Aussie tennis legend Sam Stosur reveals the biggest regret of her glittering 24-year career

Samantha Stosur has revealed the biggest regret of her celebrated tennis career – and it’s not what most fans would think.

Stosur retired on Saturday night blissfully satisfied after fulfilling her childhood dream of beating Serena Williams for the grand slam singles crown at the 2011 US Open in New York.

The 38-year-old is also the only Australian woman since the legendary Evonne Goolagong Cawley more than half a century ago to achieve major titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles – across all forms of the professional game.

Sam Stosur retired from tennis at the age of 38 on Saturday night in Melbourne

His place in the pantheon of Australian greats is assured.

However, for all his achievements, it’s no secret that the one-time world no.4’s biggest complaint remains that he didn’t win the French Open singles crown.

It’s just that losing the 2010 title match at Roland Garros to Francesca Schiavone after serving match points against Williams in the quarterfinals and also knocking out fellow world No. 1s Justine Henin and Jelena Jankovic en route to the final isn’t Stosur’s fault. the biggest disappointment in Paris.

The semifinals in 2009, 2012 and 2016 are also not lost.

The Australian won the 2011 US Open after defeating Serena Williams in a memorable final

No, Stosur’s fourth-round loss to eventual champion Jelena Ostapenko remains her biggest regret.

Stosur is riding an eight-match clay court winning streak and raced to a 4-0 lead against Ostapenko inside 12 minutes before disaster struck.

The favorite at the time suffered a stress fracture in his right racket hand, lost the match and was no longer the same player.

“The final is where you have a real chance to win, but Schiavone played too well that day and I couldn’t produce the tennis that I did against Henin, Serena or Jankovic in the previous round,” Stosur recalled to AAP.

Stosur lost in the quarterfinals of the 2017 French Open to eventual champion Jelena Ostapenko (above) after breaking her right hand with a 4-0 lead.

‘This is how it goes. But definitely playing Ostapenko when I broke my hand and didn’t realize it was absolutely crushing.

“I didn’t play for five months and I probably came back too early and even every year after I stepped on the clay court and started training I felt the same pain in my hand.

“So it really hurt and to go down like that and with such an unclear injury, yeah, it was tough.”

Even if she somehow beat Ostapenko, Stosur had no chance of advancing to the quarterfinals.

The Australian had lost the Roland Garros final to Francesca Schiavone (right) in 2010.

“I couldn’t even cut an avocado,” she said.

However, he still does not know how the injury happened.

“I had a pain in my knuckle a couple of days earlier in the singles, I went to the doctor, got scans and they weren’t even sure,” Stosur said.

But they said there was nothing they could do and no one was really worried about me making it worse.

Stosur won the 2019 Australian Open women’s doubles with China’s Shuai Zhang

– But then when I went out to play and as the match progressed, I was in pain.

– I won the first set, but in tears I called the coach, I have never been in so much pain.

– Then suddenly I ran with my palm to backhand, which I never do.

– I lost in the third set 6-4 and it was a very painful match. It turned out that I had an injury rarely ever seen in a tennis player. I still don’t know why.