Samantha Stosur stumbled into tennis at the age of 6 after a flood destroyed her family’s home in Brisbane, Australia. The family — which lost everything — moved to Adelaide with just $5,000, and her parents worked round the clock running a café. To keep Stosur occupied, her older brother hit balls with her at the park, and eventually persuaded his parents to enroll Stosur in tennis lessons. By the end of 2006, she had risen to No. 1 in doubles and cracked the top 30 in singles. But in 2007 a diagnosis of Lyme disease — and the accompanying pain and lethargy — sidelined her for months. “It definitely showed me that I should appreciate what I can do,” says Stosur, 27. “When you wake up and get told you can’t play for a certain amount of time, it’s a big eye opener and a wake-up call that if you do get to come back, to make the most of it.” She did. After overcoming the disease, Stosur became one of the fittest players on the tour and defeated three former top-ranked players en route to reaching the 2010 French Open final. By early 2011, she had risen to No. 4 in the world.