Born and raised in Queensland, Samantha Stosur began playing tennis at the age of eight after receiving a tennis racquet from her neighbour for Christmas. Stosur has competed at four Olympic Games - Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016. Once ranked world No. 1 in doubles (2005), Stosur is now focused on singles tennis and was the runner up at the 2010 French Open. She claimed her first Grand Slam victory in 2011 when she won the US Open after knocking off home town favourite Serena Williams.
She made her third Olympic Games appearance in 2012 where she competed in the women’s singles and the mixed doubles tournaments. Having been knocked out in the first round of the women’s singles by Carlos Suarez Navarro of Spain she teamed up with Lleyton Hewitt. The pair knocked off Agnieszka Radwanska and Marcin Matkowski (Poland) in the first round before losing to host duo Andy Murray and Laura Robson in the quarter finals 6-3, 3-6, 10-8.
In Rio at her fourth Games, Stosur made the third round in the women’s singles. She claimed wins over Jelena Ostapenko and Misaki Doi, before going down to Angelique Kerber 6-0 7-5. Stosur teamed up with John Peers in the mixed doubles and Daria Gavrilova in the women’s doubles, going down in the opening round in both events.