Stephanie Dubois is on a roll

Having had little success since the turn of the year, starting with a very disappointing performance in Australia where she failed to qualify at the first of the four grand slams for 2007, the Laval resident went back to the basics, emerging recently as a stronger and much more competitive force in international women's tennis, scoring two tournament victories in a row, the first in Hamilton, the latest in Kentucky. Both these wins came in tournaments sanctioned by the Women's Division of the International Tennis federation (ITF).

The win in Kentucky was particularly satisfying since she had to come from behind after dropping the first set to Anne Keothavong of Britain, 6-4, in the final. She rallied to win the next two sets at 6-3, 6-3.

"I'm proud of the way I came back after a very difficult first set," Dubois told Courrier Laval by telephone from Vancouver where she was taking part in another tournament in preparation for the 2007 Rogers Cup which this year takes place in Toronto, August 11-19. "I was missing a lot of balls and my concentration was off. I could have given in and given up but I decided to ramp up my game and came back to my strength," she explained.

Despite the comeback, the second set started much like the first had finished, with the advantage to Keothavong at 2-0. "That's when I had had enough and decided to play the way I really can," said the champion, adding that the strategy worked. "I focused on simply hitting the ball as well as I knew I could, and that's how I came back to win the tournament."

To reach the final, Dubois had disposed of Australian Casey Dellacqua, ranked 104th in ITF Women's competition and was the top seed in Kentucky.

"It's the tournament that gets me the most excited every year," she said. "Last year it went very well for me at the Rogers Cup in Montreal." (The competition alternates between Montreal and Toronto from year to year).

"With my two recent titles, I have to say I'm looking at the upcoming tournament with a lot more confidence. I don't know exactly what to expect because you never know about these things, but there's nothing that beats taking it one match at a time. I obviously want to go as far as I can, but I'm convinced anything can happen."

At the 2006 Rogers Cup, Dubois became the first Canadian in 15 years (and the first Quebecer ever) to reach the third round of the competition, before falling to Slovenia's Katerina Srebotnik, ranked 24th in the world at the time.

"It was the best week of my life," she said at the conclusion of last year's tournament, and despite the success she enjoyed then, she's set her sights even higher for this year's event in Toronto.

Photo: Dubois

(Photo: Courtesy of Tennis Canada))

Photo: Steph

(Photo: Martin Alarie)