphatic fashion at the All England Club.

Petra Kvitova has failed to build on her Wimbledon victory © PA Photos

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After making the final in Brisbane, the 2010 WTA Tour Newcomer of the Year showed a sign of what was to come when she made the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, upsetting sixth seed Stosur in the process. After picking up titles in Paris and Madrid, Kvitova became the youngest Wimbledon winner since Maria Sharapova, the player she beat in the final.

With the likes of Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters in the autumns of their respective careers, the highly-rated 21-year-old was hailed as the future of the sport. But since that remarkable victory in July, Kvitova has won just two matches - falling early in Toronto and Cincinnati before crashing out of the US Open on the first day at the hands of the world No. 48 Alexandra Dulgheru.

It is not just Kvitova who has struggled to live up to expectations. French Open champion Na Li crashed out in the first round in New York - and with Australian Open winner and defending champion Kim Clijsters absent with injury, it was the first time since 1971 there were no reigning grand slam winners in the US Open second round.

Kvitova fell in the first round at the Pan Pacific Open last year, but after being handed a bye into the second round, the Czech has a relatively uncomplicated route to the quarter-finals where she could face her Wimbledon opponent, Sharapova.

Should she pull off another win over the second-seeded Russian, Kvitova could be in line for a semi-final clash with Stosur in the battle of the champions. Can Stosur stay on track where Kvitova was derailed, or will the Australian struggle to deal with her new star status?

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