8-time Slam champion confirms singles retirement at Australian Open

December 29, 2021

Australian Open, Tennis News, Tennis Tournaments, WTA Tennis Players

Eight-time Slam champion confirms singles retirement at Australian Open

Sam Stosur has confirmed the upcoming Australian Open will be her last tournament as a singles competitor.

Stosur is a former world number four and 2011 singles US Open champion, defeating six-time winner Serena Williams that year.

She further won four doubles Major titles, two with Lisa Raymond and two with Zhang Shuai, plus three mixed doubles titles.

Now, Stosur has expressed huge gratitude in being able to play a 20th home Slam at the Australian Open, where she will retire form singles.

“A huge thank you to [Tennis Australia] for giving me this opportunity to finish my singles career at my home Grand Slam,” Stosur captioned a post on her Instagram.

“It really means a lot to me to be able to finish in front of my family, friends and Aussie fans who have stuck by me through thick and thin.”

The news confirms Stosur’s statements from early December when she said the 2022 Australian Open “will [probably] be the last time.”

Stosur made her debut in Melbourne in 2002, only missing the 2008 Australian Open since then.

Currently ranked 382 in the world, the 37-year-old received a wildcard to play the 2022 event which begins 17th January.

While she has not secured a singles crown at the Australian Open, she has one of her doubles titles there, coming in 2019, and one mixed title there, in 2005.

Stosur peaked at doubles world number one for a total of 61 weeks and won the WTA doubles tour finals in 2005 and 2006 alongside Raymond.

Ranked 16th in doubles and the 2021 US Open doubles champion, Stosur will continue to play until the end of the 2022 season.

“I’m sure it’s going to be a mix of emotions but I wouldn’t want it any other way as I always thought I’d finish playing in Australia,” she continued in her caption.

“I do however plan to play the rest of the year in doubles but this will close the first chapter of my career.”