{"id":19231,"date":"2024-01-19T22:15:26","date_gmt":"2024-01-19T14:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/?p=19231"},"modified":"2024-01-19T22:15:57","modified_gmt":"2024-01-19T14:15:57","slug":"storm-hunter-gives-it-all-in-3rd-round-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/news\/2024\/01\/19\/storm-hunter-gives-it-all-in-3rd-round-loss","title":{"rendered":"Storm Hunter Gives it All in 3rd Round Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Storm Hunter\u2019s magical singles run at Australian Open 2024 is over.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But rather than feel disappointed, the 29-year-old is proud of her efforts after gallantly extending world No.11 Barbora Krejcikova to three sets at Rod Laver Arena last night.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a tough match. Really wanted to win that one, and I would say I had a few chances, but Barbora played some really good tennis under pressure,\u201d Hunter said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI absolutely loved it out there. It was a lot of fun. Even though I didn\u2019t get the win, this whole week has been a win for my singles I would say.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to look at it as disappointing because I enjoyed every minute. It\u2019s not every night you get to play at Rod Laver Arena after Novak (Djokovic) and have all the fans out there. I\u2019m definitely seeing it as a positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The world No.180 came super close to achieving a 46-year first at the tournament, as the first Aussie qualifier to win three main-draw matches at the tournament since Christine Matison in 1978.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an effort that has prompted many of Hunter\u2019s peers, including Alex de Minaur and Ajla Tomljanovic, to implore the world No.1 doubles player to put a greater focus on singles.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a consideration,\u201d Hunter said of that prospect. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s a consideration right now. I think where my rankings are I can still kind of do both at the moment. There potentially may be that decision down the line, but for now, no.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked why she has struggled with self-belief in her singles game, a candid Hunter offered an honest explanation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just my nature. I just feel like I\u2019m such a normal person that to be in this environment as a professional athlete and being the No.1 doubles player in the world, to play on that stage, it almost feels a little bit like it\u2019s not for me in a way because I feel like I am so normal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel that I have ever been this huge talent. I\u2019ve always had to work hard for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hunter credits her recent doubles success for helping boost her confidence on the singles court.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously I\u2019ve been around for a long time now on tour, so just having these experiences and having the experiences playing Slams and doubles that just, I think, naturally helps,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The hometown support provided added motivation for the Melbourne-based Hunter as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely easy when you have the crowd cheering you on and supporting you no matter what,\u201d Hunter acknowledged.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s why I think playing at home in Australia, playing for Australia, it\u2019s very easy for me to do that because I\u2019m doing it not for myself, but for the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess a lot of people would find maybe more pressure, but I actually find it easier. I\u00a0kind of want to almost make everyone else proud and make everyone who has stuck by my side proud as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hunter\u2019s attention now turns to her Australian Open women\u2019s doubles and mixed doubles campaigns.<\/p>\n

She does plan, however, to reconsider her singles goals post-tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis definitely gives me a lot of belief in my singles,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll go back and analyse and look at what we can keep working on and go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Storm Hunter\u2019s magical singles run at Australian Open 2024 is over. But rather than feel disappointed, the 29-year-old is proud of her efforts after gallantly extending world No.11 Barbora Krejcikova to three sets at Rod Laver Arena last night. \u201cIt was a tough match. Really wanted to win that one, and I would say I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6359,"featured_media":19232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6359"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}