|
Samantha Stosur
Samantha Stosur (born March 30, 1984 in Brisbane, Australia)
is a professional tennis player from Australia.
Samantha 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 round of Australian Open qualifying to Louise Latimer.
In 2001 she won four straight ITF titles (three in Japan and one in Australia).
In 2002 she lost to Anastasia Myskina at the first round at the Gold Coast
event; she was also given a Wildcard into the Australian Open where she lost
in three sets to Greta Arn. For the rest of the 2002 season, Samantha played
on the ITF Circuit.
In 2003 Samantha won her first WTA singles match on home
soil where she reached the third round of the Australian Open, where she
beat Conchita Martinez and Vanessa Webb in the first and second round respectivley.
She lost in the third round to Daniela Hantuchova with a scoreline of 6-4
6-2. After her form in Australia, Samantha then went onto qualify for a WTA
event in Memphis. She played more ITF events and failed to qualify for the
Roland Garros losing in the first qualifying round to Wynne Prakusya. She
was given a Wildcard into Wimbledon where she was unfortunate to meet Lindsay
Davenport in the first round. Samantha put up a good fight but she lost 7-6
7-5.
In 2004 she reached the semi-final of the Gold Coast event
where she made the semi-finals, beating Meghann Shaughnessy, Karolina Sprem
and Magui Serna along the way, before falling to Ai Sugiyama, who would go
on to win the tournament. The next week she would reach the second round
of the WTA tournament in Hobart and then the second round of the Australian
Open, losing to Aniko Kapros. She later successfully qualified for WTA events
in Acapulco, Indian Wells, Vienna and Birmingham. She lost in the first round
of Roland Garros and Wimbledon. She competed at the Athens Olympics where
she lost in the first round of the tennis competetion to Chanda Rubin. She
continued to play WTA qualifying events, successfully qualifying for the
Japan Open and Bali in the autumn of 2004.
In 2005 she reached her first WTA tour final at the Gold
Coast event, losing the final to Patty Schnyder; the next week she made her
second final at Sydney losing to Alicia Molik. She was unlucky to meet Amelie
Mauresmo in the first round of the Australian Open where she lost 6-2 6-3.
However, she won the mixed doubles title with fellow Australian Scott Draper.
In 2005 she won seven WTA doubles titles with her partners Bryanne Stewart
(Sydney and Amelia Island) and Lisa Raymond (New Haven, US Open, Luxembourg,
Moscow, Year Ending Championships).
Samantha finished the year ranked #46 in singles and #2 in
doubles.
In 2006 she represented Australia along with Todd Reid at
the Hopman Cup. She lost in the first round of Sydney to Nicole Vaidisova
in three sets.
During the 2006 Australian Open, she made it to the fourth
round, the highest round she has made it to ever in a Grand Slam event. She
beat Sybille Bammer of Austria in three sets 7-5 4-6 6-3, then went on to
lose to Martina Hingis 6-1 7-6 (8).
|
