Samantha Stosur receives her third Newcombe award – Tennis News
Right-hander Aussie, Samantha Stosur, received the Newcombe award for her third consecutive year at the Australian Tennis Awards in Melbourne on December 3, 2012.
She contested for the award after defeating tennis stars like former world number one, Lleyton Hewitt, Australia’s top ranked player, Marinko Matosevic and 2012 French Open mixed doubles winner, Casey Dellacqua.
In an interview with the media, she said, “Receiving the Newcombe Medal for a third year in a row is an amazing honour. The Newcombe Medal is a great occasion for the Australian tennis community to come together and celebrate our sport, recognise people's
achievements and contributions to Australian tennis. I think it's great that the Australian tennis community continues to recognise the hard work of its members, who make the growth of our sport possible for the longevity of tennis in our country.”
The 28-year-old Aussie, Stosur, did not perform to the best of her expectations in the year 2012. She displayed a satisfactory performance for the tournaments in the start of the season including examples of Sydney and Brisbane.
Surprisingly, she received a straight sets loss, 6-7, 3-6 in the first round of the Australian Open held at the hard courts of Melbourne. These losses did not affect her morale largely, as she became the finalist of the Qatar Ladies Open. She rallied forward
senior players like Marion Bartoli but was put to rest in the final by the Belarusian reigning world number one, Victoria Azarenka.
The 28-year-old had an average performance in all the other WTA finals, battling until the quarter-finals of most of major tournaments. She exhibited an improved pace at the French Open held at the clay courts of Paris.
In the semi-finals, she received the most unexpected shocker at hands of the Italian, Sara Errani, in a three-set match. She was unable to prove her mark at the Wimbledon and the London 2012 Olympics. Similarly, at the US Open she was not capable to withstand
the might of Azarenka, for the second time.
At the award ceremony, Josh Eagle received the title of being Australia’s best high-performance coach. The junior athletes of the year were Luke Saville, the Australian Open junior champion for the year 2011 and Ashleigh Barty. Ian Barclay received the President’s
spirit of tennis award for his immense contributions for the sport. He coached Pat Cash throughout his career until he secured the crown of 1987 Wimbledon Champion.
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