Grit and determination has never been far from tennis champion Alicia Molik, but has her expansive career on the tournament circuit prepared her for the relentless challenges that await her on SAS Australia 2021?
Like many tennis stars, Alicia got her start in the sport early at the age of 7 after watching her older brother play, a passion that drove her to capturing the Australian Open junior doubles title in 1998 alongside fellow Australian Evie Dominikovic.
After breaking into the world’s top 100 in 1999, Alicia was recruited as part of the Australian Olympic tennis team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
She took on the Olympics again in Athens in 2004 and became a Bronze medalist after taking out world number three at the time, Anastasia Myskina.
Peaking at world number eight in 2005, Alicia has won five Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) singles titles and seven in doubles across her career, including titles at the French and Australian Opens, as well as competing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, although she was knocked out in the first round.
In 2008, at the age of 27, the sports star shocked tennis fans and competitors with a surprise retirement from the sport in 2008. After suffering a string of setbacks and injuries that left her physically and mentally exhausted, she also had a severe inner-ear virus that heavily affected her ability to keep her balance while standing.
She made a brief comeback in 2009 before retiring for good in 2011 and has since remained well entrenched in the tennis community as a mentor for up and coming players, as well as a tournament commentator. Alicia has also been Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup captain since 2013.
Now 40-years-old, the SAS recruit is enjoying life in Perth with her husband Tim Sullivan (who she married in 2011) and their two children Yannik and Mieke.
Alicia and her fellow Olympians Jana Pittman, John Steffensen and Kerri Pottharst are all enlisted to take on the demanding physical and mental challenges of SAS Australia 2021, airing on Channel 7 and 7Plus.
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