Our Sammy

I see Samantha Stosur was asked about retirement recently: her reply was that she is not yet ready  to retire, and would prefer not to nominate an actual date, but take it as it comes.

Before she bows out, I just want to put out there a different measure for evaluating the success of ‘our Sammy’.

‘our Sammy’ may not have won as many titles as she or we might have liked, but in my mind she is a success: more than that, she is a model for success.  I think she’s a champion.

Unfortunately, Stosur’s career will be judged against our expectations of what she could have achieved, rather than what she did actually achieve.  And what is ironic, is that our expectations were only elevated to the levels they have been due to Stosur’s own work ethic, which is my basis for judging her a success.

Name the last Australian tennis player to win a major, male or female.  It was Stosur.  And recall who she had to beat to win it.

Serena Williams is the most successful female tennis player of her generation, arguably one of the best ever, male or female, and unarguably one of the most influential.  At her best, Serena was unbeatable.

‘our Sammy’ beat Serena – when she was at her best, in the final of a major: Serena’s home major no less, the U.S. Open.  The fact she did not repeat this feat should not diminish it.  How many times did Hillary climb Everest?  Exactly!

What Stosur will be remembered for will be the disappointments, the ‘might ‘ave beens’, the ‘almosts’: this is unfortunate and deeply unfair.

I want you to remember Stosur differently, by taking a different perspective based on a deeper understanding of success.

The only reason we all thought that Stosur ‘shoulda won’ is because of the tremendous effort Stosur puts in to getting herself to a point where she is in a position to win.  Every tournament Stosur turns up to – she is ready to play.  She never turns up to a tournament seeking to ‘play herself back into fitness’, a euphemism for a lazy off-season.  It is easily apparent when Stosur walks onto court that she has done the hard work in training.

There have been some bitter disappointments in Stosur’s career since that victory over Serena. Stosur’s response to those disappointments is to train harder, to push herself further.  I want you to stop, and think now, of the tremendous mental effort required to sustain the level of intensity in training to be Australia’s top ranked female tennis player for a record 452 weeks.  It is from this perspective that I will judge ‘our Sammy’.

Consider the impossible weight of expectations that we force Stosur to carry through the Australian summer of tennis.  The expectation, the anticipation, the hope.  It must be almost unbearable. 

Consider the mental trauma that must accompany each exit from the Australian Open for Samantha Stosur: the anguish that must be felt by her, her family, her ‘entourage’.  What is Stosur’s response to this – no excuses – she keeps coming back and continues to face it.  That takes guts.

Take a young child, sit them down, and say to them – be like her.  Give it your best, every time.

I’m like you, I wished for more.  I wanted her to win everything.  But she didn’t win everything.  In mourning the losses, we have overlooked what it took to put herself there.  She faced those losses with a strong resolve to do better next time.

So tell me, what’s your definition of success?