2010 December - Samantha Stosur

Archive for December, 2010

VIDEO: Sam lands in Brisbane

29 December 2010

World No.6 Sam Stosur speaks to the media about her preparation for Brisbane International 2011.

No time to rest on her laurels, Samantha Stosur's first match of 2011 looms as potentially one of the most important of her career. Feeling mentally and physically refreshed after a three-week break following her stellar 2010 season, Stosur is back in full training for the new year. Her immediate focus is the Brisbane International, where a first-round success could secure Stosur a coveted top-four seeding at next month's Australian Open. With defending champion and five-times winner Serena Williams scratched from the Open with a foot injury, there are more opportunities than meet the eye for the French Open runner-up. In the fourth-ranked Williams's absence, Stosur will be seeded fourth for the Melbourne Park grand slam - and avoid facing a higher-ranked opponent until at least the semi-finals - if she climbs one spot to No.5 in the world. And trailing the fifth-ranked Venus Williams, who is only playing exhibition events before the Open, by a meagre three rankings points, the door will be ajar for the top-seeded Stosur in Brisbane from January 2-8 "An obvious goal would be to try and get [into the] top five," Stosur said on Wednesday. Stosur finished the season on a high with a victory over year-end No.1 Caroline Wozniacki at the WTA Championships in Doha and Williams's Open no-show is further fuelling her confidence. "It definitely opens the door for lots of players," she said. "It's a great opportunity for everyone who can play." Stosur reached the semifinals in Qatar's stifling heat and believes the similarly hot conditions in Melbourne will give her a decided edge at her home slam. "I'm one of the few players that are here now training - on the (Plexicushion) court, in the sun, getting used to the conditions, so I think it can only help throughout January," she said. "It's not so easy for the Europeans who have been in winter or training somewhere else. "They've got to have a long flight over here, a short preparation going into the first couple of tournaments, so hopefully it will put me into a good spot." The power-hitting right-hander also believes she's far better equipped to handle the intense spotlight than last year. "It was quite difficult last year," Stosur said. "It was harder than what I thought it was going to be and I thought I was ready for all the hype and the extra attention, but didn't really handle it too well in the first couple of weeks. "But as the Aussie Open went on, I started to feel a bit more comfortable and started playing quite well. "So now that I've had a good taste of that, not only January this year but throughout the whole year, I think I'll be much better prepared. "I guess it's a matter of just keeping your head and really focusing on what's important and that's getting on the court and being prepared for matches." Stosur will complete her Open build-up at the Sydney International, where seven of the world's top 10 women will be in action, including Wozniacki.

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Photos: Sam at the Newcombe Medal

7 December 2010

There was a room full of tennis players but not a racquet in sight at the inaugural John Newcombe Medal, Australian Tennis Awards and Sam was the star of the show. View photos of Sam at the Newcombe Medal

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Sam hits the blue carpet

7 December 2010

There was a room full of tennis players but not a racquet in sight at the inaugural John Newcombe Medal, Australian Tennis Awards and Sam was the star of the show. [gallery order="DESC" columns="4"]

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Sam adds Newcombe Medal to her collection

3 December 2010

World No.6 Sam Stosur has won the inaugural Newcombe Medal following her best season to date on the WTA tour. Stosur’s thrilling run to the French Open final and career-high ranking of No.5 were enough for her to secure the award ahead of former world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt, dual Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anastasia Rodionova and top 50 player Jarmila Groth. “I think it is a great honour,” Stosur said. “It is a really good initiative of Tennis Australia to put a night like this together for everyone to celebrate our sport. So to be the first winner of the Newcombe Medal is really special. “It’s something that maybe when you’re retired and you look back on your achievements, I think this is definitely going to be up there. Stosur was presented with the award by tennis legend John Newcombe who praised Stosur’s fantastic year on and off the court. “It was great to see Sam getting the award, the inaugural Newcombe Medal. But apart from that, there were another 12 awards for people from all over the country [and] they’ve [given] great service to tennis,” said Newcombe. The awards ceremony was held at Melbourne Park where the world’s best will soon gather for the Australian Open. More than 500 members of the tennis community attended the black tie event, including Frank Sedgman, Neale Fraser, Evonne Goolagong Cawley who presented the Best Junior Athlete award and, of course, Newcombe. As well as the Newcombe Medal, Australian Tennis Awards were presented to clubs, coaches and volunteers who have excelled in their fields. Find out who won an Australian Tennis Award. “Tennis is such a huge part of our culture in Australia, we’ve obviously got a great history and we’re trying to continue that now,” said Stosur. But the highlight was the Newcombe Medal, which caps off what has been a spectacular year for Stosur. Earlier this year Stosur was awarded the WTA’s Diamond ACES award for her work promoting the sport. And she could add yet another award to her now overflowing mantelpiece on Monday night. The 26 year old has been nominated for the Queensland Sport Star of the year award at the 16th Annual Queensland Sports awards to be presented on Monday. Stosur said winning the first Newcombe Medal and receiving it from the man himself was “special”. “Who better else to receive it from than Newk himself? Obviously we all know what he did in his career and [he’s] now still trying to drive tennis forward, so it was nice to get it from the man.” Stosur thanked her coach, David Taylor, who was the recipient of the Coaching Excellence award in the High Performance Category. “He actually gave me a couple of words of wisdom before I came up here, so I guess the coaching never stops,” joked Stosur. “You dedicate your life to making me a better tennis player and we spend many many days on the road together, you’re away from your family and everything you do is to make me a better tennis player.” With yet another award in her back pocket, Stosur will shift her focus to preparing for the 2011 season. Her first on-court appearance will be at the Brisbane International, beginning 2 January.

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Will Sam win?

3 December 2010

Tonight sees the presentation of the inaugural Newcombe Medal at the Australian Tennis Awards, which will see one of four players crowned as the most outstanding elite player in the country for 2010. Ahead of the gala dinner at Melbourne Park, we take a look at the finalists and see how they fared in 2010. Lleyton Hewitt The sole male player nominated for the Newcombe Medal, Hewitt began 2010 with his 14th straight Australian Open, equalling the Open era record for most consecutive appearances, a testament to the former World No.1’s incredible durability. Not long after, however, he was struck down by injury, succumbing to a chronic hip injury. He returned with some good form, reaching the quarterfinals of his comeback tournament in Houston. But it was in June that Hewitt hit his stride. Facing Roger Federer in the final in Halle, he snapped a losing streak against the Swiss maestro to extend his career finals record on grass to 7-0 and claim his 28th singles title. After Halle, the Adelaide native had the won the most matches on grass of any active professional player, with a remarkable career record of 98-23. Always a passionate Davis Cup player, Hewitt then secured his place among Australia’s all-time greats in September during the World Group Play-off against Belgium. Hewitt’s victories in the opening singles rubber and the doubles saw him equal and then surpass Adrian Quist’s all-time record for most wins by an Australian in Davis Cup competition. After pulling out with injury for the reverse singles, Australia was unable to claim victory without him. Further indication of the respect Hewitt is held in by the tennis community came at the World Team Championships in Dusseldorf, where he became just the second Australian after Pat Rafter to be awarded the Fair Play award, as voted by the participating team captains and tennis journalists. Hewitt’s nomination is a just reward for the leading light of Australian men’s tennis. Sam Stosur Australia’s No.1 player had a superb year in 2010 after choosing to focus more of her attention on her singles career after a strong 2009 that saw her reach the semifinals at Roland Garros. After a solid start to the year that included a 4th round appearance at her home Grand Slam and an undefeated tie in the Fed Cup, it was the claycourt season that saw Stosur storm into the world’s top 10. She embarked on a brilliant run, winning the second and biggest title of her career with her first tournament on clay for the season in Charleston. In doing so, she became the first Australian to claim the title in the tournament’s history. After another dominant Fed Cup performance against the Ukraine, where Stosur was again undefeated and secured Australia’s berth in the World Group I for next year, she returned to the claycourt season in style. An unbeaten run of 11 straight matches ended with a loss in the final in Stuttgart to Justine Henin. Another quarterfinal appearance in Madrid saw Stosur enter the French Open in red-hot form and one of the title favourites as the No.7 seed. Faced with the toughest section of the draw, Stosur stunned Henin to avenge the Stuttgart defeat, ending the Belgian’s dominance at Roland Garros, where she had not been defeated in 24 matches. Next faced with Serena Williams, who had ended her Australian Open dreams in January, Stosur saved a match point before grinding out one of the toughest wins of her career to enter the semifinals with an 8-6 victory in the deciding set. After promptly dispatching Jelena Jankovic 6-1 6-2 – incredibly, the third consecutive former World No.1 she’d defeated in a row – Stosur entered her maiden Grand Slam final in the form of her life. She fell agonisingly short of her first major title, losing to veteran Italian Francesca Schiavone. A quarterfinal appearance at the US Open saw Stosur finish the year as World No.6, having equalled or surpassed her career-best results in three of the four Grand Slams. On paper, Stosur appears the favourite for the Newcombe Medal, with the man himself commending her year as “outstanding”. Jarmila Groth Having represented Australia since 2007, Groth gained full Australian citizenship in late-2009 and began 2010 as a fully fledged Australian player. After claiming her 11th ITF title in March in Sydney, Groth took her career-best form to the majors. Back-to-back Grand Slam fourth-round appearances at the French Open and Wimbledon – the latter featuring a third-round win over fellow nominee Anastasia Rodionova – were career-best performances and due reward for Groth’s hard work. At Roland Garros, her effort made her the first wildcard to reach the round of 16 since 2002. In Guangzhou in September as No.1 seed, Groth capped off a great year with her first tour level title. A straight sets victory in the final gave the young Australian yet another rankings boost, propelling her into the top 50 for the first time. The year’s end saw her finish at No.41, her current career peak and securing her place as Australia’s No.2 ranked woman; she will be striving to climb even higher in 2011. Still only 23, the future looks bright for the popular Groth, who is married to fellow Australian professional Sam. Anastasia Rodionova Based in Melbourne, Anastasia Rodionova began representing her adopted country in 2009 after 12 years of competition under the Russian flag – and 2010 saw her relish the opportunity to do so. In April she made her debut for Australia in the Fed Cup, in the World Group Play-offs no less. After a nervous start, in which she lost the first seven games, she recovered brilliantly to win her singles rubber and send Australia on its way to a clean sweep over Ukraine. A determined Rodionova then achieved career-best performances at both the French Open and Wimbledon, both times eliminating seeded players on the way to reaching the third round. The highlight, however, came at the Commonwealth Games in Dehli, where she entered the tennis event as the No.1 seed in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. After breezing into the final against local favourite Sania Mirza, Rodionova held firm under pressure to claim gold after a nail-biting third-set tiebreaker. She then followed up her singles gold in the doubles event with Sally Peers, the pair claiming the gold medal in an all-Australian final against Olivia Rogowska and Jess Moore. She missed out on a perfect tournament by the narrowest of margins, winning a silver medal with Paul Hanley in the mixed doubles. Australia’s No.3 woman, Rodionova’s doubles semifinal appearance at the US Open pushed her ranking to 26, a career best, while she finished the year at No.64 in singles and will be looking to push into the top 50 and beyond in 2011. Her nomination recognises her success this year, particularly in representative events.

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