Melbourne, Australia, 3 July 2023 | Leigh Rogers

Sam Stosur is one of Australia’s greatest ever tennis players, winning eight Grand Slam titles and amassing more than 1000 match wins in her stellar career.

The former world No.1 doubles player, who retired at this year’s Australian Open, scored a big victory of a different kind this evening.

Stosur won $100,000 in a special charity edition of Millionaire Hot Seat, Australia’s longest-running television quiz show.

The US Open 2011 singles champion was a contestant alongside Australian tennis favourites Todd Woodbridge, Dylan Alcott and Daria Saville, as well as Nine Network presenters James Bracey and Tony Jones.

“The Millionaire experience was really cool,” Stosur told tennis.com.au. “I was really nervous when they asked me to do it, because I didn’t want to look like a fool, but it was actually really fun.”

Stosur revealed she did spend some time preparing before the episode was filmed.

“I told a friend of mine I was going on the show and she was a very scared for me,” Stosur laughed.

“We were away for a weekend, so we did a practice run, streamed some episodes and played along. I got a couple right, so she was like ‘Oh, you’ll be alright’.

“Dasha and I also spoke about it too and we were hoping there was going to be a lot of tennis questions, because we didn’t want too many general knowledge ones.”

Sam Stosur in the Hot Seat with host Eddie McGuire. Picture: Nine Network

Stosur chose to donate her winnings to RALLY4EVER, a foundation that encourages physical activity and greater community connection through tennis.

RALLY4EVER is run by Stosur’s friend Louise Pleming, a former Australian professional and now a high-performance coach and commentator.

“I’ve been an ambassador for them for a couple of years,” Stosur explained. “I love the fact that RALLY4EVER are using tennis, a sport that gave me so much, as a vehicle to help people from all walks of life.

“There are so many people who have come to their programs and gotten so much out of it.

“I love speaking to Lou about what they are doing and how they want to make it bigger and bigger to help more people.

“I know this is going to help them greatly, which is so exciting.”

> LEARN MORE: Pleming’s RALLY4EVER changing lives

Woodbridge won the Fastest Finger First section of the episode, winning $1000 for his chosen charity, My Room Children’s Cancer Charity.

He later used that prize as a lifeline when in the Hot Seat, but vowed to match the donation.

This special edition of Millionaire Hot Seat was filmed to celebrate the Nine Network’s coverage of Wimbledon, which begins this evening from 7.30pm AEST.

> READ: Four Aussies in action on day one at Wimbledon 2023

Book online, play today: Visit play.tennis.com.au to get out on court and have some fun!