SUMMARY
- Storm Hunters has been one of the top doubles players from Australia in recent times.
- Storm Hunters faced difficulties in her career due to a lack of funding and injuries.
Storm Hunter has been one of Australia’s brightest tennis stars in recent years. She has been on the WTA tour since 2009. Hunter has been playing singles and doubles on the tour. In recent years, she has found success in building her doubles career. Although it is her 15th year on tour, Hunter is only 29 years old. Her professional career has seen a lot of ups and downs.
The Australian was introduced to the sport at a very young age by her parents. Hunter made her grand slam singles debut at the Australian Open in 2012. In the same year, she made her first grand slam appearance in doubles. Since then, Hunter has played over 800 matches on the tour while securing 470 wins. Her career hit a pause in between due to financial restraints.
Storm Hunter growing up at Rockhampton
The 29-year-old was brought up in Rockhampton, Australia. Her parents, Michael and Genene, are in the Navy, while her brother, Baden Sanders, serves in the Army. Coming from a military background, Hunter began playing tennis at the age of six. She was inspired to take up the game after watching the Australian Open on television.
This is my all-time favourite tennis pic 😂😂😬 #absfordayz pic.twitter.com/wCAMLZcvFa
— Storm Sanders (@stormsanders94) April 9, 2019
She finished her schooling at Kolbe Catholic College and later graduated from the School of Isolated and Distance Education. During the initial stages of her career, Hunter was struggling to play on the tour as it required funding for traveling. Her parents and her brother were supportive of her decisions while playing.
Storm Hunter struggled to focus on singles and doubles
The teenager played singles and doubles matches in ITF events but could not find much success at the start. Hunter’s presence was consistent on the ITF tour but she found it challenging to win matches on the WTA tour. She did not feature in singles at the Grand Slams from 2017 to 2020 and focused more on doubles. The decision paid off as she began performing well.
Congratulations to Storm Sanders & Monique Adamczak, #AegonOpen Nottingham doubles champions! 😀🏆🎾 pic.twitter.com/oMhAwk2duc
— LTA (@the_LTA) June 18, 2017
Hunter won her first WTA title in Nottingham in 2017 with her partner, Monique Adamczak. Four years later, she reached the semifinals at Wimbledon with Caroline Dolehide. A few weeks later, Hunter lost in the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Olympics with Ashleigh Barty. She ended the season with a quarterfinal finish at the US Open with Dolehide.
Storm Hunter’s husband Loughlin Hunter helped her with money
Hunter was earlier known as Storm Sanders until her marriage. She married her longtime boyfriend, Loughlin Hunter, at the end of 2022. The couple went to the same high school but started dating many years later. Loughlin is Hunter’s biggest supporter and even quit his job to help his wife in her career. He travels with her to tournaments.
While Hunter was struggling with a career-threatening shoulder injury, her rankings came down, and things did not look bright. She was living with Loughlin, and the couple had not been married yet. Besides playing, Hunter began working as a coach to meet her expenses. She told her then-boyfriend that there was only $1000 left in her account and she had to go to Europe.
Gonna have an even cooler name now 😍😉❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ #stormhunter pic.twitter.com/xZCP26kRjl
— Storm Sanders (@stormsanders94) November 21, 2020
Hunter was hoping for things to go well, and she even thought of returning as she had no more money left. But the risk paid off for Hunter as she earned over $1,600,000 in 2023. She has now made $2,740,239 in her career. Her hard work, along with Loughlin’s constant support, has resulted in Hunter being the top doubles player in the world.
Storm Hunter finds consistency at Grand Slams
Hunter began the 2022 season with a doubles title at Adelaide and reached the quarterfinals at Melbourne. She went on to reach at least the quarterfinals in 12 tour events after the Australian Open. The consistency saw Hunter win two WTA 500 events and reach the semifinals at the US Open. The success continued in the 2023 season as well.
🎾 There’s a Storm coming…
Australia’s Storm Hunter is through to the Wimbledon women’s doubles final with Elise Mertens after a big 6-1 6-1 win over Zhang Shuai and Caroline Dolehide.#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/MKFPKANCo3
— ABC SPORT (@abcsport) July 14, 2023
Hunter started the 2023 season with a quarterfinal loss at Melbourne in doubles. Partnering with Elise Mertens, Hunter won the WTA 1000 title in Rome and was the runner-up at Wimbledon. The results in the 2023 season provided them with a debut in the WTA Finals and a world No.1 ranking. Hunter and Mertens lost in the semifinals to finish the year on a record-breaking note.