Samantha Stosur believes playing a first Grand Slam final outside her Australian hot house of expectations could work in her favour when she tackles Francesca Schiavone in Saturday's French Open final. The 26-year-old, looking to become the first Australian woman to win a Grand Slam title since Evonne Goolagong clinched the 1980 Wimbledon crown, starts as favourite against Schiavone, the first Italian woman to make a major final. And Stosur is convinced that playing her first Grand Slam final here rather than in the Australian Open in Melbourne could work in her favour. 'It's pretty crazy at the moment, so I can't imagine what it would be like in Australia. I don't see the papers and don't have people coming up to me and recognising me,' said Stosur. 'I have made the fourth round at the Australian Open twice and never felt like I performed that badly at home. I have enjoyed the experience although I know some players who have struggled at home and not had good results. 'So maybe avoiding all the hype helps, maybe it makes a bit of difference.' Stosur, who lives on the Gold Coast, is also hoping that the Australian-style summer temperatures, which have sent Paris into a sweat in the last few days, will also help her quest. On Friday, it was 28 degrees on the Philippe Chatrier Court at the start of the men's semi-finals in early afternoon. 'The weather may be good for me. If the sun shines it will be nice,' said Stosur, who hopes her mother, father and two brothers will make it to Paris in time for the final. Schiavone, meanwhile, hopes the final will prove that there is more to women's tennis than just endless groundstrokes being launched from the baseline. 'Women's tennis is becoming more and more aggressive,' said the Italian, one of the few players to still execute a backhand one-handed. 'We have a different way, me, Sam, Justin (Henin). But you are born like this. You can't ask me to serve 200kmh or to hit the forehand flat, because I say, I'm sorry. Everybody's different.' 