“Goosebumps”: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Samantha Stosur’s Farewell at Australian Open 2022

The Australian Samantha Stosur lost to 10th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-2 in the second round at the Show Court Arena. This game was the last of the 37-year-old’s long and inspiring singles career on the WTA tour.

She had announced back in December last year that the 2022 Australian Open will be her last tournament on the singles tour. She will continue to play in the doubles circuit till the end of 2022, with her partner Zhang Shuai.

Samantha Stosur’s last match Down Under

Stosur displayed her vintage form in her first-round match, defeating the American Robin Anderson, but the 10th seed Pavlyuchenkova proved to be too much for her. The Russian got on top of Stosur early in the match, breaking the Australian in the first game and then holding serve at 2-0.

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She broke again in the fifth game and served for the set at 5-2. Even though Stosur had a break point, she could not convert it and Pavlyuchenkova served the set out 6-2 in 31 minutes.

In the second set, Pavlyuchenkova took a 4-1 lead, but Stosur managed to break once, giving herself a chance to fight for the match. However, she lost serve in the following game, resulting in Pavlyuchenkova serving for the match at 5-2. Even though she faced a break point, she was calm and served it out to seal the win.

Samantha Stosur says she could not have asked for more

Stosur’s best form came in 2010-11 with her one and only Grand Slam singles victory at the 2010 US Open, where she defeated Serena Williams in the final. She also made it to the finals of the following French Open but lost out to Italian Francesca Schiavone. Samantha Stosur had a career-high singles ranking of 4, on the tour and has won 9 singles tournaments in total and has 28 doubles titles to her name.

Fellow players only had good things to say about the Australian. Her second-round Australian Open 2022 opponent Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova said that she “had goosebumps when everyone was clapping for Sam.”

“It’s a special moment for Sam and I want to give it to her. It was emotional for me today… She’s a wonderful human being and a great tennis player. Thanks, Sam,” she added.

Fellow Australian, and World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty talked about her retirement a few days ago, she said, “She has set the tone for us Aussies as tennis players for years and years.”

Read more: Ashleigh Barty, Simona Halep and Others Pay Heartwarming Tribute to Sam Stosur As She Retires From Tennis

After her 2nd round match, Stosur thanked her friends, family her team and the audience for always supporting her, and said, “I couldn’t have asked for more. I’ve had many great moments here in Australia and around the world. It’s been amazing.”

We bid farewell to a true legend of the game and wish her good luck for the future.