Sam Stosur has faced plenty of critics in tennis, but her achievements deserve respect

Australia's Sam Stosur has said goodbye to singles tennis in typical fashion — it wasn't easy, but there was no questioning her commitment, and she gave her home crowd plenty to cheer about.

In the end, however, Stosur bowed out at Melbourne Park, bringing to a close a two-decade singles career with a tough 6-2, 6-2 loss against Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Kia Arena.

The 37-year-old has gathered affection and respect for her performances over the years as one of Australia's most successful women's tennis players, but there has also been a level of frustration with a sense of opportunities not taken.

While the Australian Open has not been a happy hunting ground, in singles at least — going into this year's tournament, Stosur had only reached the third round in singles in the last decade — she chose Melbourne Park to make her singles bow.

The Brisbane-born, Gold Coast native made her professional debut as a 15-year-old in 1999.  

She quickly became known for her focus on training and fitness, and a solid game featuring the kick-serve, sliced backhands, power forehands and inside-out shots to the corners to set up points.

Her power gave her an advantage — although this would be blunted in recent years as more and more players added power to their games. Sometimes, however, there were question marks over the mental side of Stosur's approach and her lack of consistency in being able to finish off matches.

Her undoubted physical fitness was tested in 2007 and 2008 as she had to deal with Lyme's disease, forcing her to miss eight months of tennis.

But she returned to tennis and climbed the rankings, cracking the world's top 10 in 2010.

Her play on clay was particularly impressive — she made the semis at Roland Garros on four