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Sam Stosur's sad retirement admission after brutal US Open loss

Sam Stosur, pictured here in action against Anett Kontaveit at the US Open.
Sam Stosur in action against Anett Kontaveit at the US Open. Image: Getty

Sam Stosur has admitted she may have played her final grand slam singles match after a 6-0 6-3 first-round drubbing at the hands of Anett Kontaveit at the US Open.

A decade after conquering Serena Williams to win her maiden singles major at Flushing Meadows, 37-year-old Stosur was left pondering her future on Tuesday.

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The Aussie hero has won just five matches in 13 majors over the past five years (none in New York) to plummet from a one-time World No.4 to 186th in the WTA standings.

She will almost certainly receive a wildcard into the Australian Open in January if she so desires.

But with juggling motherhood and the demands of life as a touring tennis professional becoming increasingly difficult during the global pandemic, Stosur admits her future in the sport is very much uncertain.

The Queenslander remains a major force in doubles, having won her 27th career title last week in Cincinnati with Zhang Shuai.

She is seeded 14th with her Chinese partner at Flushing Meadows and will be looking to add to her three grand slam women's doubles titles (not to mention the two in mixed doubles).

Asked by AAP on Wednesday if she'd played her last grand slam match, the Queenslander said: "I don't know. I don't know what I'm focusing on next year".

"I'm going to play this event out as best I can. I still want to play next year a little bit.

"It's one of those things I haven't really decided that yet. My ranking is going to decide a lot of that as far as the singles stuff goes and so we'll see what happens with January.

"But if that's my last singles match, then that's the way it is."

Anett Kontaveit, pictured here in action against Sam Stosur at the US Open.
Anett Kontaveit in action against Sam Stosur at the US Open. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Sam Stosur yearning for more family time

Stosur said sacrificing time away from her partner and one-year-old daughter Evie is making her retirement call extra tough.

"It's very hard to be away from them, for sure," she said.

"I know I'm in the last stretch here. It's my last tournament, but it's still a month until I walk in the front door."

But adding almost a quarter of a million Australian dollars to the family's bank account for the four-month sacrifice has at least made Stosur's time away worth it.

"It's been good," she said.

"They've been super, super supportive. I couldn't ask for more.

"It's been tough but I'm really glad I was able to come over here and play another couple of slams and hopefully finish on a high."

If Stosur does call it quits, she will retire as one of the most unheralded stars in Australian sport.

Her stunning victory over Williams on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America made her Australia's first female grand slam singles champion in 31 years.

She reached the 2010 French Open final, featured in four semi-finals in total in Paris, holds a WTA-record of 442 unbroken weeks as her country's No.1 tennis player and is among the top-25 all-time prize-money leaders with $US19,332,802 in on-court earnings.

with AAP

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