Sam Groth
Samuel Groth is an Australian politician and a former professional tennis player. He was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the seat of Nepean in 2022 representing the Victorian Liberal Party, which he has also served as the deputy leader of since 2024. Groth has announced his intention to retire from politics at the 2026 Victorian state election.
His highest ATP singles ranking was World No. 53, which he reached in August 2015. His career high in doubles was World No. 24, reached in February 2015. Groth's best singles result was a semi-final appearance at the 2014 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.
He holds the record for the world's fastest serve at 263 km/h, which he hit in 2012 at the ATP Challenger in Busan.
Prior to his political career, he worked for the Nine Network's tennis broadcasts, and as a host on Postcards.
Tennis career
Juniors
Groth and Andrew Kennaugh of Great Britain made it to the finals of the 2005 Wimbledon boys' doubles championship, coming runners up to Jesse Levine and Michael Shabaz 6–4, 6–1.2007–2013: Fastest serve on record
In 2007, Groth beat compatriot Mark Philippoussis; subsequently, Philippoussis focused on the senior's tour. Groth qualified for the ATP event in Nottingham where he defeated Britain's Jamie Baker 7–6, 6–3 in the first round. He lost his second round match to seeded Gilles Simon 7–6, 4–6, 4–6.At the 2009 Australian Open he set a record for the fastest serve by a male player. He lost in the qualification to Wimbledon 2009 to Jesse Levine 4–6, 7–6, 5–7.
In 2012, during an ATP Challenger in Busan, Groth hit the fastest serve on record with a ace, but lost the match to Uładzimir Ihnatsik, 4–6, 3–6.
In November 2013, he reached the final of the Champaign Challenger, eventually losing in 3 sets to Tennys Sandgren 6–3, 3–6, 6–7. However, by reaching the final there, and the semi-final of Dunlop World Challenge the following week, his ranking improved to a career high of no.173.
2014
In 2014, Groth was awarded a wildcard into the main draw at the Brisbane International, where he made his first ATP World Tour quarterfinal appearance.On 8 January, Groth was awarded a wildcard into the main draw at the Australian Open, albeit lost in the first round to 28th seed, Vasek Pospisil in straight sets.
In March, Groth qualified for the Indian Wells Masters, although, his journey in the tournament didn't last long as he lost in the first round to Mikhail Kukushkin, in the third set tie-break.
On 17 March, Groth entered and won the Rimouski Challenger in Canada. This was his first Challenger tour title. Two weeks later, he made the final of the León Challenger, but lost to no.1 seed, Rajeev Ram. This success shot him up to a new career high world ranking of 136.
At the French Open, Groth made it to the last round of qualifying, but lost to Simone Bolelli 4–6, 2–6. This was his best French Open result to date. He partnered Andrey Golubev in the Men's doubles, where they made it to the semifinal. This increased his doubles ranking to a career high of no.41. In June, Groth made the final of the Nottingham Challenge but lost to compatriot Nick Kyrgios 6–7, 6–7. Groth made his Wimbledon debut after winning his way through qualifying, but lost in the first round to Alexandr Dolgopolov in straight sets.
In July, Groth entered the Hall of Fame Open, where he reached his maiden ATP semi-final, defeating defending champion Nicolas Mahut in the quarterfinal. This achievement saw him break into the top 100 rankings for the first time in his career.
In August, Groth won his first Grand Slam match, defeating Albert Ramos Viñolas 6–3, 7–6, 6–3 in the US Open. In the second round, he was defeated by Roger Federer in straight sets 4–6, 4–6, 4–6.
2015
Groth started the 2015 season at the 2015 Brisbane International, where he was awarded a wildcard into the main draw. He defeated defending champion and compatriot Lleyton Hewitt in the first round, and then Łukasz Kubot in the second round before losing to eventual finalist Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals 6–7, 6–3, 6–7.At the Australian Open, Groth defeated Filip Krajinović in the first round, compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round before losing to another compatriot Bernard Tomic in the third round. This was his best grand slam performance to date. In February, Groth headed to North America and lost in the second round of the Memphis Open to eventual runner-up Kevin Anderson. Groth lost in the first round of the Delray Beach Open, Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Indian Wells and the Miami Open. He then played the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships and defeated Víctor Estrella Burgos in the first round. He then played top seed Feliciano López in the second round where he lost in straight sets.
Groth then played at the Santaizi Challenger as the 2nd seed. He cruised through to the final where he defeated Konstantin Kravchuk to win the title. His next tournament was the Busan Open where he was again the 2nd seed. He defeated compatriot Alex Bolt in the first round but then lost to Franko Škugor. At the French Open, Groth led 21st seed Pablo Cuevas by a set in the first round, before being run down in 4 sets.
File:Stakhovsky & Groth.jpg|thumb|left|Groth with Sergiy Stakhovsky at the 2015 Wimbledon Championships.
Groth started his grass court season at the Manchester Challenger where he reached the final and defeated compatriot Luke Saville to win the title. He then competed at the ATP Mercedes Cup where he defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky in the first round. He then scored his first top 20 win by defeating world number 12 Feliciano López to reach the quarterfinal. At Wimbledon, Groth defeated 31st seed Jack Sock in the round of 128, compatriot James Duckworth in the round 64 to set up a third round match against Roger Federer.
In this 3rd round match, he made the second fastest serve ever at the Wimbledon tournament, and was the only player to take a set off of Federer in until the final, losing to the 7-time champion 4–6, 4–6, 7–6, 2–6. Groth then represented Australia at the Davis Cup in the quarterfinal. Australia was down 2–0 to Kazakhstan when Groth played the doubles rubber with Lleyton Hewitt. The pair won in straight sets to take the tie to 2–1. Groth then replaced Nick Kyrgios to play Mikhail Kukushkin where he defeated him in 4 sets to level the tie at 2–2. Hewitt then won the 5th rubber to ensure Australia a place in the Davis Cup semi-finals with a come from behind win.
Groth next contested the Bogotá Open as the 6th seed where he defeated Guido Pella before losing to former world number 8 Radek Štěpánek in straight sets. He then played at the Atlanta Open and defeated Frances Tiafoe in the first round. He then lost to eventual finalist and fifth seed Marcos Baghdatis in 3 sets. Groth then competed at the Citi Open, where he reached his first ATP500 Quarterfinal after defeating Thomaz Bellucci, 9th seeded Viktor Troicki and 7th seeded Feliciano López before losing to eventual champion Kei Nishikori. This was also the first time Groth defeated back-to-back top 20 players. Groth next played at the Winston-Salem Open and defeated Jared Donaldson before losing to eventual semi-finalist Steve Johnson. At the US Open, Groth defeated former world number 13 Alexandr Dolgopolov in the first round, before losing to 26th seed Tommy Robredo in the second round. Groth also played the Men's doubles with Lleyton Hewitt, bowing out with a loss in the second round.
2016: Loss of form
Groth began 2016 with a wildcard entry into the Brisbane International. He lost to Chung Hyeon in the first round. He also lost in round one at the Sydney International to Federico Delbonis. At the Australian Open, Groth defeated Adrian Mannarino before losing to number 2 seed Andy Murray in the second round. Groth partnered Lleyton Hewitt in the men's doubles at the Australian Open, making it to the third round. Groth played for Australia in Davis Cup losing his singles match to John Isner in straight sets. He had a first round loss at the first Masters 1000 of the year at Indian Wells to Leonardo Mayer. Groth then defeated Víctor Estrella Burgos at the Miami Open before going down to Dominic Thiem in the second round. At the French Open, Groth lost in round 1 to 9-time champion Rafael Nadal. At Wimbledon, Groth lost in the first round to Kei Nishikori. Groth had a last-minute call-up to represent Australia at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, albeit losing to Belgium's David Goffin in the first round. Groth played across North America with limited success on the ATP singles World Tour, although the misery was short-lived as he won his second doubles title in Newport before returning to the Challenger Circuit, winning his 4th singles title in Las Vegas. Groth ended the 2016 season as the world no.185 rank.2017
Groth began 2017 with a wildcard into the 2017 Brisbane International, where he defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert before losing to Dominic Thiem in the second round. Groth reached the quarterfinal of the 2017 Canberra Challenger, losing to eventual champion Dudi Sela. Groth lost in the first round of 2017 Australian Open to Steve Darcis, before pairing up with Chris Guccione to reach the quarterfinal of the doubles, losing to eventual champions Henri Kontinen and John Peers.In February, Groth was selected to play in the first round of the 2017 Davis Cup against the Czech Republic, he paired with John Peers to win the doubles and taking Australia to a whitewash victory of 3–0. Groth toured to North America, beginning by losing qualifying in the singles for Indian Wells Masters, then at the Drummondville Challenger he also lost qualifying in the singles, before going onto win the doubles at Drummondville. In June, Groth made the semi-final of Ilkley Trophy.