“I’ve been very blessed to have the career that I’ve had”: Stosur leaves court in tears after final ever match

The Australian was eliminated in the first round of the women's doubles and the mixed doubles.

Samantha Stosur decided to end her career at the 2023 Australian Open. The announcement had already been made last week, and it came true after losing in the first round of the women's doubles with the French Alize Cornet, and later in the mixed doubles with Matthew Ebden. The Australian duo faced the 5th seed Demi Schuurs and Nikola Mektic, in a match that was defined in the super tiebreak. The first set was for the locals 6-4, but they couldn’t keep the result and their opponents made a comeback, winning the second set 6-3, and the 10-point tiebreak by 10-6.

Stosur ended with tears in his eyes before a standing ovation from the entire crowd. The 38-year-old ends her successful career with 9 singles titles and 28 doubles. The most important of hers is probably the 2011 US Open championship beating Serena Williams in the final, she also reached the 2010 French Open final, where she was defeated by the Italian Francesca Schiavone. In the doubles category, she won four Grand Slams, two WTA Finals and ten WTA 1000s.

“I’ve been lucky to have the success that I’ve had and obviously that’s what we try and do it for”, she said.

“I’ve been very blessed to have the career that I’ve had and to be able to do it in a way that I’ve enjoyed myself with the people around me”.

The former World No. 4 thanked the Australian public and the fans who have supported her throughout her career:

“It's been an incredible, incredible week since I announced that it was going to be my last one."

"I had a great time out on court for the couple of matches that I had here. I felt incredible support.”

His last teammate on the court also had words for Stosur after finishing the match: “She’s one of the kindest, most genuine, nicest, humble people I know.”

“It’s been an honour to know her and be friends with her now. I hope to stay in touch with her for the rest of our lives.”