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- published: 10 Sep 2012
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2012 French Open
The 2012 French Open (also known as Roland Garros, after the famous French aviator) is a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It is the 111th edition of the French Open. It will take place at the Stade Roland Garros from 27 May until 10 June.
The 2012 French Open will be the one hundred and eleventh edition of the French Open. It will be held at Stade Roland Garros in Paris. The tournament will be an event run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and will be part of the 2012 ATP World Tour and the 2012 WTA Tour calendars under the Grand Slam category. The tournament will consist of both men's and women's singles and doubles draws as well as a mixed doubles event.
There will be singles and doubles events for both boys and girls (players under 18), which is part of the Grade A category of tournaments. There will also be singles and doubles events for men's and women's wheelchair tennis players as part of the NEC tour under the Grand Slam category. The tournament will be played on clay courts. The tournament will take place over a series of twenty courts, including the three main showcourts, Court Philippe Chatrier, Court Suzanne Lenglen and Court 1.
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AEGON International
The Eastbourne International is a tennis tournament on the Women's Tennis Association Tour and the ATP World Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as a WTA Premier tournament on the WTA Tour and as an ATP World Tour 250 series on the ATP World Tour. The tournament is played on outdoor grass courts, and is generally considered a "warm-up" for the Wimbledon Grand Slam event, which begins the following week. It is currently sponsored by AEGON
During 2007, lack of sponsorship for the Eastbourne tournament led the Lawn Tennis Association to consider moving the tournament to London. However, as part of a general reorganisation of United Kingdom professional tennis tournaments, it was instead decided to merge the event with the Nottingham Open, traditionally held during the same week. From 2009, therefore, the Eastbourne courts have hosted a combined women's and men's event.
Martina Navratilova holds the record for the most singles titles with 11.
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Argentina
Argentina
i/ˌɑrdʒənˈtiːnə/, officially the Argentine Republic (Spanish: República Argentina [reˈpuβlika aɾxenˈtina]), is a country in South America, the continent's second largest by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth-largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations.
Argentina's continental area is between the Andes mountain range in the west and the Atlantic Ocean in the east. It borders Paraguay and Bolivia to the north, Brazil and Uruguay to the northeast, and Chile to the west and south. Argentine claims over Antarctica, as well as overlapping claims made by Chile and the United Kingdom, are suspended by the Antarctic Treaty of 1961. Argentina also claims the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which are administered by the United Kingdom as British Overseas Territories.
A recognised middle power, Argentina is Latin America's third-largest economy, with a "very high" rating on the Human development index. Within Latin America, Argentina has the fifth highest nominal GDP per capita and the highest in purchasing power terms. Analysts have argued that the country has a "foundation for future growth due to its market size, levels of foreign direct investment, and percentage of high-tech exports as share of total manufactured goods", and it is classed by investors as middle emerging economy. Argentina is a founding member of the United Nations, Mercosur, the Union of South American Nations, the Organization of Ibero-American States, the World Bank Group and the World Trade Organization, and is one of the G-15 and G-20 major economies.
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Australia
Australia (
/əˈstreɪljə/), officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent as well as the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.
For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of roughly 250 language groups. After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.
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Australian Open
The Australian Open is a major tennis tournament held annually over the last fortnight of January in Melbourne, Australia. First held in 1905, the tournament is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events of the year – the other three being the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. It features men's and women's singles; men's, women's, and mixed doubles and junior's championships; as well as wheelchair, legends and exhibition events. Since 1988 the tournament has been played on hard courts at Melbourne Park.
The Australian Open typically has very high attendance – second only to the US Open – and was the first Grand Slam tournament to feature indoor play during wet weather or extreme heat with its two primary courts, Rod Laver Arena and Hisense Arena, equipped with retractable roofs.
The Australian Open is managed by Tennis Australia, formerly the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia (LTAA), and was first played at the Warehouseman's Cricket Ground in Melbourne in 1905. This facility is now known as the Albert Reserve Tennis Centre.
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Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. It is one of the country's 33 provinces with the provincial capital at Denpasar towards the south of the island. The province covers a few small neighbouring islands as well as the isle of Bali.
With a population recorded as 3,891,428 in the 2010 census, the island is home to most of Indonesia's Hindu minority. In the 2000 census about 92.29% of Bali's population adhered to Balinese Hinduism while most of the remainder follow Islam. It is also the largest tourist destination in the country and is renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional and modern dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking, and music. Bali, a tourist haven for decades, has seen a further surge in tourist numbers in recent years.
Bali was inhabited by around 2000 BC by Austronesian peoples who migrated originally from Taiwan through Maritime Southeast Asia. Culturally and linguistically, the Balinese are thus closely related to the peoples of the Indonesian archipelago, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Oceania. Stone tools dating from this time have been found near the village of Cekik in the island's west.
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Belarus
Belarus (i/bɛləˈruːs/ bel-ə-ROOSS; Belarusian: Беларусь, Russian pronunciation: [bʲɛlaˈrusʲ] Russian: Беларусь, Белоруссия, Belarus', Belorussiya), officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno (Hrodna), Gomel (Homiel), Mogilev (Mahilyow) and Vitebsk (Vitsebsk). Over forty percent of its 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) is forested, and its strongest economic sectors are agriculture and manufacturing.
Until the 20th century, the lands of modern-day Belarus belonged to several countries, including the Principality of Polotsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, Belarus became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union and was renamed as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR). The borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939 when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were incorporated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland. The nation and its territory were devastated in World War II, during which Belarus lost about a third of its population and more than half of its economic resources. The republic was redeveloped in the post-war years. In 1945 the Belorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations, along with the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian SSR.
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Brussels
Brussels (French: Bruxelles, pronounced [bʁysɛl] (
listen); Dutch: Brussel, pronounced [ˈbrʏ.səɫ] ( listen); German: Brüssel, pronounced [ˈbʁyː.səl]), officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region (French: Région de Bruxelles-Capitale (help·info), Dutch: Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (help·info)), is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union (EU). It is also the largest urban area in Belgium, comprising 19 municipalities, including the municipality of the City of Brussels, which is the de jure capital of Belgium, in addition to the seat of the French Community of Belgium and of the Flemish Community.
Brussels has grown from a 10th-century fortress town founded by a descendant of Charlemagne into a metropolis of more than one million inhabitants. The metropolitan area has a population of over 1.8 million, making it the largest in Belgium.
Since the end of the Second World War, Brussels has been a main centre for international politics. Hosting principal EU institutions as well as the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the city has become the polyglot home of numerous international organisations, politicians, diplomats and civil servants.
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Canada
Canada ( /ˈkænədə/) is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Spanning over 9,900,000 km2 (3,800,000 sq mi), Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the longest land border in the world.
The land that is now Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French colonial expeditions explored, and later settled, along the region's Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy; the Canada Act 1982 severed the vestiges of legal dependence on Britain.
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China
China (i/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.
The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.
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Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the sixteenth largest city in the United States of America. It is the county seat of Franklin County, yet the city has expanded and annexed portions of adjoining Delaware County and Fairfield County. Named for explorer Christopher Columbus, the city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and assumed the functions of state capital in 1816. The city has a diverse economy based on education, government, insurance, banking, fashion, defense, aviation, food, clothes, logistics, steel, energy, medical research, health care, hospitality, retail, and technology. Modern Columbus has emerged as a technologically sophisticated city. It is home to the world's largest private research and development foundation, the Battelle Memorial Institute; CAS, or Chemical Abstracts Service, the world's largest clearinghouse of chemical information; NetJets, the world's largest fractional ownership jet aircraft fleet; and The Ohio State University, the nation's largest campus.
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Corsica
Corsica ( /ˈkɔːrsɪkə/; French: Corse, IPA: [kɔʁs]; Corsican: Corsica; Italian: Corsica, IPA: [ˈkɔrsika]) is a French island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the Italian island of Sardinia. Mountains comprise two-thirds of the island, forming a single chain.
Corsica is one of the 27 régions of France, although strictly speaking Corsica is designated as a territorial collectivity (collectivité territoriale) by law. As a territorial collectivity, it enjoys greater powers than other French régions, but for the most part its status is quite similar. Corsica is referred to as a "région" in common speech, and is almost always listed among the other régions of France.
Although the island is separated from the continental mainland by the Ligurian Sea and is closer to Italy than to the French mainland, politically Corsica is part of Metropolitan France. It was once briefly an independent Corsican Republic, until being incorporated into France in 1769. Its culture has French and Italian elements blended into it.
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Czech Republic
The Czech Republic (i/ˈtʃɛk/ CHEK;Czech: Česká republika, pronounced [ˈtʃɛskaː ˈrɛpuˌblɪka] ( listen), short form Česko Czech pronunciation: [ˈtʃɛskɔ]) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the north, Germany to the west, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. Its capital and largest city, with 1.3 million inhabitants, is Prague.
It is a pluralist multi-party parliamentary representative democracy, a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group.
The Czech state, formerly known as Bohemia, was formed in the late 9th century as a small duchy around Prague, at that time under dominance of the powerful Great Moravian Empire (which reached its greatest territorial extent during the reign of Svatopluk I from the House of Mojmír). After the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power was transferred from Moravia to Bohemia, under the Přemyslids. During the rule of Přemyslid dukes/kings and their successors, the Luxembourgs, the country reached its greatest territorial extent (13th–14th century). Life in the country was significantly affected by the Hussite wars, during which it faced economic embargo and crusades from all over Europe. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy as one of its three principal parts alongside the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary. The Bohemian Revolt (1618–20) led to the further centralization of the monarchy including forced recatholization and Germanization. During radical reforms in the 18th century the Bohemian Crown was even de facto abolished (1749). In the 19th century the Czech lands became the industrial powerhouse of the monarchy and the core of the Republic of Czechoslovakia which was formed in 1918, following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire after World War I.
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Denmark
The Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Kongeriget Danmark, pronounced [ˈkɔŋəʁiːəð ˈdanmɑɡ̊] ( listen)) is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign state consisting the country of Denmark in northern Europe and two autonomous constituent countries, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. The kingdom is a unitary state with some power being devolved from Denmark proper to Greenland and the Faroe Islands; this polity is referred to as the Danish Realm. Denmark proper is the hegemonial area, where judicial, executive, and legislative power resides. The Faroe Islands are defined to be a community of people within the kingdom, and the Greenlandic people are defined as a separate people with the right to self-determination.
Denmark is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, located southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. The country consists of a large peninsula, Jutland and many islands, most notably Zealand, Funen, Lolland, Falster and Bornholm, as well as hundreds of minor islands often referred to as the Danish Archipelago.
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Family Circle Cup
The Family Circle Cup is a WTA Tour affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional women's tournament with a $750,000 purse. The tournament is currently played on the green clay courts at the Daniel Island Tennis Center in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. From its inception in 1973 to 2000, the tournament was held at the Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head Island with the exception of 1975 and 1976 when it was played on Amelia Island off the coast of Florida. It moved to Charleston in 2001. It is classified on the WTA Tour as a Premier tournament (before 2009: Tier I). It celebrated its 40th year in 2012 by naming the court in honor of Billie Jean King.
Coordinates: 32°51′41″N 79°54′13″W / 32.86139°N 79.90361°W / 32.86139; -79.90361
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France
France (Englishi/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km2 (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km2 / 4,383,000 sq mi).
Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.
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French Open
The French Open, often referred to as Roland Garros (French: Les internationaux de France de Roland-Garros or Tournoi de Roland-Garros, IPA: [ʁɔlɑ̃ ɡaʁɔs]), named after the famous French aviator Roland Garros, is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between late May and early June in Paris, France, at the Stade Roland Garros. It is the premier clay court tennis tournament in the world and the second of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments – the other three are the Australian Open, US Open and Wimbledon. Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam held on clay and ends the spring clay court season.
It is one of the largest events in tennis, and the most watched French event in the world. Because of the slow playing surface and the five-set men's singles matches without a tiebreak in the final set, the event is widely considered to be the most physically demanding tennis tournament in the world.
Currently, the 2012 French Open is being conducted from May 27 to June 10, 2012 in Paris.
Officially named in French Les internationaux de France de Roland-Garros or Tournoi de Roland-Garros (the "French Internationals of Roland Garros" or "Roland Garros Tournament" in English), the tournament is often referred to in English as the "French Open" and alternatively as "Roland Garros", which is the designation used by the tournament itself in all languages, including English. In French, a hyphen is inserted after death, hence the French spelling "Roland-Garros".
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Germany
Germany (i/ˈdʒɜrməni/), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant] ( listen)), is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state and the largest economy in the European Union. It is one of the major political powers of the European continent and a technological leader in many fields.
A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, was documented before AD 100. During the Migration Period, the Germanic tribes expanded southward, and established successor kingdoms throughout much of Europe. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation while southern and western parts remained dominated by Roman Catholic denominations, with the two factions clashing in the Thirty Years' War, marking the beginning of the Catholic–Protestant divide that has characterized German society ever since. Occupied during the Napoleonic Wars, the rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification of most of the German states into the German Empire in 1871 which was Prussian dominated. After the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the subsequent military surrender in World War I, the Empire was replaced by the Weimar Republic in 1918, and partitioned in the Treaty of Versailles. Amidst the Great Depression, the Third Reich was proclaimed in 1933. The latter period was marked by Fascism and World War II. After 1945, Germany was divided by allied occupation, and evolved into two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990 Germany was reunified.
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Haute-Loire
Haute-Loire (French pronunciation: [ot lwaʁ]; Occitan: Naut Léger) is a department in south-central France named after the Loire River.
Haute-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Auvergne, Languedoc, and Lyonnais.
Haute-Loire is part of the current region of Auvergne and is surrounded by the departments of Loire, Ardèche, Lozère, Cantal, and Puy-de-Dôme.
The department covers the upper reaches of the Loire. Parts of the department belong to Parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez.
The inhabitants of the department are called Altiligériens.
The de Polignac family has its historic seat there, and various descendants of Lafayette were senators for this region in the nineteenth century.
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India
India (i/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.
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Indonesia
Indonesia (i/ˌɪndəˈniːʒə/ IN-də-NEE-zhə or /ˌɪndoʊˈniːziə/ IN-doh-NEE-zee-ə), officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia Indonesian pronunciation: [rɛpʊblɪk ɪndɔnɛsɪa]), is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 17,508 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an elected legislature and president. The nation's capital city is Jakarta. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia. Other neighboring countries include Singapore, Philippines, Australia, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Indonesia is a founding member of ASEAN and a member of the G-20 major economies. The Indonesian economy is the world's 17th largest economy by nominal GDP.
The Indonesian archipelago has been an important trade region since at least the 7th century, when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, and Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms flourished. Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Muslim traders brought Islam, and European powers brought Christianity and fought one another to monopolize trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery. Following three and a half centuries of Dutch colonialism, Indonesia secured its independence after World War II. Indonesia's history has since been turbulent, with challenges posed by natural disasters, corruption, separatism, a democratization process, and periods of rapid economic change.
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Italy
Italyi/ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in south-central Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea–and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km2 (116,347 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.6 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world.
Rome, the capital of Italy, was for centuries a political and religious centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire and site of the Holy See. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance, an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.
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Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan (i/ˌkɑːzəkˈstɑːn/ or /ˌkæzəkˈstæn/) (Kazakh: Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, pronounced [qɑzɑqstɑ́n]; Russian: Казахстан [kəzɐxˈstan]), officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Europe. The ninth largest country in the world by land area, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of 2,727,300 square kilometres (1,053,000 sq mi) is larger than Western Europe. It is neighbored clockwise from the north by Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and also borders on a significant part of the Caspian Sea. Although Kazakhstan does not share a border with Mongolia, its most easterly point is only 38 kilometres (24 mi) from Mongolia's western tip. The terrain of Kazakhstan ranges from flatlands, steppes, taigas, rock-canyons, hills, deltas, and snow-capped mountains to deserts. With 16.6 million people (2011 estimate) Kazakhstan has the 62nd largest population in the world, though its population density is less than 6 people per square kilometre (15 per sq. mi.). The capital was moved in 1998 from Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, to Astana.
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Luxembourg
Luxembourg (i/ˈlʌksəmbɜrɡ/ LUKS-əm-burg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Luxembourgish: Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg, French: Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, German: Großherzogtum Luxemburg, Dutch: Groothertogdom Luxemburg), is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland ("good country") in the south. Luxembourg has a population of over half a million people in an area of approximately 2,586 square kilometres (998 sq mi). A representative democracy with a constitutional monarch, it is ruled by a grand duke. It is now the world's only remaining sovereign grand duchy. The country has a highly developed economy, with the world's highest GDP (nominal) per capita according to the IMF. Its historic and strategic importance dates back to its founding as a Roman era fortress site and Frankish count's castle site in the Early Middle Ages. It was an important bastion along the Spanish Road when Spain was the principal European power influencing the whole western hemisphere and beyond in the 16th–17th centuries.
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Miami
Miami ( /maɪˈæmi/ or /maɪˈæmə/) is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625. The 42nd largest city proper in the United States, with a population of 408,568, it is the principal, central, and most populous city of the South Florida metropolitan area, and the most populous metropolis in the Southeastern United States. According to the US Census Bureau, Miami's metro area is the seventh most populous and fifth-largest urban area in the United States, with a population of around 5.5 million.
Miami is a major center and a leader in finance, commerce, culture, media, entertainment, the arts, and international trade. In 2010, Miami was classified as a Alpha- World City in the World Cities Study Group’s inventory. In 2010, Miami ranked seventh in the United States in terms of finance, commerce, culture, entertainment, fashion, education, and other sectors. It ranked thirty-third among global cities. In 2008, Forbes magazine ranked Miami "America's Cleanest City", for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets and city-wide recycling programs. According to a 2009 UBS study of 73 world cities, Miami was ranked as the richest city in the United States, and the world's fifth-richest city in terms of purchasing power. Miami is nicknamed the "Capital of Latin America", is the 2nd largest U.S. city (after El Paso) with a Spanish-speaking majority, and the largest city with a Cuban-American plurality.
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Moscow
Moscow (
/ˈmɒskaʊ/ or /ˈmɒskoʊ/; Russian: Москва́, tr. Moskva; IPA: [mɐˈskva] (
listen)) is the capital and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural and scientific center of Russia and the continent. Moscow is the northernmost megacity on Earth, the most populous city in Europe, and the 6th largest city proper in the world. Its population, according to the results of the 2010 Census, is 11,503,501. Based on Forbes 2011, Moscow has the largest community of billionaires in the world.
Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia. In the course of its history the city has served as the capital of a progression of states, from the medieval Grand Duchy of Moscow and the subsequent Tsardom of Russia to the Soviet Union. Moscow is the site of the Moscow Kremlin, an ancient fortress that is today the residence of the Russian President and of the executive branch of the Government of Russia. The Kremlin is also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament (the State Duma and the Federation Council) also sit in Moscow.
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Moscow, Russia
Moscow ( /ˈmɒskaʊ/ or /ˈmɒskoʊ/; Russian: Москва́, tr. Moskva; IPA: [mɐˈskva] ( listen)) is the capital and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural and scientific center of Russia and the continent. Moscow is the northernmost megacity on Earth, the most populous city in Europe, and the 6th largest city proper in the world. Its population, according to the results of the 2010 Census, is 11,503,501. Based on Forbes 2011, Moscow has the largest community of billionaires in the world.
Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia. In the course of its history the city has served as the capital of a progression of states, from the medieval Grand Duchy of Moscow and the subsequent Tsardom of Russia to the Soviet Union. Moscow is the site of the Moscow Kremlin, an ancient fortress that is today the residence of the Russian President and of the executive branch of the Government of Russia. The Kremlin is also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament (the State Duma and the Federation Council) also sit in Moscow.
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Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. ( /ˈnaɪkiː/; NYSE: NKE) is a major publicly traded clothing, footwear, sportswear, and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area. It is the world's leading supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, with revenue in excess of US$18.6 billion in its fiscal year 2008 (ending May 31, 2008). As of 2008, it employed more than 30,000 people worldwide. Nike and Precision Castparts are the only Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the state of Oregon, according to The Oregonian.
The company was founded on January 25, 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, and officially became Nike, Inc. on May 30, 1978. The company takes its name from Nike (Greek Νίκη, pronounced [nǐːkɛː]), the Greek goddess of victory. Nike markets its products under its own brand, as well as Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Air Jordan, Nike Skateboarding, and subsidiaries including Cole Haan, Hurley International, Umbro and Converse. Nike also owned Bauer Hockey (later renamed Nike Bauer) between 1995 and 2008. In addition to manufacturing sportswear and equipment, the company operates retail stores under the Niketown name. Nike sponsors many high profile athletes and sports teams around the world, with the highly recognized trademarks of "Just do it" and the Swoosh logo.
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Osaka
Osaka (大阪, Ōsaka?) listen (help·info) is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe. Located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, Osaka is the third largest city by population after Tokyo (special wards) and Yokohama.
Keihanshin is the second largest area in Japan by population and one of the largest metropolitan areas highly ranked in the world, with nearly 18 million people, and by GDP the second largest area in Japan and the seventh largest area in the world.
Historically the commercial centre of Japan, Osaka functions as one of the command centers for the Japanese economy. The ratio between daytime and night time population is 141%, the highest in Japan, highlighting its status as an economic center. Its nighttime population is 2.6 million, the third in the country, but in daytime the population surges to 3.7 million, second only after Tokyo (combining the Special wards of Tokyo, which is not a single incorporated city, for statistical purposes. See the Tokyo article for more information on the definition and makeup of Tokyo.) Osaka used to be referred to as the "nation's kitchen" (天下の台所, tenka no daidokoro?) in feudal Edo period because it was the centre of trading for rice, creating the first modern futures exchange market in the world.
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Poland
Polandi/ˈpoʊlənd/ (Polish: Polska), officially the Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska; Kashubian: Pòlskô Repùblika; Silesian: Polsko Republika), is a country in Central Europe, bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north. The total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres (120,726 sq mi), making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. Poland has a population of over 38 million people, which makes it the 34th most populous country in the world and the sixth most populous member of the European Union, being its most populous post-communist member. Poland is a unitary state made up of 16 voivodeships. Poland is a member of the European Union, NATO, the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), European Economic Area, International Energy Agency, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, International Atomic Energy Agency, G6, Council of the Baltic Sea States, Visegrád Group, Weimar Triangle and Schengen Agreement.
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Quebec City
Quebec ( /kwəˈbɛk/ or /kəˈbɛk/; French: Québec [kebɛk] ( listen)), also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City (French: Ville de Québec) is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of 2011, the city has a population of 516,622, and the metropolitan area has a population of 765,706, making it the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about 233 kilometres (145 mi) to the southwest.
The narrowing of the Saint Lawrence River proximate to the city's promontory, Cap-Diamant (Cape Diamond), and Lévis, on the opposite bank, provided the name given to the city, Kébec, an Algonquin word meaning "where the river narrows". Founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain, Quebec City is one of the oldest cities in North America. The ramparts surrounding Old Quebec (Vieux-Québec) are the only remaining fortified city walls that still exist in the Americas north of Mexico, and were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985 as the 'Historic District of Old Québec'.
According to the federal and provincial governments, Québec is the city's official name in both French and English, although Quebec City (or its French equivalent, Ville de Québec) is commonly used, particularly to distinguish the city from the province. The city's most famous landmark is the Château Frontenac, a hotel which dominates the skyline. The National Assembly of Quebec, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (National Gallery of Quebec), and the Musée de la civilisation (Museum of Civilization) are found within or near Vieux-Québec.
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Rome
Rome (/ˈroʊm/; Italian: Roma pronounced [ˈroːma] ( listen); Latin: Rōma) is a city and special comune ("Roma Capitale") in Italy. Rome is the capital of Italy and the capital of Lazio (Latin: Latium). With 2.8 million residents in 1,285.3 km2 (496.3 sq mi), it is also the country's largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. Between 3.2 and 3.7 million people live in the Rome metropolitan area. The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.
Rome's history spans two and a half thousand years. It was the capital city of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, which was the dominant power in Western Europe and the lands bordering the Mediterranean for over seven hundred years from the 1st century BC until the 7th century AD and the city is regarded as one of the birthplaces of western civilization. Since the 1st century AD Rome has been the seat of the Papacy and, after the end of Byzantine domination, in the 8th century it became the capital of the Papal States, which lasted until 1870. In 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic.
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Russia
Russiai/ˈrʌʃə/ or /ˈrʊʃə/ (Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, and the US state of Alaska by the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the eighth most populous nation with 143 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning nine time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas globally. Russia has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.
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Seoul
Seoul (Korean pronunciation: [sʌ.ul] ( listen), English /soʊl/), officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world. The Seoul National Capital Area is the world's second largest metropolitan area with over 25 million inhabitants, which includes the surrounding Incheon metropolis and Gyeonggi province. Almost a quarter of South Koreans live in Seoul, half of South Koreans live in the metropolitan area, along with over 275,000 international residents.
Located in the Han River, Seoul has been a major settlement for over 2,000 years, with its foundation dating back to 18 B.C. when Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, established its capital in what is now south-east Seoul. It continued as the capital of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty and the Korean Empire. The Seoul National Capital Area is home to four UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Changdeokgung, Hwaseong Fortress, Jongmyo Shrine and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty.
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Serbia
Serbiai/ˈsɜrbiə/, officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија / Republika Srbija, pronounced [rɛpǔblika sř̩bija]), is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans. Serbia borders Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; the Republic of Macedonia to the south; and Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the west; additionally, it borders Albania through Kosovo, whose status as part of Serbia is disputed. Serbia covers an area of 88,361 km2 and has a population of just over 7.1 million, while the capital and largest city is Belgrade.
The arrival of the Serbs to the Balkans in the 7th century, established several states, eventually forming the Serbian Empire in the 14th century. By the 16th century, Serbia was conquered and occupied by the Ottoman Empire, at times interrupted by the Habsburgs. In the early 19th century the Serbian revolution re-established the country as the region's first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory and pioneered the abolition of feudalism in the Balkans. The former Habsburg crownland of Vojvodina united with Serbia in 1918. Following World War I, Serbia formed Yugoslavia with other South Slavic peoples which existed in several forms up until 2006, when the National Assembly of Serbia declared independence and the legal succession to the former State Union. In February 2008 the parliament of UNMIK-governed Kosovo, Serbia's southern province, declared independence, with mixed responses from international governments.
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Slovenia
Slovenia (i/sloʊˈviːniə/ sloh-VEE-nee-ə, Slovene: Slovenija), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Republika Slovenija, [reˈpublika sloˈveːnija]) is a Slavic nation state, situated in South-Central Europe, at the crossroad of main European cultural and trade routes. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Croatia to the south and southeast, and Hungary to the northeast. It covers 20,273 square kilometres (7,827 sq mi) and has a population of 2.05 million. It is a parliamentary republic, member of the European Union and NATO. Relative to its geography, history, economy, culture, and language, it is a very diverse country distinguished by a transitional character. It is characterised by a high economic and social level. Its capital and largest city is Ljubljana.
The territory of Slovenia is mainly hilly or mountainous and has an exceptionally high landscape and biological diversity and a mosaic structure, which are a result of natural attributes and the long-lasting presence of humans. Four major European geographic units interweave here: the Alps, the Dinaric Alps, the Mediterranean, with a small portion of coastline along the Adriatic Sea, and the Pannonian Plain. The climate is temperate and significantly influenced by the variety of territory, with a strong interaction of the continental climate, the sub-Mediterranean climate and Alpine climate across most of the country. The country is one of the water-richest in Europe, with a dense river network, a rich aquifer system, and significant karstic underground watercourses. Over half of the territory is covered by forest.
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Spain
Spain (i/ˈspeɪn/ SPAYN; Spanish: España, pronounced: [esˈpaɲa] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a sovereign state and a member of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar; to the north and north east by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the northwest and west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.
Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, that border Morocco. Furthermore, the town of Llívia is a Spanish exclave situated inside French territory. With an area of 504,030 square kilometres (194,610 sq mi), it is the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union after France, and the fourth largest country in Europe after Russia, Ukraine and France.
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Sweden
Sweden (i/ˈswiːdən/ SWEE-dən; Swedish: Sverige [ˈsværjɛ] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige (help·info)), is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland, and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Øresund.
At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the third largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of about 9.4 million. Sweden has a low population density of 21 inhabitants per square kilometre (54 /sq mi) with the population mostly concentrated to the southern half of the country. About 85% of the population live in urban areas. Sweden's capital city is Stockholm, which is also the largest city.
Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages. In the 17th century, the country expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire. The empire grew to be one of the great powers of Europe in the 17th and early 18th century. Most of the conquered territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were lost during the 18th and 19th centuries. The eastern half of Sweden, present-day Finland, was lost to Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Sweden by military means forced Norway into a personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, practicing "non-participation in military alliances during peacetime and neutrality during wartime". However, Sweden has been a member of the European Union since 1 January 1995 and is a member of the OECD.
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Switzerland
Switzerland (German: die Schweiz[ˈʃvaɪts]; French: Suisse [sɥis(ə)]; Italian: Svizzera [ˈzvit͡sːɛra]; Romansh: Svizra [ˈʒviːtsrɐ] or [ˈʒviːtsʁːɐ]), in its full name the Swiss Confederation (Latin: Confoederatio Helvetica, hence its abbreviation CH), is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western Europe, where it is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east.
Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2 (15,940 sq mi). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8 million people is concentrated mostly on the Plateau, where the largest cities are to be found. Among them are the two global cities and economic centres of Zurich and Geneva.
The Swiss Confederation has a long history of armed neutrality—it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815—and did not join the United Nations until 2002. It pursues, however, an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. Switzerland is also the birthplace of the Red Cross and home to a large number of international organizations, including the second largest UN office. On the European level, it is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association and is part of the Schengen Area – although it is notably not a member of the European Union, nor the European Economic Area.
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Sydney
Sydney ( /sɪdni/) is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is classified as an Alpha+ World City indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world.
Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people. Inhabitants of Sydney are called Sydneysiders, comprising a cosmopolitan and international population.
The site of the first British colony in Australia, Sydney was established in 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip, commodore of the First Fleet as a penal colony. The city is built on hills surrounding Port Jackson which is commonly known as Sydney Harbour, where the iconic Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge feature prominently. The hinterland of the metropolitan area is surrounded by national parks, and the coastal regions feature many bays, rivers, inlets and beaches including the famous Bondi Beach and Manly Beach. Within the city are many notable parks, including Hyde Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens.
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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.
The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies. The United Kingdom has fourteen overseas territories. These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories.
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United States
The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km2) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.
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US Open (tennis)
The US Open Championship, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881. Since 1987, the US Open has been chronologically the fourth and final tennis major comprising the Grand Slam each year; the other three are the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. It is held annually in August and September over a two-week period (the weeks before and after Labor Day weekend). The main tournament consists of five different event championships: men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles, with additional tournaments for senior, junior, and wheelchair players. Since 1978, the tournament has been played on acrylic hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, New York City.
The US Open has tiebreaks in every set, including the last set. The other three Grand Slam tournaments have tiebreaks in every set other than the last set (i.e. the fifth set for men and third set for women), and therefore their last set continues indefinitely until a two-game lead is reached.
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Agnieszka Radwanska
Agnieszka Radwańska [aɡˈɲɛʂka radˈvaɲska] ( listen) (born 6 March 1989 in Kraków) is a Polish professional tennis player. As of 28 May 2012, she is ranked world no. 3. Known for constructing points and making intelligent use of the court, she has won ten WTA singles titles.
In 2007, Radwańska became the first Polish player to claim a WTA singles title when she won the Nordea Nordic Light Open. The following year, she became the first Polish player to reach the WTA Top 10. Radwańska has won two WTA Awards, being voted Most Impressive Newcomer in 2006, and Fan Favorite Singles Player in 2011. She has also reached five Grand Slam quarterfinals.
Agnieszka Radwańska was born in Kraków. She began playing tennis at the age of four, after her father introduced her to the sport. Her younger sister, Urszula, is also a tennis player. Radwańska has named Pete Sampras and Martina Hingis as inspirations. In 2009, Radwańska became a WTA ambassador for Habitat for Humanity. She has also studied tourism at universities in Kraków.
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Agnieszka Radwańska
Agnieszka Radwańska [aɡˈɲɛʂka radˈvaɲska] ( listen) (born 6 March 1989 in Kraków) is a Polish professional tennis player. As of 28 May 2012, she is ranked world no. 3. Known for constructing points and making intelligent use of the court, she has won ten WTA singles titles.
In 2007, Radwańska became the first Polish player to claim a WTA singles title when she won the Nordea Nordic Light Open. The following year, she became the first Polish player to reach the WTA Top 10. Radwańska has won two WTA Awards, being voted Most Impressive Newcomer in 2006, and Fan Favorite Singles Player in 2011. She has also reached five Grand Slam quarterfinals.
Agnieszka Radwańska was born in Kraków. She began playing tennis at the age of four, after her father introduced her to the sport. Her younger sister, Urszula, is also a tennis player. Radwańska has named Pete Sampras and Martina Hingis as inspirations. In 2009, Radwańska became a WTA ambassador for Habitat for Humanity. She has also studied tourism at universities in Kraków.
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Ai Sugiyama
Ai Sugiyama (杉山愛, Sugiyama Ai?) (born July 5, 1975 in Yokohama, Japan) is a retired Japanese professional tennis player. She reached No. 1 in women's doubles on the WTA Tour. Her career-high singles ranking was No. 8, achieved on February 9, 2004. She turned professional in 1992. In her career, she won 6 singles titles and 37 doubles titles, including three Grand Slam women's doubles titles (1 with Frenchwoman Julie Halard-Decugis and 2 partnering Belgian Kim Clijsters). Sugiyama has the all-time record, for both male and female players, for her 62 consecutive Grand Slam main draw appearances. She was the first Asian to rank no.1 in either singles or doubles.
In 1993, at age 17, Sugiyama played tennis legend Martina Navratilova in her native city, losing in three sets. The same year, she made her Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon but lost in the first round to world number 30 Gigi Fernández in three sets.
In 1994, Sugiyama again reached the main draw at Wimbledon but lost in her first round to world number six and compatriot Kimiko Date. Later that year she reached her first singles final in Surabaya but was forced to retire against Elena Wagner. She went on to win the Japan Open doubles at Tokyo, her first tour title. Later that year, she broke into the WTA Top 100.
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Aiko Nakamura
Aiko Nakamura (中村藍子, Nakamura Aiko?) (born 28 December 1983 in Osaka), is a female Japanese tennis player. She was once the second highest WTA-ranked Japanese singles tennis player, at 107 (21 July 2008), after Ai Sugiyama.
Like her role-model Monica Seles, she has a double-handed forehand and backhand, but serves right-handed. She has won two ITF singles and two ITF doubles titles. In 2006, she made it to the final at the Japan Open in Tokyo, where she lost to Marion Bartoli of France 2–6, 6–2, 6–2.
Nakamura plays for Japan's Fed Cup team. Having not played since the end of 2009, Nakamura is currently unranked. However, she has been given a wildcard into the 2010 HP Open in Osaka, Japan. She defeated Alexandra Panova in the first round 7–6(5), 2–6, 6–3 before falling to Kimiko Date-Krumm 2–6, 0–6.
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Akgul Amanmuradova
Akgul Amanmuradova (born June 23, 1984 in Tashkent) is a professional female tennis player from Uzbekistan.
In 2005, she reached her first ever WTA singles final in Tashkent, the capital of her home country. In the final she lost to 16-year old Michaëlla Krajicek of the Netherlands. Her first WTA Tour doubles win was 2009 AEGON International at Eastbourne, where she and partner Ai Sugiyama defeated Rennae Stubbs and Samantha Stosur in the final.
Akgul played her first ever match on the WTA Circuit in her home town of Tashkent. She lost in the first round of qualifying.
She received a wildcard into her home town tournament the Tashkent Open. However she lost to eventual finalst Seda Noorlander of the Netherlands 6–4, 6–2. She received a cheque for $1,000 after this match, the biggest of her tennis career.
Akgul played her first ITF Tournaments in 2002, she managed to reach the semi finals in Mysore and finals in Manila and Hyderabad, both times losing to Sania Mirza. She played for Uzbekistan in the Fed Cup for the first time at the age of 18, she beat three of her four group opponents. Beating Thailand, The Philippines and Hong Kong but losing to Akiko Morigami of Japan. She ended 2002 with a Singles record of 18–7 and a ranking of 665.
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Akiko Morigami
Akiko Morigami (Japanese: 森上亜希子, born January 12, 1980, Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese female tennis player. She turned professional in 1998. On August 15, 2005, Morigami reached her career-high singles ranking: World No. 41.
Morigami has won 1 singles title in her career, defeating top-seed Marion Bartoli of France 6–1 6–3 in Prague in 2007. She has reached two other singles finals, both in Cincinnati (falling to Patty Schnyder in 2005, and losing to Anna Chakvetadze in 2007). In the 2006 French Open, she upset then-World No.3 Nadia Petrova in the first round. Petrova was a favorite to win the Grand Slam title. She is known for her strong two-handed game.
Morigami is set to retire after the 2009 HP Japan Women's Open in Osaka. In the first round she defeated qualifier Anastasia Rodionova 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 and in the second round she lost to Samantha Stosur 1-6, 2-6. This was her last professional WTA match.
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Aleksandra Wozniak
Aleksandra Wozniak (born September 7, 1987, in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian professional tennis player. She turned professional in November 2005. Wozniak achieved a career-best ranking of no. 21 on June 22, 2009, making her the fourth-highest ranked Canadian singles player of all time. She has won one WTA and nine ITF tournaments. At the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford in 2008, she became the first Canadian in 20 years to capture a WTA singles title and is the only Quebecer in history to have accomplished such a feat. She reached a career-high ITF junior ranking of No. 3 on January 31, 2005. She was named Female Player of the Year by Tennis Canada four times (2009, 2008, 2006, 2004). Wozniak is currently Canada's highest-ranked women's singles player.
Wozniak's family immigrated to Canada from Poland in 1983. She speaks Polish, English and French fluently. She has an elder sister Dorota who, also, plays tennis. Aleksandra started playing tennis at the age of three. She was inspired to pick up a racquet by her sister and Monica Seles, her idol growing up and was coached by her father, Antoni.
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Alexandra Dulgheru
Alexandra Dulgheru (born May 30, 1989) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She achieved a singles career high of World No. 26 on April 11, 2011. Her career high in doubles was World No. 47 on March 21, 2011. She is coached by Gabriel Urpi.
Her father, Dumitru, is a pilot, and her mother Doina is an airline coordinator. Her sister, Bianca, is an assistant hotel manager.
Alexandra has a German Shepherd Dog called Ciavi. She likes reading, movies, music, dancing, painting, and drawing. She would like to be a designer or architect after tennis.
Her favorite actor is Johnny Depp, and her favorite movie is Meet Joe Black. She likes listening to pop music, and her favourite artists are Céline Dion and Backstreet Boys. Her favorite book is Harry Potter.
Alexandra's favorite food is Chinese, but she also likes Romanian cuisine. She likes to drink lemonade and hot chocolate.
She speaks Romanian, English, and Spanish, and she is currently studying economics at Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies.
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Alisa Kleybanova
Alisa Mikhaelovna Kleybanova (Russian: Алиса Михаиловна Клейбанова, born July 15, 1989) is a Russian professional tennis player. Her highest WTA world ranking to date is No. 20, achieved on February 21, 2010. Kleybanova has won two WTA singles titles.
Kleybanova made her senior tennis début in 2003 aged fourteen, and won the first ITF tournament she entered.
To date her career-best achievements have been reaching the fourth round at two Grand Slams at Wimbledon and Australian Open as a direct entrant, two WTA Tour Tier II quarter-finals (Antwerp, 2008; Eastbourne, 2008) as a qualifier. Additionally, she has reached one Tier I third round (Miami, 2008) as a qualifier, and one Tier IV quarter-final (Fes, 2008) as a direct entrant. At other WTA Tour events, she has yet to progress beyond the second round of the main draw; but her WTA career is still young, and she has battled through qualifying to enter one Grand Slam and several further WTA main draws aside from her five notable main draw successes described above.
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Alizé Cornet
Alizé Cornet (born 22 January 1990) is a French professional tennis player and the current French number three (Behind Marion Bartoli and Aravane Rezaï). She was born in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, and has a career-high ranking of No. 11, achieved on 16 February 2009. Cornet also has an extensive juniors record, winning the 2007 Girls' Singles at Roland Garros. She has won 1 WTA title.
She made her Grand Slam debut at the French Open in 2005 and made it to the second round, where she lost to Amélie Mauresmo. In 2006, she reached the second round again by beating Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain in the first round. She could not repeat this performance in 2007, as she lost in the first round to Venus Williams 6–4, 6–3. Cornet was defeated in the Wimbledon 2007 qualifying event by Olga Govortsova 7–6, 3–6, 6–4, but made it to the main draw as a lucky loser when Li Na of China withdrew. Cornet reached the second round before being defeated by the experienced Ai Sugiyama 4–6, 6–0, 6–3. Also in 2007, she won a $50000 ITF tournament in Dnipropetrovsk, beating Stefanie Vögele 6–4, 6–3 in the final. In the 2007 US Open, Cornet lost to Jelena Janković in the 3rd round 4–6 6–2 6–3.
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Alona Bondarenko
Alona Volodymyrivna Bondarenko Dyachok (Ukrainian: Альона Володимирівна Бондаренко, born 13 August 1984 in Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian SSR) is a Ukrainian tennis player. She has a younger sister Kateryna Bondarenko who also plays on the Tour. She formerly paired with her older sister Valeria in doubles. She is currently ranked World No. 114 in singles and World No. 327 in doubles by the WTA.
Her career high singles ranking was Number 19, achieved on 14 April 2008. She defeated former World No. 1 Jelena Janković in the third round of the 2010 Australian Open. She won the 2008 Australian Open women's doubles tournament with her sister Kateryna, beating Victoria Azarenka and Shahar Pe'er in the finals.
Bondarenko started competing in the pro tour in 1999 at the age of 14, were she competed in ITF Circuit, she reached two second rounds in Tallinn, Estonia and Kharkiv, Ukraine, two first-round exits in Bucharest3 in Romania and in Kedzierzyn-Kozle, Poland, and failed to qualify in two events as well in Tbilisi and Batumi both were held in Georgia.
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Alycia Moulton
Alycia Moulton (born February 18, 1961) is a former professional tennis player. She won the Junior U.S. Open title and was runner-up in Junior Wimbledon.
Moulton was active on the WTA professional tour from 1978 to 1988. Her powerful game brought her two singles titles in 1983 and five doubles titles. She reached a career high ranking of 18 in singles on November 26, 1984. She won the Virginia Slims of New Jersey and the Virginia Slims of Newport, Rhode Island.
Moulton achieved immediate success on the professional tour after graduating from Stanford University, where as team captain and four-time All-American, she was an NCAA singles, doubles and team champion. Moulton was selected to represent the United States in Federation Cup and Wightman Cup. She played doubles with Chris Evert defeating Great Britain in the Wightman Cup competition.
Moulton served two terms on the Board of Directors of the Women's Tennis Association. She has been inducted into the Sacramento Hall of Fame, the Stanford University Hall of Fame and the Northern California Tennis Hall of Fame.
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Amélie Mauresmo
Amélie Simone Mauresmo French pronunciation: [ameli simɔn moʁɛsmo]; (born 5 July 1979) is a French former professional tennis player, and a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon.
Mauresmo first attained the top ranking on 13 September 2004, holding it for five weeks on that occasion. She was the fifteenth world no. 1 in women's tennis since the computer rankings began. She is well known for her powerful one-handed backhand and strong net play. She officially announced her retirement from professional tennis on 3 December 2009, ending a career of ten years. She returned to Wimbledon in 2010, acting as a grass court advisor for Frenchman and 2007 Wimbledon doubles champion Michaël Llodra.
Mauresmo was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. She began playing tennis at the age of four, after being inspired by Yannick Noah's win in the 1983 French Open on television. It was after his win that her parents bought her her first tennis racket. Later on in 1998 Yannick Noah picked her on the French team for the Fed Cup. Her mother, Françoise is a homemaker and her father Francis, who died in March 2004, was an engineer. She also has a brother Fabien who is an engineer.
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Ana Ivanovic
Ana Ivanovic (Serbian Cyrillic: Ана Ивановић, Ana Ivanović; Serbian pronunciation: [âna iʋǎːnoʋitɕ] ( listen)) (born November 6, 1987, in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of May 28, 2012, she is ranked 14th on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open. Competing as a professional since 2003, she has won 11 WTA Tour singles titles. When on form, Ivanovic is known for her aggressive style of play.
Ivanovic's mother Dragana (Драгана), a lawyer, supports her daughter during most of her matches. Her father Miroslav (Мирослав), a self-employed businessman, attends as many events as he possibly can. Ana has a younger brother, Miloš (Милош), with whom she loves to play basketball.
Aside from her tennis career, Ivanovic also studies finance at a university in Belgrade and Spanish in her spare time. Her inspiration to begin playing was Monica Seles, who at that time played for Yugoslavia.
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Ana Ivanović
Ana Ivanovic (Serbian Cyrillic: Ана Ивановић, Ana Ivanović; Serbian pronunciation: [âna iʋǎːnoʋitɕ] ( listen)) (born November 6, 1987, in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of May 28, 2012, she is ranked 14th on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open. Competing as a professional since 2003, she has won 11 WTA Tour singles titles. When on form, Ivanovic is known for her aggressive style of play.
Ivanovic's mother Dragana (Драгана), a lawyer, supports her daughter during most of her matches. Her father Miroslav (Мирослав), a self-employed businessman, attends as many events as he possibly can. Ana has a younger brother, Miloš (Милош), with whom she loves to play basketball.
Aside from her tennis career, Ivanovic also studies finance at a university in Belgrade and Spanish in her spare time. Her inspiration to begin playing was Monica Seles, who at that time played for Yugoslavia.
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Anastasia Myskina
Anastasiya Andreyevna Myskina (Анастасия Мыскина [ɐnəstɐˈsʲijə ˈmɨskʲɪnə]; born July 8, 1981, Moscow, Russia) is a professional tennis player from Russia. She won the 2004 French Open singles title, becoming the first Russian female tennis player to win a Grand Slam main draw singles title. Subsequent to this victory she rose to number 3 on the WTA ranking, becoming the first Russian female tennis player to reach the top three in the history of the rankings. In September 2004 she reached a career high of No.2, but she has not played professional tennis since 2007, and has stated she does not know whether she will return or not. Injury has prevented her from advancing for the past several years.
Myskina turned professional in 2000, the year in which she broke into the WTA top 500. She won her first WTA title in Palermo in only her second appearance in the main draw of a WTA tournament. She made her debut in a Grand Slam tournament at the US Open and the Fed Cup (playing doubles). In 2000, Myskina scored first career Top 20 victory over number 17 Barbara Schett en route to a Sopot semifinal. She debuted at Roland Garros (which she would later win) and Wimbledon. She played in the Sydney Olympics and reached her first Tier I quarterfinal in Zürich, where she lost to world number 1 Martina Hingis. Myskina was plagued by injury that forced her to miss the Australian Open. As a result, she fell out of the Top 100 Rankings. She then had a solid indoors performance, reaching the quarterfinals in Leipzig (became the first Russian to beat Anna Kournikova) and to the semifinals in Moscow, her first career Tier I SF).
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Anastasia Rodionova
Anastasia Rodionova (Pron: Rodi-o-nova) (Russian: Анастаси́я Ива́новна Родио́нова; born 12 May 1982 in Tambov, Soviet Union) is an Australian professional female tennis player, and the current Australian No. 1 in doubles. She achieved her career high rank of #62 on 16 August 2010. She lives in Melbourne, Australia.
Representing Australia at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Rodionova won the gold medal in both women's singles and women's doubles, and won the silver medal in mixed doubles.
She won the 2000 Russian Championships 18s in singles and doubles.
She was a finalist in Wimbledon 2003 in mixed doubles with Andy Ram.
Rodionova underwent major hip surgery in September 2008 in Melbourne to treat an injury that she had carried since Wimbledon 2003.
Rodionova is an Official Ambassador for Guide Dogs Victoria since January 2009 and regularly visits puppies in training when home in Melbourne.
Rodionova started to play tennis at age 7, but she was introduced to tennis much earlier. Her father Ivan was an amateur player so instead of toys, Rodionova had tennis balls in her pram. He coached her until 18 years old when she left Tambov, Russia and moved to Germany to practice for 3 years before returning to Moscow to live in 2003. She has resided in Melbourne, Australia since 2005. Rodionova's sister Arina has also been a professional tennis player since 2004.
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Anastasija Sevastova
Anastasija Sevastova (born April 13, 1990) Latvian tennis player. On January 31, 2011, she achieved her career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 36. On August 31, 2009, she claimed her highest Doubles rank of No. 195. Her biggest match to date was in the 1st Round of the 2010 China Open, where she defeated world number 7 Samantha Stosur.
In 2007 she qualified for the 2007 Istanbul Cup where she won her first career WTA match against Anastasiya Yakimova in the 1st round 6–1, 6–3. She then lost to #5 seed Alona Bondarenko 4–6, 6–3, 6(5)–7.
In 2009 she qualified for the French Open but lost to Melinda Czink, 6–3, 4–6, 1–6 in the first round.
She entered the main draw of the 2009 AEGON Classic where she was defeated in the 1st round by Yanina Wickmayer, 4–6, 3–6. She then qualified for the 2009 Wimbledon Championship, losing to Kateryna Bondarenko in the first round, 3–6, 6(5)–7.
In August she qualified into the main draw of the 2009 U.S. Open and won her first career Grand Slam match by defeating Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6–3, 7–5.
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Anastasiya Yakimova
Anastasiya Yakimova (Belarusian: Настасся Аляксееўна Якімава; Russian: Анастасия Алексеевна Екимова; born November 1, 1986 in Minsk, Soviet Union) is a female tennis player from Belarus. She made it to the third round of the 2007 Australian Open, defeating Ai Sugiyama of Japan, a seeded player, on the way in the second round.
Yakimova began the year by qualifying for the Medibank International. She defeated Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro, Sophie Ferguson and Klára Zakopalová en route to qualifying. She faced Annabel Medina Garrigues in the first round and lost 6–1, 3–6, 6–3.
She then headed to the Australian Open. She was accepted straight into the main draw and drawn against Gisela Dulko, she lost this match 6–3, 5–7, 6–3.
She then played her first ITF tournament of the year at the $50,000 Cali event in Colombia. As the no 4 Seed Yakimova battled through to the final where she defeated Rossana de los Ríos 6–3, 6–0 to take her seventh ITF title.
She then qualified for both Indian Wells and Miami, two premier mandatory events. In Indian Wells she defeated American Varvara Lepchenko before falling to reigning champion Ana Ivanović. In Miami she defeated fellow Belarussian Olga Govortsova and then 13th seed Marion Bartoli to reach the third round. Here she lost to Alisa Kleybanova 6–3, 3–6, 6–4.
At the 2009 Barcelona Ladies Open Yakimova qualified and managed to make it to her first WTA quarter final of the year. She defeated Sorana Cîrstea and Magdaléna Rybáriková before falling to eventual champion Roberta Vinci 6–3, 6–3.
She then played in the $50,000 Saint-Gaudens event as the no 1 seed. She made it to the final where she defeated Yanina Wickmayer for her second title of the year.
In Strasbourg she received main draw entry without qualifying. She defeated Maret Ani in the first round before falling to eventual finalist Aravane Rezaï.
At the 2009 French Open she has been drawn against Maria Sharapova.
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Andrea Petkovic
Andrea Petkovic (Serbian: Андреа Петковић, Andrea Petković; born 9 September 1987) is a German professional tennis player from Griesheim, near Darmstadt in Germany.
Petkovic reached her career-high singles ranking of world no. 9 on 10 October 2011. She has won 2 WTA titles, 8 ITF singles titles and 3 ITF doubles titles. Petkovic became the German national champion in 2007 and 2009. She is coached by Petar Popović and her father Zoran.
Andrea Petkovic was born in Tuzla, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia. but at the age of six months, the family relocated to Germany. Petkovic first took to the tennis courts when she was six; her father Zoran Petkovic, former Yugoslav tennis player and member of the Yugoslavia Davis Cup team, was a coach at a club in Darmstadt at the time. He introduced her to the sport and later became her coach. She was able to finish high school before competing in tennis full-time because Zoran never influenced her into joining the professional circuit.
Apart from tennis, she likes to educate herself by reading; her favourite authors are Goethe and Wilde. Her mother Amira is a dental assistant while her younger sister Anja is a student. Petkovic graduated from high school in 2006 with an Abitur from the Georg-Büchner-Schule in Darmstadt, a Gymnasium. She has been studying Political science at the FernUniversität Hagen since 2008.
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Andy Murray
Andrew "Andy" Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a Scottish professional tennis player, ranked No. 4 in the world, and was ranked No. 2 from 17 to 31 August 2009. Murray achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on 16 April 2007. He has been runner-up in three Grand Slam finals: the 2008 US Open, the 2010 Australian Open and the 2011 Australian Open, losing the first two to Roger Federer and the third to Novak Djokovic. In 2011, Murray became only the seventh player in the Open Era to reach the semi-finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments in one year.
Andy Murray was born to Will and Judy in Glasgow, Scotland. His maternal grandfather, Roy Erskine, was a professional footballer who played reserve team matches for Hibernian and in the Scottish Football League for Stirling Albion and Cowdenbeath. Murray's brother, Jamie, is also a professional tennis player, playing on the doubles circuit. Following the separation of his parents when he was nine years old, Andy and Jamie lived with their father. Murray later attended Dunblane High School. Murray is in a five-year relationship with Kim Sears, who is regularly seen attending his matches. The relationship ended briefly in 2009 before they reconciled a short time later in 2010.
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Angelique Kerber
Angelique Kerber (born 18 January 1988 in Bremen) is a professional German tennis player. Kerber has a career high ranking of world no. 10, achieved on 21 May 2012 and is currently the highest ranked German. She has competed as a professional since 2003, and has won 11 ITF titles, and two WTA titles at the 2012 Open GDF Suez and the 2012 e-Boks Open. She has also reached one Grand Slam semi-final at the 2011 US Open.
She is born in Bremen, to father Slawek Kerber and mother Beata, and has one sister. She started playing tennis at age 3, eventually joining the junior circuit, making inroads at events in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, but didn't win a junior title before 2003 at which point she turned professional at the age of 15. Kerber speaks German, Polish and English.
In 2003 obtained her first top 100 victory by defeating Marion Bartoli in the qualifying draw of the WTA German Open 3–6, 6–3, 6–4.
In 2004 Kerber started the year by reaching the finals of an ITF event in Warsaw losing to Marta Domachowska 7–6, 3–6, 6–3 in the finals. She attained her first ITF title entering as a qualifier in Opole, Poland, by defeating Elena Tatarkova 6–2, 6–2 in the finals.
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Ankita Bhambri
Ankita Bhambri is an Indian tennis player. She took part in the 2007 Sunfeast Open but lost in the first round. She has won numerous ITF titles. Her sisters Sanaa Bhambri & Prerna Bhambri and brother Yuki Bhambri are all also tennis players.
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Anna Chakvetadze
Anna Djambulilovna Chakvetadze (Russian: Анна Джамбулиловна Чакветадзе; born March 5, 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player (with Georgian and Ukrainian roots). On September 10, 2007, she reached her career-high professional singles ranking of World No. 5. She has won eight WTA Singles Titles and appeared in the 2007 US Open semifinals. As of April 23, 2012, Chakvetadze is ranked World No. 402.
She began playing tennis at the age of eight after being introduced to the sport by her mother, Natalia. She travels for tournaments with her father. She speaks both Russian and English.
Chakvetadze hit her peak of World No. 5 in 2007 after a semifinal appearance at the US Open. Also in that year, she reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and the French Open, both of which were career bests for those events. Four of her eight career singles titles also occurred in 2007. She ended 2010 ranked inside the top 60 at number 56. The same year, she won 1 title and her 8th overall.
In 2003, she made it to the final of the Junior Championships at Wimbledon before falling to Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6–4, 3–6, 6–3. The same year, she won the International Bavarian Junior Challenge, defeating Marta Domachowska of Poland 7–6, 6–5. Her record as a junior was 67–19 in singles, and 22–14 in doubles. Her highest world ranking as a junior was #22 achieved in December 2003.
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Anne Keothavong
Anne Viensouk Keothavong (born 16 September 1983) is a British professional tennis player. She is a former long-standing British number 1, however she is the current British number 2, behind Elena Baltacha and is ranked 81st in the world (as of 28 May 2012). So far in her career she has won a total of 19 International Tennis Federation singles titles, 8 ITF doubles titles and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 48 (achieved 23 February 2009). She has also reached the semifinals of four International tournaments on the main tour and the semifinals of one Premier tournament.
In terms of Grand Slam success, Keothavong's best result so far came at the 2008 US Open, where she reached the third round. She beat Alexa Glatch in the first round and followed this up with a victory over the No. 25 seed, Francesca Schiavone, a woman ranked 60 places above her. She faced world No. 6, Elena Dementieva, in round three and was defeated. Anne has also managed to reach the second round of Wimbledon on three occasions: in 2004, 2008 and 2011. In 2004 she beat Nicole Pratt in the first round and lost to Maria Sharapova, the No. 13 seed, in straight sets in round two. The 2008 tournament saw her beat Vania King in round one but she went on to experience a second round loss to Venus Williams. In 2011 Wimbledon, she had a first round win over fellow Brit Naomi Broady, in straight sets. The score was 6–2 6–4 for Keothavong. She went on to face lefty Czech, and eventual champion, Petra Kvitova in the second round. She lost in straight sets, 2–6 1–6.
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Aravane Rezaï
Aravane Rezaï (Persian: ارغوان رضایی Arqavān Rezāyi Persian pronunciation: [æɾɣævɒːn(-e) ɾezɒːjiː], Latin alphabet: Aravane Rezaï, born 14 March 1987, in Saint-Étienne) is a professional French tennis player. She is the current French No. 5 in women's tennis.
Rezaï took up tennis aftere a childhood stint as her older brother's ball girl. She has defeated many top players on the WTA circuit, such as Jelena Janković, Justine Henin, Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, Dinara Safina, Francesca Schiavone, Caroline Wozniacki, Marion Bartoli, Victoria Azarenka, Flavia Pennetta, and Ai Sugiyama. Her career high rank was No. 15, achieved on 11 October 2010.
Rezaï was born to Iranian parents in Saint-Étienne, France.
Rezaï competed for Iran at the Women's Islamic Games, winning gold in 2001 and 2005.
She also won the Chambon sur Lignon open in 2004.
Rezaï started playing for France. For the second year in a row, Rezaï lost in the qualifying rounds of the Australian Open. However, her French Open run was more successful. She struggled through to the third round of the tournament, defeating Ai Sugiyama of Japan along the way. She fell to Nicole Vaidišová, in a hard fought three-setter. Her Wimbledon dreams were also put on hold as she fell in the first round of qualifying. At the 2006 U.S. Open, she reached the fourth round, her career best Grand Slam singles result.
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Ashley Harkleroad
Ashley Harkleroad (born May 2, 1985), is an American tennis player. Born in Rossville, Georgia, Harkleroad reached a career-high ranking of no. 39 on June 9, 2003. Her career prize money to date is $1,022,094. Harkleroad was the first WTA tennis player to pose naked for the American men's magazine Playboy.
Harkleroad turned pro on June 12, 2000, and was quickly billed as the next American tennis star. Her debut was at the ITF tournament in Largo, Florida, in 1999. The following year she played her first WTA qualifying event in Miami, Florida and her first Grand Slam at the U.S. Open. In 2001, she returned to the same events while improving her status on the ITF Circuit. In 2002, she won her first tour matches, reaching the second round at San Diego, Hawaii, and Bratislava, where she made her first doubles semifinal with partner María Emilia Salerni. She ended 2002 in the top 200 for the first time in her career.
Her breakthrough year was 2003, when at Charleston she defeated three top-20 players (no. 16 Elena Bovina, no. 19 Meghann Shaughnessy, and no. 9 Daniela Hantuchová), losing just 11 games along the way to reach her first tour semifinal, before losing to Justine Henin-Hardenne. She became the lowest-ranked semifinalist (no. 101) in the event's history since unranked Jennifer Capriati reached the finals in 1990.
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Ayumi Morita
Ayumi Morita (森田 あゆみ, Morita Ayumi?, born March 11, 1990 in Ōta, Gunma, Japan) is a Japanese tennis player. She reached her career-high ranking of 42nd in the world on June 6, 2011 and is currently the highest ranked Japanese player in the world at World No. 46, the seventh overall in Asia. At Junior level, she reached a career high ranking of No. 3.
Morita is known for strong and consistent two-handed groundstrokes which she hits very flat. She is also regarded as very tough mentally for a young player, often showing great resolve to win close matches despite a lackluster serve.[citation needed] Morita is a small and quick player with excellent footwork and movement around the court.
On September 16, 2008, she beat world No. 19 Ágnes Szávay 6–7, 7–5, 6–4 in the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
On January 5, 2009, Morita upset former Wimbledon quarterfinalist Michaëlla Krajicek in the final round of qualifying to reach the main draw of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. She faced third set deficits in all three of her qualifying matches, including a 4–1 deficit in her first match against Katie O'Brien.
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Beth Herr
Beth Herr (born 1964) is an American tennis player. She became the number 1 junior tennis player in the world at age 16. She was the #1 college recruit in 1985 and went on to play for the University of Southern California where she won the NCAA singles title and team title in her freshman year. She beat Clemson's Gigi Fernández 7–6 in the 3rd set after being down a match point to win the NCAA singles final.
She cut short college and went directly into professional tennis after the NCAA Championship and played on tour for 11 years with wins over Martina Navratilova, Pam Shriver, Hana Mandlíková and Mary Joe Fernandez. She lost an epic match to Billie Jean King at Wimbledon 8–6 in the 3rd. Commentators on HBO Breakfast at Wimbledon made a very big deal out of her ability to hit numerous swinging volleys out of the air for winners. This which was something that had not been done before especially by a female.
After tennis she finished her undergraduate degree at UCLA and then went to law school at UCLA. She married Tennis Channel founder Steve Bellamy and after a short stint as a lawyer at Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, she stopped working and started raising their 4 children.
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Cara Black
Cara Black (born 17 February 1979 in Salisbury, Rhodesia) is a professional Zimbabwean tennis player. She has won 7 singles titles and 64 women's doubles titles. She has won all four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles and three of the four Grand Slam titles in women's doubles. Black has been one of the foremost doubles players of the early 21st century.
Born in Rhodesia as the daughter of Don and Velia Black, the tennis-playing Cara is the younger sister of Wayne Black and Byron Black, both professional male tennis players. All three compete mostly in doubles; Wayne was the 2001 US Open and 2005 Australian Open champion and Byron was the 1994 French Open winner.
Black partnered with her brother Wayne to win the 2002 French Open and 2004 Wimbledon Championships mixed doubles events. Black has also engaged in long-term partnerships with Elena Likhovtseva, Irina Selyutina, Rennae Stubbs, Liezel Huber, Anastasia Rodionova, and most recently Shahar Peer.
In August 2005, Black announced that she would marry her longtime boyfriend, Australian mental and fitness trainer Brett Stephens.
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Caroline Garcia
Caroline Garcia (born October 16, 1993) is a French professional tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 141, which she reached on August 15, 2011. Her career high in doubles is 357, achieved on August 15, 2011.
At the 2011 Australian Open, she earned a wild-card and beat Varvara Lepchenko in the first round for her first appearance in the main draw of a WTA tournament. However she lost to Ayumi Morita in the second round.
Garcia made entry into the 2011 French Open as a wildcard. Garcia played Zuzana Ondraskova she defeated her 6–3, 6–4. In the second round, Garcia had a 6–3, 4–1, 15–0 lead against the former number one Maria Sharapova. Maria won 11 games in a row after being down 1–4 in the set. Caroline Garcia gained a lot of respect for her upcoming talent. Andy Murray said the following via twitter account, "The girl Sharapova is playing is going to be number one in the world one day ... what a player".
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Caroline Wozniacki
Caroline Wozniacki (born 11 July 1990) is a Danish professional tennis player. She is a former world no. 1 on the WTA Tour. As of 23 January 2012, she held this position for 67 weeks. She is the first Scandinavian woman to hold the top ranking position and 20th overall.
Since her WTA debut in 2005, she has improved her year-end ranking each year until finishing on top in both 2010 and 2011. She has won 18 WTA singles titles as of August 2011, three in 2008, three in 2009, six in 2010 (the most since Justine Henin's ten in 2007), and six in 2011. She was runner-up at the 2009 US Open and the 2010 WTA Tour Championships in Doha to Kim Clijsters. She won the 2006 Wimbledon Girls' Singles title but has yet to win a women's Grand Slam title. She also holds two WTA titles in doubles.
Wozniacki is the daughter of Polish Roman Catholicimmigrants, Piotr and Anna Wozniacki. Anna played on the Polish women's national volleyball team, and Piotr played professional football. The couple moved to Denmark when Piotr signed for the Danish football club Boldklubben 1909. Wozniacki's older brother Patrik Wozniacki is a professional footballer for Hvidovre IF in Denmark.
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Casey Dellacqua
Casey Dellacqua (born 11 February 1985) is an Australian professional tennis player who currently resides in Perth, Western Australia. She was previously coached by former Australian player Nicole Pratt, before the two decided to part ways prior to the 2009 Australian Open. She won her first Grand Slam title in the 2011 French Open – Mixed Doubles, partnering with American Scott Lipsky.
She is of Italian descent through her father and Irish through her mother.
Dellacqua attended Woodvale Primary School from kindergarten to year 7, and then attended Woodvale Senior High School before moving to Canberra to train with the Australian Institute of Sport at the age of sixteen. Throughout her early life Dellacqua was an active member of local tennis clubs and teams.
In 2007, she won singles tournaments in 2007 Melbourne, Perth, Kalgoorlie, and The Bronx, in New York.
Dellacqua began the year by reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open and upset 15th-seeded Patty Schnyder and former champion and World No. 1 Amélie Mauresmo but eventually lost to third seed Jelena Janković. The performance meant she surpassed Alicia Molik to become the highest ranked Australian female tennis player.
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Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia who form a historical nationality in northern Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France (known in Catalonia proper as Catalunya Nord, and in France as the Pays Catalan) sometimes are included in this definition. Also, sometimes Catalan is used to define people from Catalan Countries, which include other areas where the Catalan language is spoken.
The other Catalan-speaking people, namely Andorrans, Valencians, Balearics, some Aragonese, and Alguerese are sometimes identified as a distinct Catalan ethnic group by certain nationalists. The latter assertion is especially rooted in Catalan nationalism.[citation needed] In the aforementioned territories (often designated Països Catalans, "Catalan Countries", by Catalan nationalists). This extended concept is unpopular and eventually brings conflict, most of all in the Valencian Community where it is a great issue involving discrimination of the language and mediatic manipulation.
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Catalina Castaño
Catalina Castaño Alvarez (born July 7, 1979 in Pereira, Risaralda) is a professional female Colombian tennis player. On July 10, 2006, Catalina reached her career-high singles ranking: World No. 35. Since November 2006, she is the highest ranked South American female tennis player. She is coached by Peruvian-born British citizen Pablo Giacopelli, who has been her coach since 2004.
She has reached the second round in three of the four Tennis Grand Slams Tournaments (Roland Garros, Australian Open and US Open), but she is yet to claim her first WTA Tour title. She has won six ITF titles in her career.
Castano has defeated top 20 players such as Nicole Vaidišová, Anna-Lena Grönefeld, Patty Schnyder, Paola Suárez and Li Na since 2005.
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Chan Yung-jan
Chan Yung-jan (Chinese: 詹詠然, born August 17, 1989 in Dongshi, Taichung County (now part of Taichung City), Taiwan) is a professional female tennis player from Republic of China (Chinese Taipei; Taiwan). She has won 13 ITF singles titles; and 7 WTA and 11 ITF doubles titles. Her career highlights include semifinals in the Japan Open in 2006 and finals in the PTT Bangkok Open in 2007 (l. to Flavia Pennetta) .
In the Australian Open 2007, she lost to her first-round opponent Alicia Molik 2–6, 6–7. Nevertheless, she reached the final in the women's doubles with another Taiwanese player, Chuang Chia-jung, where they lost in three sets to Cara Black and Liezel Huber. She lost in the first round of the 2007 French Open to Elena Likhovtseva, but made her top 50 debut afterwards, at #50. Her current ranking on the WTA circuit is No.129 (as of May 23, 2011).
Chan started playing in the junior circuit in 2002, and reached the SF stage at her first ITF junior event. With solid performances both in junior and challenger events, her combined junior ranking reached No. 2 on May 24, 2004.
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Chanda Rubin
Chanda Rubin (born February 18, 1976) is an American tennis player. Winning seven WTA Tour singles titles, she reached her highest ranking World No. 6 on April 8, 1996, after reaching semifinals at the 1996 Australian Open. Rubin is also former World No. 9 in doubles, winning the Australian Open in 1996 partnering with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario.
Throughout her long career, she has been ranked as high as No. 6 in the world even though she has been plagued by injuries. Rubin was the third African-American woman in the Open era to reach the top ten after Zina Garrison and Lori McNeil.
Rubin reached the quarterfinals at the French Open in 1995, 2000, and 2003. She also reached the Australian Open semifinals in 1996, defeating Gabriela Sabatini in the fourth round and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the quarterfinals before losing to Monica Seles 6–7, 6–1, 7–5. Rubin has defeated several other top players, including Lindsay Davenport, Justine Henin, Amélie Mauresmo, and Serena Williams. Her 2002 upset of Williams ended the top-ranked player's winning streak of 21 matches, a stretch that carried Williams through titles at the French Open and Wimbledon.
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Chanelle Scheepers
Chanelle Scheepers ( /ʃəˈnɛl ˈskɛpərz/; born 13 March 1984, in Harrismith) is a South African professional tennis player. Her career high WTA singles ranking is No. 37, which she reached on 10 October 2011. Her career high doubles ranking is 91, set at 30 August 2010.
She is sponsored by Babolat racquets and K-Swiss for clothing. She is coached by Roger Anderson.
Scheepers turned pro in 2000 and played two ITF events.
In 2001 She reach 4 finals in the ITF level and won all with 3 of them coming from Durban, South Africa a local tournament and one in the United States.
In 2002, she reached 3 ITF finals winning one in Mackay, Australia and losing in the other two in Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
In 2003, she played her first Tour level event in the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts and won her first main draw tour level match after getting through the Qualifying draw over Samantha Stosur but lost to Tathiana Garbin in the next round. She then had a 19 match losing streak in the Qualifying draws of Tour Level and ITF events and Main Draw of ITF events.
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China
China (i/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.
The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.
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Claire Feuerstein
Claire Feuerstein (born 28 February 1986) is a professional tennis player from France. She made her debut in professional competition in 2002, aged 16, at an ITF tournament in Les Contamines, France.
From 2002 to 2009 she played at many ITF tournaments, with three wins. Her first appearance at a WTA Tour event was at the 2009 Internationaux de Strasbourg. She lost in the first round of the Women's Singles competition, but reached the final of the Doubles competition, with partner Stéphanie Foretz.
She received a wildcard entry into the main draw of the 2009 French Open. She lost to number 7 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round.
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Coco Vandeweghe
Coco Vandeweghe (born December 6, 1991 in New York City) is an American professional tennis player. She played on the junior circuit, where she reached a high ranking of junior world no. 15, but is gradually playing more senior tournaments[citation needed]. She won the 2008 US Open Girls' singles championship.
She made her WTA debut in Los Angeles, and reached her senior singles career high of world no. 113 on October 4, 2010.
In May 2010 she won the LA Open Women's Singles championship.
She plays for the Boston Lobsters in the World TeamTennis pro league.
Vandeweghe first started playing tennis with her older brother, Beau.
Vandeweghe has a massive serve. She has a great topspin/flat forehand that she uses to dictate play with. Her backhand has good power on it, and she slices on that side very well. Movement and overall fitness are seen as her weaknesses. She is coached by Robert Van't Hof at the Palisades Tennis Club in Newport Beach, CA.
She received a wildcard into the 2008 US Open Girls' Singles tournament. She defeated 13th seed Elena Chernyakova in the first round. She defeated fellow wildcard Kristie Ahn in the second round and Katarzyna Piter in the third round. In the quarter finals, she defeated Belgian Tamaryn Hendler 6–2, 6–0. She defeated 12th seed Kristina Mladenovic in the semi finals and went on to win the final against Gabriela Paz-Franco 7–6(3), 6–1. She won the tournament without dropping a set.
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Daniel Nestor
Daniel Mark Nestor, CM (Serbian: Данијел Нестор, Danijel Nestor), born on September 4, 1972, in Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia, is a Serbian-born Canadian professional tennis player from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
In his career thus far he has won 76 men's doubles titles, including a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics, the ATP World Tour Finals 4 times, and 7 Grand Slam men's doubles titles. In addition, Nestor won the 2007 Australian Open mixed doubles title with Elena Likhovtseva. This pairing also reached the finals of the 2006 Australian Open and the 2006 French Open. Nestor also won the 2011 Australian Open mixed doubles title with Katarina Srebotnik. In June 2011, he captured the 2011 French Open men's doubles title with Max Mirnyi.
His 76 doubles titles make him the third most decorated champion among active doubles players, and fourth all time. He is the only player in tennis history to have won all four Grand Slams, all of the Masters Series events, the Year End Championships and Olympic gold medal in doubles at least once. He was named ATP Doubles Team of the Year in 2002 and 2004 (with Mark Knowles) and 2008 (with Nenad Zimonjić).
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Daniela Hantuchova
Daniela Hantuchová (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈdaɲi̯ɛla ˈɦantuxɔvaː]; born April 23, 1983) is a Slovakian professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first Tier I tournament and ended the year in the top 10.
She is currently coached by Larri Passos. Her WTA Tour mentor in the "Partners for Success" program was Martina Navrátilová, who was her doubles partner for a brief period in early 2005. As of May 28, 2012, Hantuchová is ranked World No. 18 in singles.
In 2005, she became the fifth female tennis player to win the mixed doubles title in all four Grand Slam tournaments during her career.
Hantuchová was born in Poprad, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) to father Igor, a computer scientist, and mother Marianna, a toxicologist.
When her parents split up in 2003, Hantuchová's performances temporarily worsened. At Wimbledon that year, she failed to convert several match points and was seen weeping on court. She also suffered from a weight problem during this period. She was suspected of being anorexic, but denied this.
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Daniela Hantuchová
Daniela Hantuchová (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈdaɲi̯ɛla ˈɦantuxɔvaː]; born April 23, 1983) is a Slovakian professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first Tier I tournament and ended the year in the top 10.
She is currently coached by Larri Passos. Her WTA Tour mentor in the "Partners for Success" program was Martina Navrátilová, who was her doubles partner for a brief period in early 2005. As of May 28, 2012, Hantuchová is ranked World No. 18 in singles.
In 2005, she became the fifth female tennis player to win the mixed doubles title in all four Grand Slam tournaments during her career.
Hantuchová was born in Poprad, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) to father Igor, a computer scientist, and mother Marianna, a toxicologist.
When her parents split up in 2003, Hantuchová's performances temporarily worsened. At Wimbledon that year, she failed to convert several match points and was seen weeping on court. She also suffered from a weight problem during this period. She was suspected of being anorexic, but denied this.
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Daria Gavrilova
Daria Gavrilova (born March 5, 1994) is a junior Russian tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 290, which she reached on May 28, 2012.
Daria highest junior ITF ranking is at No. 1 reached on August 23, 2010.
On the 20th of August, Daria, representing Russia won the singles gold medal in the inaugural Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore. Daria, unseeded in the event went from a set down to defeat Chinese Zheng Saisai in the final 2–6, 6–2, 6–0.
In the US Open, Daria reached the final of the girls' singles event after beating Lauren Davis from the United States, Caroline Price also from the United States, Tang Haochen from China and two more Americans Robin Anderson and Sloane Stephens. She then won the title by defeating her compatriot Yulia Putintseva in the final with a score of 6–3 and 6–2. Daria partnered Irina Khromacheva in the US Open girls' doubles event. In the semi-final they lost to the eventual winner Tímea Babos and Sloane Stephens.
Gavrilova played her first WTA main draw match as a wildcard in her home town of Moscow, where she faced Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko. Gavrilova played well but lost 5–7, 1–6.
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Dinara Safina
Dinara Mikhailovna Safina (Russian: Динара Михайловна Сафина, Tatar: Динара Мөбин кызы Сафина, Dinara Möbin kızı Safina), born April 27, 1986 in Moscow, is a Russian professional tennis player of Tatar background. Safina's career high ranking is World No. 1.
Safina was runner up in singles at the 2008 French Open, 2009 Australian Open, and the 2009 French Open, falling to Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams, and Svetlana Kuznetsova, respectively. She has had success at Grand Slam events in women's doubles by winning the 2007 US Open with Nathalie Dechy. She also won the Olympic silver medal in women's singles at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
She is the younger sister of former World No. 1 men's player Marat Safin. She and her brother are the first brother-sister tandem in tennis history to both achieve No.1 rankings.
Safina was born in Moscow, Russia to ethnic Tatar parents. Her mother, Rauza Islanova, was her trainer when she was younger; while her father is director of the Spartak tennis club in Moscow. Her brother Marat is a former world No. 1 on the ATP Tour. Speaking of growing up in such a successful tennis family, Safina stated: "Being the little sister in such a big tennis family is not an easy situation. Maybe that's why it took me longer to develop. My father is very competitive, but my parents didn't put pressure on me. I wanted to find my identity. I wanted to be something by myself, like being a big player by myself. So at the beginning I was putting too much pressure on myself. But then gradually I found myself, and I learned how to do better with that situation." At age 8, Safina and her family moved to Valencia, Spain, and as a result Safina speaks fluent Spanish as well as Russian and English.
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Dominika Cibulková
Dominika Cibulková (born 6 May 1989 in Piešťany, Czechoslovakia, now Slovakia) is a professional Slovak tennis player. She is also a former world junior no. 3, achieving that ranking in May 2005. Her career-high ranking of world no. 12 was achieved on 6 July 2009. Her best result was reaching the semi-finals of the 2009 French Open, while she has also reached the quarter-finals at the 2010 US Open and the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. Cibulková has also won one title on the WTA tour, winning the tournament in Moscow in 2011.
Cibulková began playing tennis between the ages of seven and nine and grew up in Bratislava, Slovakia. She can speak both Slovak and English.
She lists clay and hard as her favourite surfaces, and has thus far proved to be most proficient on a hard surface.
Cibulková competed predominantly on the ITF circuit at this time, and managed to win two tournaments: the Amarante, Portugal event in 2005, and the Bratislava event in 2006.
Cibulková started her year with a win over Tara Iyer in the first round of the CANARA Bank Open, but lost to no. 4 seed Jelena Kostanić Tošić in the second round.
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Edina Gallovits
Klaudia Edina Gallovits-Hall (née Gallovits; born December 10, 1984 in Timişoara) is a Romanian female tennis player of Hungarian descent on her father's side. She is currently ranked 75th in the world and her career highest ranking of No. 54 was achieved on April 28, 2008. She achieved her best Grand Slam performance at the 2007 French Open and 2008 Australian Open by making the second round. In juniors, she reached a career high of No. 7 and made the final of the prestigious Orange Bowl Championships, losing to Vera Zvonareva. Edina married her American coach and manager, Bryce Hall, in November 2010.
In June 2007, she reached the final of the inaugural Barcelona KIA event. Ranked at No. 91 in the world, she beat Virginia Ruano Pascual, fifth seed Lourdes Domínguez Lino, fourth seed Kaia Kanepi and in the semifinals she prevailed over Virginie Razzano 6–3 6–4. However, her run came to an end courtesy of Meghann Shaughnessy who won 6–3 6–2 in the final.
In February 2010 she won her first WTA title in doubles at the Copa Sony Ericsson Colsanitas in Bogotá, Colombia. In the final she and her partner, Gisela Dulko, defeated in straight sets the pair Olga Savchuk – Anastasiya Yakimova.
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Ekaterina Makarova
Ekaterina Valeryevna Makarova (Russian: Екатерина Валерьевна Макарова, born on 7 June 1988) is a professional tennis player from Russia. She achieved her career high ranking of number 29 on June 6, 2011.
She began playing tennis when she was six years old and joined the senior women's circuit at the age of fifteen.
In her first professional tournament in Elektrostal, Russia as a wildcard, she reached the quarter-finals losing to Olga Savchuk 6–3, 3–6, 0–6. At the Zhukovsky, Russia, she lost in the first round after qualifying. This was her last tournament of 2003.
She then played in Cairo, Egypt, reaching the second round as a qualifying. At Antalya, Turkey a she won her career first title over Kateryna Avdiyenko 6–3, 6–3. Appearing at Felixstowe, Great Britain she lost in the first round. At Târgu Mureş, Romania, she claimed her second $10,000 title without dropping a set, defeating Simona Matei in the finals. In Moscow, she lost in the first round to Tatsiana Uvarova 4–6, 6–4, 6–7. At Balashikha, she lost to Elena Vesnina 3–6, 5–7,in the second round after qualifying. In Moscow as a wildcard in the qualifier, she earned her first top 100 victory over Tatiana Perebiynis 2–6, 6–4, 4–0 ret and Polish World No. 83 Marta Domachowska 7–6, 6–4 but lost to compatriot Anna Chakvetadze. In Minsk, Belarus, she came through qualifying in straight sets, losing to Ekaterina Dzehalevich 2–6, 1–6 in the quarterfinals.
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Elena Vesnina
Elena Sergeevna Vesnina (Russian: Елена Сергеевна Веснина) (born Lviv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, on 1 August 1986) is a professional female tennis player from Russia. Her career high rank was #22, achieved on 12 October 2009. She is coached by former ATP tour player Andrei Chesnokov.
In October 2002, aged sixteen years and two months, she gained direct entry into the qualifying draw for her first $10,000 tournament at Giza, Egypt, and succeeded in qualifying for the main draw before losing a close three-set match.
The very next week, once again qualifying at Al-Mansoura to enter the main draw, where she won two further matches in straight sets, beating Hana Šromová of the Czech Republic in Round Two, to reach her first ever $10,000 quarter-final in just her second event played. However, she defaulted her quarter-final tie to her opponent.
In 2003 she began the year entering two successive ITF events India. at Chennai and Bangalore, and not only succeeded in qualifying both times, but also reached her first semi-final and another quarter-final in the main draws, notably losing to future star Akgul Amanmuradova at the quarter-final stage at Bangalore.
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Elizabeth Minter
Elizabeth Minter is a former Australian professional tennis player. She was born on 23 August 1965 in Australia and played on the WTA tour from 1980 to 1990. She now helps train young children.
In 1983 Minter won the 1983 US Open Junior Girls' Singles. She reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Women's Doubles with her sister Anne Minter in 1984 losing to Chris Evert and Wendy Turnbull; the 3rd round of Wimbledon in 1986 and 1988; and the U.S. Open in 1986. She retired with a 72-80 singles record and an 32-67 doubles record. In 1984 Minter won the Salt Lake City ITF Doubles title, with her sister.
Minter made her Fed Cup debut for Australia in 1984, where she played two doubles matches with her sister, against Argentina in the first round and Belgium in the second round of the World Group. Minter didn't make any further appearances for Australia.
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Flavia Pennetta
Flavia Pennetta (born 25 February 1982 in Brindisi, Apulia) is an Italian professional tennis player. She became Italy's first top 10 female singles player on 17 August 2009 and also the first ever Italian Tennis player to be ranked No.1 in Doubles on 28 February 2011. As of 28 May 2012, Pennetta is ranked World No. 20 in singles and World No. 16 in doubles.
Pennetta has won nine career WTA singles titles, including back-to-back titles in Bogotá and Acapulco in 2005. She and her Italian teammates Mara Santangelo, Francesca Schiavone, and Roberta Vinci beat the Belgium team 3–2 in the 2006 Fed Cup final. Justine Henin had to retire in the fifth and final match due to an injury in her right knee, which let Italy win their first Fed Cup trophy. She was also a member of their winning team in 2009 and 2010, when they beat the United States on both occasions.
Pennetta has defeated multiple Grand Slam singles champions such as Justine Henin, Mary Pierce, Martina Hingis, Francesca Schiavone, Amélie Mauresmo, Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Janković. Pennetta is also one of only seven women to beat Williams[who?] three consecutive times. In doubles, Pennetta won her first Grand Slam title at the 2011 Australian Open with partner Gisela Dulko, and also reached the 2005 US Open final partnered with Elena Dementieva. She has also reached the US Open quarterfinals three times in singles.
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Francesca Schiavone
Francesca Schiavone (Italian pronunciation: [franˈtʃeska skjaˈvoːne]; born 23 June 1980 in Milan) is an Italian tennis player who turned professional in 1998. She won the 2010 French Open singles title, becoming the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam event in singles. She was also runner-up at the 2011 French Open. As of 28 May 2012, Schiavone's ranking is World No. 12; her career high ranking is World No. 4, achieved on 31 January 2011.
Schiavone employs an all court game and has a very classic approach to her clay game. She uses an extreme eastern grip on her one handed backhand. Chris Fowler and Brad Gilbert described her forehand as a "buggy whip."
Schiavone has won four singles titles on the WTA tour, but has also achieved ten runner-ups in total, eight of them since the autumn of 2005. Schiavone lost her first eight career finals before finally winning her first title in July 2007. She and her Italian teammates Mara Santangelo, Flavia Pennetta, and Roberta Vinci beat the Belgium team 3–2 in the 2006 Fed Cup final. Justine Henin had to retire in the fifth and final match due to an injury in her right knee, which let Italy win their first Fed Cup trophy. This match was a doubles match and Kirsten Flipkens partnered Henin and Roberta Vinci partnered Schiavone. In 2009 she won the Fed Cup with Italy for the second time against the USA, and also made the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time. In 2010 Italy with Schiavone won the Fed Cup for the third time.
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Galina Voskoboeva
Galina Olegovna Voskoboeva (Russian: Галина Олеговна Воскобоева, born December 18, 1984) is a professional Russian-born Kazakhstani tennis player. She reached her career-high singles rank of World No. 42 on May 7, 2012. Her career high in doubles is 27th, set at May 14, 2012.
Galina was born in Moscow, Russia. She was introduced to tennis by her mother, a swimming coach, at age six. She attended University RUPF in Moscow, where she graduated from in 2005.
She turned pro in 2002. During her career, she has won two ITF singles titles: in Mont-de-Marsan in 2003, and Cuneo in 2006. She reached her career high in doubles on January 29, 2007. In 2008, Voskoboeva managed to qualify for the Qatar Total Open in Doha,. In the first round she defeated Eleni Daniilidou before taking a set off world number #5 Maria Sharapova before losing 4–6, 6–4, 1–6. That same year, she reached the quarter finals in Quebec City. On February 16, 2009, she reached her singles career high of no. 64 and also reached the quarter finals in Warsaw. At the 2009 US Open she lost in the first round to Caroline Wozniacki 6–4, 6–0.
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Georges Goven
Georges Goven (born April 26, 1948, in Lyon) is a retired tennis player from France.
Goven won the Australian Championships juniors title in 1964.
Goven reached the semifinals in both singles and doubles (partnering François Jauffret) at the 1970 French Open.
Goven has coached such players as Nicolas Escudé, Nathalie Dechy and Tatiana Golovin. Currently, he is the captain of the France Fed Cup team since 2005 (he replaced to his compatriot and former player Guy Forget) and was the Davis Cup team captain from 1993-1994.
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Gisela Dulko
Gisela Dulko (born January 30, 1985) is an Argentine female tennis player, who will, as of 4 July 2011, be ranked World No. 51 in singles and No. 4 in doubles. Although she enjoyed a modest success in singles, reaching No. 26 on November 21, 2005, and winning four WTA Tour titles, her speciality has been doubles, where she has been a World No. 1 player. Partnering with Flavia Pennetta, Dulko won the 2010 WTA Tour Championships and the 2011 Australian Open in doubles.
Dulko was born and raised in Tigre, Buenos Aires Province. Her brother Alejandro, who is seven years her junior, is her coach. Dulko was born to Ana and now deceased Estanislao, who was of Hungarian descent. At the age of twelve, she moved from Argentina to Miami, Florida, in order to pursue a professional tennis career.
Dulko is married to fellow Argentine, Fernando Gago, who is a footballer currently playing for A.S. Roma.
As a Junior, she won three of the four Grand Slam events in doubles, including the 2000 US Open with María Emilia Salerni, the 2002 Australian Open with Angelique Widjaja, and the 2001 Wimbledon Championships with Ashley Harkleroad. As a professional, she has won sixteen doubles championships.
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Gréta Arn
Gréta Arn (born 13 April 1979) is a Hungarian professional tennis player of German descent. She is the Hungarian no. 2, behind Tímea Babos. She turned professional in 1997.
In her career she won four ITF titles in singles; she also won her first WTA title in Estoril, Portugal, on 6 May 2007, and her second in Auckland, New Zealand in 2011. Her career high WTA ranking is no. 40, on 16 May 2011.
Arn was born in Budapest, Hungary. After playing for Germany with dual Hungarian citizenship for 9 years, she chose for the 2008 Fed Cup to compete for Hungary alongside Ágnes Szávay. She also chose to play for her nation of birth full time.
In 1997, Arn won her first ITF Women's Circuit title, winning a $10,000 event it Stockholm. In 1999 she won her second ITF title at the $10,000 event in Glasgow. In 2004, at Bad Saulgau, she won her third ITF $10,000 title.
In 2006, Arn won a ITF $25,000 event in Fort Walton Beach. In 2007, she won her first WTA Tour title as a qualifier ranked No.176 in the world, becoming the lowest ranked and first qualifier to win a WTA Tour event in 2007. In the Tier IV 2007 Estoril Open final she defeated teenager Victoria Azarenka 2–6, 6–1, 7–6; saving two matchpoints at 4–5 in third set.
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Guy Forget
Guy Forget (French pronunciation: [ɡi fɔʁʒe]; born 4 January 1965 in Casablanca, Morocco) is a French former professional tennis player. During his career, he helped France win the Davis Cup in both 1991 and 1996. Since retiring as a player, he has served as France's Davis Cup team captain.
Forget first came to the tennis world's attention as an outstanding junior player who won the French Open junior title in 1982. He turned professional later that year.
His breakthrough year on the professional tour was 1986 when he made it to the fourth round of Roland Garros, his best grand slam at that point, and won his first top-level singles title in Toulouse, and was also part of the French team which won the World Team Cup. Forget also won six doubles titles in 1986, reaching his career-high doubles ranking of World Number 3 in August that year, finishing in the runner-up spot with partner Jakob Hlasek at the 1990 ATP Tour World Championships tournament.
In 1987 Forget and Yannick Noah finished runners-up in the men's doubles at the French Open. In 1990, Forget partnered Jakob Hlasek to win the ATP Tour World Championships doubles title.
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Heather Watson
Heather Miriam Watson (born 19 May 1992) is a British female tennis player. Born in Guernsey, she trains and lives at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida, USA. Watson has won one major title at the 2009 US Open Juniors, two senior ITF titles and won gold at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games. She has been as high as no. 3 in the world on the ITF Junior Circuit. Watson is rated as the British senior women's number 3, behind Elena Baltacha and Anne Keothavong, and is ranked at 110 in the world.
Heather Watson was born 19 May 1992 in Guernsey to Papua New Guinea national Michelle and Manchester-born Englishman Ian Watson, who was the managing director of Guernsey Electricity from 1995 until his retirement in 2010. She has one brother and two sisters. Heather Watson started playing tennis at the age of seven, and at age twelve she left home to go to the American Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida.
In 2006, Watson won the British Under-14 Championship. The following year Watson won the British Under-16 Championship, and reached the semi-finals of the British Under-18 Championship. She lost in the Under-18 semi-finals again in 2008 to eventual winner Tara Moore. In October, Watson travelled to Pune to compete at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games. There she won the gold medal, winning the final against Kyra Shroff. Mother Michelle left her job in 2008 to travel full-time with Heather Watson around the world junior circuit.
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Ilana Kloss
Ilana Sheryl Kloss (born 22 March 1956) is a former professional tennis player and the commissioner of World Team Tennis.
Kloss was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Before turning professional, in 1972 she won the Wimbledon juniors singles title. In 1974 she won U.S. Open juniors singles title, and was the youngest player ever to be ranked # 1 in South Africa.
Kloss was ranked # 1 in the world in doubles in 1976. That year, she won doubles titles at the U.S. Open, the Italian Open, the U.S. Clay Courts, the German Open, the British Hard Courts Championship, and Hilton Head, as well as the mixed doubles title at the French Open.
She was ranked as high as # 19 in the world in singles play in 1976.
In 1977 she won both the German and Canadian championships, and the British clay court championship. In 1973, she won the title in Cincinnati with Pat Walkden, defeating Evonne Goolagong and Janet Young in the final.
Most of her women's doubles titles were achieved with partner Linky Boshoff.
After retiring, Kloss took part in the 35-and-over tour, winning the U.S. Open doubles and mixed doubles championship in 1999.
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Iveta Benesova
Iveta Benešová (Czech pronunciation: [ˈɪvɛta ˈbɛnɛʃovaː]; born on 1 February 1983 in Most, Czechoslovakia) is a professional tennis player. She began playing tennis at age of 7 and turned professional in 1998 in Prague. She has won two WTA Tour events and one Grand Slam in mixed doubles partnering with Jürgen Melzer at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships.
In the 2006 Australian Open, for the first time, she reached the third round of a Grand Slam by beating 5th seed Mary Pierce 6–3, 7–5. She lost in the next round 6–4, 6–1 to former No.1 Martina Hingis.
Entering as a qualifier in the 2008 French Open, she reached the third round, beating 15th seed and compatriate Nicole Vaidišová 7–6(2), 6–1 in the first round, and losing to compatriate Petra Cetkovská 6–3, 6–3.
Benešová started the year by playing the first edition of the Brisbane International. She lost in the first round to qualifier Sesil Karatantcheva, 1–6, 6–4, 6–2. A week later, Benešová lost in the final of the tournament in Hobart, Australia to fellow-Czech Petra Kvitová. At the Australian Open, Benešová lost in the second round to eventual semifinalist and fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva 6–4, 6–1.
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Iveta Benešová
Iveta Benešová (Czech pronunciation: [ˈɪvɛta ˈbɛnɛʃovaː]; born on 1 February 1983 in Most, Czechoslovakia) is a professional tennis player. She began playing tennis at age of 7 and turned professional in 1998 in Prague. She has won two WTA Tour events and one Grand Slam in mixed doubles partnering with Jürgen Melzer at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships.
In the 2006 Australian Open, for the first time, she reached the third round of a Grand Slam by beating 5th seed Mary Pierce 6–3, 7–5. She lost in the next round 6–4, 6–1 to former No.1 Martina Hingis.
Entering as a qualifier in the 2008 French Open, she reached the third round, beating 15th seed and compatriate Nicole Vaidišová 7–6(2), 6–1 in the first round, and losing to compatriate Petra Cetkovská 6–3, 6–3.
Benešová started the year by playing the first edition of the Brisbane International. She lost in the first round to qualifier Sesil Karatantcheva, 1–6, 6–4, 6–2. A week later, Benešová lost in the final of the tournament in Hobart, Australia to fellow-Czech Petra Kvitová. At the Australian Open, Benešová lost in the second round to eventual semifinalist and fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva 6–4, 6–1.
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Jamea Jackson
Jamea Jackson (born September 7, 1986) is a female American former tennis player. She reached a singles ranking of 45 in the world at the end of 2006. Jackson was born in Atlanta, Georgia and attended the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida. She was announced as the Assistant Coach of the Oklahoma State University Women's Tennis Team in August 2009.[1]
She won two ITF Women's Circuit singles titles. The first was a $10,000 hard-court event in 2003 in Dallas, Texas. The second was a $50,000 hard-court event in 2004 in Tucson, Arizona.
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James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis, Christopher Wood, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, Sebastian Faulks and Jeffery Deaver; a new novel, written by William Boyd, is planned for release in 2013. Additionally, Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond and Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the diaries of a recurring series character, Moneypenny.
The fictional British Secret Service agent has also been adapted for television, radio, comic strip and video game formats as well as being used in the longest running and the second-highest grossing film franchise to date, which started in 1962 with Dr. No, starring Sean Connery as Bond. As of 2012, there have been twenty two films in the Eon Productions series, with a twenty third, Skyfall, due for release on 26 October 2012. The film will star Daniel Craig in his third portrayal of Bond: he is the sixth actor to play Bond in the Eon series. There have also been two independent productions of Bond films, Casino Royale, a 1967 spoof, and Never Say Never Again, a 1983 remake of an earlier Eon-produced film, Thunderball.
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Janko Tipsarević
Janko Tipsarević (Serbian Cyrillic: Јанко Типсаревић, Serbian pronunciation: [jâːŋkɔ tipsǎːrɛʋit͡ɕ]) (born 22 June 1984) is a Serbian tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 8, achieved on 2 April 2012. He is the 117th player in history to crack the top 10.
In his career, he has won two ATP tour championships, two Futures and nine tournaments in the ATP Challenger Series. Tipsarevic has also won the 2001 Australian Open Junior title.
Tipsarević has achieved two victories over a World No. 1 player, having defeated compatriot Novak Djokovic twice. He also has twelwe (12) victories against other players from the top 10, consisting of four wins against Tomáš Berdych, two against Andy Roddick, and one against Fernando González, Mikhail Youzhny, David Ferrer, James Blake, Gaël Monfils, and Andy Murray. He also has wins against former World No. 1 players, Carlos Moyá, Marat Safin, Lleyton Hewitt, and Juan Carlos Ferrero. Arguably his most notable matches to date are his third-round match at the 2008 Australian Open, where he lost to Roger Federer 7–6, 6–7, 7–5, 1–6, 8–10, & reaching the quarter-finals at the 2011 US Open, losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in four sets. He has also defeated former top-ten players Andy Roddick and Fernando González at Grand Slam level.
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Jelena Dokic
Jelena Dokić (Serbian: Јелена Докић; born Osijek, 12 April 1983) is an Australian female professional tennis player.
During the height of her career, she played for Serbia and Montenegro (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia prior to February 2003) and reached a career-high ranking of World No. 4 on 19 August 2002. After several family-related difficulties (mostly involving her father), she slowly slipped down the rankings in 2006. She made a serious return to tennis in 2008, and after winning three ITF tournaments that year, rose to World No. 187 going into the 2009 Australian Open. She finished 2009 in the top 100, but declined in 2010. Her 2011 season has seen a resurgence in Dokić's form and abilities."
The highlights of Dokić's career include reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon and the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and reaching the quarterfinals at the French Open in 2002 and the Australian Open in 2009. Other highlights include beating several former World No. 1 players: Martina Hingis in the first round of Wimbledon in 1999, Venus Williams at the 2000 Italian Open and Kim Clijsters at the 2003 Zürich Open. Other high-calibre players whom Dokić has defeated include Caroline Wozniacki, Jelena Janković, Monica Seles, Justine Henin, Amélie Mauresmo, Mary Pierce, Elena Dementieva, Francesca Schiavone, Anna Chakvetadze and Jennifer Capriati.
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Jelena Dokić
Jelena Dokić (Serbian: Јелена Докић; born Osijek, 12 April 1983) is an Australian female professional tennis player.
During the height of her career, she played for Serbia and Montenegro (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia prior to February 2003) and reached a career-high ranking of World No. 4 on 19 August 2002. After several family-related difficulties (mostly involving her father), she slowly slipped down the rankings in 2006. She made a serious return to tennis in 2008, and after winning three ITF tournaments that year, rose to World No. 187 going into the 2009 Australian Open. She finished 2009 in the top 100, but declined in 2010. Her 2011 season has seen a resurgence in Dokić's form and abilities."
The highlights of Dokić's career include reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon and the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and reaching the quarterfinals at the French Open in 2002 and the Australian Open in 2009. Other highlights include beating several former World No. 1 players: Martina Hingis in the first round of Wimbledon in 1999, Venus Williams at the 2000 Italian Open and Kim Clijsters at the 2003 Zürich Open. Other high-calibre players whom Dokić has defeated include Caroline Wozniacki, Jelena Janković, Monica Seles, Justine Henin, Amélie Mauresmo, Mary Pierce, Elena Dementieva, Francesca Schiavone, Anna Chakvetadze and Jennifer Capriati.
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Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković or Jelena Jankovic(Serbian Cyrillic: Јелена Јанковић, pronounced [jɛ̌lɛna jǎːnkɔv̞itɕ], born February 28, 1985) is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no. 21, being coached by the former Dinara Safina coach, Željko Krajan.[citation needed]
Janković was born in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia, as the third child of Veselin and Snežana, both economists.[citation needed]. She has two brothers, Marko and Stefan. She is a student at the Megatrend University in Belgrade, studying economics; however, she has put her course of study on indefinite hold as she continues to pursue her tennis career. Janković learned her first tennis skills at the Tennis Club 'Red Star'. As a nine-and-a-half year old she was introduced to tennis by her elder brother and fitness coach Marko. With 11 years has won the national championship in the competition to 12 years. She was later trained at the Tennis Academy of Nick Bollettieri. As a junior she won the 2001 Australian Open and junior no. 1 in the world. In 2001, she started to play on the WTA Tour; she reached the second round at her first tournament at the Indian Wells Masters.
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Jennifer Capriati
Jennifer Marie Capriati (born March 29, 1976) is a former world number one ranked professional tennis player, and the winner of three women's singles championships in Grand Slam tournaments. Capriati made her professional debut in 1990 at the age of 13 years 11 months when she reached the finals of the hard court tournament in Boca Raton, Florida, losing there to Gabriela Sabatini. Capriati reached the semifinals of the French Open in her debut and later became the youngest ever player to crack the top 10 at age 14 years, 235 days in October of that year. Between 1990 and 1993, Capriati won six singles titles, including a Gold Medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, defeating Steffi Graf in the final. Following a first round loss at the 1993 U.S. Open, the burned out Capriati took a 14-month break from competitive pro tennis. Her personal struggles during this time (including arrests for shoplifting and possession of marijuana) were well-documented by the press.
In 1998, Capriati won her first Grand Slam singles match in five years at Wimbledon. During the next two years, Capriati slowly returned to championship form, winning her first title in six years in Strasbourg, France in 1999 and regaining a top 20 ranking. At the 2001 Australian Open, the reinvigorated Capriati became the lowest seed to ever win the championship when she defeated Martina Hingis (ranked number one in the world at the time) in straight sets for her first Grand Slam championship. She also won the French Open that year, claiming the number one ranking in October. After successfully defending her Australian Open crown in 2002, Capriati became a top ten mainstay until injuries derailed her career in 2004.
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Jill Craybas
Jill N. Craybas (born July 4, 1974) is an American professional tennis player. She is one of the oldest players on the WTA Tour, having turned pro in 1996. From the 2000 US Open to the 2011 US Open, Craybas competed in 45 consecutive Grand Slam main draws, her best result coming in the 2005 Wimbledon Championships where she reached the fourth round which included wins over Marion Bartoli and Serena Williams.
Craybas was born in Providence, Rhode Island. She received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, where she played for coach Andy Brandi's Florida Gators women's tennis team in National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) competition from 1993 to 1996. As a senior in 1996, she won the NCAA women's singles tennis championship. Craybas graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in telecommunications in 1996, and has said in interviews that she hopes to enter film or television production when her playing career ends. She was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2008.
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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (French pronunciation: [(d)ʒo vilfʁid t͡sɔŋɡa]; born (1985-04-17)April 17, 1985) is a French professional tennis player. He was born in Le Mans, to a French mother, Évelyne, and a Congolese father, Didier, who moved to France in the 1970s to play handball. Tsonga is a member of the Tennis Club de Paris (TCP). His current career-high singles ranking is World No. 5, which he achieved on February 27, 2012.
Tsonga rose to fame by virtue of his performance in the 2008 Australian Open when, as an unseeded player, he reached the final, having defeated four seeded players along the way, including earning a straight sets win over the then world number two Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. Tsonga eventually lost to the then world no. 3 Novak Djokovic in the final in four sets, after winning the first set, the only set Djokovic dropped during the tournament.
Tsonga followed this up by winning his first ATP Masters Series championship at the 2008 Paris Masters, thus qualifying for the 2008 Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, China. His best performances in a major tournament since 2008 are semifinal appearances in the 2010 Australian Open and 2011 Wimbledon Championships. He also reached the final of the 2011 ATP World Tour Finals where he lost to five-time and defending champion Roger Federer.
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Julia Görges
Julia Görges (born 2 November 1988 in Bad Oldesloe) is a professional tennis player from Germany. Görges reached career-high WTA singles ranking of no. 15 on 5 March 2012 and a doubles ranking of 31 on 6 June 2011. She has won two WTA singles titles and three doubles titles as of May 2012.
Julia Görges was born in Bad Oldesloe to Klaus and Inge Görges, both of whom work in insurance. She has one half-sister named Maike, who also works in insurance. She attended the Klaus-Groth Schule and Theodor-Mommsen Schule in Bad Oldesloe from 1995 to 2005, and completed the mittlere Reife (Realschulabschluss).
She began playing tennis around the age of 5 when her parents began taking her to the local club. Her tennis idol growing up was Martina Hingis, and she is also a fan of Roger Federer. She is coached by Sascha Nensel, former coach of fellow German player Nicolas Kiefer. The surfaces she prefers are hard and grass courts, and her favorite tournament is the Australian Open.
In 2005 she began her career on the ITF Women's Circuit, playing in only seven tournaments and losing in the first round in five of them.
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Julia Vakulenko
Julia Olegovna Vakulenko (Ukrainian: Юлія Оле́гівна Вакуленко) (born July 10, 1983 in Yalta) is a professional Ukraine-born female tennis player. She achieved her career high ranking of No. 31 on January 14, 2008.
In April, 2008, Vakulenko renounced her Ukrainian citizenship announcing her decision to acquire the citizenship of Spain where she's lived for the last ten years.
At the 2006 French Open, Vakulenko reached the third round.
At Wimbledon 2006, she had to pull out during the first round due to injury.
Julia became Kim Clijsters' last opponent in her professional career (before Clijsters' return in 2009). Julia won 7–6(3), 6–3 in the second round of J&S Cup in Warsaw, Poland on May 3, 2007. This earned her the nickname "Kimmie Killer".
A week later, Julia defeated World No. 3 Amélie Mauresmo at the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin 2–6, 6–1, 6–2 (her career best) and then defeated Dinara Safina 6–3, 5–7, 6–3 to earn a spot in the semifinals against Ana Ivanović.
On August 28, 2007, in the first round of the US Open, Julia defeated number nine seed Daniela Hantuchová 6–4, 3–6, 6–1. She eventually reached the fourth round, her best performance at a major yet, before falling to Ágnes Szávay.
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Julie Coin
Julie Coin (French pronunciation: [ʒyli kwɛ̃]; born 2 December 1982 in Amiens, France) is a professional French tennis player. Coin recorded the largest victory of her career by defeating the world's #1 ranked female singles player, and #1 seed, Ana Ivanović at the 2008 US Open. Her career high singles ranking is World No. 60, achieved on 27 July 2009. Her career high doubles ranking is World No. 49, achieved on 19 April 2010.
Her parents are Philippe and Doriane Coin. They were competitive team handball players.
Coin played at Clemson University, where she was an All-American, All-ACC, and ACC Player of the Year. She also holds numerous Clemson Women's Tennis records. Coin graduated from Clemson with a degree in mathematics.
Coin and her doubles partner, Violette Huck, made it to the second round of the 2008 French Open women's doubles tournament. Coin's breakthrough came at the 2008 US Open when she was ranked 188th in the world. She entered the main draw as a qualifier after defeating Amanda McDowell, Sesil Karatantcheva, and Elena Baltacha in the qualification rounds. This was the first time she had entered the main draw in singles at a WTA tournament. In the first round, she defeated Australian Casey Dellacqua 7–6(6), 7–6(4). Coin then rose to prominence and made worldwide headlines when she defeated World No. 1 and top-seeded Ana Ivanović in the second round 6–3, 4–6, 6–3. ESPN and Sports Illustrated both called the win one of the greatest upsets in tennis history. Unfortunately, her parents only got to watch highlights of the match since Amélie Mauresmo, who was playing at the same time, was the one shown on French television.
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Justine Henin
Justine Henin (French pronunciation: [ʒys.tin enɛ̃]; born 1 June 1982), known as Justine Henin-Hardenne between 2002 and 2007, is a retired professional Belgian tennis player and former World No. 1.
Henin won 43 WTA singles titles and seven Grand Slam singles titles, including four French Open titles, one Australian Open title, and two US Open titles. She has also won the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships twice and the singles gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Tennis experts cite her mental toughness, the completeness and variety of her game, her footspeed and footwork, and her one-handed backhand (which John McEnroe has described as the best single-handed backhand in the women's or men's game) as the principal reasons for her success.
Critics and all-time-great players have made testament to Henin's talent. Upon Henin's first retirement from the WTA in the early part of the 2008 season, Billie Jean King said that "pound for pound, Henin is the best tennis player of her generation", as well as that "Justine is the best women's athlete I've ever seen."Andre Agassi said of Henin, "Justine Henin is one of the most talented women ever to have played the game of tennis." In 2007, 18 time Grand Slam winner Martina Navratilova said that "She is head and shoulders above everyone else right now." John McEnroe concurred, saying that Henin is "The player I most like to watch." Henin made a return to the WTA in early 2010, losing the final of the Australian Open in only her 2nd tournament back.
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Karina Habšudová
Karina Habšudová (born August 2, 1973, Bojnice, Czechoslovakia) is a former Slovak female professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as 10 in the world (1997). Together with Karol Kučera she won the Hopman Cup in 1998.
She also had a successful junior career. She won the girls' singles at the 1991 US Open, and was junior No.1 for some time.
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Karolina Pliskova
Karolína Plíšková (born 21 March 1992) is a professional Czech tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 121, which she reached on 7 May 2012. Her career high in doubles is 91, which she reached on 30 April 2012. Her twin sister Kristýna is also a tennis player. In 2010, she won the girls' singles event at the 2010 Australian Open, beating Laura Robson 6–1, 7–6 in the final.
Plíšková was born to Radek and Martina Plíšková, and has a twin sister Kristýna, who is also a tennis player. She is currently coached by Jan Bedan.
Plíšková will be playing for the Philadelphia Freedoms of World Team Tennis in the summer of 2012. It will be her first season playing WTT. She will be joined on the Freedoms by her twin sister Kristýna. The Freedoms will compete in 14 matches this season, including seven home matches played at The Pavilion at Villanova University.
Pliskova will play her first Grand Slam tournament main draw at the 2012 French Open. To qualify, she defeated Dia Evtimova 6–3, 7–6(4), Tamaryn Hendler 7–5, 6–3 and Laura Robson 4–6, 7–5, 6–4. She was defeated in the first round by World No. 8 Marion Bartoli in straight sets.
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Karolina Šprem
Karolina Šprem (born October 25, 1984) is a Croatian tennis player. She has won eight titles (seven singles, one doubles) all at the ITF level. She has not won any titles on the WTA Tour.
Šprem was born in Varaždin. She turned professional in 2001.
In 2004, she reached the quarterfinal at Wimbledon by defeating the two-time champion, four-time finalist and then-world No. 8 Venus Williams in the second round before losing to Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinal. The umpire of her match against Venus Williams awarded her an extra point in the second set tie break. He was relieved of his duties after the end of the match.[citation needed]
In her first two WTA-tournaments she reached the finals, however in late 2004 her form declined. She began training with Borna Bikic, who at that time was brother of the boyfriend of Jelena Dokić.
In late 2007 Šprem announced a permanent split from Bikic, and returned to her old coach. Still, she had to cope with a serious elbow injury. In April 2008 she successfully returned to the pro-tour winning in Amelia Island over Ai Sugiyama and top 10 player Daniela Hantuchová, before falling to Lindsay Davenport in the third round.
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Katarina Srebotnik
Katarina Srebotnik (born March 12, 1981 in Slovenj Gradec) is a Slovenian professional tennis player. Srebotnik is right-handed, 1.80 m, weighs 65 kg and lives in Dubai. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 20 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour on August 7, 2006.
Srebotnik won 4 singles titles on the WTA-tour and was a steady top 30 player for several years. However, she had her best results on the doubles circuit, winning 30 titles (as of January 16, 2012), including one doubles Grand Slam title (Wimbledon 2011), as well as five Grand Slam titles in mixed doubles. She reached the No. 1 position on the WTA doubles ranking on July 4, 2011.
In juniors, she won the 1998 Wimbledon singles title and was singles runner-up at the US Open. Srebotnik attained the second spot on the junior rankings in 1997 and 1998.
Srebotnik made her ITF Debut in 1995. She won the ITF singles tournament in Ismailia (1996), Zadar (1997); Šibenik (1998) and in Dubai (1999). In 1998, Srebotnik won her first Tour doubles title at the Makarska Open (with Tina Križan), and became later that year doubles runner-up at Maria Lankowitz (also with Križan). In 1999, her win at the ITF tournament in Dubai, gave her ‘feed up’ direct entry into her first-ever singles Tour event at Estoril, where she became the fourth player ever to win her Tour debut event by defeating Kuti Kis in the final. She broke into the Top 100 on April 12, 1999 at No.88. Srebotnik reached the semifinal at Palermo, and played in her first Grand Slam main draw at Roland Garros, losing in the second round; but winning the mixed doubles tournament with Norval.
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Katerina Maleeva
Katerina Maleeva (Bulgarian: Катерина Малеева) (born 7 May 1969) is a former top 10 Bulgarian tennis player. She played in the WTA tour, competing in singles, doubles and mixed doubles between 1984 and 1997. Her best position in the WTA rank list was number 6 in 1990.
Born in Sofia, Maleeva was the second oldest of the three children of Yulia Berberyan and Georgi Maleev. The mother, who came from a prominent Armenian family, which found refuge in Bulgaria after the 1896 Armenian massacres in the Ottoman Empire, was the best Bulgarian tennis player in the 1960s. After she retired from professional tennis in the 1970s, Berberyan started on a coaching career. She was the coach of her three daughters, Katerina, Manuela and Magdalena, each of whom eventually became WTA top ten players.
Throughout her professional career, Maleeva has won a total of 11 WTA Tour singles titles and two titles in doubles. She has been six times in the top ten and has a balance of 369 victories and 210 losses. In 1994 she married her year-long partner, Georgi Stoimenov. The two have two children and currently live in Sofia.
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Kim Clijsters
Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (Dutch pronunciation: [kɪm ˈklɛistərs] ( listen); born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian professional tennis player. As of 28 May 2012, Clijsters is ranked no. 47 in singles. Clijsters is a former world no. 1 in both singles and doubles.
Clijsters has won 41 WTA singles titles and 11 WTA doubles titles. She has won four Grand Slam singles titles: three at the US Open, in 2005, 2009, and 2010 and one at the Australian Open in 2011. She has also been runner-up in four Grand Slam singles tournaments, and won the WTA Tour Championships singles title in 2002, 2003, and 2010. In doubles, she won the French Open and Wimbledon titles in 2003. Clijsters announced her retirement with immediate effect on 6 May 2007, but almost two years later, on 26 March 2009, she publicly declared her intent to return to the WTA tour for the 2009 summer hard court season. In only her third tournament back, she won her second US Open title, becoming the first unseeded player and wildcard to win the tournament, and the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong in 1980.
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Kirsten Flipkens
Kirsten Flipkens (born 10 January 1986 in Geel) is a professional female Belgian tennis player. Her career high rank for singles is No. 59 (21 June 2010). She won 10 ITF Singles titles, and 1 ITF Doubles title.
In 2003, Flipkens won the Wimbledon and US Open Girls' Singles events. At the end of the year, she was named ITF Junior World Champion.
At the 2006 French Open, Flipkens was playing her first ever Grand Slam tournament. She reached the second round. She also reached the second round in the 2006 US Open after qualifying, falling to eventual Semi-Finalist Jelena Janković.
For Wimbledon 2006 she partnered then British No.2 Andy Murray in the mixed doubles.
That same year she lost 2 singles matches and the decisive doubles match in the Fed Cup final against Italy.
In 2009, Flipkens reached the second round of the Australian Open and the French Open. She defeated No.30 Ágnes Szávay to reach the second round at Wimbledon, where she faced Elena Baltacha. Flipkens beat the British wildcard in straight sets to set up an encounter with top seed Dinara Safina and a place in a Grand Slam 3rd round for the first time in her career. She lost to the Russian, after having a setpoint in the first set (5–7, 1–6).
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Kristyna Pliskova
Kristýna Plíšková (born 21 March 1992) is a Czech tennis player. She won the 2010 Wimbledon Championships in junior singles, beating Sachie Ishizu 6–3, 4–6, 6–4, while her twin sister Karolína is the 2010 Australian Open junior singles champion.
Plíšková was born to Radek and Martina Plíšková, and has a twin sister Karolína, who is also a tennis player. She is currently coached by Jan Bedan.
Plíšková began competing professionally in 2005. She played her first ITF junior final at Malta ITF Junior Tournament in 2006, losing to Cristina Sánchez Quintanar 6(4)–7, 6–4, 6–2. Plíšková made her Grand Slam debut at the 2010 Australian Open and reached the semifinals. She defeated the first seed Tímea Babos 6–4, 4–6, 7–5 in the quarterfinals, but then lost to Laura Robson 6–3, 6–1. Robson was eventually beaten in the final 6–1, 7–6(5) by Plíšková's twin sister Karolína. At the 2010 French Open, Plíšková was defeated by Danka Kovinić 7–6(4), 6–2 in the first round. She then went on to win the 2010 AEGON International Junior Tournament, beating Tara Moore 6–2, 6–4. Plíšková eventually won the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, defeating Sachie Ishizu 6–3, 4–6, 6–4.
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Kristína Kučová
Kristína Kučová (born 23 May 1990 in Bratislava) is a tennis player from Slovakia. Her highest juniors ranking was World Number 3. According to the International Tennis Federation, Kučová's favorite type of court is the clay court, she hits a two-handed forehand and backhand (like Wimbledon finalists Monica Seles and Marion Bartoli), and her father, Jozef Kuča, also coaches her. Her career high ranking was no. 103, achieved on 3 August 2009.
Her older sister, Zuzana Kučová, also plays on the women's tennis circuit.
At the 2007 U.S. Open Girls' Singles, the unseeded Kučová took the title, defeating thirteenth seed Julia Glushko in the third round, top seed and defending champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals, and number two seed Urszula Radwańska in the final, 6–3, 1–6, 7–6 (4). In addition to this, Kučová reached the 2007 Wimbledon Championships and 2007 French Open girls' doubles quarterfinals. Both times, Kučová was seeded seventh, however, she reached the French Open quarterfinals with compatriot Klaudia Boczová, losing to eventual champions and third seeds Ksenia Milevskaya and Urszula Radwańska. She reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals along with compatriot Lenka Juriková. The seventh-seeded Slovakian pair lost to eventual runner-ups Misaki Doi and Kurumi Nara, 7–5, 6–3.
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Květa Peschke
Květoslava "Květa" Peschke (Czech: Květa Peschkeová, née Hrdličková; born July 9, 1975 in Bílovec, Czechoslovakia) is a professional female tennis player from the Czech Republic. She plays mostly on the baseline, with her best shot being the forehand. Her favourite surfaces are hard court and carpet.[citation needed] At Wimbledon 2011 Květa Peschke claimed her first grand slam doubles title alongside Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik. Peschke became the first Czech player to win the Wimbledon women's doubles title since Jana Novotná in 1998. Peschke and Srebotnik also took over the No. 1 ranking in doubles and they won a WTA Award as 'Doubles Team of the Year' in November 2011.
Prior to 2003, Peschke was known as Květa Hrdličková
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Laura Garrone
Laura Garrone (born November 15, 1967 in Milan) is a former professional tennis player from Italy.
Garrone won five doubles titles during her career on the WTA Tour. The right-hander reached her highest career ranking on January 19, 1987, when she became the number 32 of the world. Her best Grand Slam finish was the fourth round at the 1986 French Open at Roland Garros.
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Leander Paes
Leander Adrian Paes (Bengali: লিয়েন্ডার পেজ; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian professional tennis player who currently features in the doubles events in the ATP tour and the Davis Cup tournament. He is the sports ambassador of Haryana. Paes completed the career grand slam in men's doubles after winning the Australian Open in 2012. Having won seven doubles and six mixed doubles Grand Slam titles and finishing as runner up in numerous other Grand Slam finals, he is considered to be one of the greatest and most respected contemporary doubles and mixed doubles players in the world. He is among the most successful professional Indian tennis players and is also the former captain of the Indian Davis Cup team. He is the recipient of India's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, in 1996–1997; the Arjuna Award in 1990; and the Padma Shri award in 2001 for his outstanding contribution to tennis in India. Paes is the great-grandson of the Bengali poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt.
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Liezel Huber
Liezel Huber (née Horn; born August 21, 1976, Durban, South Africa) is a professional tennis player who competes for and resides in the United States, having been a naturalized citizen on there since July 2007. Huber has won four Grand Slam titles in women's doubles with partner Cara Black, one with Lisa Raymond, and two mixed doubles titles with Bob Bryan. On November 12, 2007, she became the co-World No. 1 in Doubles with Cara Black. On April 19, 2010, Huber became the sole No. 1 for the first time in her career.
At age 15, she moved to the United States from South Africa to attend the Van Der Meer Tennis Academy in Hilton Head, South Carolina in 1992. Huber has since resided in the U.S. She married Tony Huber, an American citizen, in February 2000. In 2005, she started a foundation, Liezel's Cause to raise money and gather basic supplies to assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
She competed for the United States in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in doubles, partnering with former world number 1 (both in singles and doubles) Lindsay Davenport; the pair lost in the quarterfinals.
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Lilia Osterloh
Lilia Osterloh (born April 7, 1978 in Columbus, Ohio) is a tennis player from the United States, who started a professional career in August 1997. She reached her highest singles ranking on the WTA Tour on April 23, 2001, when she became World No. 41. Her career high doubles ranking on the WTA tour is No. 77, which she reached on August 23, 1999.
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Lina Krasnoroutskaya
Lina Vladimirovna Krasnoroutskaya (Russian: Лина Красноруцкая; krahs-nah-ROOTS-kah-yuh; born April 29, 1984 in Obninsk, Russia, Soviet Union) is a former Junior World Number 1 (1999) tennis player. In addition to gaining the coveted top spot, Lina won the US Open Junior title. She has however had a career blighted by injury.
After a successful year in 2001, when she reached the quarter finals at Roland Garros (seventh youngest player ever to do so) and the Wimbledon last 16, as the world number 34 she was badly injured at the 2002 Australian Open when she obtained an invite from Hong Kong Tennis Patrons' Association to play The Hong Kong Ladies Challenge 2002 after. She was not effectively back until February 2003 when she climbed back up the rankings (reached 25) after wins over Monica Seles, Elena Bovina, Nadia Petrova and then world number 1 Kim Clijsters.
However a shoulder injury at the end of 2003, then a liver condition in 2004, followed by stomach problems at the start of 2005 meant that she had considered (March 2005) whether to continue on the pro tour. In June 2005 she announced she would be returning, but that the return would be delayed until after the birth of her first baby in November 2005.
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Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Ann Davenport (born June 8, 1976 in Palos Verdes, California) is a former World No. 1 American professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine ranked her as the 29th-best player of the preceding forty years. She is one of only four women (the others are Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, and Chris Evert) since 1975 who has been the year-end world no. 1 at least four times, and was ranked world no. 1 on eight different occasions. Davenport finished 1998, 2001, 2004, and 2005 as the top-ranked player. She was coached most of her career by Robert Van't Hof.
Davenport is the daughter of Wink Davenport, who was a member of the U.S. volleyball team at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and Ann Davenport. She attended both Chadwick School in Palos Verdes Peninsula, California and Murrieta Valley High School in Murrieta, California.
Davenport married Morgan Stanley investment banker and former University of Southern California All-American tennis player, Jonathan Leach, in 2003. Davenport took a break from competitive tennis in late 2006 and much of 2007 to have a baby. On June 10, 2007, she gave birth to a son, Jagger Jonathan, in Newport Beach, California. She gave birth to a daughter, Lauren Andrus, on June 27, 2009 in Newport Beach, California. She currently owns a home in the Irvine, California neighborhood of Shady Canyon and also in Laguna Beach, California. She gave birth to her third child, daughter Kaya Emory, on January 16, 2012.
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Lisa Raymond
Lisa Raymond (born August 10, 1973) is an American professional tennis player who has achieved notable success in doubles tennis. On June 12, 2000, she reached the world number one ranking in doubles. Her career high singles ranking was fifteenth in October 1997.
Earning more than US$8 million in prize money in her career, Raymond has reached the quarterfinals in singles at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon. Raymond, who plays right-handed, has wins over Venus Williams, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis. She also is one of the few players to win a career Grand Slam in doubles.
Of her four singles titles, two have come at the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tennessee.
Raymond was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania. She received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she played for coach Andy Brandi's Florida Gators women's tennis team. As a Gator, she won the NCAA singles title in 1992 and 1993 and led the Gators to their first-ever NCAA national team championship in 1992. She was the first player to win all three collegiate Grand Slam titles in a single season (1992). She received the 1992 Volvo Rookie of the Year award, the 1992 Tennis Magazine Collegiate Player of the Year award, the 1992 and 1993 Broderick Award, and the 1993 Honda Award for collegiate tennis.
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Lucie Hradecká
Lucie Hradecká (born 21 May 1985 in Prague) is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. In her career, Hradecká has won 13 WTA doubles titles, including the 2011 French Open, in which she won her first Grand Slam title.
Hradecká has won 18 ITF singles titles, but no WTA singles titles. She has won 11 WTA and 29 ITF doubles titles.
She won her first doubles title on the WTA Tour in 2006 at Portorož with partner Renata Voráčová, as the fourth-seeded team. In the final, the Czech team defeated Eva Birnerová and Émilie Loit, the second seeds, by walkover. They also had a victory over the top seeds Maria Elena Camerin and Emmanuelle Gagliardi in the semifinal.
She reached the third round of doubles competition with Hana Šromová as qualifiers at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships before going down to fifth seeds Meghann Shaughnessy and Anna-Lena Grönefeld. En route they defeated twelfth seeds Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amélie Mauresmo, both Grand Slam singles champions at the time and the previous year's Wimbledon doubles runner-ups by walkover.
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Magdalena Maleeva
Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgarian: Магдалена Малеева) (born April 1, 1975) is a Bulgarian former tennis player. She played on the WTA tour competing in singles and doubles, from April 1989 to June 2007. Her best position in the WTA Tour was no. 4 between January 29 to February 4, 1996.
Born in Sofia, Maleeva was the youngest of the three children of Yulia Berberyan and Georgi Maleev. Yulia, who came from a prominent Armenian family which found refuge in Bulgaria after the 1896 Armenian massacres in the Ottoman Empire, was one of the best Bulgarian tennis players in the 1960s. After she retired from professional tennis in the 1970s, Berberyan started on a coaching career. She trained all of her three daughters, Magdalena, Katerina and Manuela, each of whom eventually became WTA top six players.
In 1988 Maleeva became the youngest ever national tennis champion of Bulgaria, at the age of 13 years and four months. She turned professional in 1989, reaching the final of her first professional tournament at ITF/Bari-ITA. In her Grand Slam debut at the French Open in 1990, she passed the qualifications and reached the third round. In 1992 Maleeva snatched her first Tour event victory in San Marino. The following year she reached the fourth round at the Australian, the French and the US Open, as well as the third round of Wimbledon. That same year, she was the opponent of Monica Seles at a tournament in Hamburg, Germany when a deranged fan stabbed Seles in the back on the court. In 1995 Maleeva won a total of three tournaments, in Moscow, Chicago, Oakland, which allowed her to reach a career-high no. 4 in the WTA rankings in January 1996.
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Magdaléna Rybáriková
Magdaléna Rybáriková (born October 4, 1988 in Piešťany) is a Slovak professional tennis player. On June 22, 2009, she achieved her career-high WTA singles ranking of 40th.
Rybáriková is coached by Mojmir Mihal and her fitness coaches are Kristian Cupak and Michal Dubovec. Like many tennis players she started young at the age of 8. She was born in Piešťany to father Anton, a business manager, and mother Maria. She has two older siblings, Filip and Nada, and a dog named Sindy. She moved to Bratislava at age 15 to train at the national tennis center there. Her favorite surfaces are grass and hard. She likes pizza, chicken, iced tea, and the movie "Pretty Woman". Her favorite tournaments are Wimbledon and the US Open. She admires Martina Hingis as a tennis player. She has stated that if she wasn't a tennis player, she would like to study archaeology, as she likes the Indiana Jones movies. She carries with her a toy bear as a lucky charm.
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Maja Matevžič
Maja Matevžič (born June 13, 1980, Ljubljana) is a former professional WTA tennis player from Slovenia. Both her most recent WTA singles and WTA doubles matches were played on 21 August 2005 at Toronto. According to a user on TennisForum.com, a news report said she is working on a return.
Maja retired because of the injuries in September 2006. Her last tournament was in Portorož, Slovenia, where she played doubles with Tina Križan.
Maja is now opening a tennis school in Slovenia. She will pass on her knowledge to boys and girls in Slovenia.
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Marcin Matkowski
Marcin Matkowski (born 15 January 1981 in Barlinek) is a right-handed Polish professional tennis player whose speciality is in doubles. His current partner is Mariusz Fyrstenberg; they have been playing together since 2003, he occasionally plays mixed doubles with Caroline Wozniacki.
Matkowski and Fyrstenberg qualified as the eighth and final contenders in the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup. This was mainly because of the best Grand Slam result in their history, in which they reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open until 2011 when they reached the US Open Men's Doubles Final, losing a controversial decision to Philipp Petzschner and his partner Jurgen Melzer. A ball clearly struck Mr. Petzschner on the left shin during a net exchange and rebounded over the net onto the sideline. When confronted about this, Mr. Petzschner denied this, though instant replay clearly shows the ball ricocheting off his leg.
Won tournament, or reached Final, Semifinal, Quarterfinal, Round 4, 3, 2, 1, played in Round Robin or lost in Qualification Round 3, Round 2, Round 1, Absent from a tournament or Participated in a team event, played in a Davis Cup Zonal Group (with its number indication) or Play-off, won a bronze or silver match at the Olympics. The last is for a Masters Series/1000 tournament that was relegated (Not a Masters Series).
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Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American professional tennis player, and Olympic silver medalist. He is a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.
Fish has won six tournaments on the main ATP Tour, and has reached the final of four Masters Series events: Cincinnati in 2003 and 2010, Indian Wells in 2008, and Montreal in 2011. His best result at a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the quarter final stage at the 2007 Australian Open, the 2008 US Open, and the 2011 Wimbledon Championships.
In April 2011, Fish overtook compatriot Andy Roddick to become the American No. 1 in the ATP rankings. As of 21 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 8. His current career-high singles ranking is World No. 7.
Fish is the son of a tennis teaching professional and a housewife, Tom and Sally Fish. He was born in Edina, Minnesota. In 1984 a Minneapolis TV station ran a profile of Fish, at the age of two, hitting tennis balls from the baseline over the net. In 1986, Fish's family moved to Vero Beach, Florida. He attended Vero Beach High School for tenth grade, then moved to Boca Prep in Boca Raton, Florida for his junior and senior years of high school. He, Andy Roddick, and Jesse Levine all attended Boca Prep International School. During 1999 he lived with Roddick's family, and the two played on the same tennis and basketball teams.
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Maria Elena Camerin
Maria Elena Camerin (born 21 March 1982, in Motta di Livenza) is a professional tennis player from Italy.
On 11 October 2004, Camerin reached her career-high singles ranking of world no. 41.
Camerin made her debut for the Italian Fed Cup team in 2001 against France.
At the 2007 US Open she gave Serena Williams a tough match, but eventually lost 7–5, 6–2.
In the first round at Wimbledon 2009, Camerin lost to Shahar Pe'er of Israel, 6–2, 7–6 (3).
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Maria Kirilenko
Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko (Russian: Мари́я Ю́рьевна Кириле́нко) (born 25 January 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player. Kirilenko won her first WTA Tour title in 2005, defeating Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the China Open. Kirilenko reached no. 16, her career-high singles ranking, on the WTA tour in May 2012. She won the junior event at the 2002 Canadian Open, as well as the 2002 US Open junior tournament. She has reached one Grand Slam quarterfinal at the 2010 Australian Open. As of 28 May 2012, Kirilenko is ranked world no. 16.
Born in the Soviet Union of paternal Ukrainian heritage, Kirilenko is a good friend to fellow WTA players Maria Sharapova, Daniela Hantuchová, Victoria Azarenka, Ana Ivanović, Agnieszka Radwańska, Nadia Petrova, and Marta Domachowska.
Kirilenko dated fellow Russian player, Igor Andreev for several[quantify] years. In November 2011, Russian hockey player Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals identified Kirilenko as his girlfriend on his Twitter account
Maria Kirilenko started showing a passion for tennis at age 5, but it was difficult to get practice in while still attending school. Her father enrolled her in a tennis school, and hours of training started to pay off as she won several tournaments.
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Maria Sharapova
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (Russian: Мария Юрьевна Шарапова [mɐˈrʲijə ˈjurʲjɪvnə ʂɐˈrapəvə] ( listen), US: /ʃɑrəˈpoʊvə/, UK: /ʃærəˈpoʊvə/; born April 19, 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player and former world no. 1. A United States resident since 1994, Sharapova has won 26 WTA singles titles, including three Grand Slam singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open. She has also won the year-end WTA Tour Championships in 2004. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked Sharapova world no. 1 in singles on four separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on August 22, 2005, and last regained the ranking for the fourth time on May 19, 2008. As of May 28, 2012, Sharapova is ranked world no. 2. She has been in six Grand Slam finals with the final record 3–3.
Sharapova made her professional breakthrough in 2004 at age 17, when she defeated two-time defending champion and top seed Serena Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final for her first Grand Slam singles title. She entered the top 10 of the WTA Rankings with the win. Despite not winning a major in 2005, Sharapova briefly held the no. 1 ranking, and reached three Grand Slam semifinals, losing to the eventual champion each time. She won her second major at the 2006 US Open defeating then-world no. 1 Amélie Mauresmo in the semifinals and world no. 2 Justine Henin in the final.
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Maria-Elena Camerin
Maria Elena Camerin (born 21 March 1982, in Motta di Livenza) is a professional tennis player from Italy.
On 11 October 2004, Camerin reached her career-high singles ranking of world no. 41.
Camerin made her debut for the Italian Fed Cup team in 2001 against France.
At the 2007 US Open she gave Serena Williams a tough match, but eventually lost 7–5, 6–2.
In the first round at Wimbledon 2009, Camerin lost to Shahar Pe'er of Israel, 6–2, 7–6 (3).
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Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli (born 2 October 1984) is a French professional tennis player and the current French no. 1. She has won seven Women's Tennis Association singles titles and three doubles titles. She was also a runner-up at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships.
Bartoli has defeated three reigning world no. 1 players in her career so far. She defeated Justine Henin in the semifinal of the 2007 Wimbledon Championships, 1–6, 7–5, 6–1, Jelena Janković in the fourth round of the 2009 Australian Open, 6–1, 6–4 and Victoria Azarenka 6–3, 6–3 in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open. She has also recorded wins over other top players such as Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Ana Ivanović, Lindsay Davenport, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Dinara Safina, Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitova, Sam Stosur and Kim Clijsters.
She is known for her unorthodox style of play using two hands on both her forehand and backhand. On January 30th 2012 she rose to a new career high ranking of No.7 in the world.
Bartoli was born in Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire. She is of Corsican, Catalan, and metropolitan French descent. She started playing tennis at the age of six. Bartoli trained in a small facility as a youngster, where there was not much room behind the baseline. Her father, Walter, gave up his career as a doctor to become her full-time coach when Bartoli won the 2001 Junior US Open title, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4.
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Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Mariusz Fyrstenberg (born 8 July 1980 in Warsaw) is a left-handed Polish professional tennis player whose speciality is in doubles. His current partner is Marcin Matkowski; they have been playing together since 2003.
Matkowski and Fyrstenberg qualified as the eighth and final contenders in the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup. This was mainly because of the best Grand Slam result in their history, in which they reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open until 2011 when they reached the US Open Men's Doubles Final, losing a controversial decision to Philipp Petzschner and his partner Jurgen Melzer. A ball clearly struck Mr. Petzschner on the left shin during a net exchange and rebounded over the net onto the sideline. When confronted about this, Mr. Petzschner denied this, though instant replay clearly shows the ball ricocheting off his leg.
Won tournament, or reached Final, Semifinal, Quarterfinal, Round 4, 3, 2, 1, played in Round Robin or lost in Qualification Round 3, Round 2, Round 1, Absent from a tournament or Participated in a team event, played in a Davis Cup Zonal Group (with its number indication) or Play-off, won a bronze or silver match at the Olympics. The last is for a Masters Series/1000 tournament that was relegated (Not a Masters Series).
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Mary Pierce
Mary Pierce (born 15 January 1975, in Montreal, Canada) is a French-American tennis professional playing on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour. She is a citizen of France, Canada, and the United States but plays for France in team competitions and the Olympics.
Pierce has won four Grand Slam titles, two in singles and two in doubles. She has reached six Grand Slam singles finals, most recently at the US Open and French Open in 2005. Her Grand Slam singles titles came at the 1995 Australian Open and the 2000 French Open. She won the 2005 Wimbledon mixed doubles championship and has reached three Grand Slam doubles finals. She has won 18 WTA singles titles and 10 WTA doubles titles, including five Tier I singles events. She also has twice reached the final of the season-ending WTA Tour Championships, most recently in 2005.
Pierce was born in Montreal, Canada to Yannick and Jim Pierce. Yannick is French and Jim is American, qualifying Mary for citizenship in all three countries. She was raised in the United States. She has represented France in international tennis competitions many times. She speaks English and French fluently. Mary was previously engaged to baseball player Roberto Alomar and then later to Air France pilot David Emmanuel Ades, but broke off both engagements.
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María Emilia Salerni
María Emilia Salerni (born 14 May 1983), known as Pitu Salerni, was an Argentine professional tennis player from the city of Rafaela, province of Santa Fe.
Salerni is a two-time former junior Grand Slam champion, winning Wimbledon and U.S. Open in 2000, as well as finishing runner-up at Roland Garros. She was named the 2000 ITF Junior World Champion. Salerni dated Argentine tennis player Guillermo Cañas until 2007.
Salerni retired from professional tennis in 2009 after a string of injuries.
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Mathilde Johansson
Mathilde Johansson (born 28 April 1985 in Gothenburg, Sweden) is a Swedish-born female tennis player who lives in and competes for France.
She made her WTA Tour main draw debut at the 2005 French Open, losing to sixth-seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round. In 2006, she reached the second round, losing to Russian youngster Maria Kirilenko in straight sets.
In 2011, Johansson reached her first WTA Tour final in Bogotá, losing to Lourdes Domínguez Lino in 3 sets.
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Meghann Shaughnessy
Meghann Shaughnessy (April 13, 1979 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of #11 in 2001, and has won six WTA Tour singles titles. She is best known for her serve, which is one of the most powerful on tour, and has produced as many as 22 aces in a match.
Shaughnessy is coached by Rafael Font de Mora (managed by him since age 13 and coached by him for over 20 years). She is the niece of Dan Shaughnessy, a Boston Globe sports columnist.
Shaughnessy made her debut on the WTA Tour in 1996 at a tournament in Budapest, and broke into the top 100 in 1998. In 2000, Shaughnessy won her first WTA singles title at Beijing, defeating Iroda Tulyaganova in the final, and breaking into the top fifty. In her breakout year of 2001, Shaughnessy achieved a career-high singles ranking of #11, won the second singles title of her career at Quebec City, and reached the finals of Hamburg and her home tournament in Scottsdale. She also recorded wins over world number five Conchita Martínez, world number four Monica Seles, and world number two Venus Williams.
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Meilen Tu
Meilen Tu (traditional Chinese: 涂美倫, simplified Chinese: 涂美伦, Hanyu Pinyin: Tú Měilún) (born January 17, 1978) is a former American professional female tennis player. Tu was born in Tarzana, Los Angeles, California to Taiwanese parents.
Tu has won one WTA Tour singles title, four WTA Tour doubles titles, four ITF Women's Circuit singles titles and three ITF Women's Circuit doubles titles.
At the 2006 DFS Classic, June 12–18, Tu reached the semi-finals but she lost to Vera Zvonareva, who then won the title.
She currently works as an agent for Lagardère Unlimited Tennis, working closely with players such as Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, Chang Kai-chen, Anna Chakvetadze, Sharon Fichman and Samuel Groth.
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Melanie Oudin
Melanie Oudin (born September 23, 1991 in Marietta, Georgia, United States) is an American tennis player and former world junior no. 2. Her current career ranking is world no. 269, as of May 28, 2012. She won the mixed doubles title at the US Open in 2011 with fellow American Jack Sock.
Oudin is of French descent and has a twin sister, Katherine, and a younger sister, Christina. She was home schooled from seventh grade on so that she could have more time for tennis practice, but admits envying her twin sister's experiences at a regular school. She says her idol is Justine Henin because "she proved you don't have to be tall to win things." Her grandmother inspired her and her sister to play tennis when she gave them racquets and lessons when they were young.
Oudin is a defensive counterpuncher. She uses her speed and footwork to get balls back from the other side of the court. Her best shot is her forehand which she can really hit with power. Her slice backhand is basically defensive but accurate. Good dropshots and clean volleys are useful assets in her game, as well.
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Melanie South
Melanie Jayne South (born 3 May 1986 in Kingston upon Thames, London) is an English tennis player. She is currently the British number 7 and ranked 310 in the world (as of 21 November 2011). So far in her career she has won a total of 6 ITF singles titles, 20 ITF doubles titles and reached a career-high singles ranking of world number 99 (achieved 2 February 2009).
Her greatest success in a Grand Slam so far came in the first round of the 2006 Wimbledon Championships when she came back from one set down to beat the world no. 14, Francesca Schiavone, 3–6 6–3 6–4, in a match witnessed by tennis player, Martina Navratilova. At the time, South was ranked at 305 in the world and had reached the main draw courtesy of a wild card. Not since the third round of the 1998 tournament, when Samantha Smith beat the world No.7 Conchita Martínez, had a British woman beaten an opponent of a similar ranking at Wimbledon. She lost in the second round to Shenay Perry, the world No. 62, 6–7(5) 2–6. Outside of Wimbledon, South reached the first round of the 2009 Australian Open without needing to qualify and without a wild card. This was the first time in her career that her ranking was high enough to grant her access to a Grand Slam main draw without a wild card. She lost to world No. 17, Marion Bartoli in round one.
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Melinda Czink
Melinda Czink (born October 22, 1982 in Budapest) is a Hungarian professional female tennis player. On September 21, 2009 Czink reached her career-high singles ranking of World No. 37.
She has reached two WTA Tour singles finals. In 2005, she lost to Ana Ivanović in Canberra. In 2009, she defeated Lucie Šafářová in Quebec City for her first WTA Tour title. On the ITF Tour, she has won 20 singles titles.
She played her first tournament at Budapest as a wild-carded in 2000. She entered the top 100 first in 2003 also later she fall out. She won several single and double ITF titles, see below.
She reached the top-50 and won her first title at Quebec. As 5th seeded she defeated Aleksandra Wozniak in the semifinal 6–3, 6–3 and Lucie Šafářová in the final 4–6, 6–3, 7–5. She also reached one semifinal and four quarterfinals during the season. At the end of the year she played at the Tournament of Champions at Bali where she lost to Aravane Rezaï 3–6, 5–7 and to Sabine Lisicki 6–2, 6–7(1), 4–6 in Round Robin.
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Mervana Jugić-Salkić
Mervana Jugić-Salkić (born 14 May 1980) is a Bosnian Croat tennis player. She turned professional in 1999, and reached her highest singles ranking on 21 June 2004, when she was ranked Word No. 99. On 10 July 2006, Jugić-Salkić reached No. 59 in doubles, after winning ASB Classic in 2004 with Jelena Kostanić and Internazionali di Modena in 2005 with Yulia Beygelzimer. She also won 14 singles and 31 doubles events organized by International Tennis Federation. Jugić-Salkić represented Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 2004 Summer Olympics, but fell to Maria Elena Camerin in the first round. During her long career, she defeated players such as Yan Zi, Victoria Azarenka, Bethanie Mattek, Sania Mirza, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Nuria Llagostera Vives and Sybille Bammer.
Jugić-Salkić was born to Hidajet and Hašiha Jugić. She began playing tennis relatively late, aged 13, citing Gabriela Sabatini as her idol. She fluent in Bosnian and English.
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Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra (born May 18, 1980) is a French professional tennis player. He is a prolific doubles player with three Grand Slam championships, and has also had success in singles.
Llodra was born in Paris, where his father Michel played for football club Paris Saint-Germain. A left-hander, his serve-and-volley style is modelled on that of his idol, Stefan Edberg.
Llodra and his wife Camille were married on September 9, 2003, and have two children, a daughter, Manon (born March 23, 2004) and a son, Teo (born September 5, 2007). He is a well-known supporter of French football club Paris Saint-Germain, and has often been seen wearing the club's shirt prior to tennis games.
Llodra reached his first Grand Slam final, the Australian Open Men's Doubles, with Fabrice Santoro. Unseeded, they lost to Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor. During the semifinals, Llodra inadvertently hit a bird.
Llodra won his first Grand Slam title, the Australian Open Men's Doubles, with Fabrice Santoro. Their opponents in the final were once again Knowles and Nestor.
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Milagros Sequera
Milagros Sequera (born September 30, 1980 in San Felipe, Yaracuy, Venezuela) is a professional female tennis player from San Felipe, Yaracuy, Venezuela. She joined the WTA Tour in 1999 and was ranked World No. 48 on July 9, 2007.
She won her first title in Fes, Morocco, on May 20, 2007, defeating Aleksandra Wozniak in the final.
Milagros' coach is Larry Willens. She was introduced to the game at the age of seven. Her favorite surface is hardcourt. She enjoys listening to music, reading, and writing during her spare time.[citation needed]
She won the gold medal at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, winning the final 7–5, 4–6, 6–1 against Sarah Taylor, and again in the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, winning the final 3–6, 7–6, 6–1 against Mariana Duque Marino.
Milagros’ racquet is the Head Microgel Extreme. She wears Lacoste clothing and Fila shoes.
Milagros currently resides in San Diego, USA, with her husband, Stephen Huss, whom she married in the Dandenong Ranges, near Melbourne Australia, on December 29, 2009.
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Mirjana Lučić
Mirjana Lučić (born March 9, 1982, in Dortmund, West Germany) is a Croatian professional tennis player. She enjoyed a promising career on the WTA Tour in the late 1990s, during which she set several "youngest-ever" records, won one Grand Slam women's doubles title at the Australian Open in 1998 when she was only 15 years old, partnering Martina Hingis, and reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 1999. Following a series of personal problems from 2000 onwards, she faded from the scene. After toiling through the challenger circuit through much of the next decade, Lučić reemerged as a top 100 player following the 2010 season. Married Daniele Baroni on November 15, 2011 to become Mirjana Lučić Baroni
Lučić began playing tennis at age four by hiding in the car when her older sister went to tennis classes and then sneaking into the lessons herself. As a junior player, she won the girls' singles title at the US Open in 1996, and the girls' singles and doubles crowns at the Australian Open in 1997, becoming only the third player in the Open Era to win two junior Grand Slam singles titles by the age of 14 (the others being Martina Hingis and Jennifer Capriati).
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Monica Niculescu
Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a Romanian tennis player. As of May 28, 2012 she is ranked no. 33 in the WTA Tour Singles Ranking and is the top-ranked Romanian player (out of 6 in the top-100). Her highest WTA ranking is no. 28 in singles, reached on February 27, 2012, and no. 24 in doubles, reached on June 7, 2010.
Niculescu was born in Slatina, Romania, but moved to Bucharest when she was four. She is currently coached by Calin Stelian Ciorbagiu.
Niculescu opened the season at the Brisbane International, where she lost to Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round in three sets. She also lost in the first round of the Moorilla Hobart International to Alyona Bondarenko. At the 2009 Australian Open, Niculescu beat Katie O'Brien in the first round, 6–4, 6–4, before losing to Sara Errani in the second, 2–6, 3–6. Alongside Sorana Cîrstea, Niculescu was the fourteenth seed in women's doubles; they lost to Nathalie Dechy and Mara Santangelo in the second round, 3–6, 3–6.
At the Open GDF Suez held in Paris, Niculescu defeated Timea Bacsinszky in the first round, before losing to eventual champion Amélie Mauresmo in the second. She then took part in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. She beat Shuai Peng in the first round in three sets, 3–6, 7–5, 6–2, and then lost to world no. 3 Jelena Janković in the second, 3–6, 2–6. Niculescu also partnered Elena Vesnina in doubles, and the two reached the quarterfinals in women's doubles; they lost to Anabel Medina Garrigues and Francesca Schiavone. Niculescu had two consecutive first-round losses, at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California (fell to Anna-Lena Grönefeld) and Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida (fell to Tamira Paszek). Partnering Alisa Kleybanova, she reached the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open, where they lost to Maria Kirilenko and Flavia Pennetta. At the Sony Ericsson Open she partnered Kleybanova again, but they lost to second seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual.
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Monica Seles
Monica Seles (Serbian: Моника Селеш, Monika Seleš, Hungarian: Szeles Mónika, pronounced [sɛlɛʃ], born December 2, 1973) is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She was born and raised in Novi Sad, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia, to Hungarian parents. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994 and also received Hungarian citizenship in June 2007. She won nine Grand Slam singles titles, winning eight of them while a citizen of Yugoslavia and one while a citizen of the United States.
She became the youngest-ever champion at the 1990 French Open at the age of 16. She was the world no. 1 player in the women's game during 1991 and 1992, but in 1993 she was forced out of the sport for more than two years following an on-court attack in which a man stabbed her in the back with a 9-inch-long knife. She enjoyed some success after returning to the tour in 1995, including a Grand Slam singles title at the 1996 Australian Open, but was unable consistently to reproduce her best form. She played her last professional match at the 2003 French Open, but her official retirement announcement was not issued until February 2008.
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Nadia Petrova
Nadezhda Viktorovna Petrova (Надежда Викторовна Петрова; born June 8, 1982 in Moscow, Soviet Union) is a Russian professional tennis player.
Overall, she has won 28 WTA Titles, ten in singles and eighteen in doubles. In singles, Petrova has reached a career high ranking of World No. 3 in May 2006 and has reached the semi-finals of the French Open in 2003 and 2005. In doubles, she won the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in 2004 with Meghann Shaughnessy. As of 7 May 2012 (2012 -05-07)[update], Petrova is ranked World No. 31 in singles and World No. 16 in doubles.
Petrova was born in Moscow. Her parents were both very athletic – her father Viktor was a leading hammer thrower, while her mother Nadezhda Ilyina won a bronze medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics in the 400 meter relay. Both her parents are still athletics coaches. As a child, Nadia did a lot of travelling around the world with her parents. She eventually settled in Egypt, where she trained with Mohammed Seif and her parents. Petrova states hard courts as her favourite surface, however, she has been most successful on clay courts. She is currently coached by Vladimir Platenik
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Natasha Zvereva
Natasha Zvereva, or Zverava, (born Natallya Maratauna Zverava (Belarusian: Наталля Маратаўна Зверава); 16 April 1971) is a former tennis player from Belarus. Zvereva was the first major athlete in the Soviet Union to demand publicly that she should be able to keep her tournament earnings. The team of Zvereva and Gigi Fernández won more women's doubles titles and Grand Slam women's doubles championships than any other team since the team of Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver. Navratilova, speaking of the abilities of the two teams, said that she and Shriver were better, but "We were power. They are finesse. It would have been close."
Zvereva is currently the captain of the Belarusian Fed Cup team. On 12 July 2010, Zvereva was inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame alongside Fernandez.
Zvereva used a baseline, counter-punching style centered around topspin and her double-handed backhand. She had great hands, used a variety of spins, and was willing to rush the net and volley. Though Zvereva's talent was never in doubt, she often suffered from lapses in concentration during matches and in her confidence as a singles player.
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Nenad Zimonjić
Nenad Zimonjić (Serbian Cyrillic: Ненад Зимоњић, Serbian pronunciation: [nê̞nad zîmo̞ɲit͡ɕ]; born June 4, 1976 in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a professional Serbian tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 3 in men's doubles. He is the second tennis doubles player from Serbia to hold the World No.1, after Slobodan Živojinović.
Zimonjić turned pro in 1995 and remained relatively unknown outside his native country until a surprise victory in the Mixed Doubles at the 2004 Australian Open. Paired for the first time with Russian Elena Bovina, he beat defending champions Martina Navratilova and Leander Paes in straight sets in an hour and nine minutes 6–1, 7–6 . Alongside Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, he won the 2006 French Open crown with a straight-sets victory over Daniel Nestor and Elena Likhovtseva, 6–3, 6–4. At the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, Zimonjić reached the final of the Men's Doubles (alongside France's Fabrice Santoro) and the quarter-finals of the Mixed Doubles.
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Nicole Pratt
Nicole Pratt (born 5 March 1973 in Mackay) is a retired professional female tennis player from Australia.
She is the middle sibling of five children of cane farmers and was taught to play by her father, George, who was a top junior player. She attended school in Calen and received a tennis scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. She turned professional at 18.
She became Australia's no. 1 ranked female player in January 2001. She won her first WTA Title at the Hyderabad Open and reached the third round of the Australian Open in 2004.
In August 2006, at age 33, Pratt reached her first ever Tier I quarterfinal at Toronto. Soon after this she rose back up into the top 100. In 2007, Pratt entered the Sydney Medibank International where she reached the 2nd round after defeating Dinara Safina in the 1st round. She was then beaten by Kim Clijsters in straight sets. At the 2007 Australian Open, she was beaten in 1st round by Virginie Razzano of France and at the 2007 Acapulco Open was beaten by Melissa Torres (es). During 2007 she was drafted by the Boston Lobsters of the WTT pro league.
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Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic (Serbian: Новак Ђоковић or Novak Đoković; pronounced [nɔ̂ʋaːk dʑɔ̂ːkɔʋitɕ] ( listen); born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked World No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) since 4 July 2011. He has won five Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008, 2011 and 2012 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open. By winning three Majors in 2011, Djokovic became the sixth male player in the open era to win three Majors in a calendar year.
He is the first male player representing Serbia to win a Major singles title and the youngest player in the open era to have reached the semifinals of all four Grand Slam events, separately and consecutively. Amongst other titles, he won the Tennis Masters Cup in 2008 and was on the team which won the 2010 Davis Cup. He also won the bronze medal in singles at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. He has won 11 Masters 1000 series titles placing him joint fourth on the all time list. Djokovic has quickly moved up in the rankings of history. Tennis Channel ranked him number 40 , and former player Pat Cash said he is one of the greatest ever.
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Olga Govortsova
Olga Govortsova (Belarusian: Вольга Аляксееўна Гаварцова; Russian: Ольга Алексеевна Говорцова; born 23 August 1988 in Pinsk, Brest Voblast) is a professional Belarusian tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking was world no. 35, which she reached on 23 June 2008.
She reached her first WTA Tour final at the 2008 Cellular South Open in Memphis, Tennessee. There she lost in straight sets to Lindsay Davenport.
She began her year at the 2009 Brisbane International, here she defeated 8th seed Francesca Schiavone 7–5 6–2 en route to the quarter finals. She fell here however against world no 41. Sara Errani 6–3 6–3.
At the Australian Open she received main draw entry but was drawn against 20th seed Amélie Mauresmo in the first round, she lost in straight sets 6–4 6–3.
She then played in Indian Wells, a premier mandatory event. She defeated British no 1 Anne Keothavong in the first round before falling to Shuai Peng.
In Miami the second premier mandatory event she lost in the first round to Belarusian qualifier Anastasiya Yakimova.
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Olga Poutchkova
Olga Alekseyevna Puchkova (also Poutchkova; Russian: Ольга Алексеевна Пучкова; Belarusian: Вольга Аляксееўна Пучкова; born September 27, 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player and model. As a junior she played for Belarus, and is sometimes listed as Belarusian as a professional.
Olga Poutchkova, coached by her father Alex Poutchkov, was No 1 in the World in the ITF U12 rankings in 1999. Olga won the U12 category in the Eddie Herr in 1999, where she beat Shahar Pe'er 6–2, 6–2 in the final, and a week later was runner up in the U12 category at the Orange Bowl, where qualifier Tatiana Golovin beat her 6–4, 3–6, 6–4.
Olga made her debut on the U18 circuit August 13, 2000 at the USTA Junior International Grass Court Championships where she was defeated in the first round. Just a week later, at the USTA Junior International Hard Court Championships she secured her first win in a U18 doubles match playing alongside Brazilian Caroline Neves. Alongside American Nicole Pitts she won her first U18 Junior tournament (out of 2 in doubles) in Ecuador, January 2001. She won her only U18 Junior title in singles at the US Junior International Hard Court Championships in 2003, beating Jessi Robinson 6–2, 6–2 in the final.
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Olivia Sanchez
Olivia Sanchez (born November 17, 1982 in Paris) is a professional tennis player from France. She received a wildcard into the main draw of the 2007 French Open, but lost in 6–3, 4–6, 3–6, to Shenay Perry in the first round. As of June 9, 2008, Sanchez reached her highest singles ranking of World Number 90 on June 9, 2008, and is ranked 203rd in the WTA rankings. Her highest doubles ranking was World Number 464, of which she achieved on August 12, 2002. During her career, she has won 5 ITF singles titles and 1 ITF doubles title, but no singles or doubles titles on the WTA Tour.
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Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder (born 14 December 1978 in Basel from Willy and Iris Schnyder ) is a retired Swiss professional tennis player. She played on the WTA tour from 1993 to 2011 and is a former World No. 7. She defeated several World No. 1 players in her career, including Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Steffi Graf, Jennifer Capriati, Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin, Amélie Mauresmo, Jelena Janković, Ana Ivanović and Caroline Wozniacki.
During her long career, she reached six Grand Slam singles quarterfinals and one Grand Slam singles semifinal. She won 11 WTA singles titles and 5 WTA doubles titles and earned over US$8.4 million in prize money.
In 1996, Schnyder made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at the French Open. In 1997, she quickly rose up through the rankings, and by August 1998 she had entered the WTA Top 10. However, Schnyder fell out of the Top 10 in April 1999, and spent the next 6 years ranked in the 15–30 range before re-entering the Top 10 in May 2005.
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Pauline Parmentier
Pauline Parmentier (31 January 1986 in Cucq) is a professional tennis player from France. Her career-high ranking is world, no. 40, achieved on 21 July 2008 and her highest ranking in doubles is world no. 146 on 15 June 2009.
Parmentier was born to parents Dominique and Jean-Philippe. She has two brothers. Her favorite surface is clay. Parmentier first took the courts at age 6.
Parmentier has received wildcards into French Open tournaments in singles since 2005 and in doubles since 2004. Parmentier reached the second round of the 2007 US Open singles competition, as a qualifier, defeating Tatjana Malek before falling to Martina Hingis. In her career, she has won two titles on the WTA Tour. She has also won seven ITF singles titles, and two ITF doubles titles. She won three of the seven singles titles in 2007. Parmentier won her first WTA Tour title in October 2007, at the Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan.
Parmentier was the fourth seed in Bad Gastein in July 2008. She won the title, which was her second WTA title and her first Tier III. She defeated top seed Ágnes Szávay, 6–4, 6–2, in the semifinals before defeating surprise qualifier Lucie Hradecká, 6–4, 6–4, in the final, after trailing 1–4 in the first set.
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Peng Shuai
Peng Shuai (born January 8, 1986, in Xiangtan) is a Chinese professional female tennis player. She won a gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games, defeating Akgul Amanmuradova in the final.
Peng is known for her stamina and plays with two hands on both sides and hits very flat. She has defeated many top 10 and top 5 players, including Anastasia Myskina, Elena Dementieva, Dinara Safina, Kim Clijsters, Martina Hingis, Amélie Mauresmo, Francesca Schiavone, Jelena Janković, Maria Sharapova, Agnieszka Radwańska, Li Na, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Vera Zvonareva.
She has yet to win a WTA singles title, making four finals and many semifinals. As of May 2012, she is ranked inside the top 30 and is the 2nd ranked Chinese women's player, behind Li Na (out of 3 in the top 100).
Peng began playing at age eight when an uncle (a famous tennis coach in China and the only other family member who plays tennis) introduced her to the game. She favors hard courts and forehand (though her backhand is the better side). Her father Peng Jijun is a police officer and her mother is Zhang Bing. At age 13, Peng Shuai was submitted to a hospital for heart surgery, a situation which she explains in the "Impossible is Nothing" campaign from Adidas.
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Petra Cetkovska
Petra Cetkovská (born 8 February 1985 in Prostějov, Czechoslovakia) is a professional female tennis player from the Czech Republic. She reached her career high singles ranking No.26 on 21 May 2012.
Cetkovska has been playing tennis since she was five. Her father, Petr works at a pro shop in a local tennis club, whilst her mother Alena is a nurse. She has one younger brother, Matej.
When she was 14, Cetkovska was involved in an incident with a friend whilst playing sport where her friend had accidentally pushed her against a wall. Two years later she was having brain surgery due to the swelling caused by the incident. A year later after that, she had contracted glandular fever, further hampering her tennis career prospects and the third obstacle had come when she broke her foot playing the Australian Open junior doubles final.
She is coached by Stéphane Charret and cites Roger Federer as her favorite player because he's "a great player and a good person." Cetkovska speaks Czech, French and English. She was involved in a relationship with ATP player Marcos Baghdatis when she was 19.
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Petra Cetkovská
Petra Cetkovská (born 8 February 1985 in Prostějov, Czechoslovakia) is a professional female tennis player from the Czech Republic. She reached her career high singles ranking No.26 on 21 May 2012.
Cetkovska has been playing tennis since she was five. Her father, Petr works at a pro shop in a local tennis club, whilst her mother Alena is a nurse. She has one younger brother, Matej.
When she was 14, Cetkovska was involved in an incident with a friend whilst playing sport where her friend had accidentally pushed her against a wall. Two years later she was having brain surgery due to the swelling caused by the incident. A year later after that, she had contracted glandular fever, further hampering her tennis career prospects and the third obstacle had come when she broke her foot playing the Australian Open junior doubles final.
She is coached by Stéphane Charret and cites Roger Federer as her favorite player because he's "a great player and a good person." Cetkovska speaks Czech, French and English. She was involved in a relationship with ATP player Marcos Baghdatis when she was 19.
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Petra Kvitova
Petra Kvitová (Czech pronunciation: [ˈpɛtra ˈkvɪtovaː], English: /kəˈvɪtəvə/; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed shots and variety, she has won seven WTA singles titles. She reached her career-high ranking of world no. 2 in October 2011, and is currently ranked world no. 4.
Kvitová won the 2011 Wimbledon Championships and the 2011 WTA Tour Championships singles titles, becoming the first Grand Slam event winner born in the 1990s, and the third player to win the WTA Championships in her first attempt. She also reached the semifinals of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships and the 2012 Australian Open.
Petra Kvitová was born to Jiří Kvita and Pavla Kvitová in Bílovec, Czech Republic (in 1990 still in Czechoslovakia). Her father Jiří introduced her to tennis. During her childhood, she admired Czech player Martina Navratilova. Kvitová trained in her hometown until the age of 16, and was then encouraged by an instructor to pursue a professional career in tennis.
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Petra Kvitová
Petra Kvitová (Czech pronunciation: [ˈpɛtra ˈkvɪtovaː], English: /kəˈvɪtəvə/; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed shots and variety, she has won seven WTA singles titles. She reached her career-high ranking of world no. 2 in October 2011, and is currently ranked world no. 4.
Kvitová won the 2011 Wimbledon Championships and the 2011 WTA Tour Championships singles titles, becoming the first Grand Slam event winner born in the 1990s, and the third player to win the WTA Championships in her first attempt. She also reached the semifinals of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships and the 2012 Australian Open.
Petra Kvitová was born to Jiří Kvita and Pavla Kvitová in Bílovec, Czech Republic (in 1990 still in Czechoslovakia). Her father Jiří introduced her to tennis. During her childhood, she admired Czech player Martina Navratilova. Kvitová trained in her hometown until the age of 16, and was then encouraged by an instructor to pursue a professional career in tennis.
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Petra Martic
Petra Martić (born 19 January 1991) is a professional tennis player from Croatia. Her highest career ranking is World No. 47, achieved on September 26, 2011.
Her best result in her junior career was the quarter-finals in 2006 US Open. In 2008 she won the first tournament in her senior career, the Zagreb Ladies Open.
She qualified for the 2009 French Open. She lost there in the second round to 21-year-old Canadian world No. 24 Aleksandra Wozniak, 6–3, 6–3. Martić was on the defensive from the start, and gave up 27 winners. Martić then made it to another Portorož open QF, losing to defending champion and 5th seed Sara Errani. In 2008, Martić won the ITF Zagreb Open, defeating Yvonne Meusburger, and then made it to the QF of Banka Koper Slovenia Open, losing to Julia Görges.
Martić began 2010 by falling in the qualifying stages of the ASB Classic (lost to Chanelle Scheepers) and the Medibank International Sydney (lost to Kimiko Date-Krumm). She lost in the first round of the Australian Open, falling to Sabine Lisicki 6–1 6–4.
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Petra Martić
Petra Martić (born 19 January 1991) is a professional tennis player from Croatia. Her highest career ranking is World No. 47, achieved on September 26, 2011.
Her best result in her junior career was the quarter-finals in 2006 US Open. In 2008 she won the first tournament in her senior career, the Zagreb Ladies Open.
She qualified for the 2009 French Open. She lost there in the second round to 21-year-old Canadian world No. 24 Aleksandra Wozniak, 6–3, 6–3. Martić was on the defensive from the start, and gave up 27 winners. Martić then made it to another Portorož open QF, losing to defending champion and 5th seed Sara Errani. In 2008, Martić won the ITF Zagreb Open, defeating Yvonne Meusburger, and then made it to the QF of Banka Koper Slovenia Open, losing to Julia Görges.
Martić began 2010 by falling in the qualifying stages of the ASB Classic (lost to Chanelle Scheepers) and the Medibank International Sydney (lost to Kimiko Date-Krumm). She lost in the first round of the Australian Open, falling to Sabine Lisicki 6–1 6–4.
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Polona Hercog
Polona Hercog (born 20 January 1991) is a Slovenian tennis player. Her highest ranking is No. 35 in singles and No. 56 in doubles. Hercog has won two WTA Tour doubles title and one singles title. She also enjoyed success on the ITF Circuit, winning nine singles and five doubles titles. Partnering with Jessica Moore, she won the 2008 French Open and Wimbledon Championships junior titles in the doubles competition.
Polona Hercog was born to florist Romana and bar owner Vojko. She began playing tennis aged four in the tennis clinic opened by Mima Jaušovec in Maribor, and moved to Italy at age 14 to train professionally. Hercog is fluent in Slovenian, English, and Italian, and cites Justine Henin as her role model. She currently resides in her hometown of Maribor and practices in Budapest. Hercog is a fan of snowboarding, football, basketball and surfing.
Hercog made her WTA Tour debut in Portorož, Slovenia, losing to Elena Vesnina in three sets, 6–3, 6–7(6), 6–4. In 2008, Hercog participated in the İstanbul Cup, where she lost in the first round to Tsvetana Pironkova 6–4, 7–5, but reached the finals of the doubles competition partnering with New Zealand's Marina Erakovic. The same year, Hercog and Australian Jessica Moore won two grand slam junior doubles titles, the French Open and the Wimbledon Championships. She also played the qualifications for the US Open, but lost to Sandra Záhlavová in the first round, 6–3, 6–3.
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Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (Catalan: [rəˈfɛɫ nəˈðaɫ pəˈɾeɾə]; Spanish: [rafaˈel naˈðal paˈɾeɾa]) (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. As of 28 May 2012 (2012 -05-28)[update], he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time; his success on clay has earned him the nickname "The King of Clay", and has prompted many experts to regard him as the greatest clay court player of all time.
Nadal has won ten Grand Slam singles titles, including a record six French Open titles (tied with Bjorn Borg), the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, a record 21 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, and also was part of the Spain Davis Cup team that won the finals in 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2011. He completed the Career Grand Slam by winning the 2010 US Open, being the seventh player in history, and the youngest in the open era, to achieve it. He is the second male player to complete the Career Golden Slam (winner of the four grand slams and the Olympic Gold medal) after only Andre Agassi.
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Robert Lindstedt
Robert Lindstedt (born 19 March 1977 in Sundbyberg, Stockholm County) is a Swedish professional tennis player, who turned pro in 1998, and is a doubles specialist. Lindstedt is currently as of january 2012 ranked 10th in the doubles ranking.
Lindstedt played college tennis in the United States, playing first at Fresno State University before moving to Pepperdine University, where he completed his collegiate career. While at Pepperdine, he teamed with Kelly Gullett in doubles competition. They were runners up at the 1998 NCAA individual competition at the University of Georgia, receiving All-America honors for the second year in a row.
Lindstedt won two doubles titles in 2007. He won his first in Mumbai with Jarkko Nieminen against Indian Rohan Bopanna and Pakistani Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi. Lindstedt's second came paired with Jordan Kerr in Tokyo, beating Frank Dancevic and Stephen Huss. In 2008. Lindstedt paired with Marc Gicquel to win the Washington event, and was a semi-finalist at the ATP Master Series event in Indian Wells with Richard Gasquet, in Tokyo with Jordan Kerr and in Kitzbühel with Jürgen Melzer.
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Roger Federer
Roger Federer (German pronunciation: [ˈfeːdəʁɐ]) (born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP No. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks from 2 February 2004 to 18 August 2008. Federer has occupied the #1 ranking for 285 overall weeks, one week short of the record 286 weeks held by Pete Sampras. As of 28 May 2012, he is ranked World No. 3. Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles. He is one of seven male players to capture the career Grand Slam and one of three (with Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal) to do so on three different surfaces (clay, grass, and hard courts). He is the only male player in tennis history to have reached the title match of each Grand Slam tournament at least five times and also the final at each of the nine ATP Masters 1000 Tournaments. Many sports analysts, tennis critics, and former and current players consider Federer to be the greatest tennis player of all time.
Federer has appeared in an unprecedented 23 career Grand Slam tournament finals, including a men's record ten in a row, and appeared in 18 of 19 finals from the 2005 Wimbledon Championships through the 2010 Australian Open, the lone exception being the 2008 Australian Open. He holds the record of reaching the semifinals or better of 23 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments over five and a half years, from the 2004 Wimbledon Championships through the 2010 Australian Open. At the 2012 Australian Open, he reached a record 31st consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. During the course of his run at the 2012 French Open in Roland Garros, Federer eclipsed Jimmy Connors long standing record of 233 match wins in Grand Slam tournaments when he defeated Adrian Ungur in a second round match.
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Rossana de los Ríos
Rossana de los Ríos born September 16, 1975 is a retired professional tennis player from Paraguay. She was born in the Paraguayan capital, Asunción, and now lives in Miami, USA, with her 15-year-old daughter Ana Paula Neffa de los Ríos and her husband Gustavo Neffa, a retired Paraguayan football (soccer) player who played for the Boca Juniors. Rossana achieved a career high singles ranking of No. 51 in September 2001, and No. 52 in doubles on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. de los Ríos played doubles with Grand Slam champions such as Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, as well as Jelena Janković and Dinara Safina. Rossana is also a former world number one Junior player, having won the 1992 Roland Garros Juniors event. She was the only female tennis representative for Paraguay in the 1992 and 2000 Olympic Games.
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Sabine Lisicki
Sabine Lisicki (/lɨˈzɪki/; born 22 September 1989 in Troisdorf) is a German professional tennis player.
Lisicki has won three WTA singles tournaments in her career (one in 2009 and two in 2011) and one doubles tournament (in 2011). She reached the semi-finals of the 2011 Wimbledon Championships and also reached the quarterfinals of the 2009 Wimbledon Championships. She achieved her career high rank of World No. 12 on 21 May 2012. After struggling with injuries in 2010, Lisicki rebounded in 2011 and re-entered the top 100 of the world rankings. She is only the second player in Wimbledon history to make it to the semifinals while entering the tournament as a wildcard.
Since 2004 Lisicki has trained at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida, USA where she is sponsored and managed by IMG. She is coached by her father who studied sport science in Wrocław and Cologne.
Lisicki had a successful year in 2007 on the ITF circuit and climbed from World No. 497 to World No. 198 in the WTA rankings. She won two titles, one in Jersey and the other in Toronto, Canada. She defeated top-seed Katie O'Brien on 2 August 2007 at the Odlum Brown Vancouver Open.
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Sam Stosur
Samantha "Sam" Jane Stosur (English pronunciation: /ˈstoʊzər/ STOH-zər, born 30 March 1984) is an Australian professional tennis player. She won the 2011 US Open singles title and was a finalist at the 2010 French Open. Stosur is ranked World No. 6 and her career high in singles is World No. 4, achieved on 21 February 2011. She is a former world No. 1 on the WTA Tour in doubles with Lisa Raymond from the United States.
Stosur was born in Brisbane, Queensland, the daughter of Tony and Diane, and has two brothers, Dominic and Daniel. She is of Polish descent through her grandfather. When she was six, the family house and business on the Gold Coast was destroyed by a flood, and the family moved to Adelaide. There she started playing tennis, when she was given a racquet for Christmas at the age of eight. While her parents worked long hours at the cafe they had started, Stosur played at local courts with older brother Daniel, who later encouraged their parents to take her to tennis lessons. Stosur attended Helensvale State High School on the Northern Gold Coast. She went away on her first overseas trip at the age of 13, competing in the World Youth Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia.
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Samantha Stosur
Samantha "Sam" Jane Stosur (English pronunciation: /ˈstoʊzər/ STOH-zər, born 30 March 1984) is an Australian professional tennis player. She won the 2011 US Open singles title and was a finalist at the 2010 French Open. Stosur is ranked World No. 6 and her career high in singles is World No. 4, achieved on 21 February 2011. She is a former world No. 1 on the WTA Tour in doubles with Lisa Raymond from the United States.
Stosur was born in Brisbane, Queensland, the daughter of Tony and Diane, and has two brothers, Dominic and Daniel. She is of Polish descent through her grandfather. When she was six, the family house and business on the Gold Coast was destroyed by a flood, and the family moved to Adelaide. There she started playing tennis, when she was given a racquet for Christmas at the age of eight. While her parents worked long hours at the cafe they had started, Stosur played at local courts with older brother Daniel, who later encouraged their parents to take her to tennis lessons. Stosur attended Helensvale State High School on the Northern Gold Coast. She went away on her first overseas trip at the age of 13, competing in the World Youth Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia.
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Sandra Záhlavová
Sandra Záhlavová (born 10 October 1985) is a Czech tennis player. On 21 June 2010, she achieved her career-high WTA Event singles ranking of No. 78. On June 12, 2006, she claimed her highest Doubles rank of No. 165.
Záhlavová started competing on the ITF Circuit in 2000. She has won 7 titles in her career so far. Zahlavova also qualified for two Grand Slam Main Draws. Ranked No.96 in the world, she made the second round of the 2010 Australian Open by defeating Coco Vandeweghe 6–0, 6–1. She then lost to 11th seed Marion Bartoli 4–6, 4–6.
She is related to tennis player Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová by marriage—her cousin is Záhlavová-Strýcová's husband.
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Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza (Hindi: सानिया मिर्जा, Telugu: సానియా మీర్జా, Urdu: ثانیہ مرزا ) (born 15 November 1986, in Bombay) is a professional Indian tennis player. She began her tennis career in 2003 and is well known for her powerful forehand ground strokes. She is the first ever Indian to break into the top 30 WTA rankings in singles and top 10 in doubles. Mirza has defeated many top players, including Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva, Marion Bartoli and Former World No. 1's Martina Hingis & Dinara Safina.
Mirza has won one WTA singles title so far, at Hyderabad in 2005. She has won one Grand Slam title: the mixed doubles event at the 2009 Australian Open. She was also the runner-up on two other Grand Slam occasions: the mixed doubles event at 2008 Australian Open and the women's doubles event at Roland Garros 2011.
In 2004 she was awarded the Arjuna award by the Indian Government. In 2006, Mirza was awarded a Padma Shri, India's fourth highest honour for her achievements as a tennis player. In March 2010, The Economic Times named Mirza in the list of the "33 women who made India proud". Mirza was also the most searched Indian sportsperson on Google in 2009. In addition, Mirza was one named one of the '50 heroes of Asia' by the Time Magazine (2005).
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Sara Errani
Sara Errani (born April 29, 1987 in Bologna, Italy), nicknamed "Poco Gigante", is a professional female tennis player from Italy. On May 21, 2012, she reached a new career-high of no. 23 on the Tour rankings. On May 14, 2012, Errani became a top 10 doubles player and had a career high rank of World No. 8. She won five WTA titles in her career, and also has two ITF Titles.
At age 12 her father sent her to the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida. At 16 she moved to Valencia, in Spain, to be coached by Pablo Lozano and David Andres.
Errani competed in her first event at the $10,000 Cagliari event in her native country of Italy in 2002 where she lost to Sun Tiantian 6–1, 6–0. She continued to compete in the ITF, where her best performance of the year was a semifinal appearance in $10,000 Zaton. She continued to participate mainly on the ITF, where she won her first tournament 6–1, 6–4 over Lucia Jiminez in Melilla, Italy 2005.
Her first WTA title of her career was in the Internazionali Femminili di Palermo, where she defeated Mariya Koryttseva. On July 27, 2008, she captured her second career title in two weeks defeating Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6–3, 6–3. She has also won six doubles WTA titles.
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Serbs
The Serbs (Serbian: Срби, Srbi, pronounced [sr̩̂bi]) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs live mainly in Serbia and the disputed territory of Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form significant minorities in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in Romania, Hungary, Albania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. There is also a large Serbian diaspora in Western Europe, particularly in Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. More than a million people of Serbian origin live in German-speaking countries, including Luxembourg (1%), Austria (1.8%), Switzerland (1%), and Germany (~1%). Outside Europe, there are significant Serbian communities in the United States (198,000 Serbian plus additional 326,000 "Yugoslav" nationals),Canada (72,690 in 2006) and Australia (95,000 in 2006).
The Serbs are a Slavic people, specifically of the South Slavic subgroup, which has its origins in the 6th and 7th century communities developed in Southeastern Europe (see Great Migration). Slav raids on Eastern Roman territory are mentioned in 518, and by the 580s they had conquered large areas referred to as Sclavinia (transl. Slavdom, from Sklavenoi – Σκλαυηνοι, the early South Slavic tribe which is eponymous to the current ethnic and linguistic Indo-European people). In 649, Constantine III relocates conquered Slavs "from the Vardar" to Gordoservon (Serb habitat). Among communities part in the Serb ethnogenesis are the Romanized Paleo-Balkan tribes of Illyrians, Thracians and Dacians, Celts, Greek colonies and Romans.
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Shahar Pe'er
Shahar Pe'er ( /ˈʃɑːhɑr ˈpeɪ.ər/; Hebrew: שחר פאר, IPA: [ˈʃaχaʁ peˈʔeʁ]; born May 1, 1987) is an Israeli professional tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is World No. 11, which she achieved on January 31, 2011 (it is the highest ranking ever for an Israeli singles tennis player, male or female).
She attained her best Grand Slam singles result when she reached the quarter-finals at the 2007 Australian Open and the 2007 US Open. She also reached the Women's doubles final at the 2008 Australian Open with Victoria Azarenka. Pe'er has won five WTA singles titles, and three WTA doubles titles.
As of August 29, 2011, Pe'er was ranked World No. 24 in singles, and No. 33 in doubles.
Pe'er was born in Jerusalem. Pe'er's father, Dovik, is a computer software specialist and her mother, Aliza, is a homemaker. She began playing tennis at the age of six when she joined her brother Shlomi and her sister Shani in tennis lessons.
At the age of 19, Pe'er joined the Israeli military, as military service is mandatory in Israel, where she excelled in rifle marksmanship during her elementary combat training. When not abroad participating in tennis tournaments, she spent her mornings working as an administrative secretary for the Israeli military, and her afternoons practicing tennis.
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Simona Halep
Simona Halep (born September 27, 1991) is a world top-50 tennis player playing on the ITF Women's Circuit and the WTA Tour, and is currently the number-two ranked women's tennis player in Romania, behind Monica Niculescu (out of 6 in the top-100).
Halep's father Stere runs a cheese and milk factory. She started playing tennis at age four, in emulation of her older brother. She has self-described her playing style as being "an aggressive baseliner," while New York Times columnist Michael Kimmelman described her as "a scrappy player from Romania, short but with potent ground strokes and a scrambler’s talent." In a post-match interview Serena Williams once commented that Halep "serves well [for] her height... She has so much power on her serve."
She started the year with a final in Nottinghill, losing to Arantxa Rus, then defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open Junior Championships, before losing in the semifinal to Jessica Moore.
At the ITF $50,000 tournament in Bucharest, Halep eliminated former Roland Garros semi-finalist Sesil Karatantcheva in the first round, before losing in the quarterfinals to Sorana Cîrstea in three sets, 6–3, 3–6, 1–6.
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Sofia Arvidsson
Lena Sofia Alexandra Arvidsson (born February 16, 1984) is a Swedish tennis player. As of Mars 5, 2012, she is ranked World No. 56. Her highest career ranking is World No. 29.
Arvidsson began playing tennis at the age of 8 under her neighbor, a tennis coach. Her father, Yngve is a policeman and her mother, a piano teacher.
Arvidsson combined the ITF Junior circuit and ITF Women's Circuit into her schedule and in 1999 made the semi finals of a $10,000 women's event in Båstad, Sweden. In 2000 she made the finals of Nasbypark $10,000 and made her first appearances in the Fed Cup.
Arvidsson was recognised for her talent when she made the finals of the junior Australian Open in 2001, losing to Jelena Janković 6–2 6–1. But her breakthrough came in the same year when she took the titles at the Sunderland $10,000 and Stockholm $10,000. Sofia then won her 3rd ITF Women's title in Buchen, Germany again a $10,000 event. Arvidsson stepped up her tournament game as she played Qualifying at a $50,000 event in Dinan, where she qualified and beat world number 146 in the main draw.
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Sorana Cirstea
Sorana Mihaela Cîrstea (Romanian pronunciation: [soˈrana ˈkɨrste̯a]; born 7 April 1990) is a Romanian professional tennis player. As of 28 May 2012, she is ranked world no. 43. She achieved her career-high ranking of world no. 23 in August 2009, following appearances in the quarterfinals of the French Open and the semifinals of the Los Angeles Open. Cîrstea has been recognized as one of the most beautiful women in sports by MSN.
Cîrstea has a neat, controlled style that minimizes mistakes. According to the Tennis Spy, she does not appear to be fast around the court, but actually is deceptively quick covering the ground with her long strides and good reading of the game. As a good doubles player, she is also a very solid volleyer, and also has solid groundstrokes. Her forehands and backhands are delivered quickly on both sides.
Cîrstea was born to Mihai and Liliana in Bucharest, but currently resides in Târgovişte. She also has a brother, Mihnea, five years her junior. Cîrstea was introduced to tennis at the age of four by her mother. "My mum and dad have always followed tennis and they encouraged me to start playing the sport when I was young. They're the reason I started to play tennis and I guess they are the ones I should thank for getting me into it". She has cited Steffi Graf and Roger Federer as her idols. Cîrstea speaks Romanian, English, Spanish, and French.
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Sorana Cîrstea
Sorana Mihaela Cîrstea (Romanian pronunciation: [soˈrana ˈkɨrste̯a]; born 7 April 1990) is a Romanian professional tennis player. As of 28 May 2012, she is ranked world no. 43. She achieved her career-high ranking of world no. 23 in August 2009, following appearances in the quarterfinals of the French Open and the semifinals of the Los Angeles Open. Cîrstea has been recognized as one of the most beautiful women in sports by MSN.
Cîrstea has a neat, controlled style that minimizes mistakes. According to the Tennis Spy, she does not appear to be fast around the court, but actually is deceptively quick covering the ground with her long strides and good reading of the game. As a good doubles player, she is also a very solid volleyer, and also has solid groundstrokes. Her forehands and backhands are delivered quickly on both sides.
Cîrstea was born to Mihai and Liliana in Bucharest, but currently resides in Târgovişte. She also has a brother, Mihnea, five years her junior. Cîrstea was introduced to tennis at the age of four by her mother. "My mum and dad have always followed tennis and they encouraged me to start playing the sport when I was young. They're the reason I started to play tennis and I guess they are the ones I should thank for getting me into it". She has cited Steffi Graf and Roger Federer as her idols. Cîrstea speaks Romanian, English, Spanish, and French.
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Susan Mascarin
Susan Mascarin Keane, born Susan Mascarin (born June 28, 1964 in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan) is a former American tennis player from Grosse Pointe Shores Michigan. She was the US Open Girls' Singles champion in 1980. Her best singles Grand Slam result was the 1984 US Open where she advanced to the fourth round.
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Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova ( Светла́на Алекса́ндровна Кузнецо́ва (help·info)); born June 27, 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player and as of May 7, 2012 ranked No. 28 in the WTA singles and No. 31 in the doubles ranking. Kuznetsova has appeared in four singles Grand Slam finals, winning two, and has also appeared in seven doubles finals, winning twice. She has qualified five times for the round-robin stage of the WTA Tour Championships but has never qualified for the semifinals.
Her first Grand Slam title came at the 2004 US Open, making her the third Russian woman to win a Grand Slam title, after Anastasia Myskina and Maria Sharapova who won at the 2004 French Open and 2004 Wimbledon tournaments respectively. Kuznetzova's second Grand Slam title was the 2009 French Open, defeating Serena Williams in the quarterfinal, Samantha Stosur in the semifinal, and compatriot Dinara Safina in the final in straight sets. At the 2006 French Open and the 2007 US Open singles tournament she was the runner-up, both times to Belgian player Justine Henin. As a result, Kuznetsova obtained her new WTA ranking of No. 2, her best to that date. Kuznetsova has won a total of 13 WTA and 1 ITF singles titles and 15 WTA doubles titles to date and US$16,372,146 in prize money, making her the second top Russian earner on court and number 11 of all female tennis players to date and No. 5 of active players, after only Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters, and Maria Sharapova respectively.
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Sybille Bammer
Sybille Bammer (born 27 April 1980 in Linz, Austria) is a former professional female tennis player from Austria. Her career high ranking is No. 19, achieved on 17 December 2007.
She is one of three mothers on the WTA Tour (Kim Clijsters and Rossana de los Ríos are the others), having taken time off at age 21 to have her daughter Tina before returning to the tour. When she won the 2007 Pattaya Women's Open, it was the first time in eighteen years that a mother won on tour, after Laura Arraya in 1989. Her daughter Tina is a frequent regular in the crowd. Bammer said of her daughter, "She is always telling other people to be quiet because Mummy is concentrating."
Bammer made her WTA Tour main draw debut as a wildcard in 2000 at the Klagenfurt event. She lost to German player Andrea Glass at this event. She failed to qualify for Wimbledon, US Open and her home tournament in Linz.
During 2001 she took a break from tennis to give birth to her daughter Tina. Her boyfriend Christophe Gsthwendtner took a break from his engineering career to take care of Tina. Given that she was still to break into the top 200 at the time, this was a courageous decision for the young couple. It wasn't until two years later that she would break into the top 150.
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Tamarine Tanasugarn
Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thai: แทมมารีน ธนสุกาญจน์, [tʰɛːmmāːrīːn tʰánásùkāːn]; born 24 May 1977) is a professional Thai tennis player. She was born in Los Angeles, United States, and turned professional in 1994. She has been in the top 20 in both singles and doubles.
Tanasugarn's highest Women's Tennis Association (WTA) world ranking was no. 19, achieved on 13 May 2002, which is the highest ranking ever achieved for a Thai female player. She has won four singles titles and five doubles titles. She was briefly a doubles partner with Maria Sharapova, with whom she won two titles in 2003. Her highest world doubles ranking was no. 15, which she achieved on 13 September 2004. With Liezel Huber, she reached the 2004 US Open doubles quarterfinals, and at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, she reached the women's doubles semifinal with Marina Erakovic. Her biggest success so far came in 2008, when she reached quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
In her career, Tanasugarn has defeated former and current no. 1 players, including Amélie Mauresmo, Jennifer Capriati, Jelena Janković, and Dinara Safina. She has also beaten Australian Open and French Open champion Mary Pierce.
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Tamira Paszek
Tamira Shelah Paszek (born December 6, 1990 in Dornbirn, Vorarlberg, Austria) is a professional tennis player from Austria. As of July 4, 2011, she is the no.1 ranked tennis player from Austria in the WTA ranking, at No. 41.
She is currently being coached by Andrei Pavel (former coach of Jelena Janković) having previously been coached by Angel Giminez and Larri Passos (former coach of former ATP No.1 Gustavo Kuerten).[citation needed]
Paszek was introduced to tennis by her mother, Françoise Paszek, at age four-and-a-half. Her mother is Chilean born, and her father is Ariff Mohamed, who is Tanzanian-born, Kenya-raised and lived in Canada. Both her paternal grandparents are from India.[citation needed]
She attended Gymnasium Dornbirn-Schoren and Bundesoberstufenrealgymnasium Schoren.
As a junior, Paszek was a finalist in the 2005 Girls' Singles Championship at Wimbledon and at the US Open – Girls' Singles in 2006.
In September 2005 she won her first title at an ITF tournament in Sofia. In October of the same year she received a wild card to appear at her first WTA tournament in Linz; she defeated Elena Vesnina in the first round and lost to Ana Ivanović after a tough first set.
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Tara Snyder
Tara Snyder (born May 26, 1977 in Wichita, Kansas) is a former tennis player from the United States, who started a professional career in May 1995. She reached her highest individual ranking in the WTA Tour on November 16, 1998, when she was ranked No. 33 in the world. Snyder won the silver medal at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada, after losing the final to Venezuela's María Vento-Kabchi. Tara won the US Junior Open and was regarded as one of the top US youth tennis players of her time.[citation needed]
Tara Snyder's father Darrel Snyder was a tennis teaching instructor and taught her the game.[citation needed] Tara's uncle Dave Snyder was the Texas Longhorns tennis coach for many years.
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Tathiana Garbin
Tathiana Garbin (born 30 June 1977) is a retired Italian tennis player. Garbin is probably best known for her shocking defeat of the defending champion and the reigning World No. 1 Justine Henin in the second round of the 2004 French Open. The winner of one singles and eleven doubles WTA Tour titles, she reached her highest singles ranking World No. 22 on 21 May 2007, and her highest doubles ranking World No. 25 on 27 August 2001. Other high–ranked players she defeated include Jelena Dokić, Chanda Rubin, Flavia Pennetta, Agnieszka Radwańska, Nadia Petrova, Marion Bartoli and Samantha Stosur.
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Tathiana Perebiynis
Tetyana Yurevna Perebiynis (Ukrainian: Тетяна Юріївна Перебийніс), born on December 15, 1982 is a Top 100 female professional tennis player born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, where she lives. She is an only child. She reached the Wimbledon junior girls' singles final in 2000, and won the Wimbledon juniors doubles final that year. She finished 2007 ranked #97 in the WTATour Rankings.
Tatiana Perebiynis is coached by her husband, Dimitriy "Dima" Zadorozhniy. The two were married on October 15, 2005 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Her father, Yuriy Perebiynis, is retired and her mother, Alla Lihova, is an economist at a bank.
Her most memorable tennis experience was in 2005, where she reached the final of Wimbledon in mixed doubles with partnered Paul Hanley. She also lists winning the Wimbledon Junior Doubles in 2000 and reaching the final in singles that same year as memorable experiences. Wimbledon is her favorite event. At the same times, she married with her compatriot and coach Dimitriy Zadorozhniy at this year of October 15 in her birth place.
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Tatiana Golovin
Tatiana Golovin (Russian: Татья́на Голови́н; born January 25, 1988) is an inactive French professional tennis player. She is best known for her explosive forehand, which was said to be one of the best at the time. She notably won the 2004 French Open mixed doubles event with Richard Gasquet, and reached the singles quarterfinal at the 2006 U.S. Open, losing to the eventual champion Maria Sharapova. The 24-year-old's highest singles ranking to date is 12. However, just as she began experiencing success, in 2008, she was diagnosed with lower back inflammation and was forced to stop playing competitive tennis indefinitely.
Golovin spent six years at Nick Bollettieri's tennis camp in Bradenton, Florida. She is currently coached by former World No. 1 Mats Wilander, having previously been coached by Brad Gilbert and Dean Goldfine.
Golovin made her ITF Circuit debut at Cagnes-sur-Mer (France) in 2002. She played in three more ITF events (including one semifinal) later that year, but she failed to qualify for the French Open.
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Timea Bacsinszky
Timea Bacsinszky (born 8 June 1989 in Lausanne, Switzerland) is a professional female tennis player residing in Belmont-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland. She joined the WTA Tour in 2004 and was ranked World No. 37 on 7 June 2010.
Her father, Igor, is a Hungarian tennis coach from Romania, her mother a dentist from Hungary. She has one brother, Daniel (music teacher) and two sisters, Sophie (musician and student) and Melinda (mother of two girls). Bacsinszky began playing tennis at age 3.
During Bacsinszky's junior career, she reached the semifinals of the 2004 Australian Open, losing to Shahar Pe'er, the 2004 French Open, losing to Mădălina Gojnea, and the 2005 Australian Open, losing to Hungarian Ágnes Szávay.
Her breakthrough professional tournament was the 2006 Zurich Open, qualifying and then defeating former Grand Slam champion Anastasia Myskina 6–3 6–3 and Italian Francesca Schiavone 6–1 ret. Her fairytale run in her native country was ended by former World Number One Maria Sharapova, but not without a fight, losing 4–6 3–6.
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Tina Pisnik
Tina Pisnik (born 19 February 1981 in Maribor) was a professional Slovenian tennis player. Pisnik turned professional since 1999. Pisnik's highest singles ranking was World Number 29, of which she reached on 12 January 2004. Her highest doubles ranking was World Number 63, on 3 April 2000. She won 1 singles title and 2 doubles titles on the WTA tour.
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Tsvetana Pironkova
Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgarian: Цветана Кирилова Пиронкова) (born 13 September 1987) is a Bulgarian tennis player. She was born and lives in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Pironkova is right-handed and plays with a two-handed backhand. She achieved her career high of world no. 31 on 13 September 2010. She is best known for defeating Venus Williams three times at Grand Slam tournaments. She is currently the Bulgarian No. 1, and has won six ITF titles in her career. She has been recognized as one of the most beautiful women in sports by MSN.
Pironkova was born in 1987 to Kiril Enchev Pironkov, a former canoeing champion and Radosveta Chinkova Nikolova, a former swimming champion. She started playing tennis at the age of 4, when her father Kiril introduced her to the game. Kiril later became her coach.
Pironkiva plays right-handed, and uses a double backhand. In 2001, Pironkova won the Atlantic Cup International Junior Tournament held in Bulgaria, and her career high in juniors was world no. 227 on 25 March 2002.
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Urszula Radwanska
Urszula Radwańska [urˈʂula radˈvaɲska] ( listen) (born 7 December 1990 in Ahaus, Germany) is a Polish tennis player. She reached her career high ranking of world No. 62 on 10 August 2009. She is the younger sister of WTA No.3 Agnieszka Radwańska.
As a junior player, Radwańska won Grand Slam titles, including the 2007 Wimbledon girls' singles, culminating in the junior year-ending world No. 1 ranking. This was the leaping pad into her professional career, where she has been getting into WTA main draws via qualifying and wildcards.
In 2007, Radwańska played in the main draw of three WTA tour tournaments. She lost in the first round of the Tier II J&S Cup in Warsaw, the second round of the Tier III Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo, and the quarterfinals of the Tier III PTT Bangkok Open after defeating fourth-seeded Virginie Razzano in the third round. Urszula and Agnieszka won a doubles title together at the 2007 Istanbul Cup.
At the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, Radwańska made her Grand Slam singles debut, losing in the second round to two-time champion Serena Williams 6–4, 6–4. Having seen the fight she put up in this match, the commentator Andrew Castle observed, "She is sound in just about all areas, and she knows what to do with the ball, she seems to have an understanding, a little like Martina Hingis."[citation needed]
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Valérie Tétreault
Valérie Tétreault (born January 21, 1988) is a Canadian former professional tennis player. She reached her highest WTA singles ranking of No. 112 on February 22, 2010 and of No. 307 in doubles on April 5, 2010.
In 2006, at the Rogers Cup, she played doubles with Sharon Fichman, but they lost in the first round against the eventual winning doubles team of Martina Navratilova and Nadia Petrova in two sets. In 2007, she played again the Rogers Cup this time with Aleksandra Wozniak. They lost their first round match against Francesca Schiavone and Roberta Vinci in two sets. In 2008, she played doubles with Melanie Gloria at the Rogers Cup. They lost their match in the first round in three sets against Melinda Czink and Olga Savchuk. At the 2008 Bell Challenge, she played the singles competition where she lost in the second round against Bethanie Mattek-Sands in three sets. In 2009, she got a wildcard for the Rogers Cup, but lost her first round match against Ágnes Szávay in two sets. At the 2009 US Open she lost her first round match against Magdaléna Rybáriková in three sets. In 2010, her final year on the Tour, she won three qualifying matches at the Australian Open, but was handily eliminated by Kim Clijsters, former No. 1 and reigning US Open champion, 6–0, 6–4. She announced her retirement from professional tennis with immediate effect on December 9, 2010. She made a brief comeback in October 2011 at the Challenger Saguenay, but lost in the final round of qualifying.
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Vania King
Vania King (traditional Chinese: 金久慈, simplified Chinese: 金久慈, Hanyu Pinyin: Jīn Jiǔcí) (born February 3, 1989 in Monterey Park, California, US) is a Taiwanese American female tennis player. King won both the 2010 Wimbledon Women's Doubles and 2010 US Open Women's Doubles titles with Kazakh partner Yaroslava Shvedova.
King's parents moved to the United States from Taiwan in 1982. She is the youngest of four children. Her brother Phillip was a four-time All-American at Duke University and two-time US junior champion.
In 2006 King won her only WTA singles title at the PTT Bangkok Open, a Tier III tournament with $200,000 in total prize money. She defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn in the final. On November 6, 2006, King achieved her career-high singles ranking of 50th overall.
In 2009, she reached the Mixed Doubles final at the French Open, alongside Brazilian player Marcelo Melo, losing to number 1 seeds Liezel Huber/Bob Bryan.
King lost in the second round of the 2009 Wimbledon Championships to No. 15 Flavia Pennetta. She played in the ladies doubles with Anna-Lena Grönefeld, losing in the quarter-finals to eventual champions Venus and Serena Williams.
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Varvara Lepchenko
Varvara Petrovna Lepchenko (Russian: Варвара Петровна Лепченко; born May 21, 1986 in Tashkent, Soviet Union) is an Uzbek-American female professional tennis player. She reached her singles career high of no. 59 on May 14, 2012. She has won eleven ITF singles titles during her career.
Lepchenko was born in 1986 and started playing tennis at age seven; her father Petr became her coach. She reached a junior career high of no. 244 on January 5, 2004. She turned pro in 2001.
In 2006, she reached the second round of the US Open, and later that year she reached her career high of no. 84 on October 2, 2006. She has won eleven ITF titles in her career, all in the United States. Her most recent title came in 2011, in Kansas City, MO. In the 2009 MPS Group Championships, as a lucky loser, she upset 4 seed Patty Schnyder in the first round. She also reached the final of an ITF tournament in Cuneo this year.
In 2011, Lepchenko recorded the biggest win of her career by defeating 18th seed Flavia Pennetta in the first round of the French Open.[citation needed]
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Vera Dushevina
Vera Yevgenyevna Dushevina (Вера Евгеньевна Душевина; born 6 October 1986) is a Russian professional female tennis player. She was born in Moscow but now resides in Khimki, Russia. In 2006, she privately amended the presentation of her surname so as to be more English-language-friendly, adopting Dushevina in place of Douchevina.
Dushevina began playing tennis at the age of seven under her father, Yevgeny, an engineer. Her mother, Elena is a teacher.[citation needed]
Vera played her first Main Draw match at the 2002 J&S Cup by qualifying but lost to Virginia Ruano Pascual 6–1, 7–6(2). She was able to win her first WTA tour match at the 2003 NASDAQ-100 Open, after qualifying she defeated Patricia Wartusch 6–0, 6–3 but lost to fourth seed Justine Henin 6–3, 6–2 in the second round. She then won her first professional tour title at the ITF in Innsbruck, Austria coming through the qualifying draw and defeating Melinda Czink 7–6(4), 6–2 in the final. In her next tournament she was able to reach her first WTA Tour semifinals at the 2003 Nordea Nordic Light Open including defeating her first top 50 player, world no. 35 Denisa Chládková 6–2, 6–3 but lost to Jelena Kostanić in the semifinals. She then played her first Slam main draw match after qualifying but lost to Ashley Harkleroad 6–4, 6–2 in the first round. In the 2003 Kremlin Cup she upset then world no. 28 Lisa Raymond 6–2, 7–6(4), but lost to 7th seed Vera Zvonareva 6–2, 6–1.
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Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva (Russian: Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, pronounced [ˈvʲerə zvənɐˈrʲɵvə] ( listen); born September 7, 1984) is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000. Her career high is World No. 2 by the WTA, and she is currently ranked as the World No. 11. Zvonareva has won twelve WTA Tour singles titles and reached the finals of the 2008 WTA Tour Championships, 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and 2010 US Open. She also was a bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Zvonareva was born September 7, 1984 in Moscow to Igor Zvonarev and Nataliya Zvonareva (née Bykova). Igor played Bandy in the USSR championship with Dynamo Moscow, while Nataliya played field hockey and was the bronze medalist at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Vera was introduced to tennis at the age of six by her mother, although no other members of her family play tennis.
Zvonareva started to compete on the ITF Circuit in 1999, debuting at an ITF tournament in Tbilisi, Georgia. She won three qualifying matches there to reach the main draw before losing in the first round. The next year, she won an ITF event in Moscow, Russia without dropping a set, despite being unranked. The event was just the second event she had played in her professional career. Five weeks later, she made her WTA-level debut at the Tier I tournament in Moscow, beating World No. 148 Elena Bovina, before losing to World No. 11 Anna Kournikova in the second round. In 2001, she failed to qualify for WTA events in Key Biscayne, Florida and Moscow, but reached a semifinal at the ITF Circuit tournament in Civitanova, Italy. During this time, she also showed her adeptness in juniors' competition by winning the Orange Bowl under-18s event in 2000 and 2001.
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Vesna Manasieva
Vesna Ratkovna Dolonc (Russian: Весна Ратковна Долонц; née Manasieva, Манасиева; born 21 July 1989) is a Serbian professional tennis player, born to a Serbian father and Russian mother.
Dolonc began competing on the ITF women's circuit in September 2005, soon after her sixteenth birthday, and had risen to World No. 152 by January 28, 2008.
Despite not having yet won any tournament outright at either WTA or ITF level, between July 2006 and February 2008 she has reached the quarter-final of a Tier IV event, $100,000 and $25,000 finals, a $75,000 semi-final, a $75,000 quarter-final, a $50,000 quarterfinal, four $25,000 semifinals, and one $25,000 quarterfinal.
In the latter months of 2005, Manasieva played just three $10,000 tournaments and won just one main-draw match.
But in February 2006 she won seven successive matches to come through qualifying and reach the semi-final of the $10,000 event at Portimão, Portugal; and that May she reached her first $10,000 final at Kiev, Ukraine. A further semi-final appearance followed in June at Davos, Switzerland, where she lost in straight sets to Tatjana Malek.
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Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka (Belarusian: Вікторыя Фёдараўна Азаранка, Russian: Виктория Фёдоровна Азаренко; born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She is the current World No. 1 as of 28 May 2012.
She won the 2012 Australian Open singles title, becoming the first Belarusian player to win a Grand Slam in singles. Her other achievements include winning two mixed doubles Grand Slam titles, the 2007 US Open with Max Mirnyi and the 2008 French Open with Bob Bryan.
At age 16, Azarenka moved to Scottsdale, Arizona from Minsk, Belarus, to train. In this she was aided by National Hockey League goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and his wife, who is a friend of Azarenka's mother. In 2010 she briefly considered a break from the sport of tennis to focus on education, however, after a conversation with her grandmother she decided to continue playing. It is the inspiration from her grandmother that is regarded as the key for her continued developments in the sport. Azarenka is romantically involved with tennis player Sergei Bubka Jr, son of former Olympic gold medalist and World Champion, Sergey Bubka.
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Virginie Razzano
Virginie Razzano (born May 12, 1983), is a French professional tennis player and the current French No. 4. Razzano, who was born in Dijon, has won two WTA singles titles, both in 2007 in Guangzhou and Tokyo. Razzano reached her career high ranking of World No. 16 on September 14, 2009.
She was chosen by Georges Goven to play in the Fed Cup first round when Tatiana Golovin had an injury and when Marion Bartoli and Émilie Loit were suspended. However, she was replaced by Séverine Brémond Beltrame for injury in quarter final of this tournament.
On August 31, 2006, Razzano upset the number eight seed Martina Hingis 6–2, 6–4 in the second round of the U.S. Open. On January 2, 2007, she upset former world number 5 Daniela Hantuchová 6–1, 7–5 in the second round at the ASB Classic tournament in Auckland, New Zealand. Later on, on June 27, 2007, she was upset by unseeded Yvonne Meusburger 4–6, 5–7 in the first round at Wimbledon. On August 25, 2007, she lost in her second WTA Tour Final to Gisela Dulko at Forest Hills.
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Yan Zi (tennis)
Yan Zi (Chinese: 晏紫; pinyin: Yàn Zī; born November 12, 1984 in Chengdu, Sichuan), is a Chinese professional tennis player.
In 2005, at the age of 20, Yan Zi won her first and only WTA Tour singles title at the Guangzhou Tier III tournament. The tournament did not have any major players.
In singles, she first reached the World Top 100 in January 2006, achieving a then career-high of World No. 72 that March before failing to defend her breakthrough run of results the previous year and dropping back outside the Top 100 that October. Her ranking had slumped to 262 by February 2007 after a year of disappointing results, but her results then picked up again over the rest of 2007; and she regained the top 100 for the first time in ten months after a spectacular run at Canada's Tier I Rogers Cup in August, reaching the semifinals before finally being heavily defeated by World No. 1 Justine Henin 3–6, 0–6.
In doubles, Yan Zi's highest ranking to date is number 4 and she has won two grand slam titles partnering with Zheng Jie. While she has been good at doubles, her singles performance has been inconsistent as her form fluctuates. She has winning records against top 10 stars Jelena Janković 2–0, Ana Ivanović 1–0, and Marion Bartoli 1–0.
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Yanina Wickmayer
Yanina Wickmayer (born 20 October 1989 in Lier, Belgium) is a Belgian professional tennis player who is currently ranked world no. 36 and is the highest ranked female Belgian tennis player. She reached her career-high ranking of world no. 12 on 19 April 2010. She is also known for reaching the semifinals at the 2009 US Open. She won the award for "WTA Most Improved Player" in 2009 (see below).
Wickmayer has achieved career victories over Kim Clijsters, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Petra Kvitova, Na Li, Sam Stosur (at ITF level), Francesca Schiavone, Dinara Safina and Agnieszka Radwanska (see Tennis career). In June 2011, Time Magazine named her one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future".
Wickmayer obtained her first successes: three singles ITF titles and two ITF doubles (see below).
Wickmayer continued her success on the ITF circuit by winning several tournaments in Asia during the fall season (see external links). It was around this time that Wickmayer surpassed Caroline Maes as the no. 2 Belgian female tennis player. At the start of the year, Wickmayer was no. 534 in the world, but by November 2007, was around no. 170. Wickmayer had won eight singles titles and seven doubles titles on the ITF circuit.
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Zhang Shuai (tennis)
Zhang Shuai (simplified Chinese: 张帅; traditional Chinese: 張帥) (born 21 January 1989 in Tianjin) is a Chinese professional female tennis player. As of October 4, 2010[update], she is the fourth-highest ranked women's singles player from China, at World number 90.
Zhang has enjoyed considerable success in singles on the ITF circuit, having won one $50,000 event, eight $25,000 tournaments and three $10,000 events between 2006 and 2009. As of October 2009, however, she had won only two main draw matches on the WTA circuit. Her peak ranking to date is World No. 73, achieved in 2011.
Zhang started playing tennis at age six.
The Chinese teenager participated in her first ITF event in November 2003 at the age of 14 as a main draw wildcard at the $25,000 tournament at Taizhou, but was heavily defeated by Tomoko Yonemura.
In 2004 she was wildcarded into two further $25,000 events and won her first match on the circuit in the first, at Beijing in May. She also entered qualifying for two $50,000 events towards the end of the year, winning one match in each case.
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Zheng Jie
Zheng Jie (simplified Chinese: 郑洁; traditional Chinese: 鄭潔; pinyin: Zhèng Jié, Mandarin pronunciation: [tʂə̂ŋ tɕjɛ̌]; born 5 July 1983 in Chengdu, Sichuan) is a Chinese professional tennis player. Her career high ranking is World No. 15 which she achieved on 18 May 2009. As of 7 May 2012, Zheng is ranked World No. 33 in singles and World No. 17 in doubles.
Zheng is one of the most successful tennis players from China. She has won four WTA singles titles – Hobart in 2005 and Estoril, Stockholm in 2006, and Auckland in 2012. She has also won twelve doubles titles, eleven of them with Yan Zi including Wimbledon and the Australian Open in 2006. She won the bronze medal in doubles with Yan Zi at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Her career high doubles ranking is World No. 3. Zheng has reached the singles semi-finals at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, defeating a World No. 1, Ana Ivanović, in the process, becoming the first Chinese female player to advance to the semi-finals at a Grand Slam. She also advanced to the semi-finals at the 2010 Australian Open.
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Zina Garrison
Zina Lynna Garrison (born November 16, 1963 in Houston, Texas) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. During her career, she was a women's singles runner-up at Wimbledon in 1990, a three-time Grand Slam mixed doubles champion, and a women's doubles gold medalist at the 1988 Olympic Games.
An African-American and the youngest of seven children, Garrison started playing tennis at the age of 10 and entered her first tournament at the age of 12. Her success as a junior player quickly made the tennis world take notice. At the age of 14 she won the national girls' 18s title. And then in 1981, she won both the Wimbledon and US Open junior titles and was ranked the World No. 1 junior player. Garrison graduated from Sterling High School in Houston in 1982.
Garrison began suffering from the eating disorder bulimia when she was 19, following the death of her mother. "I had never been comfortable with my looks and felt I had lost the only person who loved me unconditionally", Garrison told the British Observer Sport Monthly in 2006. "The pressure of being labeled 'the next Althea Gibson' only made things worse. I felt I was never going to be allowed to grow into just becoming me."[citation needed]
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Ágnes Szávay
Ágnes Szávay (Hungarian: Szávay Ágnes, pronounced [ˈsaːvɒ.i ˈaːɡnɛʃ]; born December 29, 1988) is a professional tennis player from Hungary. She was the WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2007. She achieved her career high ranking of World No. 13 on April 14, 2008.
Szávay was born in Kiskunhalas, Hungary and grew up in Soltvadkert, Hungary. She started to play tennis at the age of six, with her parents acting as her first coaches and managers. Her previous coaches were Zoltán Újhidy, Levente Barátosi, Miklós Hornok, József Bocskay, Zoltán Kuharszky, Karl-Heinz Wetter and Gábor Köves. She has a younger sister, Blanka, who is five years younger than her and currently plays on the junior circuit.
In 2006 she made it to the final of the Ashland Challenger tournament, but lost there to Aleksandra Wozniak 6–1, 7–6 (2).
Szávay won her first career WTA-level tournament in singles in Palermo, Italy in July. The win caused her ranking to rise to World No. 37, which was the first time she had been included in the top 40. She also won one doubles tournament, the Tier III Budapest Grand Prix, with Vladimíra Uhlířová.
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Marion Bartoli vs Petra Kvitova 2012 US Open Highlights
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:36
- Updated: 10 Nov 2012
Marion Bartoli vs Petra Kvitova 2012 US Open 4th round Highlights
http://wn.com/Marion_Bartoli_vs_Petra_Kvitova_2012_US_Open_Highlights
Marion Bartoli vs Serena Williams 2011 Wimbledon Highlights
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:39
- Updated: 18 Nov 2012
Bartoli won the match 6-3 7-6(6).
http://wn.com/Marion_Bartoli_vs_Serena_Williams_2011_Wimbledon_Highlights
Marion Bartoli vs Romina Oprandi - 2R - US Open 2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 17:24
- Updated: 03 Sep 2012
http://wn.com/Marion_Bartoli_vs_Romina_Oprandi_2R_US_Open_2012
Marion Bartoli's AWESOME and INTENSE Practice/Training at the 2012 US OPEN
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:03
- Updated: 17 Nov 2012
A VERY INTENSE and Physical workout of Marion Bartoli getting ready for the 2012 US Open. Marion is a 7 Time WTA Champion. I definitely enjoyed recording this footage!! *NOTE She was on that court for quite some time, this is only a small portion of what went on
http://wn.com/Marion_Bartoli's_AWESOME_and_INTENSE_Practice_Training_at_the_2012_US_OPEN
(HD) Marion Bartoli vs Christina McHale Carlsbad 2012 QF - FULL MATCH
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 155:36
- Updated: 12 Nov 2012
http://wn.com/HD_Marion_Bartoli_vs_Christina_McHale_Carlsbad_2012_QF_FULL_MATCH
Marion BARTOLI doesn't act like everyone else (2011) - Road to Roland-Garros
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:01
- Updated: 04 Nov 2012
More information : www.facebook.com twitter.com www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/Marion_BARTOLI_doesn't_act_like_everyone_else_2011_Road_to_Roland-Garros
Marion Bartoli vs Victoria Azarenka 2012 Miami Highlights
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 12:19
- Updated: 21 Sep 2012
Marion Bartoli vs Victoria Azarenka 2012 Miami Quarter-final Highlights
http://wn.com/Marion_Bartoli_vs_Victoria_Azarenka_2012_Miami_Highlights
Marion Bartoli vs Christina McHale - Carlsbad QF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 12:44
- Updated: 09 Nov 2012
Bartoli wins 7-5 4-6 6-4 in a 3 hour long match
http://wn.com/Marion_Bartoli_vs_Christina_McHale_Carlsbad_QF_2012_HIGHLIGHTS
2012- Marion Bartoli Facebook Questions
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:01
- Updated: 16 Sep 2012
Marion Bartoli answers 5 questions from our fans on Facebook at the 2012 Bank of the West Classic.
http://wn.com/2012_Marion_Bartoli_Facebook_Questions
A day with Marion Bartoli (FRA) - Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:31
- Updated: 12 Oct 2012
Photo shooting, on-court action, gym... A camera accompanied Marion Bartoli. 25.04.2012 More information: www.porsche-tennis.com
http://wn.com/A_day_with_Marion_Bartoli_FRA_Porsche_Tennis_Grand_Prix_2012
Maria Sharapova vs Marion Bartoli
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 15:25
- Updated: 02 Nov 2012
http://wn.com/Maria_Sharapova_vs_Marion_Bartoli
Marion Bartoli
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:44
- Updated: 15 Sep 2012
Who does Marion think is the sexiest French tennis player? Questions submitted by Marianne Begin, a fan from We Are Tennis. By Craig Gabriel , www.wearetennis.com BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, California, Usa - March 5-18, 2012
http://wn.com/Marion_Bartoli
2012- Marion Bartoli Warming Up Pete Sampras
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:08
- Updated: 19 Nov 2012
Marion Bartoli fulfills her childhood dream by warming up with Pete Sampras before his exhibition match at the 2012 Bank of the West Classic.
http://wn.com/2012_Marion_Bartoli_Warming_Up_Pete_Sampras
Insane Volley Techniques - Marion Bartoli (practices with Sampras at Stanford)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:17
- Updated: 02 Nov 2012
Bartoli warming up Pete Sampras for his 7pm match against Michael Chang at the Bank of the West Classic Tournament at Stanford, Wednesday July 11, 2012. Check out Bartoli's crazy volley techniques.
http://wn.com/Insane_Volley_Techniques_Marion_Bartoli_practices_with_Sampras_at_Stanford
Petra Kvitova vs. Marion Bartoli - 2012 US Open - Fourth round
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 109:09
- Updated: 10 Nov 2012
Full coverage of the 2012 US Open fourth round match played between Petra Kvitova (#5) of the Czech Republic and Marion Bartoli (#11) of France on September 2, 2012. This match was important in the context of both players, as one of them would make her first ever US Open quarter-final. Kvitova, a first round loser last year, took the first set easily and was seemingly headed for her first ever US Open quarter-final appearance. However, the Frenchwoman came back to win the next two sets easily to advance to her first ever US Open quarter-final appearance.
http://wn.com/Petra_Kvitova_vs_Marion_Bartoli_2012_US_Open_Fourth_round
Marion Bartoli vs Svetlana Kuznetsova | 2011 Highlights
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 15:44
- Updated: 16 Nov 2012
Marion Bartoli vs Svetlana Kuznetsova | 2011 Highlights French Open 1/4 Final Highlights
http://wn.com/Marion_Bartoli_vs_Svetlana_Kuznetsova_|_2011_Highlights
Maria Sharapova vs Marion Bartoli 2012 US Open QF Highlights
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 17:32
- Updated: 20 Oct 2012
Maria Sharapova vs Marion Bartoli 2012 US Open Quarter-final Highlights
http://wn.com/Maria_Sharapova_vs_Marion_Bartoli_2012_US_Open_QF_Highlights
Marion Bartoli vs Jamie Hampton US OPEN 2012 1R - 08/27/2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:01
- Updated: 27 Aug 2012
Subscribe GrandSlamsTennis For Live Updates Marion Bartoli vs Jamie Hampton US OPEN 2012 1R - 08/27/2012
http://wn.com/Marion_Bartoli_vs_Jamie_Hampton_US_OPEN_2012_1R_08_27_2012
Marion Bartoli Practicing at the 2012 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Japan
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:48
- Updated: 28 Sep 2012
Marion Bartoli drenched in a brutal practice at the 2012 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Japan. If anyone thought Bartoli doesn't train hard or that her father/coach doesn't push her enough, you'd be dead wrong.
http://wn.com/Marion_Bartoli_Practicing_at_the_2012_Toray_Pan_Pacific_Open_in_Japan
2012 New Haven Open: Marion Bartoli
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:10
- Updated: 10 Sep 2012
http://wn.com/2012_New_Haven_Open_Marion_Bartoli
✚ Medina Garrigues vs Bartoli - Bali 2011: Highlights
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 17:48
- Updated: 13 Nov 2012
Anabel Medina Garrigues vs. Marion Bartoli - Bali 2011 Quarter Final Highlights (Huigh Definition) Please watch in HD(720p) for the best video quality output. ________________________________________________ ► FACEBOOK: goo.gl ► TWITTER: goo.gl ► YOUTUBE: goo.gl ________________________________________________ ★ Please don't forget to Like, Comment, and SUBSCRIBE to my Channel for more WTA Highlights! Hope you guys enjoy, Thanks for Watching!
http://wn.com/✚_Medina_Garrigues_vs_Bartoli_Bali_2011_Highlights
✚ Sharapova vs Bartoli - US Open 2012: Highlights
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 14:11
- Updated: 19 Nov 2012
Maria Sharapova vs Marion Bartoli - US Open 2012 Quarter Final Highlights Please watch in HD(720p) for the best video quality output. ________________________________________________ ► FACEBOOK: goo.gl ► TWITTER: goo.gl ► YOUTUBE: goo.gl ________________________________________________ ★ Please don't forget to Like, Comment, and SUBSCRIBE to my Channel for more WTA Highlights!
http://wn.com/✚_Sharapova_vs_Bartoli_US_Open_2012_Highlights
Marion Bartoli vs Carla Suarez Navarro - Quarterfinal - WTA Beijing 2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 13:24
- Updated: 06 Oct 2012
http://wn.com/Marion_Bartoli_vs_Carla_Suarez_Navarro_Quarterfinal_WTA_Beijing_2012
Photo: AP / Hatem Moussa
18 Nov 2012
Israeli air strikes killed 16 Palestinians in Gaza on Saturday, prompting the Arab League to announce a visit to the battered enclave and a review of its Middle East peace policy. Egypt’s President...
Photo: AP / Hatem Moussa
19 Nov 2012
Gaza/Jerusalem - Israel bombed dozens of targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday and said that while it was prepared to step up its offensive by sending in troops, it preferred a diplomatic solution that...
Photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
19 Nov 2012
Yangon, November 19: Newly re-elected US President Barack Obama arrived here Monday to kick off his visit to Myanmar, becoming the first sitting US president to visit the Southeast Asian nation. As...
Photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
20 Nov 2012
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling President Barack Obama's whirlwind tour of southeast Asia and meetings with dignitaries will have to walk a tightrope between either appearing to endorse...
Photo: EC / EC
19 Nov 2012
BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The shadow banking system - blamed for aggravating the financial crisis - grew to a new high of $67 trillion globally last year, a top regulatory group said, calling...
'Wolverine' relaunches for Marvel NOW!
21 Nov 2012
Digital Spy
Marvel Comics has announced a new Wolverine title. Writer Paul Cornell and veteran artist Alan Davis have been confirmed for the new Marvel NOW! title. The series, which will launch in March, was previously teased with the word "Snikt". "This is the series that gets into what makes James Logan tick,...(size: 8.3Kb)
The Daily Beast
More Galleries EMAIL Photos clockwise from top left: Brendan Smialowski / AFP-Getty Images; Mark Humphrey / AP; Jacquelyn Martin...(size: 0.8Kb)
Indiana home explosion investigated as homicide
21 Nov 2012
Springfield News-Sun
The house explosion that killed two people and destroyed several homes in an Indianapolis neighborhood is now being investigated as a homicide, authorities said, though no suspects have been named. Indianapolis Homeland Security Director Gary Coons announced the criminal investigation Monday...(size: 3.5Kb)
IMDb
Last night on The Late Show, David Letterman, transparent Amy Poehler fanboy, snuck in a kiss right on her lips, and then forgot to show...(size: 0.9Kb)
CNBC
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Come January, women will head three of the six largest U.S. weapons makers, a sign that their clout in the male-dominated industry is growing. But executives and experts say the trend may be short-lived unless more young women choose engineering careers and defense companies...(size: 21.7Kb)
Tuesday's Scores
21 Nov 2012
my SA
BOYS BASKETBALL Abbeville 74, Eufaula 65 B. T. Washington Magnet 75, Florala 56 B.C. Rain 60, Foley 46 Bayside Academy 47, Clarke County 44 Blount 58, Vigor 48 Boaz 51, Sardis 31 Calera 40, Briarwood Christian 37 Carbon Hill 71, Sulligent 51 Carver-Birmingham 48, Jemison 46 Catholic-Montgomery 77,...(size: 4.9Kb)
Buffalo News
David Gerken Jr., the Miami Dolphins fan whose body was found in a creek the morning after the Bills-Dolphins game last Thursday, had been ejected from the stadium for âdisorderly conduct,â Bills officials said Tuesday. Gerken was one of 94 fans ejected from Ralph Wilson Stadium that night, the...(size: 4.6Kb)
In Theaters This Weekend: Reviews of 'Rise of the Guardians,' 'Hitchcock,' 'Life of Pi' and More
21 Nov 2012
The Hollywood Reporter
share "Rise of the Guardians" What THR's critics say about the movies opening this week. The holiday season is officially here! And it will be a feast for moviegoers at theaters this Thanksgiving weekend.our editor recommends...(size: 5.7Kb)
MSNBC
Peabody, Kansas — It's a 138-year-old mystery. And it's been solved in 2012. "We had no idea. We just had no idea there were all those Mennonite children buried right here," says Don Stutzman. "And I grew up in the church that was on this site. We just had absolutely no idea." Stutzman is...(size: 7.4Kb)
The New York Times
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — As expected, Mike D’Antoni’s arrival in Los Angeles has prompted a relocation plan for Pau Gasol. The move, happily, will not require luggage or a real estate agent. Jeff Gross/Getty Images The Lakers’ Pau Gasol may not fit Coach Mike D’Antoni’s ideal offense....(size: 10.0Kb)
Giving Turkeys Before Giving Thanks
21 Nov 2012
MSNBC
A holiday tradition ahead of giving thanks: Giving Thanksgiving feasts to families in need. Hundreds of people lined up outside the Union Temple Baptist Church in Anacostia Tuesday waiting for their turn to receive a turkey and see free literature and advice about healthy eating...(size: 1.8Kb)
New York Daily News
Bronx Science girls volleyball coach Jeremy BasSie is quiting following his team’s appearance in the PSAL Class A championship match to protest the league’s decision to postpone that game until after Thanksgiving. The fifth-year coach with a reputation for quirkiness said he’s also stepping down...(size: 2.8Kb)
Star Tribune
Hardly a week goes by without someone calling me to complain that a Twin Cities coin dealer ripped them off. Most of the callers are elderly. Many lack any records of their transactions. Some say law enforcement -- the FBI, local police -- advised them to lick their wounds and move on. Individually,...(size: 2.1Kb)
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|
| Country |  France |
|---|---|
| Residence | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Born | (1984-10-02) 2 October 1984 (age 27) Le Puy-en-Velay, France |
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Weight | 63kg [1] |
| Turned pro | February 2000 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed both sides) born left-handed |
| Career prize money | $7,145,016 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 446–270 |
| Career titles | 7 WTA, 6 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 7 (January 30, 2012) |
| Current ranking | No. 8 (May 21, 2012) |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| Australian Open | QF (2009) |
| French Open | SF (2011) |
| Wimbledon | F (2007) |
| US Open | 4R (2007, 2008) |
| Other tournaments | |
| Championships | RR (2007, 2011) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 117–82 |
| Career titles | 3 WTA, 1 ITF titles |
| Highest ranking | No. 15 (July 5, 2004) |
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |
| Australian Open | 3R (2004, 2005) |
| French Open | 3R (2005, 2006) |
| Wimbledon | QF (2004) |
| US Open | SF (2003) |
| Last updated on: March 7, 2012. | |
Marion Bartoli (born 2 October 1984) is a French professional tennis player and the current French no. 1. She has won seven Women's Tennis Association singles titles and three doubles titles.[2] She was also a runner-up at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships.
Bartoli has defeated three reigning world no. 1 players in her career so far. She defeated Justine Henin in the semifinal of the 2007 Wimbledon Championships, 1–6, 7–5, 6–1, Jelena Janković in the fourth round of the 2009 Australian Open, 6–1, 6–4 and Victoria Azarenka 6–3, 6–3 in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open. She has also recorded wins over other top players such as Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Ana Ivanović, Lindsay Davenport, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Dinara Safina, Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitova, Sam Stosur and Kim Clijsters.
She is known for her unorthodox style of play using two hands on both her forehand and backhand. On January 30th 2012 she rose to a new career high ranking of No.7 in the world.
Contents |
Early life and personal life[link]
Bartoli was born in Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire. She is of Corsican, Catalan, and metropolitan French descent.[3] She started playing tennis at the age of six. Bartoli trained in a small facility as a youngster, where there was not much room behind the baseline. Her father, Walter, gave up his career as a doctor to become her full-time coach when Bartoli won the 2001 Junior US Open title, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4.
She is an animal lover and has a cat named Calinette. Bartoli has a brother who is in the French military. Her role model off the court is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. She is also an admirer of Roger Federer. Her mother Sophie, is a nurse and is rarely seen in the crowd, as she gets so nervous watching her daughter play. Bartoli has told the press she had an IQ of 175, when tested as a child.[4]
Playing style[link]
 |
This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2009) |
Bartoli is known for her unorthodox and very intense style of play on the court. She uses two hands on both the forehand and the backhand, and is generally classed as an aggressive and hard-hitting player. She developed her two-handed style on the advice of her father, who is also her coach. He had seen the classic 1992 French Open final in which Monica Seles defeated Steffi Graf, and immediately was inspired to teach the technique to his daughter.
Bartoli also had trouble with her forehand at the time, so when she made the switch to two hands, it greatly improved and she has never stopped. She uses her double-fisted strokes to create sharp angles to open up the court and prefers to take the ball very early on groundstrokes. Her return of serve is considered to be her biggest weapon and she often stands inside the baseline to receive serve, even on first serves.
Her style of play can be most closely compared to that of Seles, who had a strong influence on Bartoli as a young player, though unlike Seles, Bartoli is right-handed.
In the past she was not a very good mover and was further inhibited by her two-fisted strokes, which could make her vulnerable to fast all-court players. Since then Bartoli has worked on her fitness and mobility and has lost weight, and now her court movement has improved markedly.
Bartoli is also known for her unusual serve, in which she uses her wrist to generate speed. She has also changed her service motion many times over the years. Furthermore, Bartoli manifests unusual on-court mannerisms and never stops moving and jumps on the spot between points. She is continuously moving her legs and sometimes does this when her opponent is serving.
Equipment[link]
Bartoli is currently playing using the new Prince EXO 3 Warrior racquet. She has previously used the Prince EXO3 Black and the Prince O3 Red. All her Prince racquets are modified in New York to make them longer by 1.5 inches than standard racquets to give her better reach with her two-handed strokes. For many years she had no clothing sponsor, but wore Nike. In October 2011, she signed a three year clothing deal with Lotto. Before her breakthrough into the top 100, Bartoli was playing with a standard length Babolat racquet and she was wearing Le Coq Sportif apparel.
Tennis career[link]
Early years[link]
Bartoli started entering tournaments regularly at the age of 16. After a few aborted starts in 1999 and 2000, in 2001 she played in the ITF $10,000 clay events in the spring. Winning two tournaments back to back in May (in Hatfield and Torino) ensured that the French Open would giver her a wildcard into her first Grand Slam, where she lost to Catalina Castaño. Bartoli also won another tournament in Koksijde, Belgium.
In 2002, she received a wildcard into the Australian Open. She lost to Tina Pisnik, 3–6, 6–4, 7–9. She then won her fourth ITF title in Columbus, Ohio. She followed that with a first-round exit at the French Open, losing in three sets to Ai Sugiyama. In the US Open where she qualified, she upset Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, 6–3, 6–1. It was Bartoli's first win over a player in the top 100. She followed that with a win over Rossana de los Ríos, before losing to fourth seed Lindsay Davenport, 3–6, 1–6.
2003[link]
Bartoli began 2003 by reaching her first WTA semifinals in the Canberra Women's Classic, losing to Francesca Schiavone, 4–6, 6–3, 3–6, after coming through the qualifying draw. For the first time, she earned her place in a Grand Slam (the Australian Open) through her ranking, but lost to 11th seed Magdalena Maleeva in the first round in straight sets. She then received a wildcard in Paris, but lost in the first round to Maja Matevžič. She then qualified for her first Tier I event at Indian Wells, California, before losing in straight sets to eighth-seeded Chanda Rubin in the second round. She repeated this two weeks later by qualifying in Key Biscayne, Florida, but this time made it to the quarterfinals, after Davenport retired in their fourth-round match because of an injured hamstring. She then lost to Serena Williams, 1–6, 2–6.[5]
She qualified for the Sarasota Clay Court Classic and the Family Circle Cup, but lost in the first round of both tournaments, as well as in the first round of the Bausch & Lomb Championships. In the Internationaux de Strasbourg, she reached the quarterfinals, losing to Vera Zvonareva 1–6, 2–6. At the 2003 French Open, she earned her first victory over Rossana de los Ríos 6–3, 6–0, but lost to Jennifer Capriati in the second round. In the grass season, she made it to the third round in Birmingham, losing to Elena Dementieva after upsetting Émilie Loit in the first round. She then lost to compatriot Amélie Mauresmo in 's-Hertogenbosch. At her first Wimbledon, she drew the ninth seed, Slovak Daniela Hantuchová in the first round and lost 4–6, 1–6.
She lost in early rounds in Bank of the West Classic, JPMorgan Chase Open, Rogers AT&T Cup, and Pilot Pen Tennis. However, at the Acura Classic, she defeated her first top-20 player in Meghann Shaughnessy 3–6, 7–6, 7–5, but lost to Kim Clijsters in the third round 1–6, 1–6. She drew Hantuchová again in the first round of the US Open, and again only took five games off the Slovak, this time losing 3–6, 2–6. She then failed to qualify in the Sparkassen Cup and Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. At the end of the year, she reached the second round of Generali Ladies Linz, losing to Vera Zvonareva, and the quarterfinals of Bell Challenge, losing to Milagros Sequera, 6–1, 3–6, 1–6.
2004[link]
Bartoli began 2004 by getting to her first Women's Tennis Association (WTA) semifinal in the season-opener in Auckland. She got to the second round of the Australian Open for the first time, losing to 22nd-seeded Patty Schnyder in three sets.
In February, Bartoli played at the 2004 Hyderabad Open, where she won three straight matches against Ankita Bhambri, Galina Fokina, and Mervana Jugić-Salkić to reach the semifinals, before losing to eventual champion Nicole Pratt in three sets. This performance briefly made her a top-50 player.
But simultaneously she refound her doubles form of late 2003. Partnering compatriot Émilie Loit, she reached the semifinals of Acapulco, the quarterfinals of Indian Wells, and then Bartoli won her first WTA tour doubles title in Casablanca.
After a forgettable singles clay-court season (culminating in her second loss to Sugiyama at her native Grand Slam event), she rose back up the rankings by reaching the third round of Wimbledon (losing to Sugiyama for the second successive Grand Slam). She also got to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in doubles, partnering Loit for the second successive Grand Slam (they had failed to get beyond the second round of the French Open). Bartoli got to her third singles semifinal of the year in Cincinnati, before pulling out of her match with Lindsay Davenport with a blister on her right hand. She reached the second round of the US Open, despite being drawn against 32nd-seeded Meghann Shaughnessy in the first round. She lost to Russian Vera Douchevina in three sets in the second round.
In the absence of Amélie Mauresmo (with a groin injury) and Mary Pierce (with a shoulder problem), Bartoli received her debut Fed Cup call-up for France's semifinals against Spain. She was teamed with Loit again and helped complete a 5–0 whitewash of the Spanish team. In the final against Russia, Svetlana Kuznetsova had lost both of her matches, and Anastasia Myskina had won both of hers, making Bartoli's and Loit's doubles match against Myskina and Vera Zvonareva the decisive rubber. The Russian pair won the first set in a tiebreak, then the second set 7–5, handing the Fed Cup to Russia for the first time. As a result, her team leader Guy Forget resigned, and she was not chosen by the new team leader Georges Goven to play in 2005.[6]
She ended 2004 ranked world no. 41, having gone 30–24 over the year. Her hard-court record was 23–13, with clay going 4–7, grass 3–3, and carpet 0–1.
2005[link]
After a promising start (semifinals in Auckland and quarterfinals in Canberra), which took her to world no. 32 and winning the second doubles tournament of her career in Pattaya City, injury disrupted the second quarter of 2005 for Bartoli. The only match she played in the clay-court season was her straight-sets first-round loss to Shahar Pe'er at the French Open (where she was seeded for the first time, 28th). Her quarterfinal run at Eastbourne (where she had to retire hurt) led her to a career-high ranking of no. 27 entering Wimbledon. She lost to Jill Craybas in the second round, 1–6, 4–6. Highlights of the year were reaching the third round of the US Open for the second time (losing to Sania Mirza) and making her second Women's Tennis Association semifinal of the year (and fifth of her career) in Québec.
Her end-of-season stats were 35–26, albeit padded by a victory in a satellite tournament in Doha at the end of the year. She went 30–21 on hard courts, 0–1 on clay, 3–3 on grass, and 2–1 on carpet. She was now ranked world no. 40.
2006[link]
In January 2006, Bartoli at 21 years of age won her first senior title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, beating Vera Zvonareva in the final, 6–2, 6–2. The tournament marked the first time she had beaten a top-10 player, when Nadia Petrova retired in the third set of their semifinal with a leg injury. She then lost in the second round of the first three Grand Slam events of the year (losing to Roberta Vinci in Australia, Serb Jelena Janković at the French Open, and Karolina Šprem at Wimbledon, all in three sets), but she won her third career doubles title by capturing the ECM Prague Open with Shahar Pe'er in May.
The North American summer hard-court season was very productive for Bartoli, getting to the third round (and in some cases that meant the quarterfinals) of five of the seven tournaments she entered, including the US Open, where she again lost in the third round, this time to seventh-seeded Patty Schnyder. The following week, she beat the Swiss player on route to her second final of the year in Bali, where she lost to world no. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova.
In October, Bartoli won her second Women's Tennis Association (WTA) singles title at the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, beating Aiko Nakamura, 2–6, 6–2, 6–2, in the final. This was the first ever WTA final contested by two players using two-handed strokes on both the forehand and backhand.[citation needed] As a result of winning the title, she broke into the top 20 for the first time. In her last event of the year, she captured the Bell Challenge in Quebec City, shutting out Olga Poutchkova in the final, 6–0, 6–0.
Bartoli finished the year ranked world no. 17. Her record was 45–28, her best on tour so far. That consisted of 37–17 on hard courts, 4–6 on clay, 3–3 on grass, and 1–2 on carpet. She was 3–6 against top-10 players.
2007[link]
Bartoli began 2007 with another second-round exit at the Australian Open, this time falling to Victoria Azarenka in straight sets. She then performed well at the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, defeating ninth seed Dinara Safina, 6–4, 6–3, in the third round, before losing to sixth seed Nicole Vaidišová, 6–4, 3–6, 2–6, in the fourth round.
Bartoli then began to find her form during the clay-court season, which had previously not been a successful surface for her. She reached the final of the ECM Prague Open in May, losing to Akiko Morigami. Bartoli was hindered by a hip injury during the latter stages of the Prague tournament and withdrew from the Tier I tournament in Rome as a result. After reaching the semifinals in Strasbourg, she lost to Amélie Mauresmo. Then she reached her first career Grand Slam fourth round at the French Open by defeating Aravane Rezaï, 6–2, 6–4, Andrea Petkovic, 0–6, 6–2, 6–3 and 13th seed Elena Dementieva, 6–2, 6–4. In the fourth round, she was knocked out by fourth seed Jelena Janković, 1–6, 1–6. During this match, Bartoli injured her back.
Her form continued into the grass-court season, beating Daniela Hantuchová in three sets en route to a semifinal encounter with Maria Sharapova in Birmingham, which she lost in straight sets. A week later in Eastbourne, she got to her second successive semifinal, dispatching Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals, 6–1, 6–0, before losing to world no. 1 Justine Henin, 1–6, 3–6.
At Wimbledon, Bartoli made her long-awaited Grand Slam breakthrough by advancing to her first Grand Slam final. After a win against 16th seed Shahar Pe'er, Bartoli upset third seeded Jelena Janković, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3, in a match interrupted by many rain delays. Bartoli followed this by beating Michaëlla Krajicek of the Netherlands, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2, in another delayed match. In her first Grand Slam semifinal, Bartoli came from behind to stun top-seeded Justine Henin, 1–6, 7–5, 6–1, in one of the biggest upsets in Wimbledon history.[7] Bookmakers had Henin at 1/33 to win, and Bartoli was a 10–1 outside shot. Bartoli claimed afterwards that the reason for her turnaround in the match was seeing Pierce Brosnan in the royal box and being determined to play well in front of one of her favourite actors. In her post-match interview, she asked the former James Bond star if he could come back for the final the next day to see her again. However, the following day Brosnan was unable to attend, due to a wedding. In the final, Bartoli lost to three-time former champion Venus Williams, 4–6, 1–6. Her father, who was sitting in the player's box behind Williams' father Richard, broke down and cried when she acknowledged him in her post-match remarks as being responsible for her achievements. As a result of her Wimbledon performance, she rose to a career high of no. 11 in the Women's Tennis Association rankings.
After withdrawing from the Fed Cup, her first foray into the US Open Series ended in a defeat at Stanford. Seeded second, Bartoli faced American wildcard Lilia Osterloh in the second round and lost 7–5, 4–6, 3–6. Bartoli suffered a leg injury in the first set, which hindered her movement; she also cited fatigue and illness as contributing factors to the loss. In San Diego, Bartoli edged past Aiko Nakamura 7–6, 6–1, after a first-round bye, but lost to Elena Dementieva in the third round, 4–6, 5–7. This loss was perhaps seen as surprising because Bartoli had won their last two meetings, including losing just one game at Eastbourne. Despite the loss, Bartoli claimed that her level of play was fine; however, she lost her next match in Los Angeles to an in-form Maria Kirilenko 6–7, 3–6, after receiving a bye to the second round.
Bartoli picked up her form in Toronto, winning consecutive matches for the first time since Wimbledon. She beat Maria Kirilenko and Dinara Safina, but retired in her quarterfinal match against Yan Zi when trailing 2–6, 0–3. At New Haven, she beat Virginia Ruano Pascual 6–0, 6–4, before losing to Elena Dementieva once again 4–6, 2–6.
At the US Open, she reached the fourth round for the first time by defeating world no. 25 Lucie Šafářová in three sets. In the fourth round, she lost to eight-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams 3–6, 4–6.
After her US Open performance, Bartoli began her indoor season at a small tournament in Kolkata, India. She was the top-seeded player, but lost to Vania King. She then played at the Fortis Championships in Luxembourg, where she reached her first semifinal since her Wimbledon run by beating defending champion Alona Bondarenko and top-seeded Anna Chakvetadze for her third top-10 win of the year. However, she was then beaten by Daniela Hantuchová, 2–6, 2–6. She then suffered a first-round loss in Stuttgart to Agnieszka Radwańska, 6–0, 2–6, 1–6, on her 23rd birthday.
Bartoli then moved to the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, the first Tier I of the indoor season. She was the fifth seed at this event, and in the first round beat Alona Bondarenko for the second time in three weeks, 6–2, 7–5. However, she lost in the next round to home favourite Vera Dushevina, 6–2, 0–6, 4–6. She then moved on to another Tier I event in Zürich and reached the quarterfinals with wins over Peng Shuai and Michaëlla Krajicek. Her run came to an unfortunate end against Tatiana Golovin, when she had to retire with a knee injury whilst leading 5–4. Bartoli hurt herself during the game at 4–4, where she broke Golovin to love due to a string of unforced errors from her compatriot, and despite attempts to continue, she was forced to retire and reportedly left the court in tears.[8]
Despite her injury, Bartoli still played at the Generali Ladies Linz held in Austria. After a first-round bye, she defeated homecrowd favourite Tamira Paszek in the second round, 6–2, 6–1. In the quarterfinals, she was pushed to three sets by a resilient Julia Vakulenko, but eventually prevailed, 6–1, 1–6, 6–4, to reach her second semifinal since Luxembourg. There, she lost to eventual runner-up Patty Schnyder, 6–7, 3–6, ending her hopes of reaching the WTA Tour Championships. However, after Serena Williams withdrew from the tournament due to her injury,[9] Bartoli entered the event and played in the yellow group. Since Serena had already played one match, Bartoli did not play Anna Chakvetadze. Bartoli lost 0–6, 0–6 to Justine Henin, who avenged her shock Wimbledon defeat to Bartoli, but Bartoli defeated Jelena Janković, 6–1, 1–0, after the Serbian retired.
Her final record for the year was 47–31, with 19–16 on hard courts, 14–7 on clay, 12–3 on grass, and 2–5 on carpet. Her record against top-10 players was 4–8. Despite not having earned a single title all year, she ended the year as a top-10 player at no. 10.
2008[link]
Bartoli started the year by playing the Medibank International in Sydney, losing to Francesca Schiavone in the second round 6–2, 3–6, 2–6. At the Australian Open, Bartoli was upset by Sofia Arvidsson 7–6, 4–6, 3–6, after Bartoli was up a break in both the second and third sets. At the Open Gaz de France, Bartoli made it to the semifinals, following easy wins over Virginie Razzano and Dominika Cibulková. However, she suffered a back injury while 6–2, 2–1 up against Anna Chakvetadze, but eventually lost 6–2, 2–6, 0–6. In Doha and Dubai, she lost to Caroline Wozniacki and Francesca Schiavone.
In the Indian Wells, California, following wins over Elena Vesnina and Angelique Kerber, she lost in the fourth round to Lindsay Davenport 5–7, 2–6. In Key Biscayne, Florida in her first match, she lost to Caroline Wozniacki 3–6, 1–6. On clay at Amelia Island, Florida, she lost in the second round to Olga Govortsova. In Charleston, South Carolina, she received a bye into the second round, where she defeated Casey Dellacqua 7–5, 4–6, 6–1, but lost to Vera Zvonareva 4–6, 6–4, 1–6. Then at the Qatar Telecom German Open, she made the third round, following an easy 6–0, 6–3 win over Lucie Šafářová, but was upset by Ágnes Szávay in the third round, 5–7, 5–7.
In Rome, she was seeded eighth and got a bye. In the third round, she was defeated by ninth-seeded Patty Schnyder 6–4, 4–6, 6–7, after leading 4–1 in the last set and holding a match point in the tiebreak. She then played in Strasbourg as the top seed. She badly injured her wrist and withdrew while trailing 1–6, 0–1 against Chinese Peng Shuai in her first match. At the French Open, she played through injury and was defeated by Dellacqua in the first round 7–6, 3–6, 2–6.
Seeded first at Birmingham, she was upset 7–5, 4–6, 0–6 by Petra Cetkovská. At Eastbourne, she defeated Sybille Bammer 6–3, 6–0, and Alisa Kleybanova 6–3, 6–3, but lost her semifinal match to eventual champion Agnieszka Radwańska 5–7, 3–6. At Wimbledon, she was seeded 11th and defeated Sabine Lisicki 6–2, 6–4, and Tathiana Perebiynis 6–2, 7–5. She was upset by Bethanie Mattek 4–6, 1–6, suffering calf and shoulder injuries.
Seeded sixth at Stanford, she defeated Akgul Amanmuradova in straight sets, Anne Keothavong, defending champion Anna Chakvetadze 6–3, 6–4, and Ai Sugiyama 6–3, 6–3, to move into her first final since Wimbledon in 2007. In the final, Bartoli lost to the Canadian qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak, 5–7, 3–6. In Montreal, she overcame a stomach virus to beat Melanie South, 6–3, 6–7, 6–0. After a walkover in the second round, Bartoli defeated Anna Chakvetadze, 4–6, 7–5, 7–6, saving three match points in the process. Then in the quarterfinals, she beat Ai Sugiyama, again in straight sets. Playing with a twisted ankle, Bartoli fell to Dominika Cibulková in the semifinals, 6–4, 4–6, 3–6.
In Cincinnati, she was seeded first, but pulled out while trailing 6–7, 2–2 to Jamea Jackson because of an abdominal strain. Then in New Haven, she defeated Tsvetana Pironkova, 2–6, 6–4, 7–5, but lost to Caroline Wozniacki, 4–6, 0–6. At the US Open, she was seeded 12th and strolled through her opening rounds against Galina Voskoboeva and Virginia Ruano Pascual. She then beat former champion and 23rd-seeded Lindsay Davenport in the third round, 6–1, 7–6. She lost to 29th-seeded Sybille Bammer in the fourth round, 6–7, 6–0, 4–6.
2009[link]
Bartoli's first event during the new WTA calendar was the inaugural Brisbane International. She was seeded third and defeated Monika Wejnert, 6–1, 6–2, Melinda Czink, 5–7, 6–3, 6–1, Tathiana Garbin, 6–3, 6–3. During the semifinal against Amélie Mauresmo, the latter had to retire due to injury; securing Bartoli a place in the final, which she lost to Victoria Azarenka, 3–6, 1–6. Bartoli withdrew from the Medibank International Sydney due to a left calf strain during a match with qualifier Melanie South, while tied at 1–1.
Seeded 16th at the Australian Open, she defeated Melanie South 6–2, 6–4, Tsvetana Pironkova 7–5, 6–2, and Lucie Šafářová, 3–6, 6–2, 6–1. Bartoli then stunned top seed Jelena Janković of Serbia by crushing her in straight sets 6–1, 6–4. However, she lost to seventh seeded Vera Zvonareva in the quarterfinals 3–6, 0–6. In 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships seeded 11th, she defeated Ai Sugiyama 6–0, 4–6, 7–6, and Francesca Schiavone 7–6, 3–6, 6–3, in the second round. However, in the third round, she retired while 2–5 down against Vera Zvonareva.
Bartoli then won her fourth career title at the Monterrey Open. Bartoli was seeded second, with wins over Michaëlla Krajicek 6–2, 6–4, Magdaléna Rybáriková 6–0, 6–4, Vania King 2–6, 6–2, 6–3, and Zheng Jie 7–5, 6–3. In the final, Bartoli defeated another Chinese player, unseeded Li Na 6–4, 6–3. Next, she suffered disappointing consecutive second-round defeats at Indian Wells and Miami, to Shahar Pe'er 6–1, 4–6, 5–7, and Anastasiya Yakimova 4–6, 3–6, after suffering from a viral illness.
After being too late to receive a wildcard into the Ponte Vedra Beach main draw, Bartoli accepted a wildcard into the qualifying draw and qualified. Bartoli faced the lower ranked eighth seed, Bethanie Mattek-Sands. However, Bartoli lost in a closely fought match 7–5, 6–7, 3–6. In Charleston, she was seeded sixth and defeated Anastasija Sevastova 6–1, 6–3, Melanie Oudin 6–4, 6–1, and Melinda Czink 6–4, 6–1, but lost to eventual champion Sabine Lisicki 3–6, 1–6, in the semifinal.
In Stuttgart, she defeated Karolina Šprem 6–3, 2–6, 6–1, and beat Caroline Wozniacki 7–6, 6–4. She then lost a close match against no. 3 Elena Dementieva 2–6, 6–4, 3–6. In Rome, she defeated Peng Shuai 6–0, 7–6, but fell to resurgent María José Martínez Sánchez 1–6, 5–7. In Madrid, she fell to Aleksandra Wozniak 6–7, 2–6, in the first round. At the French Open, Bartoli won her opening match against fellow Frenchwoman Pauline Parmentier 3–6, 6–1, 6–3. Bartoli was then upset by Tathiana Garbin of Italy in the second round 3–6, 5–7.
On grass, Bartoli advanced to the second round in Eastbourne by easing past Gisela Dulko 6–3, 6–1, Anna Chakvetadze 7–5, 6–3, and Anabel Medina Garrigues 6–1, 6–4, before retiring with an injury against Virginie Razzano whilst trailing 4–6, 0–1. Seeded 12th at Wimbledon, Bartoli dominated Chan Yung-jan 6–0, 6–0. She then defeated Timea Bacsinszky in the second round 7–5, 6–1, but fell 6–7, 0–6, to Francesca Schiavone in the third round.
Bartoli played her first tournament of the US Open Series in Stanford as eighth seed. She won the title by defeating Ayumi Morita 7–6, 6–3, Melanie Oudin 7–5, 6–4, Jelena Janković 3–6, 7–6, 6–3, saving two match points in the second set, Samantha Stosur in the semifinals 6–3, 1–6, 6–1, and second seed Venus Williams in the finals 6–2, 5–7, 6–4, to win her second title of the year and fifth overall.[10] Bartoli was seeded 13th at the Cincinnati Masters, but fell to Kim Clijsters in her comeback match, in the first round 4–6, 3–6. She then lost in the first round of Toronto to Alona Bondarenko 4–6, 3–6. In New Haven, she beat María José Martínez Sánchez 4–6, 6–3, 6–1, but retired from the next round against Magdaléna Rybáriková.
Seeded 14th at the 2009 US Open, Bartoli crushed Rossana de los Ríos 6–1, 6–0, but lost to eventual champion Kim Clijsters 7–5, 1–6, 2–6. Seeded 14th at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Bartoli won over Sorana Cîrstea 6–3, 6–0, Aravane Rezaï 6–4, 6–2, and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 4–6, 6–2, 7–5. In the quarterfinals, Marion lost to 7th seed Jelena Janković, 4–6, 3–6. Marion entered the China Open in Beijing and was seeded 14. She defeated Magdaléna Rybáriková, 6–2, 4–6, 6–3, Alisa Kleybanova, 6–2, 6–3, Zhang Shuai, 6–1, 6–4, and Vera Zvonareva, 3–6, 7–5, 6–2. In the semifinals, Marion lost to 12th seed Agnieszka Radwańska, 4–6, 3–6, despite being up a break at stages in both sets. As second seed in Osaka, Japan, Bartoli defeated Galina Voskoboeva, 6–3, 7–5, and Kurumi Nara, 6–1, 6–1. In the quarterfinals, Bartoli was defeated by Sania Mirza, as Marion retired due to pain in her right shoulder.
At the 2009 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, Bartoli defeated Rybáriková, 6–4, 6–4, and qualified for the semifinals when she beat Peer, 6–3, 6–2. She then defeated Kimiko Date-Krumm, 6–1, 6–3. In the final, Bartoli lost the first set to Aravane Rezaï, 5–7, and then retired due to a left quad strain.
2010[link]
Bartoli started her year as the 11th seed at the 2010 Australian Open. She defeated Rossana de los Ríos in the first round, 6–4, 6–1. In the second round, she defeated Sandra Záhlavová, 6–4, 6–4. In the third round, she lost to unseeded and eventual semifinalist Zheng Jie, 7–5, 3–6, 0–6, ending her hopes of reaching the quarterfinals again.
Bartoli then competed at the 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships, where she was seeded 11th. She defeated qualifier Ekaterina Makarova in the first round, 6–2, 6–0, in just 63 minutes. In the second round, she defeated Alexandra Dulgheru, 6–2, 6–1, in just 57 minutes. In the third round, she lost to 8th seed Li Na 6–3, 5–7, 0–6, despite being up 5–2 in the second set and having two opportunities to serve out the match.
Bartoli then entered the 2010 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, where she was seeded 11th. She received a bye in the first round and defeated Polona Hercog 6–4, 6–2, in the second round. In the third round, she defeated American veteran Jill Craybas 6–2, 6–0, to move on to the fourth round, where she was once again defeated by world no. 8 and 5th seed Agnieszka Radwańska 3–6, 2–6. Despite this loss, Marion gained ranking points overall, having improved on her second round exit last year and moved up from no. 16 to no. 15 in the world.
Bartoli's then entered the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, another Premier Mandatory event, where she improved on a disappointing second-0round loss last year. As the 13th seed, she received a bye into the second round, where she defeated Magdaléna Rybáriková 6–2, 6–4, in straight sets, despite being 1–4 down in the second set. In the third round, she defeated unseeded Gisela Dulko 7–6, 6–4, to advance to the fourth round, where she defeated top seed and world no. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–3, 6–0, in under an hour. In the quarterfinals, she defeated 12th seed Yanina Wickmayer 6–4, 7–5, in just under 2 hours. At one stage in the second set, Bartoli was 2–4, 30–40 down against Wickmayer's serve, and later on faced three consecutive set points whilst serving at 4–5, 0–40. Bartoli saved them all, winning 12 of the next 13 points to close in on victory and to book her place in the semifinal against world no. 5 Venus Williams. She lost 3–6, 4–6 to the world no. 5, despite being 3–1 up in the second set. Bartoli also had trouble with her serve and served up four double faults in one game during the match, and seven overall. However, due to Marion's good performance in Miami, she moved up to no. 12 in the world.
Bartoli then began her clay-court season at the 2010 Family Circle Cup, a Premier Event in Charleston. Bartoli was seeded fifth, and as a top-8 seed she received a bye into the second round. She retired against Peng Shuai in her second round match whilst trailing 6–2, 6–7, 3–4, due to dizziness and apparent abdominal pains. She lost her semifinal points from 2009 and dropped one place in the rankings to no. 13.
She then flew to Europe to compete on the red clay and entered the 2010 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, where she had made the quarterfinals in 2009. Marion narrowly missed out on being seeded and had a tough draw, losing to 7th seed and eventual finalist Samantha Stosur in the first round, 2–6, 1–6. Marion lost valuable points again and dropped to no. 14.
Bartoli then competed at the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open as the 12th seed. Marion defeated Polona Hercog in the first round, taking 2 hours and 30 minutes to defeat the young clay-court specialist, 3–6, 6–4, 6–4. Marion was then upset by world no. 54 Anabel Medina Garrigues in the second round 2–6, 0–6.
Bartoli then competed at her final clay-court tournament before the French Open, the 2010 Polsat Warsaw Open, where she was seeded 4th. Despite telling the press that she felt confident with the draw and her physical condition, Marion lost to world no. 78 Klára Zakopalová in the first round 6–4, 1–6, 2–6.
Bartoli then competed at the 2010 French Open as the 12th seed and French no. 1 with only one win on clay under her belt. She drew Maria Elena Camerin in the first round, and she beat her 6–2, 6–3. In the second round, she defeated compatriot and wildcard Olivia Sanchez 7–5, 6–2. She was defeated by Israeli Shahar Pe'er in the third round 6–7, 2–6.
Bartoli was seeded 8th at the AEGON International. Bartoli defeated Vera Dushevina 6–4, 7–5, Ágnes Szávay 3–6, 6–4, 6–4, and María José Martínez Sánchez 5–7, 6–4, 7–6, before falling in the semifinals to Victoria Azarenka 3–6, 5–7. It was the fourth consecutive year that Bartoli had made the semifinals at Eastbourne.
Bartoli was seeded 11th at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. She defeated Julia Görges in the first round 6–4, 6–3, and moved straight into the third round after Petra Martić withdrew from the tournament with suspected injury. In the third round, Marion defeated qualifier Gréta Arn 6–3, 6–4, before falling 4–6, 4–6 in the fourth round to eventual semifinalist Tsvetana Pironkova.
At the 2010 Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, where she was defending her title, she defeated American Ashley Harkleroad 6–1, 6–4, in the first round. In the second round, she defeated former world no. 1 Ana Ivanović 6–3, 6–4, before falling in the quarterfinals and losing her crown to Victoria Azarenka 6–3, 3–6, 3–6. This loss caused her to drop to world no. 20, the lowest her ranking has been for a few years.
Bartoli then flew to San Diego to compete at the 2010 Mercury Insurance Open, where she was seeded 6th. In the opening round, she was defeated by Daniela Hantuchová 3–6, 7–6, 6–4.
Bartoli then entered the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati and was seeded 16th. She defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues 6–4, 6–0, in the first round and Alona Bondarenko 7–6, 6–1, in the second round. In the third round, she came back from a break down 3–4 in the first set to defeat second seed and world no. 3 Caroline Wozniacki 6–4, 6–1. In the quarterfinals, she was defeated by 10th seed Maria Sharapova 1–6, 4–6.
Seeded 17th at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, Bartoli defeated Canadian wildcard Valérie Tétreault in the first round 6–1, 6–0. In the second, she was scheduled to play Lucky Loser Kimiko Date-Krumm, before Kimiko withdrew from the match with a leg injury. Marion received a walkover into the third round, where she crushed qualifier Iveta Benešová 6–0, 6–1. In the quarterfinals, she was defeated for the third time this year by 10th seed Victoria Azarenka 2–6, 6–7, despite having four set points at 6–2 up in the tiebreak.
At her final tournament before the US Open, the 2010 Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven, Bartoli was seeded 6th and defeated Alona Bondarenko in a first-round marathon 6–7, 7–6, 6–3. She defeated Anastasia Rodionova in the second round 6–3, 6–1. In the quarterfinals, Marion lost an exhausting encounter with 4th seed Elena Dementieva 3–6, 6–3, 2–6.
At the 2010 US Open, Marion was seeded 13th and defeated Edina Gallovits 6–3, 6–2, in the first round. In the second round, she was upset by world no. 157 and French compatriot Virginie Razzano 5–7, 4–6.
Putting her disappointing loss at the US Open behind her, Bartoli flew to Canada to compete in the 2010 Bell Challenge in Quebec. Seeded first, she was looking to gain her first title of the year. She hammered Stéphanie Foretz Gacon in the first round 6–1, 6–1, but was upset by Canadian wildcard Rebecca Marino 3–6, 1–6, in the second round. During the match, Bartoli had trouble with her serve, and served eight double faults and three aces in eight service games, whereas Marino served 10 aces and one double fault.
Bartoli then entered the 2010 Toray Pan Pacific Open, a Premier event in Tokyo, where she attempted to defend quarterfinal points. In the first round, she defeated Yanina Wickmayer (the highest ranked unseeded player in the draw at 21) in straight sets, 6–4, 6–4. She defeated Ana Ivanović in the second round, 6–2, 6–1, to book a third-round encounter with 8th-seed Victoria Azarenka. After taking a long medical timeout at 1–4 in the first set, Marion attempted to continue, but after losing the first set 2–6, Bartoli retired due to illness.
Her next tournament was the 2010 China Open, a Premier Mandatory event in Beijing. She faced Ana Ivanović in the first round and lost, 2–6, 3–6.
Bartoli then entered her final tournament of the year, the 2010 HP Open in Osaka, Japan. Ranked no. 16 in the world, she was seeded second behind Samantha Stosur. Bartoli cruised into the quarterfinals by defeating Julie Coin, 6–2, 6–1, and Stefanie Vögele, 6–2, 6–2. She then defeated American veteran Jill Craybas, 6–1, 6–2, to book a place in the semifinals with Tamarine Tanasugarn, where she lost 2–6, 5–7.
Bartoli ended the year at world no. 16 with a total record of 34–21 and a record of 2–4 against top-10 players.
2011[link]
Bartoli kicked off her 2011 season on January 2 with an appearance at the 2011 Brisbane International. She was seeded fourth and defeated American qualifier Vania King in the first round, 6–1, 6–2. She then defeated Czech player Iveta Benešová, 6–1, 3–6, 6–0, to book a place in the quarterfinals, where she defeated another Czech player Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, 6–2, 6–1. In the semifinals, she was defeated by Andrea Petkovic 4–6, 2–6, despite being up a double break 4–1 in the first set.
Bartoli was top seeded at the 2011 Moorilla Hobart International in her first appearance at the tournament. A tough test was expected in the first round, as she had drawn former world no. 1 Dinara Safina in the first round. However, Bartoli won easily, 6–0, 6–1. She defeated Elena Vesnina in the next round 6–4, 6–1, before losing to fifth seed Klára Zakopalová in the quarterfinals 4–6, 2–6.
Bartoli was seeded 15th at the 2011 Australian Open Grand Slam, and she played Tathiana Garbin in the first round and won with a double bagel, 6–0, 6–0. She was defeated by Vesna Manasieva is the second round 6–3, 3–6, 0–6, after tearing her right calf muscle at 5–1 in the first set.
Bartoli was expected to be away from the tour for 4–6 weeks to recover from her injury, but she played the 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships. She was seeded 10th and defeated Kimiko Date-Krumm in the first round 7–6, 6–4. In the second round, she came back from 3–6, 1–4 to defeat Timea Bacsinszky 3–6, 6–4, 6–1. In the third round, she was defeated by 8th seed Agnieszka Radwańska 3–6, 2–6.
Her next tournament was the 2011 Qatar Ladies Open in Doha. With a strong field, Marion was unseeded and defeated Alisa Kleybanova in the first round 7–5, 6–2. She then crushed Shahar Pe'er, 6–1, 6–0, in the second round to book a quarterfinal place against Peng Shuai, whom she beat 6–2, 6–2. She then faced world no. 1 and first seed Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals. However, she lost in straight sets 1–6, 1–6.
Bartoli’s next stop was the 2011 BMV Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur. Playing there for the first time, Bartoli was seeded second behind Francesca Schiavone. In the first round, she crushed Maria-Elena Camerin 6–0, 6–1. She defeated Ekaterina Ivanova in the second round 6–2, 6–1, before losing to fifth seed Lucie Šafářová in the quarterfinals 1–6, 4–6.
Bartoli was seeded 15th at the 2011 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Like all seeds, she received a bye into the second round, where she faced qualifier and fellow double-hander Monica Niculescu. Bartoli came from a set and a break down at 2–6, 1–2 to win 2–6, 6–3, 6–2. She then cruised past 21st seed Andrea Petkovic in the third round 6–4, 6–2, to book a fourth-round encounter with second seed Kim Clijsters. Clijsters won the first set 6–3, but at 1–3 in the second set Clijsters retired due to a right shoulder injury. Bartoli edged 19th seed Ana Ivanović in the quarterfinals 6–4, 7–6, and easily defeated 23rd seed Yanina Wickmayer 6–1, 6–3, in the semifinals to reach the final, where she played against world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. Bartoli was defeated 1–6, 6–2, 3–6, but returned to the top 10, regardless of the loss.
Seeded 15th at the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Bartoli received a bye into the second round, where she defeated Ayumi Morita 6–3, 2–6, 6–1. She then defeated Ekaterina Makarova 6–0, 6–2, before falling to third seed Vera Zvonareva in the fourth round 6–2, 3–6, 2–6.
Her next tournament was the 2011 Family Circle Cup, where she was seeded fourth. As a top-8 seed, she received a bye into the second round, where she was defeated by Sabine Lisicki 2–6, 3–6.
Bartoli was seeded 8th at the 2011 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart and defeated Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round 6–4, 6–1. Kristina Barrois defeated her in the second round in straight sets.
Bartoli was seeded first at the 2011 Barcelona Ladies Open in Barcelona, and Magdaléna Rybáriková defeated her in the first round in straight sets.
Bartoli's next tournament was the 2011 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where she defeated Arantxa Parra Santonja 6–3, 6–2, before losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 5–7, 1–6, in the second round.
Her poor form on clay continued into the 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she lost in the second round to Anabel Medina Garrigues 4–6, 3–6.
Seeded first at the 2011 Internationaux de Strasbourg, Bartoli reached the semifinals, after defeating Kimiko Date-Krumm 6–2, 6–1, receiving a walkover from Elena Baltacha and defeating 8th seed Lucie Hradecká 6–2, 6–3. She then defeated seventh seed Anabel Medina Garrigues to face second seed Andrea Petkovic in the final. However, she had to retire early in the second set.
Seeded 11th at the 2011 French Open, Bartoli won her opening round against Anna Tatishvili 1–6, 6–2, 6–1. In the second round, she beat Olga Govortsova in a tight baseline battle in just under three hours 6–4, 6–7, 6–2. Bartoli then defeated 17th seed Julia Goerges 3–6, 6–2. 6–4. She moved to the quarterfinals after Gisela Dulko retired from their fourth round match at 7–5, 1–0. Bartoli's dream of playing in the second week of her home slam became a reality, as she faced 13th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals. After two hours, Bartoli moved into the final four with a 7–6, 6–4 win. In the semifinals, she faced defending champion, Francesca Schiavone. Bartoli eventually lost, bringing her French Open campaign to an end 3–6, 3–6.
Moving onto the grass, Bartoli won the 2011 AEGON International at Eastbourne by defeating Lucie Šafářová 6–3, 3–6, 7–6, and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6–3, 6–3. She then moved past third seed Victoria Azarenka, when Victoria retired during their match due to a thigh injury. Bartoli reached the semifinals for the fifth straight year and beat seventh seed Samantha Stosur. She then beat eighth seed Petra Kvitová to win the title.
Seeded ninth at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, Bartoli breezed into the second round with a 6–0, 6–2 win over Czech qualifier Kristyna Pliskova. Her next opponent was Lourdes Dominguez Lino, whom she defeated 4–6, 7–5, 6–2. She advanced to the third round and faced the 21st seed, Flavia Pennetta. Bartoli finally won the match, which lasted over three hours, with a score of 5–7, 6–4, 9–7. She then defeated defending champion and grass-court veteran Serena Williams in the fourth round in straight sets 6–3, 7–6. Bartoli described beating Williams as the greatest win of her life.[11] In the quarterfinals, she lost 4–6, 7–6, 1–6 to Sabine Lisicki in a match notable for taking place under the centre-court roof in the middle of a ferocious thunderstorm.
Seeded third at Stanford, Bartoli received a bye into the second round. She then defeated Rebecca Marino 6–4, 6–3, to move into the quarterfinals, thus defending her points from 2010. She reached the semifinals when Ayumi Morita retired from their match after losing the first set 1–6. Bartoli earned a spot in the final after 8th seed Dominika Cibulková withdrew due to an abdominal injury.[12] In the final, Bartoli was defeated by Serena Williams, 5–7, 1–6. Bartoli held a 4–2 lead in the first set, before injuring her right hand. She even served for the first set at 5–4, but her game diminished to hand Williams her first title after her comeback from injury.
Bartoli entered the 2011 Rogers Cup in Toronto and lost in the first round 3–6, 3–6 to Kazakh qualifier Galina Voskoboeva. At the 2011 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, she beat Alona Bondarenko. 6–1, 6–2. but she lost in the second round to Daniela Hantuchova. 3–6, 7–5, 3–6. Due to her lack of match play before the US Open, Bartoli accepted a wildcard into the 2011 New Haven Open at Yale. She won her opening two rounds, defeating Anastasia Rodionova 6–1, 6–4, and Klara Zakopalova 6–2, 2–6, 6–1, before losing to Petra Cetkovska in the quarterfinals 5–7, 5–7.
At the 2011 US Open, Bartoli suffered another second-round exit. After defeating Alexandra Panova in the first round 7–5, 6–3, she lost to American teenager Christina McHale 6–7, 2–6.
Following her poor run in the United States, Bartoli's ranking dropped to no. 10, and her RACE ranking dropped to no. 8, causing her to increase her schedule to five tournaments during the Asia tour.
Seeded second at the 2011 Hansol Korea Open in Seoul, Bartoli defeated Nuria Llagostera Vives in the first round, 6–2, 6–2. Her second-round opponent was Vania King, who defeated her, 3–6, 5–7. Bartoli hit 17 double faults during the match.
Seeded seventh at the 2011 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Bartoli received a bye in the opening round, before defeating Ayumi Morita 6–3, 0–6, 6–3. She defeated Peng Shuai 6–2, 6–1, to reach the quarterfinals, where she was defeated by third seed Victoria Azarenka 5–7, 0–6.
Seeded eighth at the 2011 China Open, Bartoli defeated Iveta Benesova in the first round 3–6, 6–4, 7–5. In the second round, she cruised past Christina McHale, 6–2, 6–1. In the third round, she came up against ninth seed Andrea Petkovic. Bartoli built up a 6–4, 3–1 lead before losing 10 of the next 12 games to go 6–4, 4–6, 1–5 down. Bartoli battled back to 5–5, before losing two more games to lose the match 4–6, 6–4, 7–5, making her hopes of qualifying for the year-end championships uncertain.
At the 2011 HP Open in Osaka, Bartoli defeated Melinda Czink 6–2, 6–2, Vania King 6–1, 6–2, 6th seed Ayumi Morita 6–2, 6–1 and No.3 seed Angelique Kerber 6–1, 7–6 to reach the final. She took the title by defeating No.1 seed and US Open Champion Samantha Stosur 6–3, 6–1 in 1 hour 14 minutes. She then entered the 2011 Kremlin Cup in Moscow as the No.3 seed. She received a bye into the second round and defeated Ksenia Pervak 6–1, 6–1. Bartoli then withdrew from the tournament due to a viral illness.
Bartoli finished the year 9th in the race to the Year End Championships in Istanbul, thus earning a place as the first alternate player alongside Andrea Petkovic who finished 10th. Following the withdrawal of No.2 seed Maria Sharapova after her second of three matches, Bartoli took the place of Sharapova in the final match against Victoria Azarenka, which she won 5–7, 6–4, 6–4.
Due to winning the 2011 HP Open title, she qualified for the 2011 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, Indonesia. She was the No.1 seed but had to retire in her opening match against Anabel Medina Garrigues due to injuring her ankle at 6–4, 6–7, 0–1.
Bartoli finished the year ranked No.9 in the world with her best Win-Loss record of her career with 58–24. She reached an astonishing 15 quarterfinals, 8 semi-finals and 5 finals and won 2 titles (Eastbourne and Osaka), resulting in her best year financially, earning $1,722,863 in tournament prize money alone.
2012[link]
Bartoli competed for France alongside Richard Gasquet in the 2012 Hopman Cup. They defeated China 2–1, Australia 3–0 and Spain 2–0 to book a place in the final against the Czech Republic which they lost 0–2.
Ranked No.9, Bartoli entered her first WTA tournament of the year in Sydney and was seeded 8th. In the first round she defeated Polona Hercog 6–3, 6–3. In the second round she defeated Jelena Dokic 6–0, 6–3 to set up a quarterfinal clash with No.3 seed Victoria Azarenka. She lost 5–7, 4–6 despite being up a break in both sets.
At the 2012 Australian Open, Bartoli defeated compatriot Virginie Razzano 7–5, 6–0 in the first round, and Jelena Dokic 6–3, 6–2 in the second round. In the third round she was upset by Zheng Jie 6–3, 6–3. Despite the premature exit, Bartoli broke into the top eight in the rankings for the first time.
Ranked No.7, Bartoli was seeded 2nd behind Maria Sharapova for the 2012 Open GDF Suez in Paris, an indoor tournament commencing on 6th February. She received a bye into the second round where she defeated Petra Martic 7–5, 6–1. In the quarterfinals she defeated No.7 seed Roberta Vinci in a marathon match. Bartoli lost the first set and rallied back from a double break down in both the second and third sets to clinch a 4–6, 6–4, 7–6 victory. In the semifinals she defeated Klara Zakopalova 7–6, 6–0 but in the final she lost to No.9 seed Angelique Kerber 6–7, 7–5, 3–6.
In Doha, Bartoli was seeded fifth and advanced to the semi-finals by defeating Anabel Medina Garrigues 6–2, 6–0, Tsvetana Pironkova 6–3, 6–3 and Lucie Safarova 7–5, 4–6, 6–1. She retired due to an injury at 3–6, 0–0 against No.3 seed Samantha Stosur in the semi-finals.
At Indian Wells, Bartoli reached the quarterfinals by defeating Varvara Lepchenko, Chanelle Scheepers and Lucie Safarova. She fell to Ana Ivanovic 3–6, 4–6.
Seeded 7th in Miami, and armed with her new Prince EXO3 Warrior racket, Bartoli received a bye into the second round where she defeated Polona Hercog 5–7, 6–2, 6–1. In the third round she came back from a 2–5 deficit in the second set to defeat Simona Halep 6–4, 7–6. In the fourth round she crushed No.22 seed Maria Kirilenko 6–1, 6–2. Bartoli's big victory came in the quarterfinals where she defeated World No.1 Victoria Azarenka 6–3, 6–3, ending Azarenka's 26 match win streak. In the semi-finals she was defeated by No.5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6–4, 6–2.
At Charleston, Bartoli was seeded No.3 and received a bye into the second round where she defeated Vera Dushevina 6–2, 6–7(3), 6–4. In the third round she lost to Polona Hercog 6–4, 1–6, 6–4.
Ranked and seeded No.7, Bartoli entered the 2012 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. In the first round she defeated qualifier Iveta Benesova 6–3, 6–2. Bartoli was then crushed 6–3, 6–1 by rising star Mona Barthel in the second round. Bartoli didn't perform any better at the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open where she was defeated by Sorana Cirstea 6–7(8), 6–4, 6–3 in the first round. Seeded 7th once again, Bartoli entered the 2012 Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome and got a bye into the second round where she lost 6–3, 6–1 to Julia Goerges. Bartoli then lost in the first round of Brussels to Urszula Radwanska 6–4, 6–2.
Bartoli dropped to No.8 in the world and was seeded 8th at the 2012 French Open in Paris, where she is defending semifinal points from last year. Having only won 1 match on red clay in 2012, Bartoli will play against qualifier Karolina Pliskova in the first round.
Career statistics[link]
Main article: Marion Bartoli career statistics
References[link]
- ^ [1]
- ^ "wtatour.com -> Player profiles -> Marion Bartoli -> Stats". WTA. http://www.wtatour.com/page/Player/Stats/0,,12781~1007,00.html. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
- ^ Official website
- ^ Cronin, Matthew (March 18, 2011). Bartoli reports having genius-level IQ. Tennis.com
- ^ rte.ie Contrasting fortunes for Williams sisters
- ^ 网球网 – 丢了冠军 福尔热想要放弃 (Simplified Chinese only)
- ^ Cheese, Caroline (2007-07-06). "Bartoli stuns Henin to reach final". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/6278644.stm. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
- ^ "Kuznetsova, Bartoli retire hurt". Foxsports.com.au. 2007-10-20. http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,22617840-23216,00.html. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
- ^ Women's Tennis Association (2007-11-07). "Justine Reaches Semis; Injury Forces Serena Out". Women's Tennis Association. http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=1887. Retrieved 2001-11-07.
- ^ "Bartoli stuns Venus to win title". BBC Sport. 2009-08-02. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8180188.stm. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
- ^ "Serena loses to Bartoli in 4th round at Wimbledon". The Associated Press. 27 June 2011. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iPMXWE6kXBcuNCedPcWZanIUK8Sg?docId=01cf4dd5562f4e9cac80c38e5bc30deb. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- ^ Randall, Sean. "Serena Seeks First Title in a Year; Fish v. Gulbis in LA Final". Tennis X. http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2011-07-31/7584.php. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
External links[link]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marion Bartoli |
- Marion Bartoli at the Women's Tennis Association
- Marion Bartoli at the International Tennis Federation
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Bartoli, Marion |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | French tennis player |
| Date of birth | October 2, 1984 |
| Place of birth | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Marion_Bartoli
Related pages:
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http://nl.wn.com/Marion Bartoli
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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Bartoli
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
 Petra Kvitová at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships |
|
| Country |  Czech Republic |
|---|---|
| Residence | Fulnek, Czech Republic |
| Born | (1990-03-08) 8 March 1990 (age 22) Bílovec, Czechoslovakia |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Weight | 68 kg (150 lb) |
| Turned pro | 2006 |
| Plays | Left-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Career prize money | US$ 6,948,498 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 218–101 |
| Career titles | 7 WTA, 7 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 2 (31 October 2011)[1] |
| Current ranking | No. 4 (28 May 2012)[1] |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| Australian Open | SF (2012) |
| French Open | 4R (2008, 2011) |
| Wimbledon | W (2011) |
| US Open | 4R (2009) |
| Other tournaments | |
| Championships | W (2011) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 9–24 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 196 (28 February 2011) |
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |
| Australian Open | 2R (2011) |
Petra Kvitová (Czech pronunciation: [ˈpɛtra ˈkvɪtovaː], English: /kəˈvɪtəvə/; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed shots and variety, she has won seven WTA singles titles. She reached her career-high ranking of world no. 2 in October 2011, and is currently ranked world no. 4.
Kvitová won the 2011 Wimbledon Championships and the 2011 WTA Tour Championships singles titles, becoming the first Grand Slam event winner born in the 1990s, and the third player to win the WTA Championships in her first attempt. She also reached the semifinals of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships and the 2012 Australian Open.
Contents |
Early life[link]
Petra Kvitová was born to Jiří Kvita[2] and Pavla Kvitová in Bílovec, Czech Republic (in 1990 still in Czechoslovakia). Her father Jiří introduced her to tennis.[3] During her childhood, she admired Czech player Martina Navratilova. Kvitová trained in her hometown until the age of 16, and was then encouraged by an instructor to pursue a professional career in tennis.[4]
Playing style[link]
Kvitová is known for her fast left-handed serve. At the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, she had 36 aces, the third-most of any woman.[5] She is also noted for her heavy forehand, backhand, variety, and timing, and is known to make up for her lack of speed by playing close to the baseline.[6][7]
Career[link]
2008–2010: Early career[link]
Kvitová began 2008 by upsetting Anabel Medina Garrigues in France and former world no. 1 Venus Williams in Memphis, reaching the second rounds of both tournaments.[8] She reached the fourth round of her first Grand Slam tournament, the French Open, in which she lost to Kaia Kanepi in three sets. She advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2008 Zurich Open as a qualifier, thus placing her in the top 50 for the first time.[8]
Kvitová won her first career title in the 2009 Moorilla Hobart International, defeating Alona Bondarenko, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Virginie Razzano, and Iveta Benešová. After suffering consecutive first-round losses in the Australian Open, the Open GDF Suez, and Dubai, she reached the third round in Indian Wells, losing to eventual champion Vera Zvonareva.[9] She withdrew from the 2009 French Open due to an ankle injury and lost in the first round of Wimbledon. At the 2009 US Open, she defeated then-world no. 1 Dinara Safina in the third round in three sets, before losing to Yanina Wickmayer in the fourth. Kvitová was ranked 71 places lower than Safina at the time. At the Generali Ladies Linz, Kvitová reached her second final of the year, losing in straight sets to Wickmayer.[9]
She reached the semifinals of the 2010 Cellular South Cup, and lost to eventual champion Maria Sharapova.[10] She went on to reach the semifinals of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, defeating Sorana Cîrstea, Zheng Jie, Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, and Kaia Kanepi, before losing to then-world no. 1 and defending champion Serena Williams, 6–7, 2–6. She was then guaranteed to reach the top 30 for the first time. Following Wimbledon, she broke a six-match losing streak at the 2010 US Open, when she defeated Lucie Hradecká, and Elena Baltacha, losing to eventual champion Kim Clijsters in the third round.[10]
2011: Breakthrough[link]
Kvitová started 2011 by winning her second career title at the Brisbane International, defeating Andrea Petkovic, 6–1, 6–3, in the final, and also earning wins over third seed Nadia Petrova and fifth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. With the win, she achieved the ranking of world no. 28.[11]
Kvitová was the 25th seed at the 2011 Australian Open, where she lost a quarterfinal match to Vera Zvonareva. Her strong run ensured that she would reach a new ranking of world no. 18.[12]
In Paris, Kvitová won her second title of the year by defeating newly crowned world no. 1 and 2011 Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters in straight sets, 6–4, 6–3.[13] Once again, Kvitová's ranking rose to a new high of world no. 14. She led the Czech Fed Cup team to the final round, with semifinal wins over Yanina Wickmayer and Kirsten Flipkens.[14]
She won the title at the 2011 Mutua Madrid Open, defeating Alexandra Dulgheru, Chanelle Scheepers, second seed Vera Zvonareva, Li Na, and Victoria Azarenka.[15] She made her top-10 debut after the tournament at world no. 10. The following week, because Jelena Janković failed to defend her points in the 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Kvitová moved one place up to no. 9.[12]
Kvitová was the ninth seed at the 2011 French Open. She defeated Gréta Arn, Zheng Jie, and Vania King in straight sets, before losing to eventual champion Li Na in the fourth round, despite leading 3–0 in the deciding set.[16]
Kvitová won her first Grand Slam title as the eighth seed at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. She defeated Alexa Glatch, Anne Keothavong, 29th seed Roberta Vinci, 19th seed Yanina Wickmayer, 32nd seed Tsvetana Pironkova, and fourth seed Victoria Azarenka on the way to the final, where she beat fifth seed Maria Sharapova in straight sets.[17] She became the first left-handed female player to win the singles title since Martina Navratilova in 1990, the first Czech player to win a Grand Slam singles title since Jana Novotna won Wimbledon in 1998, and the first Grand Slam tournament winner of either gender to be born in the 1990s.[18][19]
Following Wimbledon, Kvitová lost to Andrea Petkovic during two matches of the US Open Series. She was then upset by Alexandra Dulgheru at the 2011 US Open, becoming the first Grand Slam champion to lose in the first round of the following Grand Slam without winning a set.[20]
Kvitová's form improved at the 2011 Toray Pan Pacific Open, where she lost to Vera Zvonareva in the semifinals, thus reaching the world no. 5 ranking.
At the 2011 Generali Ladies Linz, she beat Rebecca Marino, Patricia Mayr-Achleitner, Daniela Hantuchova, Jelena Jankovic, and Dominika Cibulková to collect her fifth title of the season.[12]
She won the 2011 WTA Tour Championships in Istanbul, becoming the third player to win the title in her first attempt.[21] During the round-robin matches, she beat Vera Zvonareva, Caroline Wozniacki, and Agnieszka Radwańska in straight sets, putting her through to the semifinals. Her next opponent was Samantha Stosur, whom she beat to reach the final—a match against Victoria Azarenka for the world no. 2 ranking, which Kvitová won in three sets.[12] She concluded 2011 by helping the Czech Republic team win the Fed Cup and was named WTA Player of the Year and ITF Women's World Champion.[22]
2012[link]
At the beginning of 2012, Kvitová was widely expected to reach the world no. 1 ranking.[23][24] She stated that attaining the position "would be nice," but that her priority was to improve her game.[23] Kvitová opted not to defend her title and ranking points in Brisbane, choosing instead to participate in the Hopman Cup exhibition with Tomáš Berdych. The pair went on to win the title, defeating France in the final. She won all of her singles matches at the event, defeating Tsvetana Pironkova, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Caroline Wozniacki, and Marion Bartoli.[25] Her next tournament was the 2012 Sydney International, where she lost in the semifinals against Li Na. At the 2012 Australian Open, Kvitová defeated Vera Dushevina, Carla Suarez Navarro, Maria Kirilenko, Ana Ivanović, and Sara Errani to advance to the semifinals, where she lost in three sets to Maria Sharapova.[25]
She continued her long run of wins in singles matches indoors (32 straight matches) with her four victories in Fed Cup against Germany and Italy in 2012.
In Indian Wells, Kvitová lost in the third round to Christina McHale in three sets. In Key Biscayne, she exited in the second round after losing in three sets to Venus Williams. In the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, she lost in the semifinals to Maria Sharapova.[25] At the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open she was the defending champion, but she lost in the second round to Lucie Hradecká.
Career statistics[link]
Main article: Petra Kvitová career statistics
Grand Slam finals[link]
Singles: 1 (1–0)[link]
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 2011 | Wimbledon | Grass |  Maria Sharapova |
6–3, 6–4 |
Singles performance timeline[link]
| Tournament | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | SR | W–L | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam Tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | LQ | 1R | 2R | QF | SF | 0 / 4 | 10–4 | ||||||||||||
| French Open | A | A | 4R | A | 1R | 4R | 0 / 3 | 6–3 | |||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | A | A | 1R | 1R | SF | W | 1 / 4 | 12–3 | |||||||||||||
| US Open | A | LQ | 1R | 4R | 3R | 1R | 0 / 4 | 5–4 | |||||||||||||
| Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 8–4 | 14–3 | 5–1 | 1 / 15 | 33–14 | ||||||||||||
Awards[link]
|
References[link]
- ^ a b "WTA Rankings". wtatennis.com. http://www.wtatennis.com/page/RankingsSingles/0,,12781~0~1~100,00.html.
- ^ "Jiří Kvita si vychutnal atmosféru Wimbledonu". denik.cz. http://novojicinsky.denik.cz/ostatni_region/jiri-kvita-si-vychutnal-atmosferu-wimb20100712.html. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
- ^ "Player Profile". wtatennis.com. http://www.wtatennis.com/player/petra-kvitova_2257889_13403. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ^ Robson, Douglas (3 July 2011). "Kvitova looks like a grass-court natural in capturing Wimbledon". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/2011-07-02-wimbledon-womens-final-kvitova_n.htm. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ "Event Statistics; Aces; Ladies' Singles". All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/scores/extrastats/aces_ws.html. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ Mouratoglou, Patrick (3 July 2011). "Kvitova: the next big boss". Yahoo!. http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/tennis/patrick-mouratoglou/article/2211/. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
- ^ Mitchell, Kevin (2 July 2011). "Petra Kvitova comes out of left field to shock Maria Sharapova". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/jul/02/wimbledon-2011-petra-kvitova-maria-sharapova. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
- ^ a b "Petra Kvitová 2008 Stats". ESPN . http://espn.go.com/tennis/player/results/_/id/928/year/2008/petra-kvitova. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ^ a b "Petra Kvitová 2009 Stats". tennis.com. http://tennis.com/players/player_stats.aspx?player_name=Petra+Kvitova. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ^ a b "Petra Kvitová 2010 Stats". ESPN. http://espn.go.com/tennis/player/results/_/id/928/year/2010/petra-kvitova. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ^ "Petra Kvitova beats Andrea Petkovic in Brisbane final". BBC Sport. 8 January 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/9350572.stm. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
- ^ a b c d "Petra Kvitová 2011 Stats". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=928&year=2011. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ^ "World number one Clijsters beaten in Paris Open final". BBC Sport. 13 February 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/9396347.stm. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
- ^ "Russia and Czech Republic through to Fed Cup final". BBC Sport. 17 April 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/13104171.stm. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
- ^ "Petra Kvitova beats Victora Azarenka to win Madrid Open". BBC Sport. 8 May 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/13328766.stm. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
- ^ "French Open: Li Na beats Petra Kvitova to make quarters". BBC Sport. 30 May 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/13594423.stm. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
- ^ Newbery, Piers (2 July 2011). "Wimbledon 2011: Petra Kvitova beats Maria Sharapova to title". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/14002512.stm. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
- ^ Brennan, Christine (2 July 2011). "Petra Kvitova emerges as newest big hitter in women's tennis". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/brennan/2011-07-02-wimbledon-womens-final_n.htm. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ Murray, Scott (2 July 2011). "Maria Sharapova v Petra Kvitova – Wimbledon 2011 women's final as it happened". Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/jul/02/maria-sharapova-petra-kvitova-wimbledon-live. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
- ^ Rothenberg, Ben (29 August 2011). "In an Upset, Kvitova Loses to Dulgheru". The New York Times. http://straightsets.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/in-an-upset-kvitova-loses-to-dulgheru/. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
- ^ "Kvitova Conquers Istanbul To Complete Dream Year". wtachampionships.com. http://www.wtachampionships.com/page/LatestNews/Read/0,,12910~2499801,00.html. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
- ^ "Petra Kvitova awarded WTA player of year". USA Today. 14 November 2011. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/story/2011-11-14/kvitova-wins-wta-player-of-year/51199672/1. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- ^ a b "Kvitova close to No. 1 but downplays talk". tennis.com. 2 January 2012. http://www.tennis.com/articles/templates/news.aspx?articleid=15560&z%20cdth=25. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
- ^ Berra, Lindsay (2 January 2012). "On her good side". ESPN The Magazine. http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id/7393078/tennis-petra-kvitova-first-lefty-no-1-1996-espn-magazine. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
- ^ a b c "Petra Kvitová 2012 Stats". tennis.com. http://tennis.com/players/player_stats.aspx?player_name=Petra+Kvitova. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
External links[link]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Petra Kvitová |
- Petra Kvitová at the Women's Tennis Association
- Petra Kvitová at the International Tennis Federation
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
Preceded by Melanie Oudin |
WTA Newcomer of the Year 2010 |
Succeeded by Irina-Camelia Begu |
Preceded by Kim Clijsters |
WTA Player of the Year 2011 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
Preceded by Francesca Schiavone |
WTA Most Improved Player 2011 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Elena Dementieva |
Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award 2011 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by First title |
WTA Fan Favorite Breakthrough Player 2011 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
Preceded by Caroline Wozniacki |
ITF World Champion 2011 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Martina Sáblíková |
Czech Athlete of the Year 2011 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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Top ten tennis players
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| Persondata | |
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| Name | |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | Czech tennis player |
| Date of birth | |
| Place of birth | |
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| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Petra_Kvitová
Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Petra Kvitová
http://cs.wn.com/Petra Kvitová
http://id.wn.com/Petra Kvitová
http://es.wn.com/Petra Kvitová
http://ru.wn.com/Квитова, Петра
http://nl.wn.com/Petra Kvitová
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http://pl.wn.com/Petra Kvitová
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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra_Kvitová
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
|
|
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012) |
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| Country | Italy (2005–2012)  Switzerland(from 2012) |
|---|---|
| Residence | Bern, Switzerland |
| Born | (1986-03-29) 29 March 1986 (age 26) Jegenstorf, Switzerland |
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) |
| Weight | 66kg (146lb) |
| Turned pro | 2005 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Career prize money | US$ 527,961 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 231–109 |
| Career titles | 0 WTA, 17 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 46 (September 25, 2006) |
| Current ranking | No. 63 (January 30, 2012) |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| Australian Open | 3R (2012) |
| French Open | 1R (2007, 2011) |
| Wimbledon | 2R (2010) |
| US Open | 2R (2011) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 88–55 |
| Career titles | 0 WTA, 10 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 112 (May 28, 2007) |
| Current ranking | No. 279 (February 7, 2011) |
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |
| Australian Open | 1R (2007) |
| US Open | 1R (2006) |
| Last updated on: February 7, 2011. | |
Romina Sarina Oprandi (born March 29, 1986 in Jegenstorf, Canton of Bern, Switzerland) is a female professional tennis player. She has dual Swiss-Italian citizenship and represented Italy from her professional debut in 2005 until January 2012, when she joined the Swiss tennis federation[1]. Her highest singles ranking was no. 46 on September 25, 2006.
Contents |
Tennis career[link]
She first came to prominence in the top tier of women's tennis when she reached the quarterfinals of a WTA Tier I event in Rome as a qualifier, barely missing out on a place in the semifinals with a loss to Svetlana Kuznetsova, 4–6, 7–5, 6–7. She then made appearances at the 2006 Wimbledon and the US Open, losing in the first round of each to difficult opponents in Francesca Schiavone and Svetlana Kuznetsova once again. After the end of her US Open campaign, Romina went on to win yet another ITF singles title at Denain, which would be her best result for the rest of the 2006 season, struggling with injury problems and losing matches early on in tournaments.
The beginning of 2007 saw Oprandi lose in the first round of the Tier IV event at Auckland to a lower-ranked player in Laura Granville, 3–6, 4–6. However, she then went on to another Tier IV event, this time in Hobart, and won a convincing match against a former top-20 player in Elena Likhovtseva, before losing to rising Indian star Sania Mirza in the second round. Her Australian Open hopes quickly came to a close after a tough first-round draw, pitting her against the 16th seed from Israel, Shahar Pe'er. She lost this match, 1–6, 3–6.
She then played in a Tier IV event in Pattaya City, Thailand, where she reached the round of 16, where she lost to fourth-seeded Chinese player Peng Shuai in three sets. Romina then played in the Tier II event in Doha where she lost to Indian Sania Mirza in the first round, 6–4, 3–6. She then played in the Tier I events in Indian Wells and Miami. She reached the second round in Indian Wells, before losing to second seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, and lost in the first round of Miami to American Meilen Tu.
At the start of the clay season, she played in Amelia Island, where she beat Belarussian Victoria Azarenka in the first round, before losing to 12th-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur in the second round, 6–7(6), 2–6. She then lost in the first round of Charleston to Greek Eleni Daniilidou in three sets. She was then was forced to retire in a match against Italian Karin Knapp in Budapest, Hungary in the first round in the third set. As a wildcard in Rome, she lost to lucky loser Yuliana Fedak in three sets in the first round. Oprandi then played in Istanbul, Turkey, where she defeated Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko in the first round, before losing to the seventh-seeded Agnieszka Radwańska in straight sets, 1–6, 0–6.
At Roland Garros, she once again lost to Meilen Tu in the first round in straight sets. She then played in Barcelona, where she was forced to retire against top seed Francesca Schiavone in the first round, after losing the first set, 2–6. Romina then did not play for the rest of the 2007 season and the first half of the 2008 season due to a right forearm injury.
Oprandi returned to tennis in August 2008 at an ITF event in Monteroni D'Arabia, Italy, where, as a wildcard, she lost to qualifier Katalin Marosi of Hungary in three sets. She then played in another ITF event in Versmold, Germany, where she qualified for the main draw, defeating Serbian lucky loser Zorica Petrov in straight sets in the first round, before losing to top-seeded Indonesian Romana Tedjakusuma in a tight match, 6–7(1), 5–7.
Romina then played another ITF tournament in Germany, in Wahlstedt. She won the title, after defeating all her opponents in relatively simple straight-set matches, including a 6–3, 6–0 win against compatriot Giulia Gatto Monticone in the final. She then played in an ITF event in the Netherlands, where she qualified for the main draw, but lost in the first round against sixth-seeded Dutch player Chayenne Ewijk in straight sets.
Oprandi reached the final in her next tournament in Mestre, Italy in September. She had notable straight-set wins over Maria Elena Camerin in the first round and Lucie Hradecká in the quarterfinals before being forced to retire in the final against Russian Ekaterina Ivanova whilst trailing 3–6, 0–3. Oprandi then reached the semifinals of another event in Italy, in Lecce, where she gave a walkover to second-seeded Mervana Jugić-Salkić, missing out on an opportunity to reach her second straight final. In her next event, an ITF tournament in Ortisei, Italy, she reached the quarterfinals with notable straight-set wins over top-seeded Gisela Dulko of Argentina and Czech qualifier Andrea Hlaváčková, before losing to Italian wildcard Mara Santangelo, who was also making her return from injury.
In her last two events of 2008, she reached the second round of an ITF event in Ismaning, Germany before losing to Ukrainian Oxana Lyubtsova in straight sets. She then lost in the first round of another ITF event in San Diego, California, in straight sets.
Oprandi's first event of 2009 was an ITF event in Belfort, France, where she qualified for the main draw and reached the quarterfinals, where she lost to second-seeded Russian Vesna Manasieva in straight sets, 2–6, 6–7(6). She then played in her first WTA tour event in over 18 months in Bogotá, Colombia where she narrowly lost to fifth-seeded Czech Klára Zakopalová in the first round, 6–3, 6–7(7), 6–7(5). Teaming up with Colombian Catalina Castaño, she reached the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament in Bogotá, losing to the second-seeded team of Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta. She then went back to the ITF circuit in Germany, where she reached the second round in Biberach, losing to Belgian Kirsten Flipkens, but reached the final in Buchen, before losing to German Korina Perkovic in straight sets, 3–6, 6–7(0). She did, however, win the doubles title at Buchen as one half of the top-seeded team at the event, partnering Sandra Martinovic. They won all three of their doubles matches in tie-breaks.
In her career she has won 13 ITF singles titles and 7 ITF doubles titles and has yet to win a WTA title of any kind.
ITF Circuit (21)[link]
Singles (14)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in final | Score in final |
| 1. | March 28, 2004 | Elda, Spain | Clay |  Nuria Roig |
6–2, 6–3 |
| 2. | February 20, 2005 | Mallorca, Spain | Clay | Anna Floris |
6–3, 6–0 |
| 3. | March 13, 2005 | Las Palmas, Spain | Clay |  Tina Schiechtl |
6–3, 6–2 |
| 4. | March 27, 2005 | Parioli, Rome, Italy | Clay |  Ana Jovanović |
6–4, 7–6(4) |
| 5. | April 3, 2005 | Tiro A Volo, Rome, Italy | Clay | Magda Mihalache |
6–4, 6–4 |
| 6. | May 15, 2005 | Casale, Italy | Clay | Sandra Záhlavová |
6–2, 6–0 |
| 7. | November 13, 2005 | Mexico City, Mexico | Clay |  Kira Nagy |
6–3, 6–0 |
| 8. | November 27, 2005 | Puebla, Mexico | Hard |  Jenifer Widjaja |
6–1, 6–1 |
| 9. | April 9, 2006 | Putignano, Italy | Hard | Alberta Brianti |
6–1, 1–6, 6–4 |
| 10. | April 30, 2006 | Torrent, Spain | Clay | Ekaterina Makarova |
6–1, 6–3 |
| 11. | May 7, 2006 | Manavgat, Antalya, Turkey | Clay | Petra Cetkovská |
6–3, 7–5 |
| 12. | September 10, 2006 | Denain, France | Clay | Stéphanie Foretz |
6–3, 4–6, 6–3 |
| 13. | August 24, 2008 | Wahlstedt, Germany | Clay | Giulia Gatto Monticone |
6–3, 6–0 |
| 14. | May 15, 2010 | Caserta, Italy | Clay | Sloane Stephens |
6–3, 6–3 |
Doubles (7)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponent in final | Score in final |
| 1. | February 13, 2005 | Mallorca, Spain | Clay | Adriana González Peñas |
 Olga Brózda Tina Schiechtl |
6–3, 7–5 |
| 2. | March 13, 2005 | Las Palmas, Spain | Clay |  Vanessa Wellauer |
Irina Kotkina Charlene Vanneste |
7–5, 6–2 |
| 3. | April 3, 2005 | Tiro A Volo, Rome, Italy | Clay | Adriana González Peñas |
Gréta Arn Janette Bejlkova |
6–3, 6–3 |
| 4. | April 23, 2006 | Bari, Italy | Clay |  Caroline Schneider |
Stefanie Haidner Darija Jurak |
7–5, 6–2 |
| 5. | May 7, 2006 | Manavgat, Antalya, Turkey | Clay |  Tzipora Obziler |
Matea Mezak İpek Şenoğlu |
4–6, 6–4, 6–0 |
| 6. | September 10, 2006 | Denain, France | Clay | Jasmin Wöhr |
Klaudia Jans Alicja Rosolska |
4–6, 6–2, 6–4 |
| 7. | March 8, 2009 | Buchen, Germany | Carpet |  Sandra Martinović |
 Kateryna Avdiyenko Anastasia Poltoratskaya |
5–7, 7–5, 10–8 |
References[link]
- ^ "Swiss Tennis". http://www.swisstennis.ch/?rub=1&id=125409. Retrieved 2012-02-06.
External links[link]
- Romina Oprandi at the Women's Tennis Association
- Romina Oprandi at the International Tennis Federation
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Oprandi, Romina |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | March 29, 1986 |
| Place of birth | Jegenstorf, Switzerland |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
|
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Romina Oprandi |
http://wn.com/Romina_Oprandi
Related pages:
http://fr.wn.com/Romina Oprandi
http://nl.wn.com/Romina Oprandi
http://pt.wn.com/Romina Oprandi
http://de.wn.com/Romina Oprandi
http://it.wn.com/Romina Oprandi
http://pl.wn.com/Romina Oprandi
http://cs.wn.com/Romina Oprandiová
http://es.wn.com/Romina Oprandi
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romina_Oprandi
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
 Victoria Azarenka at the 2012 Qatar Total Open |
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| Country |  Belarus |
|---|---|
| Residence | Monte Carlo, Monaco |
| Born | (1989-07-31) 31 July 1989 (age 22) Minsk, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union now Belarus |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Weight | 66 kg (150 lb; 10.4 st) |
| Turned pro | 2003 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Career prize money | $ 13,458,503 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 314–125 |
| Career titles | 12 WTA, 1 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (30 January 2012) |
| Current ranking | No. 1 (28 May 2012)[1] |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| Australian Open | W (2012) |
| French Open | QF (2009, 2011) |
| Wimbledon | SF (2011) |
| US Open | 4R (2007) |
| Other tournaments | |
| Championships | F (2011) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 135–51 |
| Career titles | 6 WTA, 3 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (7 July 2008) |
| Current ranking | No. 38 (28 May 2012) |
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |
| Australian Open | F (2008, 2011) |
| French Open | F (2009) |
| Wimbledon | QF (2008) |
| US Open | 2R (2009) |
| Mixed Doubles | |
| Career titles | 2 |
| Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |
| Australian Open | F (2007) |
| French Open | W (2008) |
| Wimbledon | 1R (2007) |
| US Open | W (2007) |
| Last updated on: 28 May 2012. | |
Victoria Azarenka (Belarusian: Вікторыя Фёдараўна Азаранка, Russian: Виктория Фёдоровна Азаренко; born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She is the current World No. 1 as of 28 May 2012.[1]
She won the 2012 Australian Open singles title, becoming the first Belarusian player to win a Grand Slam in singles. Her other achievements include winning two mixed doubles Grand Slam titles, the 2007 US Open with Max Mirnyi and the 2008 French Open with Bob Bryan.
Contents |
Personal life[link]
At age 16, Azarenka moved to Scottsdale, Arizona from Minsk, Belarus, to train. In this she was aided by National Hockey League goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and his wife, who is a friend of Azarenka's mother.[2] In 2010 she briefly considered a break from the sport of tennis to focus on education, however, after a conversation with her grandmother she decided to continue playing. It is the inspiration from her grandmother that is regarded as the key for her continued developments in the sport.[3] Azarenka is romantically involved with tennis player Sergei Bubka Jr, son of former Olympic gold medalist and World Champion, Sergey Bubka. [4]
Tennis career[link]
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This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2012) |
Early career[link]
Azarenka debuted on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior tour in November 2003 in Israel, winning one doubles title with countrywoman Olga Govortsova.[5] She continued to participate in ITF tournaments in 2004, and at the end of the season she had a rank of 508 on WTA singles tour.[6] Azarenka had a successful year in 2005, winning two junior Grand Slams: the Australian[7] and US[8] championships. She ended the season as the junior world no. 1 and was named the 2005 World Champion by the ITF, becoming the first Belarusian to do so.[9][10] In addition, she reached her first semifinal on the main tour in Guangzhou, China. She went from the qualifying draw of the tournament to the main draw, where she defeated Martina Suchá and Shuai Peng, before losing to the eventual champion Yan Zi.
2006[link]
In 2006 in Memphis, Azarenka defeated her first top-20 player, Nicole Vaidišová, and two months later defeated her second top-30 player in Jelena Janković at Miami. On clay, Azarenka pushed 2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina to 7–6 in the third in Rome, and took clay-court specialist Anabel Medina Garrigues to 9–7 in the third set in the first round at Roland Garros. At the 2006 Wimbledon Championships Azarenka lost in 1st round to 2005 Junior Wimbledon and 2006 Junior French Open Champion and Wildcard Agnieszka Radwanska 5:7 4:6. 2006 US Open, she had her first win over Myskina in the first round, and lost to Anna Chakvetadze in the third round, her best result in a Grand Slam event to that date. In her next tournament, Azarenka reached her second pro-level semifinal in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, losing to Tiantian Sun. She finished the year reaching the final of an ITF event in Pittsburgh, losing to Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak.[11]
2007[link]
Ranked world no. 96, Azarenka began the year by playing two tournaments in Australia. She lost in the second round at the Moorilla Hobart International to Serena Williams. At the Australian Open, Azarenka reached the third round of a Grand Slam singles tournament for the second consecutive time, where she lost to world no. 11 Jelena Janković in straight sets.
She was upset in the first round of the French Open by Karin Knapp of Italy, and at Wimbledon, she lost in the third round to 14th-seeded Nicole Vaidišová.
At the US Open, Azarenka upset former world no. 1 Martina Hingis in the third round, before 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova beat her in the fourth round. In mixed doubles, Azarenka and countryman Max Mirnyi won the title, defeating Meghann Shaughnessy and Leander Paes.[12]
She ended her year at the Tier I Kremlin Cup in Moscow, where she upset world no. 4 Maria Sharapova in the second round.[13] She then lost to the eventual winner of the tournament, world no. 14 Elena Dementieva, in the quarterfinal. At the same tournament, Azarenka and her doubles partner Tatiana Poutchek, also of Belarus, lost in the final to the world no. 3 team of Liezel Huber and Cara Black in three sets. Azarenka's results at the Kemlin Cup elevated her rankings to career highs of world no. 27 in singles and world no. 29 in doubles.
2008[link]
Azarenka began the year at the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts tournament in Gold Coast, Australia. Unseeded, she reached the semifinals, where she beat fifth-seeded Shahar Pe'er of Israel, Azarenka's sixth top-20 victory. In her third career WTA tour final, she lost to Li Na, but the points she earned in this tournament were enough to improve her ranking to a career-best world no. 25.
Azarenka was seeded 26th at the Australian Open. This was her first appearance as a seeded player in a Grand Slam singles tournament. She showed no ill effects from a leg injury while winning her first two matches, but lost in the third round to seventh-seeded and defending champion Serena Williams. In doubles, Azarenka and her partner Pe'er were seeded 12th. They made it to the finals, before losing to the unseeded team of Kateryna and Alona Bondarenko.
She was seeded 16th at the French Open. She defeated 18th-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy in the third round, before losing to fourth-seeded Kuznetsova in the fourth round. Azarenka teamed with American Bob Bryan to win the mixed doubles title at the French Open, defeating the top seeded team of Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonjić in the final.
At Wimbledon, Azarenka was seeded 16th in singles and 6th in doubles (with Pe'er). In singles, Azarenka was defeated by 21st-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia in the third round. In doubles, Azarenka and Pe'er reached the quarterfinals, where they lost to the top-seeded team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber.
Azarenka was seeded 14th at the US Open, but was defeated by 21st-seeded Caroline Wozniacki in the third round.
2009[link]
Azarenka began the year at the Brisbane International as the second seed. She defeated Kateryna Bondarenko, Jarmila Groth, Lucie Šafářová, and Sara Errani, all in straight sets to reach her fifth career final. In the final, Azarenka defeated third seed Marion Bartoli, 6–3, 6–1, to win her first WTA career title.
Azarenka was seeded 13th at the Australian Open. She advanced to the fourth round for the first time, winning the first set against world no. 2 Serena Williams, before she was forced to retire because of heat stress, with the score 6–3, 2–4.
At the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tennessee, Azarenka was seeded second. She won her second WTA title by beating her doubles partner and top seeded Caroline Wozniacki in the final. Afterwards, Wozniacki and Azarenka won the doubles title, beating Michaëlla Krajicek and Yuliana Fedak in the final.
At the BNP Paribas Open, Azarenka was seeded 8th and reached the semifinals, where she lost to her doubles partner and eventual champion Vera Zvonareva, 3–6, 3–6. Because of her performance at this tournament, Azarenka improved her singles ranking to a career-best world no. 10.[14] She is the second woman from Belarus ever to be ranked that high, following Natasha Zvereva who was ranked world no. 5 in the late 1980s.[14]
At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Azarenka was seeded 11th. She defeated world no. 1 and defending champion Serena Williams in the final, 6–3, 6–1. This was Azarenka's first Tier I or Premier Mandatory event title. Azarenka also became the sixth teenage female singles champion in the history of this tournament, with the others being Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, and Gabriela Sabatini.[15] By winning this tournament, Azarenka's ranking increased to a new career high of world no. 8.
Her next tournament was on clay at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, where she lost to Gisela Dulko in the second round. At the Italian Open, Azarenka lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals.
At Roland Garros, Azarenka was seeded ninth and advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, where she fell to top seed Dinara Safina, 6–1, 4–6, 2–6. With her partner Elena Vesnina, Azarenka made the final of the ladies doubles at Roland Garros. In the final, they played the Spanish pairing of Garrigues and Ruano Pascual, and the higher-ranked Spanish pair won, 6–1, 6–1.
She withdrew from her first match at the AEGON International, the warm-up for Wimbledon, citing a hip injury.
Azarenka was seeded 8th at Wimbledon. She fell, 2–6, 3–6, to second seed and eventual winner Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.[16]
Receiving a bye in the first round at the Los Angeles, Azarenka fell to Maria Sharapova, 7–6, 4–6, 2–6. In Cincinnati, Azarenka lost to Jelena Janković in the third round 5–7, 6–7, committing 11 double faults. At the Rogers Cup in Toronto, she was seeded ninth. She lost to returning Kim Clijsters in the second round, 5–7, 6–4, 1–6.
At the US Open, Azarenka was seeded eighth. She fell to Francesca Schiavone in the third round, 6–4, 2–6, 2–6.
Seeded eighth at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, she lost to Li Na in the quarterfinals, 6–7, 6–4, 6–7, giving up a 5–1 lead in the first set. In her next tournament the China Open, Azarenka was seeded ninth. She lost in the second round to recent Tokyo champion Maria Sharapova, 3–6, 7–6, 5–7, leading 5–2 in the final set and serving for the match twice. She intended to play the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, but she withdrew.
At the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Azarenka vanquished Jelena Janković in her first-round robin-match, 6–2, 6–3.[17] In her second match, however, Azarenka was defeated by Caroline Wozniacki, 6–1, 4–6, 5–7. Azarenka failed to convert a match point in the final set in which she led by a break on four occasions, and also served for the match at 5–3. Azarenka also conceded her serve at 5–5, to leave Wozniacki serving for the match after receiving a point penalty for racket abuse.[18] Due to her loss to Wozniacki, Azarenka had to defeat second alternate Agnieszka Radwańska to qualify for the semifinals. She led 6–4, 5–2 with a double break, before going on to lose nine of the next ten games, eventually conceding the match after severe cramping in the third set forced her to retire while trailing 6–4, 5–7, 1–4.[19]
Azarenka ended the year ranked world no. 7, with a 45–15 win-loss record, having won three titles and qualified for the year-end championships for the first time in her career. On 15 December, Azarenka split with long-time coach Antonio Van Grichen.
2010[link]
Azarenka began the season at the Hong Kong Tennis Classic exhibition. She was part of Team Europe, along with Caroline Wozniacki and Stefan Edberg. In her first match, she defeated Gisela Dulko, 6–1. The match was played best of one set due to rain. She withdrew from her remaining matches due to illness. She was seeded sixth at the Medibank International. She won her first three matches, all 7–5 in the third set. In the semifinals, she fell to fifth seed Elena Dementieva, 3–6, 1–6.
At the Australian Open, she was seeded seventh. She lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinal, 6–4, 6–7, 2–6, giving up a 4–0 lead in the second set. This was the third consecutive year she has lost to Williams at this tournament. Seeded fourth at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, on her way to the final, she defeated Vera Zvonareva in the quarterfinals and Agnieszka Radwańska in the semifinals. In the final, she lost to defending champion Venus Williams, 3–6, 5–7.
At the 2010 BNP Paribas Open, she was seeded third, but was upset in the third round by María José Martínez Sánchez, 6–7, 2–6.
At the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, where she was the defending champion and fourth seed, she lost in fourth round to 14th seed and eventual champion Kim Clijsters. This was the fourth match in the five tournaments this year that Azarenka lost to eventual champions.
At the Andalucia Tennis Experience, she was the top seed. She had to retire in her quarterfinal match against María José Martínez Sánchez, leading 4–0 due to a left thigh injury.
Seeded third at the Family Circle Cup, she had to retire from her first match while leading, 6–2, 2–2, against qualifier Christina McHale. At the 2010 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, she was upset in the second round by qualifier Anna Lapushchenkova, who was ranked no. 138 at the time.
At the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, as the ninth seed, Azarenka lost to Ana Ivanović, 4–6, 4–6. As the tenth seed at the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, Azarenka retired from her first round match against Shuai Peng, while trailing 0–3 with a groin injury.
At the 2010 French Open, coming back from injury, Azarenka was upset in the first round by unseeded Gisela Dulko, 1–6, 2–6. This loss caused Azarenka to fall to world no. 15. Azarenka was unseeded at the 2010 AEGON International. Struggling with injuries, Azarenka fell to qualifier Ekaterina Makarova in the final.
Azarenka was seeded 14th at the Wimbledon. She lost to Petra Kvitová in the third round. Having served for the first set at 5–4, Azarenka lost nine consecutive games losing, 5–7, 0–6.
To begin the summer hard-court season, Azarenka competed in the 2010 Bank of the West Classic as a wildcard and eight seed. Azarenka defeated Maria Sharapova in the final, 6–4 6–1. The win propelled Azarenka to world no. 12. Despite being the favourite to win the Mercury Insurance Open, Azarenka withdrew to recover from a right shoulder injury. Seeded ninth at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open, Azarenka lost to Ana Ivanović, 2–6, 6–7, 2–6, despite serving for the match twice in the second set. However, she won the doubles title, partnering with Maria Kirilenko, defeating Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs 7–6, 7–6.
At the US Open, during the second round against Gisela Dulko and whilst trailing 5–1, Azarenka collapsed on the court. There were concerns that the cause of the fall was heat-related. Azarenka was taken to a local hospital for treatment and was diagnosed with a concussion after hitting her head whilst warming up before the match during a sprint exercise.[20]
At the Toray Pan Pacific Open, she lost to Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals 2–6, 7–6, 4–6. At the China Open, Azarenka retired in her secound-round match, having received a bye, to Timea Bacsinszky while leading, 6–4, 2–3.
At the 2010 Kremlin Cup Azarenka, as the second seed, defeated Maria Kirilenko in the final, 6–3 6–4, coming back from 4–0 down in the second set to win her fifth career title.
Azarenka's performance in Moscow qualified her for the year-end 2010 WTA Tour Championships, where she was in the White Group as the eighth seed. In her first round-robin match, Azarenka lost to Vera Zvonareva, 6–7, 4–6, despite serving for the first set at 5–4 and leading 3–1 in the second. She also lost to Kim Clijsters in her second match, 4–6, 7–5, 1–6, which assured that she did not qualify for the semifinals. Then, in her final match of the tournament and season, she defeated Janković for the second year in a row, 6–4, 6–1. Azarenka ended the year as world no. 10, her second consecutive year-end top-10 finish.
Azarenka then took part in a charitable exhibition match in mid-November with Caroline Wozniacki, beating the Dane, 6–3 6–3, at the Sports Palace in Minsk.
2011[link]
Azarenka began her year at the Medibank International as the seventh seed, where she lost to Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals 3–6, 2–6. At the 2011 Australian Open Azarenka was seeded eighth. She lost to the ninth seed and eventual finalist, Li Na 3–6, 3–6, in the fourth round. Azarenka partnered with Maria Kirilenko in the women's doubles event, but the pair lost to Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta in the final.
Azarenka then travelled to Israel to compete in Fed Cup. Belarus beat Croatia, Austria, and Greece in the group stage, without losing a match. The Belarusian team then defeated Poland 2–0 to qualify for the World Group II play-Offs in April where they played Estonia.
Azarenka's next tournament was the 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships, where she was seeded 7th. She lost to Flavia Pennetta in the third round. Azarenka then competed at the 2011 Qatar Ladies Open as the sixth seed, but lost to Daniela Hantuchová in the first round in three sets 6–4, 1–6, 2–6.
Azarenka's next event was the 2011 BNP Paribas Open, where she competed as the eighth seed. She retired in the quarterfinals against world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, whilst trailing 0–3, due to a left leg injury. She also became the second person to defeat both Radwańska sisters in the same tournament.
Azarenka then competed at the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open as the eighth seed. She reached her second final at the event, where she defeated sixteenth seed Maria Sharapova 6–1, 6–4 to win the title.
At the 2011 Andalucia Tennis Experience, Azarenka was the top seed and dropped only fourteen games on her way to the final. She defeated Irina-Camelia Begu 6–3, 6–2, in the final. Azarenka's victory, and Samantha Stosur's inability to defend her points at Charleston, ensured that Azarenka would reach a career high of world no. 5. She then participated in Belarus' 5–0 win over Estonia in the Fed Cup, registering a 6–2, 6–0 win in her singles rubber. In her next tournament the 2011 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Azarenka retired after the first set of her first match, having won the first set 6–4 against Julia Goerges, ending her 12-match winning streak. Ironically, Julia went on to win the tournament.
At the 2011 Madrid Masters, Azarenka was seeded fourth. She lost in the final in straight sets to Petra Kvitová, but still rose to a career-high world no. 4. Azarenka then reached the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, where she was up a set before retiring to eventual champion Maria Sharapova.
Azarenka was the fourth seed at the 2011 French Open. She beat Andrea Hlaváčková in the first round, Pauline Parmentier in the second round, 30th seed Roberta Vinci in the third round, and Ekaterina Makarova in the fourth round to reach her fourth career Grand Slam quarterfinal. She lost to Li Na in the quarterfinals.
Azarenka was the fourth seed at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. She beat 25th seed Daniela Hantuchová in a three-set third-round match, before beating Nadia Petrova. She followed that up with an easy victory over Tamira Paszek, advancing to the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the first time. Azarenka was beaten by Czech player and eventual champion Petra Kvitová, going down in three sets 1–6, 6–3, 2–6.
Her next tournament was the 2011 Bank of the West Classic, where she was the defending champion and top seed. Azarenka was ousted by 124th-ranked Marina Erakovic from New Zealand in the second round. Despite her 'horrible match' in singles, Azarenka claimed the doubles title with partner Kirilenko.
The next tournament Azarenka played was the 2011 Rogers Cup, where she was seeded fourth. After a bye, Azarenka crushed Stephanie Dubois, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, and Galina Voskoboeva, before being stopped by Serena Williams in the semifinals, 3–6, 3–6. Azarenka reached the doubles final with Kirilenko, but the team was forced to withdraw because of a hand injury to Azarenka. Azarenka pulled out of the 2011 Western & Southern Open with the same injury.
Azarenka's next tournament was the 2011 US Open, where she was seeded fourth. She made it to the third round, where she was defeated by Serena Williams 1–6, 6–7.[21] Despite the early loss, she reached a new career high of no. 3 in the world.
Azarenka reached the semifinals of the 2011 Toray Pan Pacific Open, losing to eventual champion Agnieszka Radwańska. In doing so she qualified for the year-end championships in Istanbul.
The Belarusian participated in the China Open, the last of the four mandatory events for 2011, as the second seed. She defeated Polona Hercog in the second round, after receiving a first-round bye. She then withdrew from the tournament citing a right foot strain.
Azarenka would win her third title of the year at the 2011 BGL Luxembourg Open, defeating Monica Niculescu in the final.[22]
Azarenka was placed in the White Group at the 2011 WTA Tour Championships. She beat Samantha Stosur 6–2, 6–2 and Li Na 6–2, 6–2 in her first two Round Robin matches. She secured the move to the semifinals despite her loss in three sets, 7–5, 4–6, 4–6, to Marion Bartoli, a substitute for Maria Sharapova. She then beat Vera Zvonareva 6–2, 6–3 to move to the final where she lost to Petra Kvitova 5–7, 6–4, 3–6.[23]
2012[link]
Azarenka claimed her first title of the season at the 2012 Apia International Sydney as the third seed. She defeated her first three opponents, Stefanie Voegele, Jelena Jankovic and Marion Bartoli all in straight sets to advance to the semifinals where she defeated the seventh seed, Agnieszka Radwańska in three sets 1–6, 6–3, 6–2 to reach the final, where she defeated the defending champion Li Na in three sets 6–2, 1–6, 6–3.[24]
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Azarenka competed at the 2012 Australian Open as the third seed, defeating Heather Watson, Casey Dellacqua, Mona Barthel and Iveta Benesova in the first four rounds without dropping a set, losing just 10 games and winning 48. In the quarterfinals, Azarenka faced a sterner test against world no. 8 Agnieszka Radwańska, and lost the opening set on a tie-break before coming back strongly, losing just two further games en route to a 6–7, 6–0, 6–2 win.[25] In the semi-finals, she defeated the eleventh seed and defending champion Kim Clijsters 6–4, 1–6, 6–3[26] to reach her first Grand Slam singles final where she faced the world no. 4 Maria Sharapova, conqueror of 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová in the other semifinal. In a nervous start to the final, Azarenka lost the opening two games of the match, and was within two points of trailing 0–3 after Sharapova took the first two points of the third game. Azarenka came back to hold serve, however, and took the next two games to establish a 3–2 lead, before her opponent held serve to level the score at 3–3. This would prove to be Sharapova's last service hold in the match, as Azarenka then proceeded to win all of the next nine games, to record an emphatic 6–3, 6–0 victory.[27] Unusually, due to the earlier quarter-final defeat of Caroline Wozniacki by Clijsters in the same tournament, whichever of the finalists triumphed in Melbourne would gain sufficient points to replace Wozniacki at the top of the Women's rankings. Azarenka thus recorded her first Grand Slam singles title and became the world no. 1 (with effect from 30 January 2012) in the same match.
Her first tournament as world number one was the 2012 Qatar Total Open. After receiving a bye in the first round, she played German Mona Barthel, dropping just one game in a comprehensive 6–1 6–0 victory. She won her third title of the year in Doha, defeating Barthel, Simona Halep, Yanina Wickmayer, Agnieszka Radwanska and Samantha Stosur all in straight sets. Azarenka planned to compete at the 2012 Dubai Tennis Championships. However, after a bye in the first round, she withdrew from the tournament due to an ankle injury.
In March, she played in the 2012 BNP Paribas Open, where she was the top seed. After receiving a bye in the first round, she defeated Mona Barthel in a tough three set match. In the next four rounds, she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova, Julia Gorges, Agnieszka Radwanska and Angelique Kerber easily in straight sets, dropping just 16 games. In a re-run of the 2012 Australian Open decider, her opponent in the final was World No. 2 Maria Sharapova, and once again, Azarenka won in straight sets, this time by 6–2 6–3, thus extending her undefeated record in 2012 to 23–0. Azarenka´s next tournament was the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open, where after a bye in the first round, she went to defeat Michaella Krajicek 6–3 7–5 in the second round, Heather Watson 6–0 6–2 on the third round, next round she faced a harder test against Dominika Cibulkova, losing the first set and being 4–0 down on the second set, Azarenka managed to came back and pull out the match, with a final score of 1–6, 7–6(7), 7–5. In the next round she faced Marion Bartoli, who ended Azarenka's 26 match winning streak to start the 2012 season (3–6, 3–6).
In April, she competed at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. She received a bye into the second round against Andrea Petkovic, however Petkovic was forced to retire in the second set after suffering an ankle injury during the match, ending it 6–4, 4–4 to Azarenka. Azarenka then faced a tough match from Mona Barthel in the quarter finals but winning in 3 sets 6–4, 6–7, 7–5. She then faced Agnieszka Radwanska in the semi finals and winning comfortably in straight sets 6–1, 6–3. This win meant she had beaten Radwanska in all 5 matches against her this year. Azarenka would then face World No. 2 Maria Sharapova in the final, creating another top 2 seeded final. Sharapova was able to beat Azarenka comfortably in the final in straight sets 6–1, 6–4.
Azarenka then competed at the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open. After the first 2 rounds, she faced Ana Ivanovic and won the match 6–4, 6–4. She then faced a tricky challenge from World No. 8 Li Na in the quarter finals but eventually winning in 3 sets 3–6, 6–3, 6–3. In the semi finals she faced yet again Agnieszka Radwanska and was able to win comfortably in straight sets 6–2, 6–4 and in doing so, extending her winning streak to 6 games in a row over Radwanska. In the finals the pressure was on for Azarenka, as Serena Williams was looking very impressive through out the tournament and would face Azarenka in the finals. This was the first meeting since the 2011 US Open match they had in which Williams won. Azarenka was beaten easily in the final by Williams 6–1, 6–3. The result gave Azarenka only her 3rd defeat of the year. Azarenka's next tournament was the 2012 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, she advanced to the third round quite easily but then with drew from the tournament and avoided a third round clash with Dominika Cibulkova, due to a right shoulder strain.
Azarenka's next tournament will be the French Open.
Career statistics[link]
Main article: Victoria Azarenka career statistics
Grand Slam finals[link]
Singles: 1 (1–0)[link]
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 2012 | Australian Open | Hard | Maria Sharapova |
6–3, 6–0 |
Grand Slam tournament performance timeline[link]
| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | W–L | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | 1R | 3R | 3R | 4R | QF | 4R | W | 21–6 | |||
| French Open | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 4R | QF | 1R | QF | 11–6 | ||||
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | 1R | 3R | 3R | QF | 3R | SF | 15–6 | ||||
| US Open | A | A | A | 3R | 4R | 3R | 3R | 2R | 3R | 12–6 | ||||
| Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 7–4 | 9–4 | 13–4 | 7–4 | 14–4 | 7–0 | 59–24 | |||
References[link]
- ^ a b "WTA Rankings". WTA Tour. http://www.wtatennis.com/page/RankingsSingles/0,,12781~0~1~100,00.html. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
- ^ Pentis, Andrew (1 March 2010). "Rising Azarenka makes waves on tennis court". The Arizona Republic. http://www.azcentral.com/sports/azetc/articles/2009/03/10/20090310spt-azarenka.html. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
- ^ Reuters: "Azarenka reaches first top tier final". The Guardian (21 April 2008). Retrieved on 29 June 2011.
- ^ Tennis.com: "No tennis talk for couple Bubka and Azarenka". Tennis.com (23 March 2012). Retrieved on 28 March 2012.
- ^ "Victoria Azarenka – Doubles titles". International Tennis Federation. http://beta.itftennis.com/ProCircuit/players/player/profile.aspx?PlayerID=100034773. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
- ^ "Victoria Azarenka ranking history". Women's Tennis Association. http://www.wtatennis.com/page/Player/Stats/0,,12781~11289,00.html. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
- ^ "Australian Open Junior Roll of Honour" (PDF). International Tennis Federation. http://beta.itftennis.com/media/108158/108158.pdf. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
- ^ "US Open Junior Roll of Honour" (PDF). International Tennis Federation. http://beta.itftennis.com/media/108161/108161.pdf. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
- ^ "World Champions". International Tennis Federation. http://beta.itftennis.com/juniors/rankings/world-champions.aspx. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
- ^ "Year-End Rankings". International Tennis Federation. http://beta.itftennis.com/juniors/rankings/year-end-rankings.aspx?yr=2005. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
- ^ Wechsler, Bob. Day by day in Jewish sports history. Google Books. p. 317. http://books.google.com/books?id=aFkwyOIHsr8C&pg=PA317&lpg=PA317&dq=Aleksandra+Wozniak+jewish&source=bl&ots=ALnKiS6X2u&sig=6nAYWJHYDNa4j5xOAd5Rq47jDcM&hl=en&ei=QOwiSsvdDpzFtge04_XcBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#PPA317,M1. Retrieved 2011-08-16. "November 12, 2006 Victoria Azarenka retires after losing first set by 6–2."
- ^ Mirnyi and Azarenka capture US Open mixed doubles title "Mirnyi and Azarenka capture US Open mixed doubles title". APF.com. 6 September 2007. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iekpuSfYgtfZ8T8FlhsBaVNKRRgQ Mirnyi and Azarenka capture US Open mixed doubles title. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
- ^ "Tennis, Kremlin Cup: Kuznetsova advances, Sharapova, Mauresmo, Bartoli upset at Kremlin Cup". The New York Times (10 October 2007). Retrieved 29 June 2011.
- ^ a b Azarenka primed for Top 10. Sonyericssonwtatour.com. Retrieved on 29 June 2011.
- ^ Victoria Azarenka wins Sony title against gimpy Serena Williams. Sun-sentinel.com. Retrieved on 29 June 2011.
- ^ "Rampant Serena crushes Azarenka". BBC Sport. 30 June 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8127310.stm. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
- ^ "Doha Drama – Azarenka beats Jankovic". Montreal Gazette. 27 October 2007. http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2009/10/27/doha-drama-azarenka-beats-jankovic. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
- ^ "Wozniacki rallies to beat Azarenka in Doha". Breitbart.com. 28 October 2009. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9BK8IFG1&show_article=1. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
- ^ "VWilliams, Jankovic, Wozniacki reach WTA semis". Newsday. 30 October 2009. http://www.newsday.com/sports/tennis/vwilliams-jankovic-wozniacki-reach-wta-semis-1.1560723. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
- ^ Clarey, Christopher (1 September 2010). "Azarenka Collapses With Mild Concussion". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/sports/tennis/02collapse.html. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
- ^ Berman, Marc (4 September 2011). "Serena outlasts No. 4 Azarenka at Open". New York Post. http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/tennis/when_there_will_serena_outlasts_NvYMnh5n62wvA4VErNH25O. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
- ^ "Victoria Azarenka wins Luxembourg Open". USA Today. 23 October 2011. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/story/2011-10-23/victoria-azarenka-wins-luxembourg-open/50882000/1. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
- ^ "Kvitova beats Azarenka in WTA Championships". USA Today. 30 October 2011. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/story/2011-10-30/vvitova-captures-wta-championships-title/51004474/1. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
- ^ "Victoria Azarenka claims Sydney title". ESPN. 13 January 2012. http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id/7457603/victoria-azarenka-overcomes-li-na-sydney-international-final. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
- ^ Macdonald, Geoff (24 January 2012). "Azarenka Wears Down Radwanska With Power Tennis". Straight Sets (The New York Times). http://straightsets.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/azarenka-wears-down-radwanska-with-power-tennis/?scp=7&sq=azarenka&st=cse. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
- ^ "Azarenka beats Clijsters, reaches Aust Open final". The Miami Herald. 26 January 2011. http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/26/2608862/azarenka-beats-clijsters-reaches.html. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
- ^ Murrells, Katy (24 January 2012). "Australian Open 2012: Maria Sharapova v Victoria Azarenka – as it happened". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jan/28/australian-open-2012-maria-sharapova?newsfeed=true. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
External links[link]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Victoria Azarenka |
- Official website
- Victoria Azarenka on Facebook
- Victoria Azarenka on Twitter
- Victoria Azarenka at the Women's Tennis Association
- Victoria Azarenka at the International Tennis Federation
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Top ten tennis players
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Azarenka, Victoria |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | Belarusian tennis player |
| Date of birth | 31 July 1989 |
| Place of birth | Minsk, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union (now Belarus) |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Victoria_Azarenka
Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Viktoryja Azaranka
http://cs.wn.com/Viktoria Azarenková
http://id.wn.com/Victoria Azarenka
http://es.wn.com/Victoria Azarenka
http://ru.wn.com/Азаренко, Виктория Фёдоровна
http://nl.wn.com/Viktoryja Azarenka
http://pt.wn.com/Victoria Azarenka
http://pl.wn.com/Wiktoryja Azaranka
http://fr.wn.com/Victoria Azarenka
http://de.wn.com/Wiktoryja Asaranka
http://hi.wn.com/विक्टोरिया अज़ारेन्का
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Azarenka
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
 |
|
| Country | Russia |
|---|---|
| Residence | Bradenton, Florida, United States |
| Born | (1987-04-19) April 19, 1987 (age 25) Nyagan, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1] |
| Weight | 59 kilograms (130 lb)[1] |
| Turned pro | April 19, 2001 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Career prize money | $ 19,323,417[2] |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 441–109 |
| Career titles | 26 WTA, 4 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (August 30, 2005) |
| Current ranking | No. 2 (May 28, 2012)[3] |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| Australian Open | W (2008) |
| French Open | SF (2007, 2011) |
| Wimbledon | W (2004) |
| US Open | W (2006) |
| Other tournaments | |
| Championships | W (2004) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 23–17 |
| Career titles | 3 WTA |
| Highest ranking | 41 (January 30, 2012) |
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |
| Australian Open | 2R (2003, 2004) |
| US Open | 2R (2003) |
| Last updated on: May 28, 2012. | |
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (Russian: Мария Юрьевна Шарапова [mɐˈrʲijə ˈjurʲjɪvnə ʂɐˈrapəvə] ( listen), US: /ʃɑrəˈpoʊvə/, UK: /ʃærəˈpoʊvə/; born April 19, 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player and former world no. 1. A United States resident since 1994,[4] Sharapova has won 26 WTA singles titles, including three Grand Slam singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open. She has also won the year-end WTA Tour Championships in 2004. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked Sharapova world no. 1 in singles on four separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on August 22, 2005, and last regained the ranking for the fourth time on May 19, 2008. As of May 28, 2012, Sharapova is ranked world no. 2. She has been in six Grand Slam finals with the final record 3–3.
Sharapova made her professional breakthrough in 2004 at age 17, when she defeated two-time defending champion and top seed Serena Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final for her first Grand Slam singles title. She entered the top 10 of the WTA Rankings with the win. Despite not winning a major in 2005, Sharapova briefly held the no. 1 ranking, and reached three Grand Slam semifinals, losing to the eventual champion each time. She won her second major at the 2006 US Open defeating then-world no. 1 Amélie Mauresmo in the semifinals and world no. 2 Justine Henin in the final.
Sharapova's 2007 season was plagued with a chronic shoulder injury and saw her ranking fall out of the top 5 for the first time in two years. She won her third Grand Slam at the 2008 Australian Open, defeating Henin in the quarterfinals and Ana Ivanović in the final. After reclaiming the no. 1 ranking in May 2008, Sharapova's shoulder problems re-surfaced, requiring surgery in October and forcing her out of the game for 10 months. Sharapova returned in May 2009 and was ranked no. 126 in the world due to her extensive lay-off. Since her comeback, Sharapova has won seven singles titles (bringing her career total to 26) and improved her ranking to no. 2 in the world.
Sharapova has been featured in a number of modeling assignments, including a feature in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She has been featured in many advertisements, including for Nike, Prince and Canon, and is the face of several fashion houses, most notably Cole Haan. Sharapova was the most searched-for athlete on Yahoo! in 2005 and 2008.[5][6][7] Since February 2007, she has been a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador, concerned specifically with the Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme. In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" by Time.[8]
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Early life[link]
Maria Sharapova's parents, Yuri and Elena, are from Gomel, Belarus. Concerned about the regional effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident, they left their homeland shortly before Sharapova was born.[9] When Sharapova was two, the family moved to Sochi. There her father befriended Aleksandr Kafelnikov, whose son Yevgeny would go on to win two Grand Slam singles titles and became Russia's first no. 1 world-ranked tennis player. Aleksandr gave Sharapova her first tennis racket at the age of four, whereupon she began practicing regularly with her father at a local park.[10] She took her first tennis lessons with veteran Russian coach Yuri Yutkin, who was instantly impressed when he saw her play, noting her "exceptional hand-eye coordination."[11]
At the age of seven, Sharapova attended a tennis clinic in Moscow run by Martina Navratilova, who recommended professional training at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida, which had previously trained players such as Andre Agassi, Monica Seles, and Anna Kournikova.[10] With money tight, Yuri was forced to borrow the sum that would allow him and his daughter, neither of whom could speak English, to travel to United States, which they finally did in 1994.[11] Visa restrictions prevented Sharapova's mother from joining them for two years.[9] Arriving in Florida with savings of US$700,[11] Sharapova's father took various low-paying jobs, including dish-washing, to fund her lessons until she was old enough to be admitted to the academy. In 1995, she was signed by IMG, who agreed to pay the annual tuition fee of $35,000 for Sharapova to stay at the academy, allowing her to finally enroll at the age of 9.[10]
Tennis career[link]
2001–03[link]
Sharapova first gained attention on the tennis scene in November 2000, when she won the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships in the girls' 16 division at the age of just 13.[12] She was then given a special award, the Rising Star Award, which is awarded only to players of exceptional promise.[13] She made her professional debut in 2001 on her birthday on April 19, and played her first WTA tournament at the Pacific Life Open in 2002, winning a match before losing to Monica Seles. Due to restrictions on how many professional events she could play, Sharapova went to hone her game in junior tournaments, where she reached the finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2002. She was the youngest girl ever to reach the final of the Australian Open junior championship at 14 years and 9 months.[14]
From 2003, Sharapova played a full season, and made a rapid climb into the top 50 by the end of the year.[15] She made her debuts at both the Australian Open and the French Open, but failed to win a match in either.[16] It was not until the grass season that she began to fulfill her promise, beating a top-20 player for the first time and reaching her first semifinal at the WTA level. Then, as a wildcard at Wimbledon, she defeated 11th seed Jelena Dokić to reach the fourth round, where she lost in three sets to Svetlana Kuznetsova.[16]
By the end of September, Sharapova had already captured her first WTA title at a smaller event, the Japan Open Tennis Championships, before winning her second in her final tournament of the season, the Bell Challenge. To cap off her first full season as a professional, she was awarded the WTA Newcomer of the Year honor.
2004[link]
Sharapova was defeated in the third round of the Australian Open by seventh seed Anastasia Myskina.[17] The highlight of the remainder of her spring hard-court season was a run to the semifinals at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup, where she ultimately lost to eventual champion Vera Zvonareva.[17]
During the spring clay-court season, Sharapova entered the top 20 on the WTA world rankings as a result of reaching the third round of the Qatar Telecom German Open[17] and the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, both of which were Tier I events.[17] At the latter event, she defeated a player ranked in the top 10 for the first time with a straight-sets win over world no. 10 and 2004 French Open finalist Elena Dementieva. Later that clay-court season, she went on to make the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time at the French Open, losing there to Paola Suárez.
Sharapova won the third title of her career at the Wimbledon warm-up DFS Classic, defeating Tatiana Golovin in the final.[17] Seeded 13th and aged 17 at Wimbledon, she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal by defeating Ai Sugiyama. There, she came back from a 6–2, 3–1 deficit to defeat fifth seed and former champion Lindsay Davenport. In the final, Sharapova upset top seed and defending champion Serena Williams to win her first Grand Slam singles title, and become the third youngest woman to win the Wimbledon title, behind only Lottie Dod and Martina Hingis. Sharapova also became the second Russian woman (after Anastasia Myskina had won the year's previous major at Roland Garros) to win a Grand Slam singles title. The victory was hailed by the media as "the most stunning upset in memory",[18] with other writers commenting on her arrival as a serious challenger to the Williams' dominance at Wimbledon.[19] She entered the top 10 in the rankings for the first time as a result of the win.[17]
Following her Wimbledon win, attention and interest in Sharapova in the media greatly increased, a rise in popularity dubbed as "Maria Mania."[20] However, on court, she was struggling to achieve results, winning just three of six matches in her preparations for the US Open. At the US Open itself, she reached the third round, before being eliminated by Mary Pierce. In order to regain confidence, Sharapova played and won consecutive titles in Asia in the fall, the Hansol Korea Open Tennis Championships and the Japan Open Tennis Championships.
In October, Sharapova defeated Venus Williams en route to making the final of a Tier I event for the first time at the Zurich Open, losing in the final to Alicia Molik. She then made her debut at the year-ending WTA Tour Championships. There, she won two of her three round-robin matches (including a win over US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova) in order to advance to the semifinals, where she defeated Myskina. In the final, she defeated Serena Williams, 4–6, 6–2, 6–4, after trailing 4–0 in the final set.[17]
World No 1[link]
Sharapova started the year at the Australian Open, where she defeated fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach the second Grand Slam semifinal of her career. Sharapova held match points in the third set of her semifinal match, before losing to eventual champion Serena Williams.[21] In February, Sharapova won back-to-back tournaments, the Toray Pan Pacific Open and the Qatar Total Open,[21] allowing her to reach the top 3 in the world rankings for the first time.
In the semifinals of the Tier I Pacific Life Open, Sharapova was defeated by Lindsay Davenport, 0–6, 0–6, the first time she had failed to win a game in a match.[21][22] The following fortnight, she defeated former world no. 1 players Justine Henin and Venus Williams to reach the final at the Tier I NASDAQ-100 Open, where she lost to Kim Clijsters.[21]
Sharapova made the semifinals of a clay-court tournament for the first time at the Italian Open, where she lost to Patty Schnyder.[21] Sharapova would have become world no. 1 for the first time had she won the tournament.[23] Sharapova then reached the quarterfinals of the French Open for the second consecutive year, before losing to eventual champion Henin.[21] On grass, Sharapova won her third title of the year when she successfully defended her title at the DFS Classic, defeating Jelena Janković in the final. As the defending champion at Wimbledon, Sharapova reached the semifinals without dropping a set and losing a service game just once, extending her winning streak on grass to 24 matches. However, she was then beaten by eventual champion Venus Williams.[21]
A back injury sustained by world no. 1 Davenport at Wimbledon prevented her from playing tournaments during the summer hard-court season, which meant she could not earn new ranking points to replace those that were expiring from the previous year. Sharapova, although also injured for much of this time, had far fewer points to defend, and so she became the first Russian woman to hold the world no. 1 ranking on August 22, 2005.[24] Her reign lasted only one week, however, as Davenport reclaimed the top ranking after winning the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament.[24]
As the top seed at the US Open, Sharapova lost in the semifinals to Kim Clijsters, meaning she had lost to the eventual champion in every Grand Slam of the season. However, she once again leapfrogged Davenport to take the world no. 1 ranking on September 12, 2005. She retained it for six weeks, but after playing few tournaments while injured, she again relinquished the ranking to Davenport.[24] To conclude the year, Sharapova failed to defend her title at the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships in Los Angeles, defeating Davenport in one of her round-robin matches, but ultimately losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Amélie Mauresmo.[21]
2006[link]
Sharapova started 2006 by losing in the semifinals of the Australian Open in three sets to Henin,[25] also losing a rematch several weeks later at the Dubai Tennis Championships, having defeated former world no. 1 Martina Hingis and world no. 3 Lindsay Davenport in earlier rounds of the tournament.[25] Sharapova claimed her first title in nine months at the Tier I tournament in Indian Wells, defeating Hingis in the semifinals and Elena Dementieva in the final.[25] The following fortnight, she reached the final in Miami before losing to Kuznetsova.[25]
Missing the entire clay-court season with injury, Sharapova returned for the French Open. There, after saving match points in defeating Mashona Washington in the first round, she was eliminated by Dinara Safina in the fourth round.[25]
On grass, Sharapova was unsuccessful in her attempt to win in Birmingham for the third consecutive year, losing in the semifinals to Jamea Jackson.[25] Despite that, she was among the title favorites at Wimbledon, where the eventual champion Mauresmo ended up beating her in the semifinals.[25]
Sharapova claimed her second title of the year at the Tier I Acura Classic, defeating Clijsters for the first time in the final.[25] As the third seed at the US Open, Sharapova defeated top seed Mauresmo for the first time in the semifinals, and then followed up by beating second seed Justine Henin[25] in order to win her second Grand Slam singles title.[25]
That autumn, Sharapova won titles in back-to-back weeks at the Zurich Open and the Generali Ladies Linz.[25] By winning all three of her round-robin matches at the WTA Tour Championships, she extended her win streak to 19 matches, before it was snapped in the semifinals by eventual champion Henin.[25] Sharapova would have finished the season as world no. 1 had she won the event. As it was, she finished ranked world no. 2, her best year-end finish yet.
2007[link]
Sharapova was the top seed at the Australian Open due to top-ranked Justine Henin's withdrawal. After being two points away from defeat in the first round against Camille Pin, rallying for a 6–3, 4–6, 9–7 victory, she went on to reach the final of the tournament for the first time, but was routed there by Serena Williams, 1–6, 2–6, ranked world no. 81 at the time.[26] After reaching the final, Sharapova recaptured the world no. 1 ranking.[24] She held it for seven weeks, surrendering it back to Henin after failing to defend her title at the Pacific Life Open, instead losing in the fourth round to Vera Zvonareva after struggling with a hamstring injury. The following fortnight, she defeated Venus Williams in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open, before suffering another defeat, 1–6, 1–6, to Serena Williams.
A shoulder injury forced Sharapova to miss most of the clay-court season for the second consecutive year, resulting in her only tune-up for the French Open being the Istanbul Cup, where she lost in the semifinals to Aravane Rezaï.[26] Despite her lack of preparation, she reached the semifinals of the French Open for the first time in her career (having saved match points against Patty Schnyder in the fourth round), before losing to Ana Ivanović.[26]
On grass, Sharapova was runner-up to Jelena Janković at the DFS Classic.[26] Following that, she experienced her earliest Wimbledon loss since 2003 by losing in the fourth round to eventual champion Venus Williams.[26]
Sharapova clinched the US Open Series by defending her title at the Acura Classic, her only championship of the year, and reaching the semifinals in Los Angeles.[24] In her US Open title defense, Sharapova was upset in her third round match to 30th seed Agnieszka Radwańska,[27] making it her earliest exit at a Grand Slam singles tournament since the 2004 US Open, where she lost in the same round.[24]
Following the US Open loss, Sharapova did not play again until the Kremlin Cup in October, where she lost her opening match to Victoria Azarenka.[26] Shortly after this, she fell out of the top 5 in the world rankings for the first time since 2004. She qualified for the eight-woman year-end Sony Ericsson Championships due to a withdrawal by Venus Williams before the start of the tournament.[24] Despite having not previously won a match in two months, Sharapova topped her round-robin group at the tournament, after winning all three of her matches, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanović, and Daniela Hantuchová. She then defeated Anna Chakvetadze in the semifinals.[26] In the final, she lost to world no. 1 Henin in a match that lasted 3 hours and 24 minutes. Sharapova reached the top five again to end the year.
===2008=== Shoulder Injury Sharapova was seeded fifth at the Australian Open,[28] but was not considered a favorite. Nevertheless, she defeated former world no. 1 Lindsay Davenport in the second round, and then world no. 1 Henin in the quarterfinals,[29] ending the latter's 32-match winning streak.[30] She proceeded to the finals by defeating Jelena Janković in the semifinals, where she defeated Ana Ivanović to win her third Grand Slam title,[31] having not dropped a set all tournament.
After the Australian Open, Sharapova extended her winning streak to 18 matches.[31] This run encompassed two wins in singles rubbers when making her debut for Russia in the Fed Cup[32] against Israel[31] and victory at the Tier I Qatar Total Open.[31] Her winning streak was ended in the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open by Kuznetsova.[31] In April, Sharapova won the Bausch & Lomb Championships, having survived her longest-ever match, at 3 hours and 26 minutes long, in the third round against Anabel Medina Garrigues.[33][34] The following week, at the Family Circle Cup, she lost in the quarterfinals to Serena Williams, her fourth consecutive loss to the American.[35]
In May, Sharapova regained the world no. 1 ranking because of Henin's sudden retirement from professional tennis and request to the WTA that her own ranking be removed immediately.[36] As the top-seeded player at the French Open[31] Sharapova was within two points[37] of being knocked out by Evgeniya Rodina in the first round, before eventually winning.[38] As a result of losing to eventual finalist Dinara Safina in the fourth round (after serving for the match),[39] she relinquished her no. 1 ranking.[40] Her dip in form continued at Wimbledon, where she lost in the second round to world no. 154 Alla Kudryavtseva.[31] This was her earliest loss ever at Wimbledon, and at any Grand Slam in almost five years.[41]
Sharapova withdrew from the Rogers Cup tournament in August due to a shoulder injury.[42][43] An MRI scan revealed that she had been suffering from a rotator cuff tear since April, forcing her out of all tournaments for the rest of the season, including the Beijing Olympics, the US Open, and the WTA Tour Championships. In spite of that, she still finished the year ranked world no. 9.[44] In October, after a failed attempt to rehabilitate the shoulder, Sharapova had surgery to repair the tear.
2009[link]
Sharapova did not attempt to defend her Australian Open title, as she continued to recover from surgery.[45][46] She returned to the sport in March, in the doubles tournament at the BNP Paribas Open, but she and partner Elena Vesnina lost in the first round. After this, Sharapova withdrew from further singles tournaments, resulting in her standing in the world rankings being severely affected. She dropped out of the top 100 for the first time in six years in May, the nadir being world no. 126.
Playing her first singles tournament in nearly ten months, Sharapova made the quarterfinals of the clay-court Warsaw Open in May, losing to finalist Alona Bondarenko. The following week, in the first Grand Slam appearance since her surgery, she reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, before her run was ended by Dominika Cibulková.
During the summer grass-court season, Sharapova played in Birmingham, losing in the semifinals. Sharapova then played at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships as the 24th seed. She was upset in the second round by Gisela Dulko in three sets.
Sharapova enjoyed considerable success in the summer months, reaching the quarterfinals at the Bank of the West Classic, the semifinals at the LA Women's Tennis Championships, and finishing runner-up at the Rogers Cup to Elena Dementieva. At the 2009 US Open, Sharapova was seeded 29th. She entered her way into the third round defeating Tsvetana Pironkova and Christina McHale all in straight sets. She was stunned in the third round by American teenager Melanie Oudin 3–6, 6–4, 7–5. It was the first time in Sharapova's career that she lost to a teenager at a Grand Slam event. The devastating loss made Sharapova's ranking go down to no. 32.
The final stretch of the season brought Sharapova her first title of the year in Tokyo, after opponent Jelena Janković retired after being down 2–5 to Sharapova in the final. By virtue of that result, she was the recipient of a bye at the China Open, but failed to capitalize on it, losing to Peng Shuai in the third round. She ultimately finished the season at world no. 14, having improved from no. 126 when she starting her comeback from injury.
2010[link]
After playing two exhibition tournaments in Asia, Sharapova officially began her season at the Australian Open, where she was upset in her first-round match against Maria Kirilenko. The loss meant that for the first time since 2003, Sharapova had lost her opening match at a Grand Slam event.[47] She then rebounded by winning a smaller American event, the Cellular South Cup, her 21st career WTA title and first of the year.[48]
At the BNP Paribas Open, Sharapova lost in the third round to Zheng Jie, aggravating a bruised bone on her right elbow in the process, which resulted in her eventual withdrawal from the Sony Ericsson Open[49] and the Family Circle Cup.[50]
Returning at the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, Sharapova lost in the first round to Lucie Šafářová. She continued her French Open preparation at the Internationaux de Strasbourg as a wildcard, advancing to the final, where she beat Kristina Barrois. This was her first title on red clay and 22nd overall title.[51] At the French Open, Sharapova's brief clay season culminated with a third-round loss to four-time champion Justine Henin.
Sharapova began her preparations for Wimbledon at the AEGON Classic. She advanced to the final for the fourth time, where she lost to Li Na. As the 16th seed at Wimbledon, Sharapova lost in the fourth round to world no. 1 and eventual champion Serena Williams, 6–7, 4–6, despite having three set points in the opening set.[52] The match was seen as another encouraging performance for Sharapova, with some stating their belief that she was approaching the form that would see her contending for Grand Slams once more,[53] and Sharapova herself that stating she felt that she was "in a much better spot than I was last year."[54]
During the US Open Series, Sharapova made two straight finals, losing to Victoria Azarenka at the Bank of the West Classic, and to Kim Clijsters at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open. In the latter match, Sharapova held three match points while leading 5–3 on Clijsters's serve late in the second set, but could not convert them.
At the U.S. Open, Sharapova was the 14th seed. She made it to the fourth round, where she played top seed and 2009 finalist Caroline Wozniacki and lost, 3–6, 4–6.
Sharapova's last two tournaments of the season ended in disappointment. She played in the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, where she was upset in the first round by 39-year-old former world no. 4 Kimiko Date-Krumm.[55] Her last tournament of the year was the China Open, where she lost in the second round to fellow Russian Elena Vesnina.[56] Days later, she announced the end of her 2010 season.[57] She ended the year at number 18 in the world.[58]
Back to Form[link]
It was announced that Sharapova would bring in Thomas Hogstedt as a coach for the 2011 season, joining Michael Joyce.[59] On December 5, Sharapova played an exhibition match against world no. 2 Vera Zvonareva in Monterrey, Mexico. She won the match 6–1, 7–5.[60] It was also announced that Maria would start endorsing the Head YOUTEK IG Instinct Racquet range. This ended her career long use of Prince racquets.
In Sharapova's first ever official Australian Open warm-up tournament at the 2011 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, she was seeded 1st. She lost to the Hungarian veteran and eventual champion Gréta Arn 2–6, 5–7 in the quarterfinals. After the ASB Classic, Sharapova decided to take a hiatus from Joyce's coaching, despite having worked together for a number of years, including during her successful years where she became a multiple Grand Slam champion.[61]
Sharapova participated in the first Grand Slam of the season at the Australian Open, where she was the 14th seed, but lost to Andrea Petkovic, 2–6, 3–6 in the fourth round.[62]
Sharapova's next appearance was at the 2011 Fed Cup tie against France, which she lost to Virginie Razzano, 3–6, 4–6. She then withdrew from the 2011 Open GDF Suez in Paris because of viral illness.[63] She also had to pull out of the 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships and 2011 Qatar Ladies Open due to an ear infection.
Sharapova returned to the tour in March by taking part in the 2011 BNP Paribas Open, where she was seeded 16th. She defeated former world No. 1 Dinara Safina, 6–2, 6–0, in the fourth round en route to the semifinal, where she lost to world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, 1–6, 2–6. With this result, Sharapova returned to the top 10 for the first time since February 2009.
At the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Sharapova upset fourth seed Samantha Stosur in the fourth round. She then defeated 26th seed Alexandra Dulgheru 3–6, 7–66, 7–65 in the quarterfinals in a match that lasted 3 hours and 28 minutes, the longest match of her career. In the semifinals, Sharapova took her Australian Open reprisal on Germany's Andrea Petkovic by defeating her 3–6, 6–0, 6–2. In the final, she was defeated by Victoria Azarenka, 1–6, 4–6, despite a late comeback in the second set.
During the clay-court season, Sharapova participated in 2011 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where she lost to Dominika Cibulková 5–7, 4–6, in the third round and the 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she was seeded seventh. She defeated top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals and sixth seed Samantha Stosur, 6–2, 6–4, in the final to take home the title, marking her biggest clay-court victory to date.[64]
At the 2011 French Open, Sharapova was seeded seventh. She defeated French wildcard Caroline Garcia in the second round, despite trailing 3–6, 1–4, before winning the last 11 games of the match. In the quarterfinals, she defeated 15th seed Andrea Petkovic, 6–0, 6–3, marking her first Grand Slam semifinal since her comeback from the career-threatening shoulder injury. She then lost to sixth seed and eventual champion Li Na, 4–6, 5–7, in the semifinals, ending her clay season with a win-loss record of 12–2.[65] This marks her most successful clay season to date.
At the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, Sharapova had not dropped a set entering the final, before losing to eighth seed Petra Kvitová in straight sets, 3–6, 4–6.[66] This marked her first final in over three years at a Grand Slam event.
Sharapova started her summer hard court season at the 2011 Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, USA. In a highly anticipated match, Sharapova lost to the eventual champion Serena Williams 1–6, 3–6, in the quarterfinals.[67] In her next event at 2011 Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada, Sharapova lost to Galina Voskoboeva in the third round, marking her 100th career loss.[68]
Sharapova then contested at the 2011 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Ohio. As the fourth seed, she received a bye into the second round. On the way to her fourth final of the year, she beat Anastasia Rodionova, 6–1, 6–3,[69] 14th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–2, 6–3,[70] 10th seed Samantha Stosur, 6–3, 6–2,[71] and 2nd seed Vera Zvonareva 2–6, 6–3, 6–3.[72] In the final, she defeated fellow former world no. 1 Jelena Jankovic, 4–6, 7–6, 6–3, in 2 hours and 49 minutes, making it the longest WTA tour final of the year.[73] She subsequently moved up to world no. 4, her highest ranking since August 2008 and the highest since her comeback from her shoulder injury.[74]
Sharapova entered the US Open in fine form, where she was seeded third. She beat British up-and-comer Heather Watson, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3, and Anastasiya Yakimova, 6–1, 6–1, to reach the third round. She was then upset by Flavia Pennetta, 3–6, 6–3, 4–6. However, because of the fall of Kim Clijsters and Vera Zvonareva in the rankings, Sharapova climbed to world no. 2.[75]
Sharapova's next tournament was the 2011 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan. As second seed, she received a bye into the second round, where she beat Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6–2, 7–5. She then beat 13th seed Julia Goerges 7–6, 7–6, before retiring against Petra Kvitova in the quarterfinal, 3–4, after slipping on the baseline, suffering an ankle injury. This also forced her to withdraw from the 2011 China Open the following week. Sharapova then flew to Istanbul to prepare for the 2011 WTA Tour Championships, her first time qualifying since 2007. During the WTA Tour Championships, Sharapova withdrew during the round-robin stage after defeats against Samantha Stosur, 1–6, 5–7, and Li Na, 6–7, 4–6, due to the ankle injury she had suffered in Tokyo.
Sharapova ended the year as number 4 in the world, her first top-10 finish since 2008 and first top-5 finish since 2007.
2012[link]
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Sharapova withdrew from the 2012 Brisbane International because of her ongoing ankle injury.[76] Her first tournament of the season was the 2012 Australian Open, where she was seeded fourth. Sharapova advanced to the fourth round conceding just five games, defeating Gisela Dulko, Jamie Hampton and the 30th seed Angelique Kerber en route. In the fourth round, Sharapova defeated the fourteenth seed, Sabine Lisicki in three sets, 3–6, 6–2, 6–3 to reach her first hardcourt Grand Slam quarterfinal in 4 years. She then defeated compatriot, Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets, 6–2, 6–3 to reach the semifinals. There she defeated the world no. 2 Petra Kvitová, 6–2, 3–6, 6–4 to reach her third Australian Open final, and her sixth grand slam singles final overall. She lost to Victoria Azarenka in the final 3–6, 0–6. As a result her ranking improved to world no. 3.
In February, Sharapova aided Russia to a 3–2 victory over Spain during the 2012 Fed Cup quarterfinal with a 6–2, 6–1 win over Silvia Soler-Espinosa.[77] She then played in Paris, where she lost in the quarterfinal to eventual champion Angelique Kerber 4–6, 4–6. As a result her ranking improved to World No. 2. At Indian Wells, Sharapova faced Gisela Dulko in the first round and won 6–2, 6–0. Sharapova defeated Simona Halep and Roberta Vinci en route to reaching the quarterfinals. After battling for over 3 hours, she defeated compatriot Maria Kirilenko 3–6 7–5 6–2, to set up a semifinal meeting with Ana Ivanovic. Sharapova won the first set 6–4 and advanced to the final after Ivanovic retired due to a hip injury. In the final she played world no. 1 Victoria Azarenka in a rematch of the Australian Open final, but lost again 2–6, 3–6.
Sharapova's next tournament was the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open, where she was seeded 2nd. She received a bye to the second round where she faced Shahar Peer and won in three sets 4–6, 6–3, 6–3. Her next opponent was Sloane Stephens. Sharapova won in straight sets 6–4, 6–2. In the fourth round she won in straight sets, 6–4, 7–6 against countrywoman Ekaterina Makarova and advanced to the quarterfinals where she faced Li Na, whom she beat 6–3, 6–0. Her semifinal opponent was fellow former world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. After an inconsistent first set, Sharapova won the match 4–6, 6–2, 6–4. In the final, Maria lost in straight sets to 5th seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 7–5, 6–4. This was her third loss of the year in finals out of four tournaments played so far. Sharapova's next tournament was the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, where she was seeded second. She had a bye in the first round, and advanced to the third round after Alize Cornet retired in the second set. In the quarterfinal, she defeated No. 5 Samantha Stosur 6–75, 7–65, 7–5 after saving a match point in the second set, and advanced to the final with a 6–4, 7–63 win over No. 3 Petra Kvitova. She won her first title of the year in Stuttgart after defeating world number one Victoria Azarenka 6–1, 6–4. In doing so, Sharapova defeated three current Grand Slam title holders to win the tournament. It was also her first win against Azarenka in five finals, and the third of such this season.
Sharapova's next tournament was a premier mandatory event, the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open. She eased through the first round in straight sets against Irina-Camelia Begu 6–0, 6–3. In the next round she faced Klara Zakopalova and also won in straight sets with 6–4, 6–3. In the third round Sharapova's opponent Lucie Safarova was unable to compete and with drew from the tournament, earning Sharapova a walkover into the quarter finals. She was then beaten by eventual champion Serena Williams in straight sets 6–1, 6–3.
As the defending champion and number two seed at the Italian Open, Sharapova had a bye in the first round. She battled through the first round against 20 year-old Christina McHale and prevailed 7–5, 7–5. She then faced thirteenth seed Ana Ivanovic and won 7–64, 6–3 in 1 hour 47 minutes to advance to the quarterfinals. Sharapova then defeated former world no. 1 Venus Williams 6–4, 6–3, meaning that Sharapova has reached the quarterfinals or better in all nine tournaments she has played this year. In the semifinals, Sharapova avenged her defeat to Angelique Kerber in Paris earlier in the year by beating her 6–3, 6–4 to advance to the final for the second year in a row. In the final, Maria saved match point for a 2 hour 52 minute, 4–6, 6–4, 7–6(5) win over Li Na for her 26th career title.[78] This marked the fourth time Sharapova had successfully defended a title.
Sharapova's currently in action at the French Open, where she is seeded 2nd. She moved through to the second round by defeating Alexandra Cadantu 6-0, 6-0 in 48 minutes. She defeated Ayumi Morita 6-1, 6-1 to reach the third round, where she will face Peng Shuai.
Fed Cup participation[link]
Sharapova has lived in the United States since moving there at the age of seven, but retains her Russian citizenship, and is therefore eligible to play in the Fed Cup for Russia.[79] However, the behavior of Sharapova's father during her matches on the WTA Tour, combined with a perceived lack of commitment by her to the Fed Cup, has made her selection for the Russian Fed Cup team cause controversy in the past.
After Sharapova had beaten fellow Russian Anastasia Myskina at the 2004 WTA Tour Championships, Myskina criticized Sharapova's father, saying: "He was just yelling and screaming instructions to her and I thought he just might jump right on the court at one point in the match." At the Fed Cup semi-finals two weeks later, Myskina stated she would stop playing for Russia if Sharapova joined the Russian team the following season: "If she joins our team next season you won't see me there for sure. His behaviour is totally incorrect, simply rude. I don't want to be around people like him." Larisa Neiland, assistant to Russia Fed Cup captain Shamil Tarpishchev, added: "Her father's behaviour (at the WTA Tour Championships) was simply outrageous. I just don't see how he could work with the rest of us." However Tarpishchev himself played down the problem, insisting: "I feel that things will calm down soon and we'll have Myskina, Sharapova, Kuznetsova and everyone else playing for Russia."[80]
At the end of 2005, Sharapova stated she was now keen to make her Fed Cup debut[81] and was set to play against Belgium in April 2006, but withdrew.[82] She later withdrew from ties against Spain in April 2007[83] and against the United States in July 2007 because of injuries.[84] The latter withdrawal led to Russia's captain saying she would be "ineligible for selection" for the Fed Cup final in September.[85] However, Sharapova attended the final, cheering from the sidelines and acting as a "hitting partner" in practices, resulting in some of her Russian teammates implying that she was attending only to enable her to play at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (rules state that players must have "shown commitment" to Fed Cup in order to play). Svetlana Kuznetsova said, "She said she wanted to be our practice partner but if you can't play how then can you practice?"[86]
Sharapova finally made her Fed Cup debut in February 2008, in Russia's quarterfinal tie against Israel.[32] She won both her singles rubbers, against Tzipora Obziler and Shahar Pe'er, helping Russia to a 4–1 victory.[87] For the semifinals, she was given permission to skip the tie, with Tarpishchev announcing that she will be on the team for the final.[88] However, the date of the final coincided with the lay-off from her shoulder injury, and thus she did not play.[89]
In the 2011 first round tie, Maria played Virginie Razzano of France and lost. Maria was supposed to play Alize Cornet, but Sharapova was suffering from a viral illness. So teammate, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova played instead of Sharapova where she would go to help Russia come back from their 0–2 deficit by beating Alize Cornet 3–6 6–3 6–2 and secure the win for Russia against France 3–2. Maria continued to participate in 2012 and helped Russia to a 3–2 win against Spain in the first round tie. Sharapova defeated Silver Soler Espinosa in the first rubber, but was unable o play her second rubber due to illness.
Playing style[link]
Sharapova is an aggressive baseliner, with power, depth, and angles on her forehand and backhand.[90] She is one of the few players on the WTA who uses the reverse forehand a lot. Instead of using a traditional volley or overhead smash, she often prefers to hit a powerful "swinging" volley when approaching the net or attacking lobs.[91] Sharapova is thought to have good speed around the court, especially considering her height.[90] At the beginning of 2008, some observers noted that Sharapova had developed her game, showing improved movement and footwork and the addition of a drop shot and sliced backhand to her repertoire of shots.[92][93] Despite her powerful game, Sharapova's greatest asset is considered to be her mental toughness and competitive spirit, with Nick Bollettieri stating that she is "tough as nails". Hall-of-famer John McEnroe said of Sharapova, "she's one of the best competitors in the history of the sport."[94] Sharapova is known for on-court "grunting", which reached a recorded 101 decibels during a match at Wimbledon in 2005.[95] During her second round match in Birmingham in 2003, Sharapova was asked to tone down the level of her grunt after opponent Nathalie Dechy complained to the umpire, with Sharapova's response saying that her grunting was "a natural instinct."[96] Monica Seles suggested that grunting is involuntary and a part of tennis.[97] When questioned by the media about her grunting, Sharapova urged the media to "just watch the match."[98] Her defensive game has been worked on by her new coach, and this has reflected in her results, making consecutive semi-finals at premier mandatory events on the tour.
Serve[link]
Early in her career Sharapova's first and second serves were regarded as powerful,[90] and she was believed to possess one of the best deliveries on the Tour.[99] Since the beginning of 2007, however, problems with her shoulder have reduced the effectiveness of her serve.[99] The shoulder injury not only resulted in her inconsistent first serves, but also her hitting high numbers of double faults.[100] Two-time US Open singles champion Tracy Austin believes that Sharapova often loses confidence in the rest of her game when she experiences problems with her serve and consequently produces more unforced errors and generally plays more tentatively,[101] while tennis writer Joel Drucker remarked that her serve was the "catalyst for her entire game", and that her struggles with it left her "unmasked."[99]
In her return from layoff in 2008 to 2009, she used an abbreviated motion, which was somewhat less powerful, and though producing aces also gave a very high number of double faults. After her early loss at the 2009 US Open, Sharapova returned to a more elongated motion, similar to her pre-surgery serve. She has since been able to produce speeds greater than before, including a 121 mph serve hit at the Birmingham tournament in 2010 – the fastest serve of her career.[102]
However since her shoulder operation Sharapova has been unable to control her serve. This has led to numerous faults, as she can't feel how much power she is generating.[103] The new action led to an elbow injury, but under Thomas Hogstedt it has improved but can still be erratic.[104]
Surfaces[link]
Because she predicates her game on power, Sharapova's preferred surfaces are the fast-playing hard and grass courts, as evident through her 24 victories on hard court and grass court. This is most notable when she won the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 U.S. Open and 2008 Australian Open crowns, where she had her career breakthrough and played her peak tennis level, respectively.
Sharapova, however, is not as well-suited to the slower clay courts as she is on hard and grass courts. Sharapova has admitted that she is not as comfortable with her movement on clay compared with other court surfaces and once described herself as like a "cow on ice" after a match on clay,[105] due to her inability to slide. Despite this, she has shown improvement on this surface with respect to experience, as evident with her first WTA red clay title at the 2010 Internationaux de Strasbourg, 7 years since playing on the WTA circuit. Less than a year later, she won her biggest red clay title at the Tier I 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia. Sharapova is still showing rapid improvement on clay courts as evident by winning the 2012 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart and then a month later being able to successfully defend her 2011 title in Rome, by winning the 2012 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, these results are making Sharapova an obvious favourite for the 2012 French Open.
Ground strokes and net-play[link]
Sharapova is also known for her phenomenally accurate and powerful groundstrokes. She has a powerful forehand which tends to set up points and create successful winners. Sharapova occasionally utilizes a reverse follow-through on her forehand, similar to that of Lindsay Davenport and Rafael Nadal, which allows her to hit the ball later than normal and add top-spin, while it can also lead to timing issues resulting in errors. The backhand, although not as dominant in setting points up, is her more reliable shot with many tennis analysts[who?] considering this to be her best asset, and one of tennis' great shots. Her net play is good when on the attack, often she will choose to drive the volley instead of slice volleys, but this is not seen as a strength—this seems to be continually worked on.
Personal life[link]
Sharapova has lived in the United States since moving there at the age of seven. She has a residence in Manhattan Beach, California and in Netanya, Israel.[106][107] Sharapova is engaged to Slovenian professional basketball player Sasha Vujačić, who plays for the Anadolu Efes S.K. in Istanbul, Turkey.[108][109] The two have been dating since 2009.[110] In 2011, Sharapova was named in Forbes Celebrity 100. This lists her as one of the top 100 most powerful celebrities of the year.[111] Sharapova has made varying remarks on how long she intends to maintain her tennis career. Following the retirement of 25-year-old Justine Henin in 2008, Sharapova said, "If I was 25 and I'd won so many Grand Slams, I'd quit too."[112] In an interview after the 2008 Australian Open, she balked at the idea of playing for another ten years, saying that she hoped to have a "nice husband and a few kids" by then.[113] However in an interview before her 2012 Australian Open semifinal, Sharapova changed her stance, claiming she intended to continue playing tennis for as long as she enjoyed playing the game. Sharapova stated "I'm sure when I was 17 years old and someone said, you'll be playing for another eight years, it would be like, you're not going to see me at a press conference at 25 years old. But years go on. I missed a year in my career—I didn't play that year. I've said this, just before the tournament, a few weeks before, I woke up and I was just so happy to be going back on the court. I felt so fresh, full of energy, just with a really good perspective. Times change, obviously. I see myself playing this sport for many more years because it's something that gives me the most pleasure in my life. I think it helps when you know you're good at something, and you can always improve it. It obviously helps with the encouragement."[114]
At the 2004 US Open, Sharapova, along with several other Russian female tennis players, wore a black ribbon in observance of the tragedy after the Beslan school hostage crisis, which took place only days before.[115] In 2005, she donated around US$50,000 to those affected by the crisis.[24] On February 14, 2007, Sharapova was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and donated US$210,000 to UNDP Chernobyl-recovery projects. She stated at the time that she was planning to travel back to the area after Wimbledon in 2008,[116] though it didn't happen as she had to travel back to the US because of shoulder injury.[117] She fulfilled the trip in late June – early July 2010. Sharapova has helped to promote the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.[118] In addition, with Angela Haynes, Maria Kirilenko, Nicole Vaidišová, Rennae Stubbs, Governor Jeb Bush and Jennifer Capriati, Sharapova participated in an exhibition in Tampa in December 2004, raising money for the Florida Hurricane Relief Fund.[119] In July 2008, Sharapova sent a message on DVD to the memorial service of Emily Bailes, who had performed the coin toss ahead of the 2004 Wimbledon final that Sharapova had gone on to win.[120]
Endorsements[link]
Sharapova's tennis success and appearance have enabled her to secure commercial endorsements that greatly exceed the value of her tournament winnings.[121][122] In March 2006, Forbes magazine listed her as the highest-paid female athlete in the world, with annual earnings of over US $18 million,[123] the majority of which was from endorsements and sponsorships. She has topped that list every year since, even after her 2007 shoulder injury.[124][125][126] In April 2005, People named her one of the 50 most beautiful celebrities in the world.[127] In 2006, Maxim ranked Sharapova the hottest athlete in the world for the fourth consecutive year. She posed in a six-page bikini photoshoot spread in the 2006 Valentine's Day issue of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, alongside 25 supermodels.[128] In a poll run by Britain's FHM magazine, she was voted the seventh most eligible bachelorette,[129] based on both "wealth and looks."
Immediately after her win at the 2004 Wimbledon Championship, mobile phone company Motorola signed Sharapova to endorse their mobile phone line.[130] Additionally, she appeared in commercials for Land Rover and Canon, as well as approved of namesake items by watch brand Tag Heuer and jeweller Tiffany.[130] Tiffany also provides Sharapova with earrings from the "Tiffany for Maria Sharapova" collection at the four major events, that are also retailed globally.[131] She also starred in an award winning campaign for the sports clothing brand Nike, "Pretty", in the summer of 2006. She signed a sponsorship deal in January 2007 with Gatorade and Tropicana.[132] In 2007, Sharapova was featured in a number of Canon USA's commercials for the PowerShot.[133] Sharapova has also been depicted in many tennis-related video games. Some of the titles include the Top Spin series, Virtua Tennis series, and Grand Slam Tennis series. During the layoff due to her shoulder surgery, sensing the fleeting nature of a professional athlete's career, Sharapova decided to focus on developing her name as a brand, beginning with meeting with her sponsors more extensively to further her brand.[130] In January 2010, it was announced that Sharapova had renewed her contract with Nike, signing an 8 year deal for $70 million. This is the most lucrative deal ever for a sportswoman, dwarfing the previous record, which was Venus Williams' $43 million deal with Reebok.[134]
Following in the footsteps of tennis players who started clothing lines such as Fred Perry and René Lacoste, Sharapova launched her own tennis apparel line, the "Nike Maria Sharapova Collection", in 2010. The collection includes dresses that she designed for all the major tournaments, in collaboration with Nike and Cole Haan.[135] She had previously found that the outfits given to her by Nike did not suit her frame and were worn by too many other players.[130] She comes up with design ideas and sketches in a process that begins 18 months before the event[135] and receives royalties from the sale of the collection, of which the corresponding dresses are coordinated to be available simultaneously with the corresponding major tournament.[130] The collection is worn by other WTA players, including Sofia Arvidsson, Kai-Chen Chang, Andrea Hlavackova, Madison Keys, Anastasia Pivovarova as well as junior players such as Indy De Vroome.[135] Sharapova had earlier collaborated with Nike on the "little black dress" that she wore for her night matches at the 2006 US Open.[130] The dress featured a round crystal studded collar and was inspired by Audrey Hepburn[130] The dress was well publicized and received but was not mass produced.[130][135][136] Additionally, she designs shoes and handbags for Cole Haan, for which her signature ballerina flats are one of the biggest sellers of the entire brand.[130]
Sharapova used the Prince Triple Threat Hornet for part of 2003 and then used several different Prince racquets until the US Open. She gave the racquet she used in the 2004 Wimbledon final to Regis Philbin when taping Live with Regis and Kelly. Sharapova began using the Prince Shark OS at that tournament and had a major part in the production of the Shark racquet.[citation needed] She then switched to the Prince O3 White racquet in January 2006. She switched to the Prince O3 Speedport Black in July 2008.[137][138] After being with Prince for ten years,[139] Sharapova began endorsing Head racquets in 2011 and uses the Head YOUTEK IG Instinct.[140][141]
Career statistics and awards[link]
Main article: Maria Sharapova career statistics
Grand Slam Finals[link]
Singles: 6 (3–3)[link]
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 2004 | Wimbledon | Grass | Serena Williams |
6–1, 6–4 |
| Winner | 2006 | US Open | Hard | Justine Henin |
6–4, 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 2007 | Australian Open | Hard | Serena Williams |
1–6, 2–6 |
| Winner | 2008 | Australian Open | Hard | Ana Ivanović |
7–5, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 2011 | Wimbledon | Grass | Petra Kvitová |
3–6, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 2012 | Australian Open | Hard | Victoria Azarenka |
3–6, 0–6 |
Single's timeline[link]
| Tournament | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | SR | W–L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam Tournaments | |||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | 1R | 3R | SF | SF | F | W | A | 1R | 4R | F | 1 / 8 | 34–8 | 81% |
| French Open | A | A | 1R | QF | QF | 4R | SF | 4R | QF | 3R | SF | 0 / 9 | 30–9 | 77% | |
| Wimbledon | A | A | 4R | W | SF | SF | 4R | 2R | 2R | 4R | F | 1 / 9 | 34–8 | 81% | |
| US Open | A | A | 2R | 3R | SF | W | 3R | A | 3R | 4R | 3R | 1 / 8 | 24–7 | 77% | |
| Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–4 | 15–3 | 19–4 | 20–3 | 16–4 | 11–2 | 7–3 | 8–4 | 16–4 | 6–1 | 3 / 34 | 122–32 | 79% |
Awards[link]
- 2003
- Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Newcomer of the Year[142]
- 2004
- 2005
- ESPY Best Female Tennis Player[143]
- Named the country's best female player for the year by Russia's tennis federation
- Master of Sports of Russia
- Prix de Citron Roland Garros[144]
- 2006
- Named the country's best female player for the year by Russia's tennis federation
- Whirlpool 6th Sense Player of the Year[143]
- 2007
- ESPY Best Female Tennis Player[143]
- ESPY Best International Female Athlete[143]
- ESPN Hottest Female Athlete
- 2008
- Named the January 2008 female Athlete of the Month by the United States Sports Academy for her performance at the Australian Open
- ESPY Best Female Tennis Player[145]
- 2010
References[link]
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- ^ WTA Official Site: WTA Million Dollar Club. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
- ^ WTA official site: WTA Singles Rankings
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External links[link]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Maria Sharapova |
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Sharapova, Maria Yuryevna |
| Alternative names | Шара́пова; Мари́я Ю́рьевна |
| Short description | Russian tennis player |
| Date of birth | April 19, 1987 |
| Place of birth | Nyagan', Siberia, Russia |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Maria_Sharapova
Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Marija Šarapova
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http://es.wn.com/María Sharápova
http://ru.wn.com/Шарапова, Мария Юрьевна
http://nl.wn.com/Maria Sjarapova
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http://pt.wn.com/Maria Sharapova
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
