page_title: Samantha Stosur
section_title: 2009: Singles breakthrough
hierarchical_section_title: Samantha Stosur / Tennis career / 2009: Singles breakthrough
caption_attribution_description: English: Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs at the 2009 Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia.
context_page_description: Samantha Jane Stosur is an Australian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she held for 61 weeks, and a former world No. 4 in singles. She was also the top-ranked Australian singles player for 452 consecutive weeks, from October 2008 to June 2017. She has won a combined total of 38 titles on the WTA Tour: nine in singles, 26 in doubles and three in mixed doubles, as well as amassing over $19 million in prize money.
  Stosur won the 2011 US Open, defeating Serena Williams in the final and becoming the first Australian woman since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980 to win a Grand Slam singles tournament. She has also won six other Grand Slam titles to date: the 2005 US Open, 2006 French Open, and 2019 Australian Open women's doubles events, and the 2005 Australian Open, 2008 Wimbledon Championships and 2014 Wimbledon Championships mixed doubles events. In addition, she finished runner-up at six other Grand Slam tournaments, including the singles at the 2010 French Open, where she defeated four-time champion Justine Henin, ending her 24-match winning streak at the tournament, and world No. 1 Serena Williams en route to the final.
context_section_description: In her first tournament of the year, Stosur fell to Lucie Šafářová in the second round of the Brisbane International. At the Medibank International, she was defeated by top-seed Serena Williams in a close three-set match. Seeded fourth in doubles, the pair of Stosur and Rennae Stubbs lost to Peng Shuai and Hsieh Su-wei in the first round of the tournament. Stosur defeated Klára Zakopalová and Sabine Lisicki before losing in the third round to world No. 4 Elena Dementieva, at the Australian Open. She also won through to the third round in doubles, partnering Stubbs, defeating the Radwańska sisters. However, they then lost to eventual champions Venus and Serena Williams. In the Fed Cup Asia/Oceanic Zone competition, Stosur won four matches against various opponents from South Korea, Thailand, and Chinese Taipei. The Australian team, which also included Casey Dellacqua and Jelena Dokić, advanced to the World Group II play-offs, winning all of its twelve rubbers.
  At the Dubai Tennis Championships, Stosur defeated Magdaléna Rybáriková in straight sets before losing in the second round to Zheng Jie after winning the first set. Together with Stubbs, she was ousted in the semifinals of the doubles competition by the world No. 1 team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber. In Indian Wells, Stosur defeated Francesca Schiavone in the first round before she was eliminated in the second round by seventh seed Agnieszka Radwańska in three sets. In doubles, Stosur and Stubbs lost to Vera Zvonareva and Victoria Azarenka in the second round. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Stosur defeated Sofia Arvidsson and Sybille Bammer before having the biggest win of her career against world No. 2, Dinara Safina, in the third round. Safina would have reached the No. 1 ranking had she won the match. Stosur then defeated former world No. 1 Amélie Mauresmo, in the fourth round. She lost to Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals. She reached the same round in doubles, losing to Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Patty Schnyder. Due to her results, Stosur's singles ranking rose from No. 43 to No. 31.
  At the MPS Group Championships in Ponte Vedra Beach, Stosur was eliminated in the first round by second seed and eventual champion, Caroline Wozniacki. She then played for the Australian Fed Cup team in Mildura. Australia against Switzerland in their World Group II playoff. Stosur won the opening rubber of the tie in straight sets, then sealed the victory for Australia in the third rubber with a tight three-set victory, improving her 2009 Fed Cup singles record to 6–0. With this result, the Australian team advanced to the World Group II in 2010.
  In the clay-court season, Stosur was eliminated in the first round of the Rome Masters by qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova, and was also defeated in her first match in doubles. She then competed at the Madrid Masters, where she upset tenth seed Agnieszka Radwańska in the first round, but fell to Anna Chakvetadze in the second. Stosur and Stubbs made it to the semifinals, but were defeated by the world-No.-1 team of Black and Huber. At the French Open, they fell in the third round to 16th seeds Yan Zi and Zheng Jie. In singles, Stosur defeated Francesca Schiavone in the first round and Yanina Wickmayer in the second. She then beat fourth seed Elena Dementieva in the third round and Virginie Razzano of France for a place in the quarterfinals, where she defeated Sorana Cîrstea and advanced to her first Grand Slam semifinal against seventh seed and eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. After losing the first set, Stosur fought back a break of serve to win the second set in a tiebreak, but lost in the final set. This made her the lowest-ranked seed in the tournament to reach the furthest. With this result, Stosur cracked the top 20 for the first time in her career.
  Stosur started the grass season playing at the Aegon International. She defeated Sabine Lisicki in the first round, before losing in the second round to sixth seed and eventual champion Wozniacki. Having beaten Black and Huber in the semifinals, she was a runner-up in the doubles
caption: Stosur (left) with doubles partner Rennae Stubbs at the 2009 Australian Open
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