Former world No. 1 doubles star Storm Hunter to make her comeback from serious Achilles injury

Struck down by a brutal injury off the back of a career-best run, an Aussie tennis ace has revealed her plans to return to the court later this month.

Former world No. 1 doubles ace Storm Hunter will make her comeback from a shattering Achilles injury later this month in the United States after ticking off a mentally gruelling rehabilitation that left her learning how to “trust her body again”.

The Australian star has locked in her comeback plans 10 months after the devastating injury, which crushed her dream of chasing a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and ruled her out of last month’s Australian Open.

Hunter will make a return to the court for doubles in Austin, Texas, in late February and at Indian Wells and Miami next month, teaming with American Caroline Dolehide.

The 30-year-old is not yet ready for a return to singles play, which she is aiming to progress to by the European clay court season.

Hunter had come off a career-best season when she was struck down by the Achilles injury during final practice for Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup tie in Brisbane last April.

Former world No. 1 doubles player Storm Hunter will make her return from a serious Achilles injury later this month in the United States. Picture: Mark Stewart

The 2022 US Open mixed doubles champion is now confident she is ready for a doubles return to the court.

“I am super pumped. We are planning to head to America next Friday and then I’m playing doubles in Austin – WTA 250 – and then Indian Wells and Miami (Open),” Hunter said.

“During the AO we were very close, but I still needed just a little bit more time to tick off a few more rehab things and now we’re ready for doubles, which is very exciting. I can’t wait to get over to the States.

“I know I have done the work. I have put the trust in my team and myself that I have done all the hard yards and that my body is good and it’s ready to get back into competing.

“The last few weeks knowing that I’m going to go play, I’ve been reflecting on the last year and I’m like ‘Wow, I’ve come a really long way’ and I’m excited to get back out there and do what I love doing the most.”

The injury was a cruel blow for Hunter after she had finished 2023 as the world doubles No. 1 in the WTA year-end rankings.

Hunter had also just reached a career-high singles ranking of 114 in April last year after her best singles performance at the 2024 Australian Open when she reached the third round.

The Rockhampton-born Hunter is confident she can get back to her pre-injury form and tick off her grand slam doubles and singles goals.

“I know I can still achieve what I want to, especially in singles. I still really believe I can get inside the top 100,” Hunter said.

“That has obviously been a huge goal that I really thought I was going to achieve last year. In doubles, too, trying to win a grand slam, I really believe that I can do that.

“But this year – especially the first few months – I just want to get back into tour life again, I want to have a healthy body and get back to playing matches again.

“The first few months I am not really thinking about my ranking or trying to get the results, it is more just trying to get back into the life of being a tennis player again.

“Then in the back-end of the year and looking more into next year, (I’ll) try and achieve some of those goals that I definitely believe I can.

If I don’t achieve all that stuff, it is also OK, but I’m definitely going to give it a good crack, that’s for sure.”

Hunter said her recovery from the achilles injury had not only been physically, but also mentally challenging.

Storm Hunter sidelined with injury during the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifier in April, 2024. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

“It’s been incredibly difficult to be honest. As much as it is a hard physical injury, I do believe that it is a really hard mental injury, too, because you have got to trust your body again,” Hunter said.

“You’re learning how to walk again with the right technique and then you’re learning to jump, learning to run and then it’s overcoming that fear that it’s strong enough to handle all that load.

“It’s definitely been more mentally challenging than I imagined, just trying to I guess deal with some of those fears and trust.

“But I have put in so much work every single day, I have done thousands and thousands of calf raises to get my calf and Achilles strong, so I really trust that now I have done the work.”

After her US swing with her former doubles partner and her close friend Dolehide, Hunter will return to Australia to prepare for a singles return on clay.

“I am probably still a little bit off playing singles because obviously the load for singles is a lot different,” Hunter said.

“It is a lot higher and I have got to cover more (of the) court for a longer period of time, so for singles we are still probably aiming for the clay season.

“We’re not really sure of the European schedule yet, we will just kind of see how the next few weeks go and how I am tracking for singles and then work it out from there.”

Originally published as Former world No. 1 doubles star Storm Hunter to make her comeback from serious Achilles injury