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Australian tennis legend Sam Stosur reveals the biggest regret of his glittering 24-year career… and it’s not the grand slam you think
Samantha Stosur has revealed the biggest regret from her celebrated tennis career, and it’s not what most fans would think.
Stosur retired on Saturday night, happily content after fulfilling her childhood dream of winning a Grand Slam singles crown with a memorable triumph over Serena Williams at the 2011 US Open in New York.
The 38-year-old is also the only Australian woman since the legendary Evonne Goolagong Cawley more than half a century ago to claim major titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles – all forms of the professional game.
Sam Stosur retired from tennis at 38 on Saturday night in Melbourne
His place among the pantheons of Australian greats is assured.
Yet for all her accomplishments, it’s no secret that the former World No.4’s biggest regret remains not winning a singles crown at the French Open.
It’s just that losing the 2010 title match at Roland Garros to Francesca Schiavone, after saving match points against Williams in the quarterfinals and also knocking out world number 1s Justine Henin and Jelena Jankovic en route to the final, it is not that of Stosur. Biggest disappointment in Paris.
They are also not losing semifinals in 2009, 2012 and 2016.
The Australian won the 2011 US Open after beating Serena Williams in a memorable final
No, Stosur’s fourth-round loss to eventual champion Jelena Ostapenko remains her most heartbreaking regret.
Riding an eight-match winning streak on clay, Stosur built a 4-0 lead in 12 minutes against Ostapenko before disaster struck.
The then-title favorite suffered a stress fracture in her right racket hand, lost the match, and was never the same player again.
“The final is where you have a real chance to win, but Schiavone played too well that day and I couldn’t produce the tennis that I did against Henin or Serena or Jankovic the previous round,” Stosur recalled to AAP.
Stosur lost in the 2017 French Open quarterfinal to eventual champion Jelena Ostapenko (above) after breaking her right hand while winning 4-0.
‘Is that how it works. But definitely playing with Ostapenko when I broke my hand and didn’t realize it, when he was ready, it was absolutely crushing.
I didn’t play for five months and I probably came back too soon and even every year since then when I stepped on a clay court and started practicing I felt the same pain in my hand.
“So it really hurt a lot and going down like that and with such an obscure injury, yeah, that was tough.”
Even if he had somehow beaten Ostapenko, Stosur had “no chance” of making it back to the quarterfinals.
The Australian had lost the Roland Garros final to Francesca Schiavone (right) in 2010
“I couldn’t even cut an avocado,” he said.
However, he still has no idea how the injury occurred.
“I had a little bit of a soreness in my knuckle a couple of days before in doubles, I went to the doctor, they did scans and they weren’t even really sure,” Stosur said.
“But they said there was nothing they could do and no one was really worried that it would make it worse.
Stosur won the 2019 Australian Open women’s doubles together with China’s Shuai Zhang
“But then when I came out and played, and as the game went on, I was in agony.
‘I won the first set but I was crying calling the coach, I have never felt so much pain.
“Then all of a sudden I was running around my forehand to hit a backhand, which is something I never do.
“I ended up losing 6-4 in the third and it was a very painful game. It turns out that he had an injury that has rarely been seen in a tennis player. I still don’t even know why.