Samantha Stosur has given fans a thrill and a scare at the 2021 US Open.
On one hand, the 2011 women’s singles champion (over none other than Serena Williams) has been in vintage form in the doubles draw with partner Zhang Shuai. Seeded No. 12, they are into the semifinals today without dropping a set in four wins, partly because Stosur’s serve is still the weapon that helped her reach No. 4 in the world 10 years ago. Fit as a fiddle at 37, she isn’t showing her age, and she is enjoying every minute with her good friend Zhang.
On the other hand, she expressed doubt about her future in singles following a first-round singles loss to Anett Kontaveit, 6-3, 6-0. The Australian Associated Press asked her if she had just played her last singles match.
“I don't know. I don't know what I'm focusing on next year,” she said. “But if that's my last singles match, then that's the way it is."
The answer could be taken as resignation, but it might have been more about the reality of her singles ranking, now No. 186 in the world. She entered this tournament on a protected ranking of No. 97.
But she doesn’t feel like she’s playing No. 186 tennis. And let’s put the last two years in perspective: She made the final of Guangzhou in September 2019, shortly before the season ended, losing in three sets to Sofia Kenin. A few months later, she beat Angelique Kerber, 7-6, 7-6. A few months after that, the world shut down, a time during which Stosur and her partner welcomed a baby girl. When Stosur resumed playing in January, she went 1-15 in doubles and singles combined over the next seven months—a rough stretch, but she was a new mom who hadn’t played a match in 10 months.
“Obviously, I’ve struggled a bit on the singles court this year, and that is kind of hard to take, because I still feel like I am playing great in practice. I am still winning the practice matches that I play,” she said. “These things make you think it’s gonna happen. Then when it doesn’t, it gets pretty disheartening.”
At the Tokyo Olympics, she finally won back-to-back matches for the first time since March 2020, reaching the quarterfinals in doubles with partner Ellen Perez. Then she reunited with Zhang, her regular partner and good friend, after almost two years apart, and it all came together during the US Open Series in Cincinnati.
“To bounce back and win a doubles title—I do believe that I can still play well,” Stosur said. “My whole career, I have bounced back from some pretty hard moments and found myself not soon after achieving something great. That’s something I’ve always been proud of.”
They squeaked out their first four matches in super tiebreaks. In the final, Stosur served an ace on match point. Those moments are extremely gratifying even for someone who has tasted Grand Slam glory.
Stosur had planned to go to the 'T' with the match-point serve, but Zhang had a feeling about going out wide. Stosur has played enough doubles to know when to listen to a partner’s hunch. It barely clipped the line.
“That’s exactly why you play,” Stosur said. “You know, Cincy is a big tournament. It was fantastic. You can’t just practice, practice, practice and call yourself a pro tennis player. It’s about competing and putting yourself on the line.”
In New York, she and Zhang have won four matches to reach the semifinals without dropping a set. They are now on a nine-match winning streak and undefeated since teaming back up. They look like a well-oiled machine on the court, not a team that was almost on a zero-match streak a few weeks ago.
Stosur and Zhang are much more dangerous than their No. 12 seeding. They haven’t even been pushed to a tiebreak yet and routinely took out No. 3 seeds Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama.
This from a team that last played together in October 2019. No wonder Stosur still believes.
