By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Tuesday, November 7, 2023
Persevering with an unbelievable run, Storm Hunter realized her “unattainable” dream.
The 29-year-old Aussie and associate Elise Mertens reached the WTA Finals doubles semifinals in Cancun final weekend clinching Hunter’s historic rise to the world No. 1 doubles rating.
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The left-hander is the second Aussie girl in historical past to finsh as year-end doubles No. 1 following Samantha Stosur, her former doubles associate, in 2006.
How did Hunter rejoice rising to the highest of the world?
She hopped on a aircraft and flew to Seville to symbolize Australia in its Billie Jean King Cup opener. The fast turnaround has given Hunter little time to replicate on realizing her “unattainable” dream.
“It is nonetheless, to be sincere, hasn’t actually sunken in. It is loopy,” Hunter informed the media in Seville on the BJK Cup Finals. “I truthfully did not suppose this might ever occur to me in my life. It was type of a dream that simply all the time was there however type of appeared unattainable, to be sincere.
“Yeah, it is positively been a whirlwind few days.”
Carrying the No. 1 subsequent to her identify, and Australia in her again, Hunter delivered partnering Kimberley Birrell in a 7-5, 6-7, 10-5 doubles win accounting for the green-and-gold’s lone level in a 2-1 loss to Slovenia.
Hunter has been each the Storm and the calm clinching the year-end No. 1 and now hoping to assist 2022 Billie Jean King Cup runner-up Australia again to the finals.
“It’s totally thrilling, however I am type of right here to deal with our crew,” Hunter stated. “It is not about me this week. It is about getting Workforce Australia to do as greatest as we are able to, in order that’s one thing that, yeah, I am going to have the ability to rejoice as soon as we end right here. However for now it is simply doing my half for our crew.”
Hunter’s dedication to the green-and-gold was evident in her packing for the flight from Cancun. Hunter properly carried her racquets on board the flight so when the airline misplaced her baggage no less than she was not disarmed.
“Baggage did not arrive, in order that made it a bit difficult, however I had some racquets on me and I used to be ready to play right now,” Hunter stated. “I had my outfit, my sneakers, and mentally I used to be able to go if our crew wanted that.
“Yeah, it was clearly, yeah, a fast turnaround, however for me, representing my nation is the best honor and truthfully essentially the most superb factor I can ever do with my tennis profession. I need to be prepared and ready every time doable.”
Australian captain Alicia Molik stated she believes in her gamers’ willpower forward of Australia’s do-or-die tie in opposition to a Kazakhstan squad led by 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina.
“There’s not many gamers that will put their hand as much as play three-and-a-half hours after coming from a 17-hour journey to get themselves able to play. That is simply how eager our gamers are,” Australian captain Alicia Molik stated. “We all the time knew that will be the circumstance, you realize, months in the past. So it wasn’t a shock, truly, that the gamers have come late. We kind of truly had been banking on it, that they’d carry out effectively on the Finals, as a result of they’d that type of 12 months. It type of got here to fruition, to be sincere.”
Photograph credit score: Billie Jean King Cup Fb
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