On court
- Learned to play tennis, aged 10, on the grass courts of Corowa, NSW.
- Played in his first Grand Slam event at the 2009 Australian Open, losing to No.23-seeded American Mardy Fish in the first round.
- Claimed his maiden ITF Futures Pro Circuit title in Alabama in 2009.
- Secured further ITF success in 2010, with back-to back wins in Turkey and Bendigo.
- Hit the fastest serve on record, registering 163.4 mph (263 kph), at the 2012 ATP Challenger in Busan, Korea (note: the ATP does not officially recognise serving speed records because of the variance in radar guns it confirmed “the event was using approved equipment, and that other data gathered appeared within a normal range.”). The previous fastest was an Ivo Karlovic 251 km/h serve.
- Broke into the world’s top 100 in 2014, following consistent results at ITF and Challenger level.
- Dream is to achieve a top 10 singles ranking, win a Wimbledon trophy and represent Australia in the Davis Cup.
- Tennis idols are Pat Rafter and Mark Philippoussis
Off court
- Supports the Sydney Swans in the AFL
- Briefly decided to quit tennis in 2011 following a devastating shoulder injury
- Nickname on tour is ‘Drago’ because his friends think he looks like Ivan Drago from Rocky IV
Year-end singles ranking history
2016 | 181 |
2015 | 60 |
2014 | 81 |
2013 | 172 |
2012 | 218 |
2011 | 575 |
2010 | 293 |
2009 | 270 |
2008 | 265 |
2007 | 421 |
2006 | 686 |
2005 | 1367 |
Titles/Finals
Titles
2016 Las Vegas Challenger
2015 Taipei Challenger, Manchester Challenger
2014 Rimouski Challenger
2013 Mildura ITF
2012 Australia F3 ITF, Korea F1 ITF,
2010 Turkey F9 ITF, Turkey F10 ITF, Australia F13 ITF
2009 U.S.A F7 ITF
Finals
2014 Leon Challenger, Nottingham Challenger, Knoxville Challenger
2013 Champaign Challenger
2012 Burnie Challenger, Korea F2 ITF, Alice Springs F6
2010 Australia F12 ITF,
2009 Uzbekistan Challenger
2007 Australia F7 ITF
2006 Australia F12 ITF
Sam Groth in the news
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Social round-up: Serving inspiration on and off the court
27 May, 2021
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Social round-up: Celebrating titles and other milestones
13 May, 2021
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Social round-up: Celebrating friendships in tennis
29 April, 2021
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