Rocky’s rocket Storm Hunter plays up a storm at the Open

Storm Hunter’s dad used to tell her, ‘You can do it’. He was right. She’s the No. 1 doubles player in the world – and she’s just won her first singles match at an Australian Open.

Australia’s Storm Hunter reacts on match point against Italy’s Sara Errani during their women’s singles match on day two of the Australian Open. Picture: AFP

They are four of the most powerful words in the English language. “You can do it.”

“I grew up in a pub in Rockhampton,” an emotional Storm Hunter said after roaring into the second round of the Australian Open on Monday. “My parents had no money. They were hard workers. They knew I had this dream and they joined the military to try and give us a better life and a better opportunity. I spent a lot of times in my childhood not seeing my parents because they were sacrificing their careers.”

Hunter is the World No. 1 tennis player you’ve probably never heard of. Because there’s no real superstars in doubles. Her breakthrough singles victory in front of a singing, dancing, foot-stomping, raving, banner-waving crowd at Melbourne Park attracted more attention, eyeballs and decibels than all her doubles triumphs put together – and put a tidy $180,000 in the pocket of the Rockhampton Rockette. At least.

The pub with no cash was called The Grand Hotel. Hunter’s grandparents owned it. She lived upstairs with her parents and brother “for a while there when I was young”. The pub ain’t there no more.

“It’s crazy coming from Rocky,” she said. “I kind of feel like I owe this to my parents because they sacrificed a lot for me and my brother. They’ve always been so supportive of my career. I started playing when I was six, after I’d watched tennis on TV. They believed in me more than I ever believed in myself. Especially my dad. He was always saying, ‘You can do it. You can do it.’ I’m, like, ‘I don’t know if I can do it, to be honest’.”

Dad was right. Bloody oath she could do it. Took a while, though. She’s been having a crack at the Australian Open since 2012. The most famous lefty from Rocky, of course, did it all. Rodney George Laver has his name on the front door at Melbourne Park. The original Rockhampton Rocket is a legend of the sport but Hunter is still trying to make a real name for herself. Five years ago, she had all of $1000 in the bank.

She’s done incredibly well to be ranked No. 1 in doubles. Singles is the real stuff, though, and she languishes 179 slots lower. For now. She’d never won a singles match at the Australian Open before her dream afternoon inside a packed Kia Arena. How’d she play? Confidently. Aggressively. Boldly. Like she thought she could do it.

There was a rush of adrenaline from the moment she felt and heard the wild, unwavering support. She dusted off Italy’s Sara Errani 6-4, 6-3. How many grand are you guaranteed for reaching round two at the Open? As they say in darts, one hundred and-eighty. Potentially, there’s more to come. A whopping $86.5m is on the table at the Open. If Hunter reaches round three, she’ll be guaranteed $255,000. From there the cheques are like the nips in the old Mental as Anything song. Getting bigger. All the way to the winner’s prize of $3.15m.

Hunter’s become a collector. The Rockhampton Rockette will play another doubles specialist, Germany’s World No.78 Laura Siegemund, on Wednesday. She claimed the 2022 US Open mixed doubles with fellow Australian John Peers. She’s yet to land a major doubles title despite her World No. 1 ranking – but would rather win an Olympic gold medal in Paris this year. Which won’t be easy, but you know where this is going. She suspects she can do it.

“For me, an Olympic medal is higher,” she said. “Being an Australian athlete and as an Australian growing up, that to me is everything. Before I played tennis, I kind of wanted to be an Olympian. I played every single sport as a kid and kind of just fell into tennis and loved it when I picked up the racquet when I was six. The Olympics would mean the world. ­Because it’s not just for you. It’s for your country – and I’m a very proud Australian.”