Sam Stosur’s distinguished professional tennis career will end in the next two weeks, a 21st appearance at the Australian Open a fitting time to walk away.
A year after the emotion of her singles swansong at Melbourne Park, the veteran Australian knows this final farewell is going to feel both different and harder.
This time it’s final: Sam Stosur on Saturday.Credit:Fiona Hamilton / Tennis Australia
The 2011 US Open champion continued her career last year with doubles appearances as part of a gradual, albeit successful, withdrawal.
It was little surprise that Stosur reached the Wimbledon mixed doubles final with Matthew Ebden. The 38-year-old will be playing with Ebden again at Melbourne Park and, in the women’s doubles, with Frenchwoman Alize Cornet.
Her final match in either of those events will mark the end of her era.
Stosur said when the last handshake with her teammate and opponents happened, coupled with one last wave goodbye to the fans, it would be emotional.
“I keep crying every time I’m talking about it,” she said, the tears already welling up.
“I think it’s going to be a bit of a different situation.”
Stosur has been a mainstay of Australian tennis for most of this century, her success in women’s tennis crisscrossing the careers of Ash Barty and, in men’s tennis, Pat Rafter, Lleyton Hewitt, Mark Philippoussis and Nick Kyrgios.
Among myriad feats in singles and doubles, Stosur is best remembered for a US Open triumph more than a decade ago, achieved with a 6-2, 6-3 finals win over Serena Williams, no less.
But that is only the start of it. Stosur was especially successful on clay at Roland Garros, reaching the final there in 2010, as well as three other singles semi-finals.
The right-hander combined singles and doubles play with aplomb, winning two grand slam mixed doubles titles and picking up three women’s doubles major titles. Her success with Zhang Shuai at Melbourne Park in 2019 gave Stosur the Australian Open title she deserved.Having made the final call in December that this Australian Open, her 21st appearance since 2002, would definitively be the professional farewell, Stosur remains comfortable with the decision.
She represented Australia as a playing captain at the inaugural United Cup over the new year and then went to Adelaide for doubles. Suddenly, however, she can almost touch the finish line.
“It feels right to stop here. I’ve wanted to stop at home,” she said.
“It feels like a good time even though I’ve been playing.
“I’m like, ‘do I want to stop?’ You know what I mean – it’s hard to then actually make that decision but whether it was now, or in six months, or a month or a week or whatever, it’s never going to be easy. It’s always going to have that feeling [of finality] …
“I’ve had a pretty good run. It’s my 21st AO, so you know there’s lots that I’m really, really proud of. No matter when it happens, it’s going to be hard because I do love playing.
“Yeah, the time’s come.”
Asked to ponder the possibility of a fairytale departure marked by another slam win, Stosur catches her breath.
“If we did that, I mean, phew, what a way to go out,” she said.
“I don’t think there’d be anything better than kind of going away with a trophy.
“There’s a long way before that happens. First and foremost what I want to do this next week or two is just enjoy the moment, say thank you [and] just go out there and play.
“To have that feeling of pure joy out there playing, like you do every practice session or whatever it is, that’s what I really want to get out of this week.”
Watch the Australian Open live and free on the Nine Network – Channel 9, 9Gem, and 9NOW.
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