- Samantha Stosur
Infobox Tennis player
playername = Samantha Stosur
nickname = Sam
country = AUS
residence = Gold Coast,Queensland , Australia
datebirth = birth date and age|1984|3|30
placebirth =Brisbane , Queensland, Australia
height = height|m=1.72)
weight = convert|65|kg|lb st|abbr=on|lk=on
turnedpro = 1999
plays = Right (two-handed backhand)
careerprizemoney = $3,125,940
singlesrecord = 228–185
singlestitles = 0 WTA, 4 ITF
highestsinglesranking = No. 27 (January 8, 2007)
AustralianOpenresult = 4R (2006)
FrenchOpenresult = 3R (2007)
Wimbledonresult = 2R (2006, 2007, 2008)
USOpenresult = 2R (2004)
doublesrecord = 284–121
doublestitles = 22 WTA, 11 ITF
highestdoublesranking = No. 1 (February 6, 2006)
grandslamsdoublesresults =yes
AustralianOpenDoublesresult = F (2006)
FrenchOpenDoublesresult = W (2006)
WimbledonDoublesresult = F (2008)
USOpenDoublesresult = W (2005)
OthertournamentsDoubles = Yes
WTAChampionshipsDoublesresult= W (2005, 2006)
updated = October 6, 2008Samantha Stosur (born
March 30 1984 inBrisbane ,Queensland ) is anAustralia n professionaltennis player. She is a former world No. 1 on WTA Tour in doubles, together withLisa Raymond from theUnited States .Biography
Samantha Stosur is the daughter of Tony and Diane and has two brothers, Dominic and Daniel.cite web|url=http://samstosur.com/bio/|title=Bio - Sam's story|accessdate=2008-09-30] At the age of six her house in Gold Coast was destroyed by a flood, causing her family to move to
Adelaide . cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/tennis/play-it-again-sam/2006/01/20/1137734153106.html|title=Play it again, Sam |accessdate=2008-09-30 |last=Halloran |first=Jessica |date=2006-01-21 ] There she started playing tennis, when she was given a racquet forChristmas at the age of eight. While her parents worked long hours at the cafe they had started up, Stosur played at local courts with older brother Daniel, who later encouraged their parents to take her to tennis lessons.cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21043453-5006011,00.htm|title=Court of appeal |accessdate=2008-09-30 |last=Hawkins |first=Joanne |date=2007-01-14 ]The two players who inspired her as a child are
Steffi Graf andMonica Seles .cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21043453-5006011,00.htm|title=Court of appeal |accessdate=2008-09-30 |last=Hawkins |first=Joanne |date=2007-01-14 ] In her free time Stosur enjoys going to the beach, hanging out with friends, surfing, watching movies and listening to music.cite web|url=http://samstosur.com/bio/|title=Bio - Sam's story|accessdate=2008-09-30] cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21043453-5006011,00.htm|title=Court of appeal |accessdate=2008-09-30 |last=Hawkins |first=Joanne |date=2007-01-14 ] She currently lives inTampa ,Florida .cite web|url=http://samstosur.com/bio/|title=Bio - Sam's story|accessdate=2008-09-30]Tennis career
Early career
Stosur first played professional tennis in
1999 on the ITF circuit. In2000 she debuted on theWomen's Tennis Association tour where she lost in the first qualifying round of theAustralian Open . In2001 she won four straightITF titles. In2002 she lost in the first round at the Gold Coast event.In 2003 Stosur won her first WTA singles match on home soil where she reached the third round of the
Australian Open . She lost in the third round 6–4, 6–2 to No. 7 seed,Daniela Hantuchová . She also qualified for a WTA event in Memphis.In
2004 Stosur reached the semifinals of the Gold Coast event, before falling toAi Sugiyama 7–5, 3–6, 6–3. The next week she reached the second round of the WTA tournament in Hobart, then the second round of theAustralian Open . She later successfully qualified for WTA events in Acapulco, Indian Wells, Vienna and Birmingham. Stosur competed at the Athens Olympics, where she lost in the first round. She continued to play WTA qualifying events, successfully qualifying for the Japan Open and Bali in the autumn of 2004. At the end of the 2004 season, Stosur reached the doubles final in Quebéc City, partneringEls Callens fromBelgium .2005
In
2005 Stosur reached her first WTA tour final at her home event in Gold Coast, losing toPatty Schnyder . She was also a runner-up at the Sydney event, where she lost an all-Australian final to Alicia Molik 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-5, and won her first doubles title partnering AustralianBryanne Stewart at the same tournament. Stosur lost to World no.2Amélie Mauresmo 6–2, 6–3 in the first round of theAustralian Open , but won the mixed doubles title withScott Draper overLiezel Huber andKevin Ullyett .In the summer she teamed up with American tennis player
Lisa Raymond , winning seven WTA doubles titles until the end of the year, including the U.S. Open, theKremlin Cup and theWTA Tour Championships . Stosur finished the year ranked #46 in singles and #2 in doubles.2006
In
2006 Stosur representedAustralia along withTodd Reid at theHopman Cup and won all of her singles matches. After that, she lost in the first round of Sydney in a three-setter against CzechNicole Vaidisova , 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.At the2006 Australian Open , Stosur made it to the fourth round in singles, falling toMartina Hingis 6-1, 7-6(8). She andLisa Raymond also made it to the Women's Doubles final, being defeated by Chinese duoYan Zi andZheng Jie , 2-6, 7-6(7), 6-3.In February, Stosur reached the quarterfinals at the
Tier I event in Tokyo, beating no. 6 seedDaniela Hantuchová 7-6(5), 6-2 before falling to no. 1 seedMaria Sharapova 6-1, 6-4. In doubles, after losing at theAustralian Open , Stosur and Raymond won 18 straight matches, winning titles in Tokyo, Memphis, Indian Wells and Miami. They also won in Charleston, at the French Open and theWTA Tour Championships .On the 28th of August, after reaching the semifinals at New Haven, where she lost to
Lindsay Davenport in two tiebreakers, Stosur achieved a career-high ranking of number 30. She finished off the year winning the doubles title at theWTA Tour Championships inMadrid , ranked #1 in doubles and a career-high #29 in singles.2007
Stosur, together with
Lisa Raymond , successfully defended her doubles titles titles in Tokyo, Indian Wells and Miami. The duo also won the German Open inBerlin . In singles, Stosur reached three quarterfinals, at Gold Coast, Tokyo and Memphis. In Rome, she defeated #1 seedAmélie Mauresmo in the second round before losing toPatty Schnyder in the following.After the
French Open , Stosur started showing symptoms of what would only after months be diagnosed asLyme disease , an infection transmitted by the bite ofticks . By then she had slumped to a 2nd round defeat in Wimbledon and withdrawn from many tournaments on the US hardcourt circuit before losing in the 1st round of the U.S. Open, where she was the 29th seed, to then ranked no. 96Alizé Cornet ofFrance . Stosur did not play any more tournaments in 2007.2008
Stosur was scheduled to make a comeback at the Gold Coast tournament. However, it was announced on her website that she would take an extended break to fully recover from her illness. Stosur stated that she was aiming to make a comeback in March, at Indian Wells. Her comeback was then further delayed, after she injured her shoulder in training. She has a protected ranking of 46, which she can use for 8 tournaments over 6 months.
Stosur returned playing two ITF Tournaments before the
2008 Rome Masters , in May, where she was defeated in the second round byVenus Williams 6-4, 6-1. The tournament also saw the return of the doubles team of Stosur andLisa Raymond with a second round loss. Less than a month later they were defeated in the third round of the2008 French Open , where Stosur reached the second round of singles losing toPetra Kvitova 6-2, 6-1.As a qualifier, Stosur entered Birmingham and was ousted in the second round by eventual champion
Kateryna Bondarenko 6-3, 6-2. Stosur and Raymond were defeated in the first round, and at the2008 International Women's Open inEastbourne they fell in the quarterfinals to the no.2 seeded pair ofKveta Peschke andRennae Stubbs . Stosur also played her way into the singles semifinals, defeatingCaroline Wozniacki 7-6(3), 6-4 before losing to no.8 seedNadia Petrova in straight sets.Stosur showed great promise at Wimbledon; while only making the second round in Singles, losing to
Nicole Vaidisova 6-2, 0-6, 6-4, she made the finals of both the Ladies and Mixed Doubles. PartneringLisa Raymond , they lost the final toVenus Williams andSerena Williams , both of whom were in the singles final, 6-2, 6-2. PartneringBob Bryan , they overcameMike Bryan andKatarina Srebotnik 7-5, 6-4 to win the title.After losing in the final round of the Stanford qualifying draw to eventual champion
Aleksandra Wozniak 6-4, 6-2, Stosur entered the event as a lucky loser afterLindsay Davenport withdrew. She defeated the no.3 seedVera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals, where she was again defeated by Wozniak, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4. In Los Angeles, Stosur beatShahar Pe'er 6-1, 6-1 and was later defeated in the third round byVictoria Azarenka 6-4, 7-6(4). Raymond and Stosur were eliminated in the semifinals by top seedsChan Yung-Jan andChuang Chia-Jung .At the Beijing Olympics, Stosur was defeated in the second round of the singles tournament by no.4 seed
Serena Williams . In doubles, the former world no.1 partneredRennae Stubbs , ranked no.5 in theSony Ericsson WTA Tour Doubles Rankings at the time; however, the pair was unseeded as the ITF determined the seedings for the doubles competition based on both singles and doubles rankings standings. TheAustralians ended up on losing in the second round to the Spanish team ofAnabel Medina Garrigues andVirginia Ruano Pascual 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, then ranked no.2 in theRace to the Sony Ericsson Championships .At the US Open, Stosur lost in the first round of singles to seventh seed
Venus Williams 6-2, 6-3. PartneringMahesh Bhupathi , she was eliminated in the second round of the mixed doubles competition byRennae Stubbs andRobert Lindstedt 2-6, 6-3, 12-10. Raymond and Stosur were runners-up at the women's doubles event, losing to no.1 ranked team ofCara Black andLiezel Huber 6-3, 7-6(6).At the Toray Pan Pacific Open in
Tokyo , Raymond and Stosur reached their third final of the year, this time falling toNadia Petrova andVania King 6-1, 6-4. Stosur was also the runner-up at theHansol Korea Open Tennis Championships inSeoul , losing to top seedMaria Kirilenko 2-6 6-1 6-4 in the final. Back inTokyo for theAIG Japan Open Tennis Championships , Stosur eliminated second seedAnabel Medina Garrigues 6-1, 7-5, but lost in the quarterfinals to eighth seedAleksandra Wozniak 7-5, 6-3.Her next scheduled tournament is the
Zurich Open .Playing Style
An accomplished doubles player, Stosur has developed a serve-and-volley style of play.cite web|url=http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=35953|title=Pilot Pen Tennis - Samantha Stosur |accessdate=2008-09-30 |date=2006-08-25 ] Her right-handed forehand groundstrokes, hit with heavy spin, are considered her best, cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/tennis/stosur-so-good/2006/01/22/1137864806667.html|title=Stosur so good |accessdate=2008-09-30 |last=Pearce |first=Linda |date=2006-01-23 ] as evidenced by her often choosing to hit inside-out forehands; still, Stosur plays the ad court in doubles. She is also noted for her athleticism.cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/tennis/play-it-again-sam/2006/01/20/1137734153106.html?page=3|title=Play it again, Sam |accessdate=2008-09-30 |last=Halloran |first=Jessica |date=2006-01-21 ] cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/tennis/stosur-so-good/2006/01/22/1137864806667.html|title=Stosur so good |accessdate=2008-09-30 |last=Pearce |first=Linda |date=2006-01-23 ]
Stosur's first serve, however erratic, reaches more than 112 mph (180 km/h) on regular basis; at the
2008 Hansol Korea Open final she recorded an ace at 122 mph (197 km/h), which she believes to be her fastest service to date.cite web|url=http://www.hansolopen.com/|title=Samantha Stosur interview after final|accessdate=2008-09-30 |date=2008-09-28 ] Nonetheless, it is her second, a high bouncing kick serve, that is usually highly rated by media and players alike.cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/tennis/stosurs-doubles-life-under-scrutiny/2007/01/13/1168105227421.html|title=Stosur's doubles life under scrutiny |accessdate=2008-09-30 |last=Dobbin |first=Winsor |date=2007-01-14 ] cite web|url=http://www.guidomedia.com/aws/tennisarchiveA2006.html|title=Stosur bows out to the Swiss Miss |accessdate=2008-09-30 |date=2006-01-23 ] cite web|url=http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,21076733-23216,00.html|title=Rival fears power of Stosur serve |accessdate=2008-09-30 |last=Malone |first=Paul |date=2007-01-18 ]Her favorite surface is the hard court.cite web|url=http://www.itftennis.com/womens/players/player.asp?player=35011171|title=STOSUR, Samantha (AUS) - Biography |accessdate=2008-09-30 ]
Equipment
Stosur's clothing sponsor is Nike. She currently plays with a Prince racquet, the O3 White.
Grand Slam Doubles Finals (7)
Wins (2)
WTA Tour Finals (33)
Doubles (29)
Wins (22)
ITF Titles (15)
ingles (4)
*1 Includes ITF tournaments.
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles Performance Timeline
"To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded."
References
* [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/lisa_raymond/11/02/stosur/index.html Sports Illustrated column by doubles partner Lisa Raymond]
External links
* [http://www.samstosur.com/ Samantha Stosur Official Website]
*
* [http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/bios/ws/wtas787.html Australian Open Profile]###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
before =Paola Suárez &Virginia Ruano Pascual
after =Cara Black &Liezel Huber
title = WTA Doubles Team of the Year
(withLisa Raymond )
years =2005 ,2006 |succession box
before = Paola Suárez &
Virginia Ruano Pascual
after = Cara Black &
Liezel Huber
title = ITF Doubles Champions
(with Lisa Raymond)
years =2005 ,2006 |
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