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MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Sam Stosur will bid a bittersweet farewell to his hometown fans at the Australian Open on Sunday but won’t be far from the game, the 38-year-old major champion said on Sunday. .
Stosur announced on social media that he would be retiring from the sport, 21 years after his first Australian Open, after making his last appearance in a doubles tournament at Melbourne Park.read more
Since becoming a mother in mid-2020, Stosur has stepped away from the game and taken on a mentoring role for some of the country’s emerging players.
“I would love to be involved in some way. We have to figure out exactly how that goes,” Stosur told reporters at Melbourne Park.
“I’m too passionate about it and too invested in what every other player is doing to just walk away.
“I’m sure you’ll find something to do in tennis.”
Many in Australian tennis hope it means taking a more hands-on role in developing the next generation.
Almost ten months after Ash Barty’s retirement, Stosur’s departure leaves Australian tennis without an active Grand Slam title winner and women’s tennis eager for a new champion.
Australia’s top two women, No. 35 Adjla Tomljanovic and world No. 56 Dalia Saville, were sidelined by injury, leaving her country a wildcard in the top 150 ranked women’s singles at Melbourne Park this year. There is only one.
Stosur, like when he upset Serena Williams in front of a hostile Arthur Ashe crowd to win the 2011 U.S. Open title, had to break through and carry the torch for the other players. He said he needed one player.
“I’m sure they’ll get there one day. They just
We need to get over the next little hurdle,” she said of the likes of world number 160 Jamie Forlis and world number 167 Kimberly Birrell.
“They’re all closing in and out, between 100 and 130.
“I think success will bring success. It probably only takes one to pass the next spot.
More coming. “
Reported by Ian Ransom of Melbourne.Editing by Peter Rutherford
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