Sam Stosur has no plans beyond playing in next month’s Australian Open, a year after the 2011 US Open champion’s emotion-charged singles farewell.
Whether that means Melbourne Park will be the final stop in the 38-year-old’s esteemed career, or if she has another season left in her, remains to be seen.
“We’ll see. I’ll do January and after that, I’m not too sure,” Stosur told The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.
Sam Stosur waves to the crowd after her final singles match at the 2022 Australian Open.Credit:Getty Images
“It’s a bit weird. I feel like my life and probably lots of people’s lives have been like that in recent times. I’m kind of just going with it now.
“I’m just focusing on January and doing as best I can there in the doubles and the mixed; enjoying it, getting out there one more time and seeing what happens.”
Stosur extended her singles send-off when she rallied from a set down at the 2022 Australian Open to beat American Robin Anderson, before losing to Russian star Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Looking back, bar hoping to go even further, she was thrilled with how everything went in her 20th main draw appearance in Melbourne.
“Obviously, last year was pretty huge – my last singles tournament and all of that – and I was a bit scared to put myself out there again, but obviously excited,” the former world No.4 said.
“It was a big decision to actually [announce my retirement], so I feel like that was a huge weight off, and I loved it and couldn’t really have asked for it to go any better.
“Hopefully, this year I can go out there and just enjoy it again. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d be playing again, so it feels like a bonus that I even get the opportunity to come back.”
Stosur made clear at the time she would continue to play doubles – there was also a surprise, one-off singles appearance in France in May – but that plan almost came unstuck.
Her successful union with China’s Zhang Shuai, with whom she won the 2019 Australian Open and 2021 US Open doubles titles, ended in March after an underwhelming start to the year.
There were “panic stations” when Stosur struggled to find a replacement, and she feared at one stage that her career might be over, before she eventually teamed up with former doubles No.1 Latisha Chan.
There were other adjustments to make because Stosur’s off-court partner, Liz Astling, and their 2½-year-old daughter, Evie, joined her overseas.
Sam Stosur (right) with partner, Liz, and their daughter, Evie, in 2020.Credit:Instagram
“It was good fun. We travelled together pretty much everywhere this year, except for the three weeks that I spent in France,” she said.
“It was totally different and more stressful in some ways, just with organising things. I’ve gone to these tournaments so many times … but now, travelling with Evie, it was like, ‘Hang on, we can’t do that; we can’t stay there’ or ‘How is this going to work?’
“By the third and last trip we did, I think we nailed it. I was a bit worried about being in New York with her, just being so busy and crazy, but she thrived and loved it. She was excited to see the ‘Big Apple’, even though she never saw a big apple.”
There was a major exclamation point to Stosur’s season, when she helped Australia reach the Billie Jean King Cup final in a somewhat surprise doubles call-up.
She took a fortnight off after the US Open in early September before resuming hitting, in the hope Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup captain Alicia Molik would select her.
Molik did not disappoint, calling a “stoked” Stosur on the first day she started training again to deliver the news she would be in the squad.
Even then, it was expected that Storm Sanders and Ellen Perez would be the country’s doubles pairing, only for Molik to replace Perez with Stosur for the second tie against Belgium.
Sanders – who starred on singles and doubles duty – and Stosur won in straight sets before combining to clinch Australia’s final berth in a thrilling super tiebreaker triumph over Great Britain in Glasgow in November.
Switzerland were too good in the final, winning both singles, so the doubles rubber was not played.
“I was grateful to get the chance to play against Belgium in the dead rubber … then to play the Brits in the semis and have it come down to a super tiebreak was so exciting,” Stosur said.
“Even though we had the whole crowd against us; the atmosphere, adrenaline and everything you get playing for your country was there.
“It was a fantastic week and, unfortunately, the girls couldn’t get to the doubles match at least in the final, but I was super proud of the team, and we deserved to be where we were. Hopefully, we can go one better.”
Stosur will co-captain Australia’s inaugural United Cup team with Lleyton Hewitt in January.
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