Is there a curse on first-time Grand Slam champions? – Part Three: Samantha Stosur
With the defending champion Kim Clijsters sidelined from the field at the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, the US Open, everyone was anticipating a new champion to lift the gold this time round. Three-times US Open winner,
Serena Williams, made her impactful return in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) tennis world after a long layoff and was projected to win the title.
It was expected only by few that the world number 10, Samantha Stosur of Australia, will beat all the odds to get her hands on the US Open trophy for the first time in her career. Currently holding the sixth spot in the WTA World
Rankings, Stosur has been in an average form throughout the running season and was not rated among the strong contenders for a Grand Slam victory.
The 27-year-old Australian veteran is having a 43-21 winning record and has clinched just one singles title in the current year so far. Stosur took off the 2011 season as the world number six but her inconsistent performances dropped
her four spaces in six months time, recovering to number six after the Grand Slam win again.
Stosur played the Australian Open as the fifth seed and made it to the third round of the Grand Slam Down Under before losing to Petra Kvitova in straight sets. She kept suffering early exits from most of the tournaments before
making it to her first final of the year, eventually getting defeated by Maria Sharapova in the end. Her Roland Garros campaign lasted till the third round, losing to Gisela Dulko of Argentina after a stiff call.
The Aussie was surprised by Melinda Czink of Hungary in the opening round of the Wimbledon Championships, losing to her in straight sets 3-6, 4-6. After good runs at Toronto and Cincinnati, Stosur stepped on the hard courts of
New York to take part in the last Grand Slam of the year, the US Open, as the 9th seeded contestant. She outplayed a number of top class contestants, including Nadia Petrova, Maria Kirilenko and Vera Zvonareva to book a date with the three-time
former champion, Serena Williams in the final. Stosur exhibited a magnificent show of high quality tennis to outplay Williams in straight sets 6-2, 6-3, claiming her first ever Major title.
Stosur became the first Australian to bag a Grand Slam title in 31 years, as Evonne Goolagong Cawley won the Wimbledon Championships for Australia way back in 1980. Like the other new champions, Stosur was caught by the ‘curse’
of losing as well and her form went through a drastic slump in the tournaments to follow.
Stosur took part in a WTA tournament in Tokyo right after the US Open victory but was devastated in her opening match against Maria Kirilenko in three sets. The Grand Slam winner then travelled to Beijing, China, only to suffer
her second straight defeat at the hands of Kirilenko in the second round of the WTA event. She finally got back some momentum in the Japan Women’s Open and made all the way to the final of a tournament for the first time after his Grand Slam victory. Stosur
choked in the final once again, losing to France’s Marion Bartoli, in straight sets 3-6, 1-6, to remain unlucky after a Major title win.
Stosur is holding the sixth spot in world rankings and desires to perform better with her racquet and reach the top spot. The Australian is among the craftiest players in the game but seems to have suffering from some kind of stigma
of winning a Grand Slam title for the first time.
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