Miami, FL, United States, 25 March 2025 | Matt Trollope

After narrow losses in her first two comeback tournaments at Austin and Indian Wells, Storm Hunter is hitting her stride in Miami.

Partnering American Caroline Dolehide, the pair have won through to the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 event in Florida.

With every day in practice and on the match court, Hunter says she is adapting to the pace and intensity of competitive tennis.

The one thing she needs to remind herself is to practice self-compassion and commit to being patient after almost 12 months out of the game.

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“I probably put really high expectations on myself, because when I got injured I was doing really, really well,” said Hunter, who ended the 2023 season as doubles world No.1 and was approaching the singles top 100 before rupturing her Achilles tendon in April 2024.

“I really had to kind of lower those expectations; obviously have really high standards of how I’m trying to play, but be like, ‘OK, you know, be kind to yourself. You haven’t played for a year and these are the best players in the world, at prestigious tournaments, Masters events’.

“It’s always going to be a tough challenge. So I think once I kind of just took a breath and was a bit nicer to myself in the way I was talking … I think I just felt a lot more relaxed and was a lot kinder to myself in the fact that, yeah, it’s a process and I am improving every single day.

“Like it’s actually crazy how much we’re talking about; like I’m improving my movement and ball striking and just the more confidence I’m getting and more exposure to be playing against top players, even in practice.

“But then to be able to execute it in the match; the last two matches have been really, really fun as well as being like, ‘oh, okay, there’s a bit of the reward from all the hard work that we’ve been putting in training and also from the recovery from my surgery and the injury’.”

After trouncing Magda Linette and Dayana Yastremska for the loss of just two games, Hunter and Dolehide then upset No.8 seed Sofia Kenin and Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-4 6-4 to arrive in the quarterfinals.

There they’ll face top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and although Hunter would love to keep the journey going in Miami, she’s simply enjoying being back on tour.

Teaming up with Dolehide – one of her best friends on tour – has proved the perfect reintroduction to the sport.

“I’ve really felt that I wanted, in my return to tennis, to play with someone that’s going to be supportive, they understand I’m coming back 12 months [out], for their expectations a little bit less, and they just want to see me back and have a good time on court,” Hunter explained.

“She basically was messaging me all the time, like, ‘whenever you’re ready, I’m here, I’m ready to play. You just tell me when you’re ready and I’ll be there, like let’s go’.”

Hunter was ready ahead of schedule. Initially told her injury would keep her sidelined for 12 months, Hunter immediately targeted a return at Indian Wells, which at that point was 10-and-a-half months away.

She ultimately came back even earlier, in late February at Austin, and was thrilled to be boarding a plane with coach Nicole Pratt, fitness trainer Aaron Kellett and husband Loughlin.

“I was a bit nervous to be honest. I was like, wow, you put all that effort in all that time and it feels so far away and all of a sudden you’re like, ‘oh, it’s here, like the moment’s here, I’m packing my bags. Am I actually ready? Are we good to go?’” Hunter said.

“So it was definitely quite a lot of nerves leading up to leaving, but I think once we got to the airport and I was like, okay, now we’re actually going. I was very excited.

“It’s obviously been an adjustment getting back on tour, living out of the suitcase… but I’m really happy to be back and yeah, it’s been really fun playing doubles with Caroline and having Pratty and Aaron and my husband with me.

“The first two weeks I was like, let’s see how my body is. I’m obviously playing against the best players in the world so it was a very good test straight up.

“But I’m feeling really good and really happy to get some wins here in Miami.”