Storm Hunter (née Sanders; born 11 August 1994) is an Australian professional tennis player. She reached world No. 1 in doubles on 6 November 2023, becoming the third Australian woman to hold the top spot.[3] She also has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 119 on 18 October 2021.
Hunter won her first Grand Slam title in mixed doubles at the 2022 US Open. She has also won eight doubles titles on the WTA Tour, one doubles title on the WTA Challenger Tour as well as three singles titles[4] and twenty-one doubles titles[5] on the ITF Women's Circuit.
Hunter debuted on the ITF Junior Circuit in December 2007,[6] and on the senior circuit in November 2008.[7] She won her first professional tournament in February 2013.
Hunter was born in Rockhampton, where she began playing tennis at the age of six after watching the Australian Open on television.[8] Her father signed her up with a local tennis club where she was coached by Robert Beak.[9] Her initial progress was slow - in Beak's words Storm "wasn't the most talented" despite her strong work ethic and determination[9] - until, according to Beak, Hunter's skills suddenly and rapidly improved after "something clicked".[9]
Beak coached Hunter until she relocated to Perth with her parents in 2005.[10] Hunter continued playing tennis and returned to Queensland the following year to represent Western Australia in the Bruce Cup in Mackay in August 2006 and to compete in the Head Queensland State Age Championships in Rockhampton in September 2006.[11]
Hunter began the year ranked 674 in the world.[14] Her first tournament was the Sydney International, where she received a wildcard into qualifying. She stunned Eugenie Bouchard in the first round in two tiebreak sets, but lost in the second round against Misaki Doi.[15][note 1] She then received a wildcard into qualifying at the Australian Open where she lost in the first round against Yuliya Beygelzimer.[15][note 1] In February, after failing to qualify for the Burnie International, Hunter celebrated a breakthrough victory, winning the $25k Launceston Tennis International.[16][17] She won through both, the qualifying and main draws, without dropping a set. She also achieved the rare feat of defeating the top seeds in both the qualifying draw (Mari Tanaka) and the main draw (Olivia Rogowska) en route to victory. She reached the top 500 in the WTA rankings for the first time after the tournament win. A month later, she reached the final of the $25k event in Ipswich, Queensland, losing to Jelena Pandžić in three sets.[18]
Hunter began the season at the Brisbane International, having received a wildcard into qualifying. She opened with a three-set win over Irina-Camelia Begu.[21] Although taking the opening set, Hunter lost against third seed Hsieh Su-wei in the second round, in three sets.
The following week, she was awarded a wildcard to the main draw of the Hobart International. A first-round win over Peng Shuai[22] saw her match up with second seed Kirsten Flipkens. Pushing the top-20 ranked Belgian to the brink, Hunter lost in a tough three-set match, lasting over two and a half hours.[23] Despite the close loss, it was announced that she had been given a wildcard into the singles main draw of the Australian Open,[24] having been given wildcards for the doubles draw the previous two years. She played Camila Giorgi in round one, losing on her major singles debut, in three sets.[25] She also lost in the first round of women's and mixed doubles.
2015
Given a wildcard for the Hobart International,[26] Hunter lost in round one to Camila Giorgi, in three sets. She was then given a wildcard for the Australian Open, but lost at the first stage again, this time to world No. 46, Klára Koukalová, in straight sets.[27]
2016
In July, she qualified for the Jiangxi International – the first time Hunter has come through qualifying at a WTA Tour-level event.[28] She lost to Vania King in the first round. In October, she reached the second round of the Toowoomba ITF event. In November, she won the ITF Canberra doubles title with Jessica Moore.[15][note 1]
2017: First WTA Tour doubles title
She attempted to qualify for the Hobart International and Australian Open, losing in the first round. Her best singles performance was a quarterfinal appearance in September at the ITF Brisbane.[15][note 1]
In doubles, Hunter won the Nottingham Open, with Monique Adamczak in June. It was their first WTA Tour title.[29] She made two further WTA tournament finals that year.
Hunter played four doubles tournaments in 2018, losing all four in the first round. In 2019, she said "I started getting some shoulder pain which got more intense. I played the Aussie Open that year just focusing on doubles, but after that I stopped playing completely and was basically out for all of 2018."[30]
Hunter returned to singles competition in October 2019, after almost a two-year absence. She won the Playford International in her second tournament back.[31]
In doubles, she won four ITF Circuit titles in 2019.
In February, she qualified for and defeated four higher-ranked opponents to advance to her first tour-level singles quarterfinal at the Adelaide International, eventually losing to Belinda Bencic.[32] In March, Hunter entered the WTA top 200 for the first time at No. 199 on 1 March 2021. She received a wildcard for her debut at the WTA 1000 level at the 2021 Miami Open and recorded her first win against qualifier Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
In May, she qualified for a Grand Slam tournament in singles for the first time at the French Open.[33]
In July, Hunter reached her second tour-level quarterfinal at the Prague Open. She also reached the semifinals in doubles at the same event.[34] At the Tokyo Olympics, Hunter partnered Ashleigh Barty in the ladies' doubles and they reached the quarterfinals.[35]
In November, Hunter represented Australia at the BJK Cup Finals. She recorded the biggest win of her singles career, beating world No. 18, Belgian Elise Mertens, in her BJK Cup debut.[36] She then defeated Belarusian Yuliya Hatouka promoting Australia to the semifinals[37] where she lost to Swiss Jil Teichmann.[38]
2022: First WTA 1000 doubles title, US Open mixed doubles title
In January 2022, Hunter won her third and the biggest WTA Tour title, at the Adelaide International, alongside Ashleigh Barty.[39]
The following month, Hunter won her first WTA 1000 title, partnering Luisa Stefani, at the Guadalajara Open.[42] As a result, she stormed into the top 10 in the doubles rankings at world No. 8 on 24 October 2022.[43]
2023: Two WTA 1000 titles, Wimbledon doubles final, No. 1 in doubles
Hunter on the French Open clay after qualifying in singles in 2023
At the Miami Open, she qualified for the main draw but lost in the first round to Sofia Kenin. In doubles at the same tournament, she reached back-to-back quarterfinals with Mertens at a WTA 1000 level, following a quarterfinal showing in Indian Wells.[15][note 1]
At the Italian Open, Hunter won her second WTA 1000 title partnering with Mertens.[45] As a result, she reached world No. 5 in doubles on 22 May 2023.[46][47]
She qualified for the French Open in singles for the second time and recorded her first win at a major over Nuria Párrizas Díaz. At the same tournament in doubles, she lost in the third round with Mertens to 15th seeds Veronika Kudermetova and Liudmila Samsonova,[48] and in mixed doubles, she reached the second round with compatriot John Peers.[49]
Hunter qualified for the singles main draw at Wimbledon, thus completing the set of major appearances in singles.[15][note 1] She made more personal history at the same event by reaching her first Grand Slam women's doubles final alongside partner Mertens going down 5-7, 4-6 to the unseeded duo of Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strýcová.[50]
She won her second WTA 1000 title with Mertens at the Guadalajara Open and third at this level, defeating Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski. She reached world No. 2 in the doubles rankings on 25 September 2023.[51] At the same tournament she won her first round match in singles against Irina Shymanovich, her first win at this level since Miami 2021.[52] She lost to second seed and eventual finalist Maria Sakkari.[53] With reaching the semifinals at the 2023 WTA Finals, Hunter became world No. 1 in doubles on 6 November 2023.[3][54]
2024: Fourth WTA 1000 doubles title, Achilles injury
Ranked No. 180, she qualified and reached the third round for the first time at a major in singles at the Australian Open. Her performance ensured the deepest an Australian qualifier has progressed in an Australian Open women’s singles draw in 39 years.[55] Her next singles tournament was the WTA 125 Mumbai Open where she reached the final but lost to Darja Semeņistaja in three sets.[56]
Hunter ruptured her Achilles tendon in the final practice before Australia's Billie Jean King Cup qualifier against Mexico in Brisbane in April and underwent surgery.[64]
Personal life
Storm married Loughlin Hunter in November 2022 and took his surname.[65][66]
Performance timelines
Key
W
F
SF
QF
#R
RR
Q#
P#
DNQ
A
Z#
PO
G
S
B
NMS
NTI
P
NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
^ abThe first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Ladies Open since 2009 until 2924. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009 to 2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.
_(48199112197).jpg)
_01_(cropped)_2.jpg)
_(52191140653).jpg)
