Good things come to those who wait, and few have waited longer than Sam Stosur. In her 17th Australian Open, after years of heartbreak in front of her home fans, the 34-year-old won a big title at Melbourne Park on Friday as she and Zhang Shuai of China beat defending champions Kristina Mladenovic of France and Timea Babos of Hungary 6-3, 6-4 to win the women’s doubles.
On a court that has brought her more disappointment than any other, Stosur served out for victory to win her seventh grand slam title, adding to her US Open singles title, French Open and US Open women’s doubles titles and three mixed doubles crowns. As Babos’s final backhand went long, Stosur put her hands on her head, dropping her racket behind her, joy and relief spreading across her face.
“Today was excitement and happiness at the end,” said Stosur, whose win comes 13 years after she and Lisa Raymond missed two match points before losing the final. “Obviously, you never know if you’re going to be in a grand slam final ever again. When you’re in it, you want to do everything you can possible in that moment to make the right decisions and play how you want to play, enjoy it. That’s really what we did. Now 13 years later, to be holding this one instead of the runner-up is a really good feeling.”
As her phone pinged with message after message, Stosur said she’d felt the encouragement from the home fans all week. “It’s great to know that that support’s there from everyone that’s close to you, but also feeling it from people you don’t even know who are happy and excited,” she said. “It’s an amazing feeling.”
Australia’s best player for most of her career, Stosur was beaten in the final of the French Open in 2010 but bounced back to beat Serena Williams in the US Open the following year. In Melbourne, though, she struggled under the weight of expectation, never making it to the quarter-finals and only twice even reaching the last 16.
Her defeat by Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine last week means she has lost in the first round for four straight years. She will leave Melbourne with a singles ranking of 75 and at 34, she is in the twilight of her career. But in doubles, there may be more to come.
“We’d already before this week said we were going to play the year together, try and play all the slams, whatever tournaments work out for our singles schedule throughout the year,” Stosur said. “Regardless of the result this week, we were going to do that anyway. But obviously now, having done this today, it kind of gives you that extra boost, [makes you] want to get back out there and try and keep it going.”
It is a first grand slam title for Zhang, ranked 40 in singles. In 2015, she almost retired from the sport but after Stosur helped to persuade her to continue, the Chinese, now 30, reached the quarter-finals in Melbourne in 2016. On Friday, she was rock solid as the pair got over the line.
After a cool change had swept through Melbourne, reducing the temperature from 44C to 30C, the final was played with the roof open. Though the heat had gone, strong winds made life difficult for all servers, and after a 12-minute opening game, Stosur was broken.
Mladenovic and Babos, the No 2 seeds who won their first grand slam title together here last year, led 3-1 but after Stosur held for 2-3, they were broken in the following game. With Zhang taking charge from the baseline, she and Stosur took the first set 6-3.
The second set was tight until at 4-3, Zhang intercepted at the net to give Stosur the chance to serve out. Still there was time for drama as the pair fell 0-30 down on the Australian’s serve. Ay 30-40, Stosur saved a break point with a fine smash. One match point went begging as Stosur double-faulted, but after they earned a second, Stosur held firm at the baseline before Babos eventually went long.
