Husband on the circuit helps Storm Hunter court tennis ambitions

Storm Hunter – one of just two Australian women in the main draw of Wimbledon – matches her two passions with a husband who’ll travel with her to the world’s tennis hot spots.

Storm hunter has reflected how her happiness off court could have helped her qualify for Wimbledon. Picture: Lesley Martin / AFP

If loneliness on the tennis circuit is a reason why Australia’s women’s ranks have thinned to the startling situation that just two will be in the main draw of Wimbledon which starts Monday, Australian player Storm Hunter has found a solution.

She has had her husband quit work and travel the world’s tennis hot spots with her.

Hunter’s husband Lachlan Hunter, this month has given up his business development position with Miele to help Hunter’s tennis ambitions.

Always a strong doubles player, Hunter this week cracked through to the Wimbledon singles draw, winning through via the tough qualifying tournament at Roehampton just weeks after the couple had made the tough personal decision.

She joins Daria Saville, who is returning from an Achilles injury, as the only two Australian women in the championships.

Hunter, 28, said it was just before the French Open when things came to a head.

Storm and Lachlan in 2020. Picture: Twitter

“Happy though I was to see him (husband Lachlan), I was also sad because I didn’t know when I would see him again,’’ she said.

“Then we were, ‘Okay we need to make a decision because, for me, I want to do this while I’m healthy and fit over the next four years and it’s not really going to be helpful if we only get to see each other three or four weeks a year or however it works.

“So he said ‘Okay, I’ll quit and I’ll come and travel with you’.” The only stipulation was that Lachlan could bring his road bike to be able to indulge in his passion for cycling.

Hunter reflected how her happiness off the court could have had an immediate material benefit, helping her qualify for Wimbledon, and a guaranteed first-round losers pay check of $100,000. She faces Wang Xinyu, of China in the first round.

“I think I’m much happier having him by my side – we recently got married – and to have him with me here, we obviously love being at home, but now we can travel full-time,’’ Hunter said.

“Instead of going home, I can now go and play those extra singles events. It allows me a bit more flexibility, otherwise I think I might constantly be thinking of when I’m going home to Australia and trying to fit that in. Now I can just focus fully on my tennis.

“He’s so supportive, I’m very very lucky. He’s super excited to be on the road and travelling with me as well.”

Hunter laughs about her married name and said hadn’t thought there could have been a better name than her maiden name of Sanders before meeting Lachlan.

Hunter, a left-handed player from Rockhampton hasn’t yet met the greatest men’s player Rod Laver, but she hopes to sometime in the next fortnight.

Meanwhile Saville, 29, admitted to having “low expectations but high standards” in her first major slam since injury, facing the British hopeful, Alex de Minaur’s girlfriend, Katie Boulter.

Daria and Luke Saville.

Saville was unclear why the next crop of Australian women hadn’t made the critical breakthrough into the top seedings.

She said: “tennis is hard; to be a tennis player in Australia you have to sacrifice a lot because we can’t go back home and maybe that’s one of the reasons, the sacrifice and not wanting to be on the road.’’

She said she coped “pretty well” having attended the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France when she was young, and is now married to fellow Australian tennis player Luke Saville.

In the men’s daw Nick Kyrgios faces a more difficult run than last year’s breakthrough which saw him progress through to the final after semifinalist Rafa Nadal withdrew with injury. He comes up against the experienced wildcard David Goffin and is in the same half of the draw as favourite Novak Djokovic whom he could potentially meet in the quarter-finals.

Queen’s club finalist Alex de Minaur, has drawn Belgian qualifier Kimmer Coppejans, before a possible matchup against the unpredictable 2021 finalist Matteo Berrettini.

The first round clashes are:

MEN’S SINGLES

15-Alex de Minaur v Kimmer Coppejans (BEL)

30-Nick Kyrgios v David Goffin (BEL)

Max Purcell v 7-Andrey Rublev (RUS)

Jordan Thompson v Brandon Nakashima (USA)

Jason Kubler v Ugo Humbert (FRA)

Alexei Popyrin v Dominic Stricker (SUI)

Chris O’Connell v Hamad Medjedovic (SRB)

Aleksandar Vukic v Daniel Altmaier (GER)

WOMEN’S SINGLES

Daria Saville v Katie Boulter (GBR)

Storm Hunter v Wang Xinyu (CHN)