Steffi Carruthers

Steffi Carruthers
Full nameSteffi Faasusivaitele Hethrington Carruthers
Country (sports) Samoa
 Pacific Oceania (Fed Cup)
Born (1993-05-24) 24 May 1993
Apia, Samoa
PlaysRight (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$20,223
Singles
Career record88–105
Highest rankingNo. 662 (13 October 2014)
Doubles
Career record42–67
Career titles2 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 556 (16 November 2015)
Team competitions
Fed Cup11–11

Steffi Faasusivaitele Hearthington Carruthers (born 24 May 1993) is a Samoan former tennis player. She is the first Samoan woman to play professional tennis and the first Pacific Oceanian player to win a professional tournament.[1][2]

Carruthers is from the village of Vailima, and was educated at Vaiala Beach School and Samoa College.[3] and has played tennis since the age of 5, and competed in her first international tournament at the age of 10.[4] She is named after German tennis player Steffi Graf.[3][4]

Carruthers has career-high WTA rankings of 662 in singles and 556 in doubles. In her career, she won two ITF titles in doubles.

Playing for Pacific Oceania in Fed Cup, Carruthers has a win-loss record of 11–11.

Carruthers began training to become a professional in 2012,[5][6] and played her first professional season in 2014.[7] She later competed in the 2017 Pacific Mini Games in Port Vila, Vanuatu, winning gold in the doubles,[8] gold in the singles,[9] silver in the mixed doubles, and bronze in the women's team events. At the 2019 Pacific Games in Apia she won silver in the women's team event.

In 2016 she was nominated as Sports Woman of the Year in the annual SASNOC sports awards.[4][10]

ITF finals

Doubles (2–1)

Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$15,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Finals by surface
Hard (1–1)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1. 6 June 2015 ITF Manzanillo, Mexico Hard Carolina Betancourt Tornado Alicia Black
Dasha Ivanova
6–3, 6–3
Win 2. 12 September 2015 ITF Bol, Croatia Clay Alina Silich Barbara Kotelesova
Natalija Sipek
7–6(3), 3–6, [10–5]
Loss 1. 6 November 2015 GB Pro-Series Loughborough, United Kingdom Hard Sabastiani Leon Freya Christie
Lisa Whybourn
1–6, 2–6

ITF Junior Circuit finals

Category G1
Category G2
Category G3
Category G4
Category G5

Singles (0–1)

Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. 2 October 2010 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Anaève Pain 1–6, 0–6

Doubles (5–3)

Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. 27 June 2008 Nouméa, New Caledonia Hard Anaève Pain Abigail Tere-Apisah
Harriet Sheahan
6–7(6), 6–0, 1–6
Win 2. 5 July 2008 Lautoka, Fiji Hard Anaève Pain Celina Goetti
Athena Nathalia
6–2, 7–6(5)
Win 3. 31 January 2009 Christchurch, New Zealand Hard Anaève Pain Leela Beattie
Gabrielle Grady
5–7, 6–2, [10–4]
Loss 4. 19 July 2009 Darwin, Australia Hard Abigail Tere-Apisah Miyu Kato
Risa Ozaki
3–6, 6–3, [9–11]
Win 5. 26 June 2010 Nouméa, New Caledonia Hard Emily Burns Kaede Amano
Asuka Sakamoto
6–2, 6–3
Loss 6. 4 July 2010 Lautoka, Fiji Hard Anaève Pain Emily Fanning
Heidi Stewart
1–6, 0–6
Win 7. 25 September 2010 Hamilton, New Zealand Hard Anaève Pain Paige Hourigan
Claudia Williams
6–4, 6–1
Win 8. 2 October 2010 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Anaève Pain Carli Davis
Danielle Feneridis
6–2, 6–4

Fed Cup participation

Singles (4–5)

Edition Round Date Location Against Surface Opponent W/L Score
2015 Fed Cup
Asia/Oceania Zone Group II
R/R 14 April 2015 Hyderabad, India Indonesia Hard (i) Deria Nur Haliza L 2–6, 0–6
15 April 2015 Sri Lanka Thisuri Molligoda W 6–2, 6–7(5), 6–1
P/O 17 April 2015 Singapore Wee Khee-yen W 6–2, 6–0
2016 Fed Cup
Asia/Oceania Zone Group II
R/R 11 April 2016 Hua Hin, Thailand Hong Kong Hard Zhang Ling L 5–7, 3–6
12 April 2016 Iran Sara Amiri W 6–0, 6–1
13 April 2016 Philippines Katharina Lehnert L 0–6, 2–6
P/O 16 April 2016 Indonesia Deria Nur Haliza L 3–6, 1–6
2017 Fed Cup
Asia/Oceania Zone Group II
R/R 19 July 2017 Dushanbe, Tajikistan Iran Hard Yasmin Mansouri W 6–4, 6–2
20 July 2017 Hong Kong Eudice Chong L 5–7, 3–6

Doubles (1–2)

Edition Round Date Location Against Surface Partner Opponents W/L Score
2015 Fed Cup
Asia/Oceania Zone Group II
R/R 15 April 2015 Hyderabad, India Sri Lanka Hard (i) Brittany Teei Amreetha Muttiah
Medhira Samarasinghe
W 6–3, 3–6, 6–3
2016 Fed Cup
Asia/Oceania Zone Group II
R/R 11 April 2016 Hua Hin, Thailand Hong Kong Hard Abigail Tere-Apisah Sher Chun-wing
Zhang Ling
L 3–6, 2–6
13 April 2016 Philippines Abigail Tere-Apisah Khim Iglupas
Katharina Lehnert
L 4–6, 3–6

References

  1. ^ "Exclusive Interview with Samoan Tennis Player Steffi Carruthers". The What I Do. 29 October 2014. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014.
  2. ^ "Sport: Samoa's Steffie Carruthers wins pro event". RNZ. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Steffi keen to shine". Fiji Times. 8 July 2008. p. 25 – via EBSCOHost.
  4. ^ a b c Vatapuia Maiava (23 April 2016). "Samoa's very own tennis star". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Sport: Samoa's Carruthers ready for hard slog in professional ranks". RNZ. 4 October 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Moomia se fesoasoani mo Steffi Carruthers" (in Samoan). Samoa Times. 15 October 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  7. ^ "Sport: Tennis a learning game for Samoa's Carruthers". RNZ. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Tennis pair secures Samoa another gold". Samoa Observer. 13 December 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  9. ^ Ulimasao Fata (16 December 2017). "Carruthers wins one more gold for Samoa". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Sports Awards: The finalists named". Samoa Observer. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2023.