Stosur hoping to send coach out on a high

Australian tennis star Samantha Stosur is hoping for another deep run in Paris before parting ways with long-time coach David Taylor.

Undeterred by her Fed Cup flop, Samantha Stosur is hoping to send her long-time coach out in style with another deep run at Roland Garros.

Stosur admits it'll be an emotional end to their eight-year partnership, but knows Paris - where she made the final in 2010 and the semi-finals on two other occasions - is the perfect setting to bid au revoir to David Taylor, her trusted mentor and friend.

"It would be nice to finish on a high with a good result. I've obviously had lots of great memories at Roland Garros in the past," Stosur told AAP.

"So if I can kind of get somewhere close to that again, then that'd be a really nice way to finish our partnership together.

"It's certainly going to be a bit strange playing there and wondering which match is going to be our last one, but that's just the way it is."

The 32-year-old credits Taylor with giving her the know-how to use her big one-two punch that took her to world No.4 and the 2011 US Open title.

"I could always hit a kick serve and had a big forehand and all that," she said.

"But really knowing how to put it all together and where all that fits into a proper game style is what he really helped me with, especially in those early years together."

Stosur and Taylor have also more than the odd heart-to-heart during their two stints together as the Queenslander battled her mental demons.

"We've had lots of conversations, not just about tennis, but about personal things, about everything, that might affect your game and performance throughout any given time," Stosur said.

"We certainly covered a lot of topics over the years and probably re-hashed a lot of things over and over again, but there's no quick fix and, as a coach, you've got to be willing to put in that time to go through some hard times to get the good results.

"And any time it has been a bit of a rough trot results-wise, I've been able to bounce back and he's been good at trying to find some answers to be able to do that as well."

With no plans to retire any time soon, the world No.26 accepts the father of two can no longer juggle his family commitments while living in different time zones coaching her.

"It's not like anything went wrong. It's just under circumstance that we've come to that arrangement," she said.

"For anybody, family comes first, and I absolutely understand that and would never want to take somebody away from their family for that reason.

"So whoever I work with (next), I want them to really want to do it."


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Source: AAP



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