Samantha's Tennis Gear Choices, Her Likes, Her Loathes & Her Life
Samantha Jane Stosur's rise up the WTA singles rankings to the top ten where she now comfortably sits in 2012 after her US Open win, was anything but steady progress. No-one's life is that easy, and to become one of the best athletes on the planet comes with it's fair share of sacrifices, but Samantha's life has had a few more dramatic turns than most.
She was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia on March 30th 1984 and soon into her childhood had to face the devastating effects of flooding. Her state once again faced this nightmare last year, so Sam offered to give $100 to the relief fund for every ace she served at the Brisbane tournament in the run up to the Australian Open. Sam was second only to Nadia Petrova in the number of aces hit in 2010, so that wasn't an empty promise.
In the last few years she's suffered from life threatening illnesses that took her health to a point where she could barely get around unaided, let alone compete at the highest level in tennis.
Now she's the standard bearer for Australian tennis, the only current player with Slam winning potential in a nation that was spoiled for choice for players collecting silverware a few decades ago.
Luckily for Sam (or unluckily), there's a talented new crop of young Australians coming through to help shoulder the burden of Australian hopes, like her recent conqueror Jarmila Gajosova (formerly Groth).
Samantha Shows Off Her Babolat Racquet.
Thanks To Forty Deuce @ Flickr
Suits Sam Down To The Ground & Allows Her Unrestricted Powerful Play
Like most of the tennis players at the top of the game, as soon as she got her first racquet, she couldn't get enough of the sport, and it was soon obvious that her natural talent matched her desire to play.
After plenty of early success, Samantha began to take her tennis to the world in her teenage years. It's at the very highest level, playing the best in the world that any weaknesses tend to show, and losses began to mount. Ironically, considering her performance at Roland Garros in 2010 when she beat Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic and Serena Williams, her initial performances on a new surface to her - clay - were poor. In fact in a five week period, she lost every match!
Her coach thought her approach was too laid-back and long term, thinking she had many years to put things right. He tried to instill in her the approach that only by fighting for every point would her dreams come true.
By early 2007, Sam was up to a very respectable 27 in the world in singles, but was enjoying spectacular success in doubles with her American partner, Lisa Raymond, winning titles and ranked No.1 in the world.
Then, at about the time of Wimbledon 2007, the bombshell struck with a sudden loss of form that in retrospect was the onset of a two very serious illnesses almost simultaneously - Viral Meningitis and Lyme Disease. During an eight month period away from the game, Sam's thoughts turned from playing tennis to pure survival! One of the fittest women in tennis was now barely able to walk, had continuous headaches, no energy and had to be given antibiotics twice a day from an IV drip.
Slowly but surely, Sam battled her way through her illness and began the long climb back to fitness and back up the rankings, but she still to this day has a fear of Deer Ticks - the cause of her Lyme disease.
Sam Muscles Her Way Into The World's Top Ten Women Tennis Players
Far from ending Sam's hopes of scaling the height of women's tennis, the illness seemed to allow her to get her life and tennis in better focus. Eight months lost could easily be 10% of your time at the peak of your abilities in a game where 30 is over the hill, so Sam set out on her second route to the top even more determined.
She soon returned to the top of women's doubles with a new partner, Rennae Stubbs, her Fed Cup teammate, and began to reap the rewards of some recent advice from her coach, David Taylor. that would ultimately take her tennis to a higher level. Sam could now set her sights on winning Slams, not just any tournament.
David told her to concentrate on her strengths - her massive forehand and powerful serve - not waste time on the weaker areas of her game. He suggested that Sam's forehand was every bit at effective as that of Steffi Graf, who was always running 'round her backhand to hit huge winning forehands.
Many of the top women players have experienced the devastating first and second serves and forehand of the new improved Samantha to their cost. This concentration on what she does best has taken her to the world's top ten, the French Open final in 2010 and the US Open triumph in 2011. An exasperated Jelena Jankovic who was blown away by Sam's dominating play said it felt like she was playing a man, the ball was being struck so hard.
Samantha Stosur's Workout For The Strongest, Fittest Body In Women's Tennis
Sam Stosur's Oakley Sunglasses These Oakley Enduring Cinder Red / Black Iridium Sunglasses Are Sam's Favorite, Designed For Athletic Use But With Feminine Fit & Style.
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Apart from the forehand of Steffi Graff, according to her famous Sydney fitness coach, Giselle Martin, Sam has the work ethic of Martina Navratilova and leaves nothing to chance where her training is concerned. She's exercised on Christmas day for the last six years to make sure she's ready for her home Slam, the Australian Open, and maintains a very compact weight of about 143lbs on her 5ft 9inches frame.
People naturally assume that Sam spends all her time in the gym to generate her large biceps and chiseled abs, but bench presses don't create the mobility of movement necessary for tennis. Sam has a varied regime of sporting activities that include sprints, boxing, kick boxing, swimming, mountain biking and even surf ski training - well she is Australian! She's recently introduced yoga for strength and flexibility.
You can see from the above that relying on talent alone in the modern tennis game just isn't enough anymore. Sam would love the administrators of women's tennis to make the Slams the best of five sets like the men, so she could employ her superior fitness to intimidate opponents, much as Rafael Nadal does.
A Few Of Sam Stosur's Favorite Things
As you might expect from someone who seems to be so outwardly and effortlessly fit, some of the activities Sam does for fitness she would be doing anyway for fun, like mountain bike riding. She also enjoys snorkeling, so it's handy for her to have the Great Barrier Reef 'on her doorstep'.
Sam's favorite city is in her home country - Sydney, but like many a traveler before her, she enjoys visiting Japan, a country that seems to know how to look after celebrities however they made their mark. She's prefer not to have to get in a plane to get there, though, as she has a slight fear of flying, a bit of a handicap for a jet-setting tennis star.
Not surprisingly, given the way she plays, her favorite tennis player is Steffi Graf, and she'd love to learn Spanish, which would be useful when she visits her destination of choice - Machu Picchu in Peru.
Samantha's got a nice easily-navigable new website containing much more information about her likes and dislikes, tennis itinerary, photos, comments and more if you'd like the full picture of Sam Stosur.
One Women's Tennis Apparel Visitor Wrote:
Cheri, "Thank you very much for all your assistance. I purchased the dress........and my wife was thrilled. Will continue to shop at your site. A very happy customer as a result of your great attention and service", Mark Siegel
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