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, 2008

Samantha Stosur (born March 30 1984 in Brisbane, Queensland) is an Australian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 on WTA Tour in doubles, together with Lisa Raymond from the United 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 for Christmas 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 and Monica 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 in Tampa, 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. In 2000 she debuted on the Women's Tennis Association tour where she lost in the first qualifying round of the Australian Open. In 2001 she won four straight ITF titles. In 2002 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 to Ai 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 the Australian 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, partnering Els Callens from Belgium.

2005

In 2005 Stosur reached her first WTA tour final at her home event in Gold Coast, losing to Patty 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 Australian Bryanne Stewart at the same tournament. Stosur lost to World no.2 Amélie Mauresmo 6–2, 6–3 in the first round of the Australian Open, but won the mixed doubles title with Scott Draper over Liezel Huber and Kevin 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, the Kremlin Cup and the WTA Tour Championships. Stosur finished the year ranked #46 in singles and #2 in doubles.

2006

In 2006 Stosur represented Australia along with Todd Reid at the Hopman Cup and won all of her singles matches. After that, she lost in the first round of Sydney in a three-setter against Czech Nicole Vaidisova, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.At the 2006 Australian Open, Stosur made it to the fourth round in singles, falling to Martina Hingis 6-1, 7-6(8). She and Lisa Raymond also made it to the Women's Doubles final, being defeated by Chinese duo Yan Zi and Zheng Jie, 2-6, 7-6(7), 6-3.

In February, Stosur reached the quarterfinals at the Tier I event in Tokyo, beating no. 6 seed Daniela Hantuchová 7-6(5), 6-2 before falling to no. 1 seed Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-4. In doubles, after losing at the Australian 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 the WTA 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 the WTA Tour Championships in Madrid, 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 in Berlin. In singles, Stosur reached three quarterfinals, at Gold Coast, Tokyo and Memphis. In Rome, she defeated #1 seed Amélie Mauresmo in the second round before losing to Patty Schnyder in the following.

After the French Open, Stosur started showing symptoms of what would only after months be diagnosed as Lyme disease, an infection transmitted by the bite of ticks. 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. 96 Alizé Cornet of France. 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 by Venus Williams 6-4, 6-1. The tournament also saw the return of the doubles team of Stosur and Lisa Raymond with a second round loss. Less than a month later they were defeated in the third round of the 2008 French Open, where Stosur reached the second round of singles losing to Petra 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 the 2008 International Women's Open in Eastbourne they fell in the quarterfinals to the no.2 seeded pair of Kveta Peschke and Rennae Stubbs. Stosur also played her way into the singles semifinals, defeating Caroline Wozniacki 7-6(3), 6-4 before losing to no.8 seed Nadia 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. Partnering Lisa Raymond, they lost the final to Venus Williams and Serena Williams, both of whom were in the singles final, 6-2, 6-2. Partnering Bob Bryan, they overcame Mike Bryan and Katarina 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 after Lindsay Davenport withdrew. She defeated the no.3 seed Vera 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 beat Shahar Pe'er 6-1, 6-1 and was later defeated in the third round by Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 7-6(4). Raymond and Stosur were eliminated in the semifinals by top seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Chuang 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 partnered Rennae Stubbs, ranked no.5 in the Sony 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. The Australians ended up on losing in the second round to the Spanish team of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, then ranked no.2 in the Race 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. Partnering Mahesh Bhupathi, she was eliminated in the second round of the mixed doubles competition by Rennae Stubbs and Robert 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 of Cara Black and Liezel 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 to Nadia Petrova and Vania King 6-1, 6-4. Stosur was also the runner-up at the Hansol Korea Open Tennis Championships in Seoul, losing to top seed Maria Kirilenko 2-6 6-1 6-4 in the final. Back in Tokyo for the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, Stosur eliminated second seed Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-1, 7-5, but lost in the quarterfinals to eighth seed Aleksandra 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
(with Lisa 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|