|
- published: 06 Sep 2013
- views: 36
Ivanovic at the 2011 Hopman Cup. |
|
Country | Serbia and Montenegro (2003–2006) Serbia (2006–present) |
---|---|
Residence | Basel, Switzerland |
Born | (1987-11-06) November 6, 1987 (age 24) Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia |
Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)[1][2] |
Weight | 69 kg (150 lb) |
Turned pro | August 17, 2003 |
Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
Career prize money | US$ 9,205,362 |
Singles | |
Career record | 320 – 140 (69,8%) |
Career titles | 11 WTA, 5 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 1 (June 9, 2008) |
Current ranking | No. 14 (May 28, 2012) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | F (2008) |
French Open | W (2008) |
Wimbledon | SF (2007) |
US Open | 4R (2007, 2010, 2011) |
Other tournaments | |
Championships | SF (2007) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 25–30 |
Career titles | 0 |
Highest ranking | No. 50 (September 25, 2006) |
Current ranking | No. 239 (May 28, 2012) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
French Open | 1R (2005, 2007) |
Wimbledon | 3R (2005) |
US Open | 3R (2006) |
Last updated on: May 28, 2012. |
Ana Ivanovic (Serbian Cyrillic: Ана Ивановић, Ana Ivanović[3][4]; 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.[5] She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open[6] and the 2008 Australian Open.[7] 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.
Contents |
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.[8]
Aside from her tennis career, Ivanovic also studies finance at a university in Belgrade and Spanish in her spare time.[9] Her inspiration to begin playing was Monica Seles, who at that time played for Yugoslavia.[10]
On September 8, 2007, Ivanovic became a UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia, alongside Aleksandar Đorđević, Jelena Janković and Emir Kusturica. She takes a special interest in the fields of education and child protection. Ivanovic visited a primary school in Serbia during her inauguration and said that she is "also looking forward to going into the classroom and meeting many kids."[11]
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. (April 2009) |
Ivanovic picked up a racket at the age of five after watching Monica Seles, a fellow Yugoslav, on television.[2] She started her career after memorizing the number of a local tennis clinic from an advertisement. At the time, she was forced to train during the morning to avoid bombardments. Later, she admitted that she trained in an abandoned swimming pool in the winter, as there were no other facilities. When she was 15, Ivanovic spent four hours in the locker room crying after a defeat – the first that her new manager had watched. She thought that Dan Holzmann, the manager in question, would drop her, thinking that she was not good enough to become a professional tennis player. He has stayed her manager to this day.
Ivanovic reached the final of the Junior Wimbledon tournament in 2004, losing to Kateryna Bondarenko.[12] In 2004, she went 26–0 on the ITF circuit, and won all five events that she entered, two of them as a qualifier. As a qualifier in Zürich, she overcame a 5–1 third set deficit along with two match points to defeat world no. 29 Tatiana Golovin 7–5,6–7,7–6. She then debuted in the qualifying draw of a Grand Slam at the US Open, where she was defeated by Lioudmila Skavronskaia after winning the first set 6–1 and having two match points on 5–4 in 3rd set. She eventually fell to a close loss, 6–1, 4–6, 5–7. Her first professional breakthrough occurred in the next match, when she took Venus Williams to two tiebreaks, before losing in straight sets in the second round of the Zürich Open. She had held several set points in both sets. She followed up her run in Zürich with a quarterfinal showing at Luxembourg the next week.
Ivanovic won her first career singles title, as a qualifier, in Canberra, Australia, after defeating Melinda Czink in the final. Her ranking continued to rise after wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–3,3–6,7–5 in Miami, Nadia Petrova 6–4,7–5 also in Miami 6–2,6–4, and Vera Zvonareva in Warsaw, all of whom were top-10 players. Ivanovic lost to Amélie Mauresmo at the Australian Open in third round, Doha in third round after Ivanovic had 6–2,2–0 lead and in 3rd set had three break points for 5–2 lead, and Miami Masters in quarterfinals, before defeating her in the third round of the French Open 6–4,3–6,6–3. At that stage in her career it was arguably her biggest win.[13] Ivanovic eventually reached the quarterfinals of that tournament, where she lost to Petrova.[14] Later in the year, Ivanovic reached the semifinals of the Zurich Open and Generali Ladies Linz, losing to Patty Schnyder in both tournaments.Ivanovic finished the year as no. 16.
Ivanovic started the year at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia with fellow Serbian Novak Djoković, where the pair narrowly missed the final.[15] To start off her WTA year, she played at the Medibank International in Sydney where she once again defeated Amélie Mauresmo, this time in straight sets 6–2,7–5, before falling to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals 7–6,6–3 after having 5–2 lead in first set. A week later, she lost to Samantha Stosur in the second round of the Australian Open 6–3,7–5.
Ivanovic made it to the third round of the French Open, before losing to Anastasia Myskina. She progressed to the fourth round at Wimbledon, but lost to eventual champion and world no. 1 Amélie Mauresmo in straight sets 7–5,6–3 after beating no. 14 seed Dinara Safina 3–6,7–6,6–1.
Ivanovic made her breakthrough in August when she defeated former world no. 1 Martina Hingis 6–2,6–3 in the final of the Rogers Cup in Montreal before beating Jelena Janković 6–1,6–2, no. 14 seed Katarina Srebotnik 6–4,6–4 and top 10 player Dinara Safina 6–1,6–4. This ultimately led to her winning the United States Open Series, ahead of Kim Clijsters and Maria Sharapova. At the US Open, she lost to Serena Williams.
Ivanovic also played nine tournaments in doubles in 2006, teaming up with Maria Kirilenko and Sania Mirza. Ivanovic and Kirilenko made two semifinals and a final; they ended the year at number 17 in the annual race to the Championships. Ivanovic finished the year ranked world no. 14 in singles and world no. 51 in doubles.
Ivanovic started the year at the 2007 Medibank International where she beat no. 5 Nadia Petrova but lost to Nicole Vaidišová. Seeded 13th at the Australian Open, Ivanovic defeated Agnieszka Radwańska 6–2,3–6,6–2 in the second round, but later lost in the third round to Vera Zvonareva after she missed some opportunities. Immediately after this tournament, she announced that she had split with her coach David Taylor. Ivanovic then played in the 2007 Toray Pan Pacific Open. In the quarterfinals she beat no. 10 Jelena Janković 3–6,6–4,6–2, and in the semifinals she beat No. 1 Maria Sharapova 6–1, 0–1 when Sharapova was forced to retire, but she lost in the Final to Martina Hingis 4–6, 2–6.
At the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, she was defeated in the fourth round by Sybille Bammer 6–7,6–0,3–6 after easy wins over Vania King and Alicia Molik. Yaroslava Shvedova then defeated Ivanovic in the second round of the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Miami Masters. Later she played a tournament at Amelia Island where she lost in the semifinals to no. 19 and eventual champion Tatiana Golovin 4–6,6–3,4–6 after Ivanovic had break points in all games of serve for Tatiana. It was the first win for her in seven meetings. After she lost in the semifinals she won no. 9 Jelena Janković 7–5,6–3 in quarterfinals.
Ivanovic then returned to Europe to play two clay-court tournaments in preparation for the French Open. In Berlin at the Qatar Telecom German Open, she won her first Tier I clay court title, defeating world no. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final 3–6,6–4,7–6.It was very long and interesting match, in first set Kuznetsova was leading 5–1 and she officially won the set 6–3.In second set Ivanovic had 2–0 lead, after Kuznetsova equalized on 2–2, Ivanovic again broke for 4–2, but Kuznetsova equalized on 4–4 and Ivanovic officially won the second set 6–4.Third set was the longest one, Kuznetsova first broke Ana's serve for 2–1 lead, but Ana was strong and pulled for 5–3, even then the match wasn't finished because Ivanovic needed tie-break to finally finish the match.However, Ivanovic injured her ankle during the final, which forced her to withdraw from the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. The win in Berlin propelled her into the top ten of the WTA Rankings for the first time, at world no. 8.
Ivanovic had a six-match winning streak heading into the French Open and increased this streak to twelve by reaching the final. She won her first three matches with the loss of only nine games. In her second career quarterfinal at Roland Garros, Ivanovic defeated world no. 3 Kuznetsova 6–0,3–6,6–1, and she then beat world no. 2 Sharapova 6–2,6–1 in less than one hour in the semifinals. In the final, Ivanovic attempted to win her first Grand Slam singles title and complete a sweep of the top three players in the world. However, world no. 1 and two-time defending champion Justine Henin won the match.
At Wimbledon, Ivanovic defeated world no. 9 Nadia Petrova 6–1,2–6,6–4 in the fourth round, and saved three match points to defeat Nicole Vaidišová 4–6,6–2,7–5 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, three-time former Wimbledon champion Venus Williams defeated Ivanovic 6–2,6–4 after Ivanovic had a break of lead in the second set.
A persistent knee injury sustained at Wimbledon caused Ivanovic to withdraw from Serbian Fed Cup competition against Slovakia and two lead-up events to the US Open.[16] She returned to the tour at the East West Bank Classic in Carson, California, saving two match points in the semifinals with huge winner before defeating no. 3 Janković 4–6,6–3,7–5 in trilling match. In the final, Ivanovic defeated top 10 player Petrova to win the fourth singles title of her career, which raised her ranking to a career-high of world no. 4.
In Ivanovic's first three matches at the US Open, she lost only 10 games. Venus Williams then eliminated her for the second consecutive time at a Grand Slam tournament.
Ivanovic returned to Europe for three tournaments. At the Tier II Luxembourg Championships, Ivanovic qualified for the Sony Ericsson Championships by virtue of reaching the semifinals. In the final, Ivanovic rallied from 6–3, 3–0 down to defeat Daniela Hantuchová 3–6,6–4,6–3 in two hours and 25 minutes. This was her fifth career title. In the quarterfinals and semifinals she beat Tatiana Golovin 6–1,6–2 and Vera Zvonareva 6–4,6–2.
To end the year, Ivanovic played in the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid, Spain. Seeded fourth and assigned to the Red Group during the round-robin phase, she defeated world no. 2 Kuznetsova 6–1,4–6,7–5, after she had 4–0 and three break points for 5–0 in the third set she eventually won the set 7–5 and Hantuchová in straight sets 6–2,7–6.She qualified to semifinals and then Sharapova defeated Ivanovic in the final match of the round-robin stage. Because she finished second in her group, Ivanovic played world no. 1 Henin in the semifinals, in which the Belgian won 6–4,6–4.
Ivanovic finished the year with a career-high ranking of world no. 4.
Ivanovic started the year at the 2008 Medibank International where she made the quarterfinals, eventually losing to world no. 1 Justine Henin 2–6,6–2,4–6 despite having had break points on 4–4 in third set.As the fourth seed at the Australian Open, Ivanovic made it all the way to the finals, beating top 10 players Venus Williams for the first time in her career, 7–6,6–4, and coming back from a 0–6, 0–2 deficit against Daniela Hantuchova, eventually winning 0–6, 6–3, 6–4. She fell against world no.5 Maria Sharapova in a tight match 7–5,6–3 in the final. Her ranking rose to world no. 3 as a result of her performance at the tournament, the highest of her career at the time.
In Serbia's Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I D round-robin tie against Poland in Budapest, Ivanovic defeated Urszula Radwańska in straight sets 6–3,6–1. In Serbia's second round-robin tie against Romania, Ivanovic defeated Monica Niculescu 5–7,6–4,7–5 and then teamed with Jelena Janković to win the deciding doubles rubber against the Romanian team 2–6,7–6,7–6, after Janković lost her singles match. In the promotion playoff, Ivanovic beat Renée Reinhard 6–2,3–6,6–3 of the Netherlands, as Serbia advanced to the World Group II playoffs in April.
In March, Ivanovic defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final of the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California 6–4,6–3 before wins over top 15 players Francesca Schiavone 2–6,7–5,6–2 and Vera Zvonareva 6–1,6–4 and world no. 4 Jelena Janković 7–6,6–3 in the semifinals.In first set against Jelena she had 5–3 lead and even some set points on 6–5, but eventually won the set 7–6. She lost to Lindsay Davenport in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami the following week in straight sets 6–4, 7–6
Ivanovic started her clay-court season as defending champion at the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin. She lost to Elena Dementieva 6–2,7–5 for the fourth time in four meetings in the semifinals after beating no. 9 Ágnes Szávay 3–6,6–4,6–3 in the quarterfinals. Ivanovic was seeded second at the 2008 French Open, where she defeated Petra Cetkovská 6–0,6–0 in fourth round, world no. 10 Patty Schnyder 6–3,6–2 in quatrefinals and world no. 3 Jelena Janković in a thrilling encounter in the semifinals 6–4,3–6,6–4. First Jelena had 4–2 lead, then Ivanovic was very near to winning match after 6–4,3–1 lead, then Janković had 4–6,6–3,3–1 after Ana came for 3–3 in third set and again lost her serve, but was able to win the set 6–4.The win guaranteed Ivanovic's ascent to world no. 1 the following week, regardless of her performance in the final. Nonetheless, she went on to defeat Dinara Safina in straight sets 6–4,6–3 in the final, winning her first (and to date, only) Grand Slam singles title.
At Wimbledon, Ivanovic had quick work of her first round match 6–1,6–2, only to encounter an inspired Nathalie Dechy in the second round. Ivanovic looked to be headed for a straight-sets win after having a 5–3 lead in first set, before Dechy eventually launched a comeback that saw her produce two match points, Ivanovic swept the first away, then saved the second matchpoint with a netcord ball, eventually prevailing 6–7,7–6,10–8. She fell against unseeded wildcard Zheng Jie of China in straight sets.
Ivanovic started the summer hard-court season with a third-round loss at the Rogers Cup in Montreal to Tamira Paszek 2–6,6–1,2–6. Ivanovic, bothered by a sore thumb sustained during practice two weeks before Montreal,[17] withdrew from the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles. Her withdrawal saw her lose the world no. 1 ranking to Janković. The thumb injury also caused her to withdraw from the Summer Olympics in Beijing, which Ivanovic described as "one of the worst moments of her career."[18] Ivanovic, having reclaimed her world no. 1 ranking on August 18, was the top-seeded player at the US Open,[19] but lost to Julie Coin 3–6,6–4,3–6 in very exciting and high-quality second round match. The loss was the earliest defeat of the top-seeded player at the US Open since the 1973 tournament.[20]
In her first match after the US Open, at the Tier I Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Ivanovic was defeated by Nadia Petrova 1–6,6–1,2–6 of Russia in three sets, bringing her win-loss record since the French Open to 4–4. Ivanovic later told the press that she was "just happy to be back injury-free" and that she needed to "play more matches get back into rhythm."[21] Ivanovic then played in Beijing and after two great results she lost to Zheng Jie 6–7(6),6–2,4–6 match after having a break in first and third set and winning 16 more points than her opponent.
Then she came back to Europe to play three more tournaments, first in Moscow where she lost to Dominika Cibulkova 6–2,2–6,7–6 after having two match points.In Zurich open she lost in semifinal to Venus Williams 6–4,3–6,4–6 after leading 3–1 in third set before two easy wins over Marion Bartoli 6–2,6–4 and Petra Kvitova 6–1,6–4.Ivanovic played the Generali Ladies Linz in Linz torunament and was the top seed. She won the tournament by crushing top 10 players Vera Zvonareva 6–2,6–1 and Agnieszka Radwańska 6–2,3–6,7–5 in final and semifinal.
At the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar, Ivanovic was seeded fourth. In her first round-robin match, she was defeated by world no. 1 Janković after she won the best point of the year[citation needed], hot shot. Her next match was against Zvonareva, to whom she also lost in three exciting sets. She withdrew from her final match against Kuznetsova because of a virus.[22]
At the Australian Open, Ivanovic was seeded fifth and won her first two matches in straight sets before losing to 29th seed Russian Alisa Kleybanova in the third round.
Ivanovic took part in Serbia's Fed Cup win in the World Group II tie against Japan. She defeated Ai Sugiyama and Ayumi Morita to help Serbia to a 4–1 win. At the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, a Premier 5 event, she lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. Around this time, Ivanovic began working with her new coach Craig Kardon, after parting with former coach Sven Groeneveld.[23]
At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, where she was defending champion, Ivanovic advanced to the finals, before losing to Vera Zvonareva. In Miami, Ivanovic lost in the third round to Ágnes Szávay. In April, Ivanovic took part in Serbia's Fed Cup World Group Play-offs against Spain. She defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues to help Serbia gain promotion to the World Group with a 4–0 win.
At the 2009 French Open, Ivanovic won her first three matches in straight sets, before losing to Victoria Azarenka in the fourth round. This early loss caused Ivanovic to fall out of the top ten for the first time since May, 2007. After the loss, Ivanovic announced that she would cease working with Craig Kardon, and would be participating in the adidas Player Development Program, where she would be coached by Sven Groeneveld, Darren Cahill, Mats Merkel and Gil Reyes.[24]
At Wimbledon, Ivanovic was seeded 13th. She faced two match points against Lucie Hradecká, before prevailing. She then took down Sara Errani and 18th seed Samantha Stosur in the second and third rounds in straight sets, before retiring against third seed and eventual finalist Venus Williams.
At the U.S. Open, Ivanovic lost in the first round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career by succumbing to Kateryna Bondarenko. After the match, former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash criticized Ivanovic's new service motion, stating that watching it was a "painful experience" and that it "[weakened] her threat." He also felt that Ivanovic was "over-analysing" her game and that her main problem was "her lack of confidence."[25]
At the Premier 5 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Ivanovic suffered her third successive defeat by losing to Lucie Šafářová in the first round. Citing an upper respiratory tract infection, Ivanovic pulled out of the China Open and announced on her website that she was taking the rest of the year off.
She finished the year with a 24–14 match record, her worst since she turned pro, and did not win any titles. Ivanovic only reached three quarterfinals, one semifinal, and one final, and only won back-to-back matches six times. Ivanovic ended the year ranked 21, the first time she had been ranked outside the top 20 since July 2005.
Ivanovic started the year at the 2010 Brisbane International. Seeded third, Ivanovic reached her first semifinal since Indian Wells in 2009. She eventually bowed out to wildcard Justine Henin in Henin's first tournament since her return from retirement. Ivanovic was seeded 20th at the 2010 Australian Open, but lost to Gisela Dulko in the second round in three sets.
Ivanovic then participated in the opening round of the 2010 Fed Cup in Serbia's tie against Russia. She went 0–2 in her singles matches, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova and Alisa Kleybanova, both in straight sets. She partnered with Jelena Janković in the deciding doubles match, but they fell to Kuznetsova and Kleybanova. Ivanovic then withdrew from Dubai with shoulder tendinitis.
Ivanovic announced that she would be working with Steffi Graf's former coach Heinz Gunthardt on a trial basis during the spring North American hard-court season, suspending her relationship with the Adidas Player Development Program indefinitely. In her first match as Gunthardt's pupil, a one-set semifinal against reigning US Open champion Kim Clijsters in the 2010 Billie Jean King Cup at Madison Square Garden, Ivanovic lost in a tiebreak, despite having held match point. After the match, Ivanovic stated that she had noted improvements in her game.
Despite her improvements reflected in the BNP Paribas Showdown, Ivanovic lost her opening match to world no. 63 Anastasija Sevastova at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open. Never before had she suffered four consecutive losses. By also losing a huge number of ranking points, Ivanovic dropped out of the top 50 for the first time since March 2005. Seeded 25th at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Ivanovic won her first match since the Australian Open, but then lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in the third round.
In her first clay-court event of the year at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Ivanovic suffered a second consecutive loss to Radwańska. In her first doubles match since June 2009, partnering Andrea Petkovic, she lost to Borwell and Kops-Jones.
Unseeded at the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Ivanovic had her best week of tennis in nearly two years. She stunned top-10 players Victoria Azarenka and Elena Dementieva, and top-20 player Nadia Petrova, all in straight sets, before losing to eventual champion María José Martínez Sánchez in the semifinals. She was granted a wildcard into the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open in Madrid, and received a bye in the first round due to her semifinal appearance at the Italian Open. She was the first unseeded wildcard to receive a first-round bye in the history of the WTA Tour. She lost in the second round to Jelena Janković, despite leading by a set and a break. Ivanovic entered the 2010 French Open unseeded at a Grand Slam for the first time since 2005. She fell to Alisa Kleybanova in the second round.
In the UNICEF Open, Ivanovic fell to seventh-seeded German Andrea Petkovic in the second round. Ivanovic was defeated in the first round of Wimbledon by 13th seed Shahar Pe'er, and as a consequence saw her ranking drop to world no. 64.
In the opening round of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford University, Ivanovic avenged her 2009 Australian Open and 2010 French Open defeats to Alisa Kleybanova, before losing in the next round to Marion Bartoli in straight sets. At the Mercury Insurance Open, Ivanovic once again suffered a first-round loss to Shahar Pe'er. At the Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open, she rallied from a set and a break down to beat Victoria Azarenka in three sets. Ivanovic retired against Kim Clijsters in the semifinals due to a foot injury. Her ranking dramatically improved to world no. 39. The injury caused her to withdraw from the Pilot Pen tournament held in New Haven.
Unseeded at the 2010 US Open, Ivanovic breezed into the fourth round with straight-set victories, before losing to defending and eventual champion Kim Clijsters.
Ivanovic went into the Hansol Korea Open as the seventh seed, but lost her opener to Vera Dushevina. Ivanovic then defeated Kleybanova, the Korea Open champion, in the first round of the 2010 Toray Pan Pacific Open, before again losing to Bartoli in straight sets. Ivanovic avenged her losses to Bartoli at the 2010 China Open, beating the Frenchwoman in straight sets in the first round. On her way to the quarterfinals, Ivanovic scored another top-10 victory by defeating Elena Dementieva for the second time in 2010. Ana fell to world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. By virtue of her quarterfinal finish, Ivanovic re-entered the top 30.
Entering the 2010 Generali Ladies Linz as a wildcard, Ivanovic defeated Patty Schnyder in the finals, 6–1, 6–2, in just 47 minutes of play. Ana headed to the 2010 BGL Luxembourg Open as the fourth seed, where she breezed right through to the quarterfinals, before falling to eighth seed Julia Görges. Meanwhile, after making the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament with Yanina Wickmayer, they fell to fourth seeds Lucie Hradecká and Renata Voráčová.
Ivanovic revealed that she had ended her coaching relationship with Swiss star Heinz Gunthardt, because Gunthardt mixed his interest in tennis with being a Swiss television commentator.
By virtue of her title in Linz, Ivanovic qualified for the last tournament of the season, the 2010 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions. She made it to the finals, where she defeated Russian Alisa Kleybanova for her tenth career title and her second of the year. With her title in Bali, Ivanovic achieved a year-end ranking of no. 17, her fifth finish in the top 20.
Ivanovic started the year with the 2011 Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia. She competed along with Novak Djokovic under the Serbian flag. Ana and Djokovic swept their first two ties against Kazakhstan and Australia, 3–0, but fell against Belgium, 1–2. They did qualify for the final, but due to an injury sustained during Ivanovic's match against Justine Henin, Serbia was forced to withdraw. Along with the Hopman Cup, Ivanovic also withdrew from Sydney.
Ivanovic was seeded 19th at the 2011 Australian Open, where she lost to Ekaterina Makarova, 6–3, 4–6, 8–10, in the first round in 2 hours and 47 minutes. Ivanovic then played in the PTT Pattaya Open, where she fell in the quarterfinals to fifth seed Roberta Vinci in straight sets, 5–7, 3–6. She headed to Dubai as the 14th seed, where she lost against Patty Schnyder in three sets. She stated the loss was in part because of the abdominal injury sustained in the beginning of the season, and she subsequently withdrew from Doha.
Ivanovic then headed to Indian Wells, where she was seeded 19th. After losing her doubles match with Petkovic in a tight three-setter, she lost to Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals.
Ivanovic then played in the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open, where she was seeded 19th. She lost against defending champion Kim Clijsters in her fourth-round match, despite having a 5–1, 40–0 lead in the third set and having five match points. She partnered with Petkovic in doubles where, after scoring a first round win, they stunned sixth-seeded Benesova and Zahlavova Strycova. They withdrew from the doubles competition after Ivanovic lost to Clijsters.
Ivanovic withdrew from the 2011 Andalucia Tennis Experience tournament to better prepare herself for the upcoming clay-court season.[citation needed] However, she joined Serbia in the 2011 Fed Cup event. Ivanovic scored a point for Serbia by beating Daniela Hantuchová in straight sets, 6–2, 6–4, but had to retire in her next match against Dominika Cibulková, as she renewed an injury from the beginning of the season. Despite that, Serbia beat Slovakia in the deciding doubles rubber, 3–2.[citation needed]
Ivanovic's next scheduled tournament was the 2011 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where she was seeded 15th. After her early exit in the first round, losing to Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Ivanovic headed to 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she was 13th seed. Ivanovic lost in the second round to Yanina Wickmayer in three sets. Ivanovic withdrew from Strasbourg due to a minor wrist injury. Ana then lost to Johanna Larsson, 6–7, 6–0, 2–6, in her first round match at the 2011 French Open. Ivanovic had a slight resurgence in Birmingham, reaching the semifinals, but lost to Daniela Hantuchová in three sets. Ivanovic lost to Venus Williams in the second round at Eastbourne.
She beat Melanie Oudin in the first round at Wimbledon in straight sets. After her win over Eleni Daniilidou in the second round, also in straight sets, she fell in the third round. She was beaten by Petra Cetkovská who had beaten 13th seed Agnieszka Radwańska in round two. After Wimbledon, Ivanovic hired Nigel Sears, the head of women's tennis at the Lawn Tennis Association, as her coach.[26] In Stanford, Ivanovic fell against Japan's Ayumi Morita in her opening match, 3–6, 5–7. As the fifth seed in Carlsbad, she received a first-round bye. In round two, she avenged the previous week's loss by beating Ayumi Morita, 6–1, 7–6, despite trailing 0–5 in the second set. In the third round, Ana cruised past Alberta Brianti of Italy, 6–1, 6–2. Ivanovic then took on Shuai Peng in the quarterfinals and won in two sets. In the semifinals, she lost against top seed Vera Zvonareva, 7–5, 4–6, 4–6. After losing to Roberta Vinci in her third round match at the Roger's Cup, Ana, who teamed with Andrea Petkovic, had to withdraw in the middle of her doubles match while playing against fourth-seeded Azarenka and Kirilenko. At the US Open, Ivanovic defeated Ksenia Pervak of Russia in the first round. She received a walkover from Petra Cetkovská and advanced to the third round. In the third round, Ivanovic defeated Sloane Stephens, 6–3, 6–4, to advance to the fourth round, where she faced Serena Williams, losing in straight sets 3–6, 4–6, in just 74 minutes. She also played alongside fellow countryman Nenad Zimonjic in the mixed doubles competition for the first time, but fell against Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Yung-jan Chan, 3–6, 4–6.
During the Toray Pan Pacific Open Ivanovic recorded victories in straight sets over Anastasia Rodionova and wildcard Laura Robson, before losing to Maria Kirilenko in the third round.
At the China Open Ivanovic defeated Kimiko Date-Krumm and Svetlana Kuznetsova in straights to reach the third round, where she beat third seed and world no. 4 Vera Zvonareva, 6–2, 6–1. She then faced Agnieszka Radwańska in the quarter-finals. She lost the first set 3–6 and was down 2–3 when she had to retire because of a back injury. Ivanovic received a wild card to play in the 2011 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions, which she won last year. In her first round she played Italy's Roberta Vinci and defeated her 6–3 6–3. In the semi-finals she beat Russian Nadia Petrova 6–1, 7–5. In the final, she captured her 11 WTA title by beating Anabel Medina Garrigues in straights sets, 6–3, 6–0. This is the first time she had ever defended her title in a tournament.
Ivanovic began her season at the 2012 Brisbane International where she was defeated in the second round by fifth seed Kim Clijsters in three sets, 1–6, 6–1, 3–6 despite leading 3–0 in the final set. Ivanovic's next event was the Apia International Sydney but she lost in the first round to Lucie Šafářová in straight sets, 6–7, 2–6.
Ana then headed over to the 2012 Australian Open where she was seeded 21st. She did not drop a set en route to the fourth round, defeating Lourdes Domínguez Lino, Michaella Krajicek and Vania King along the way. Ana lost in straight sets to World No. 2 Petra Kvitová, 6–2, 7–6 in the fourth round. She cracked the Top 20 after her Round of 16 run.
Ivanovic's next tournament was the 2012 Qatar Total Open. She fell in the second round to Petra Cetkovska in straight sets. Ana then went on unseeded in Dubai, where she upset Francesca Schiavone, and beat Maria Kirilenko, before falling to 3rd seed Caroline Wozniacki.
Ana went over to the 2012 BNP Paribas Open as the 15th seed. She was able to make a run all the way to the semifinals, posting victories over Caroline Wozniacki and Marion Bartoli, who were both in the Top 7. She fell against Maria Sharapova, retiring after being down 4–6, 1–0 in the semifinals. This caused her to enter the Top 10 for the race to the 2012 WTA Tour Championships. She then headed over to Miami, for the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open as the 15th seed, where she made it to the Round of 16, beating Daniela Hantuchova and Vania King in straight sets en route, before eventually falling to seven-time grand slam champion Venus Williams, despite holding a one set lead. She still cracked the Top 15 for the first time since 2009 and became Serbian No.1 for the first time since 2008, this time placing 14th after Miami.
She will now head over to Moscow for the 2012 Fed Cup semifinals, before resuming her 2012 season at the 2012 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. During the 2012 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix she fell to Mona Barthel in two tight sets. She than headed over to the newly blue clayed Madrid where she defeated qualifier Mathilde Johannson 6–4 6–1 in the first round. Next up is Russia's Nadia Petrova.
In Roland Garros 2012, she defeated Lara Arruabarrena Vecino (6-1, 6-1) in straight sets in first round and defeated Shahar Peer in the second round.
Ivanovic endorsed Nike apparel and shoes at the beginning of her professional career,[27] but at the beginning of 2006 switched to rival Adidas.[28] Ivanovic then signed a lifetime contract with the company. Ivanovic will become an Ambassador for Adidas once she retires from competitive tennis. She is believed to be the youngest athlete, male or female, to sign a contract of such longevity.[29] She started with the Wilson racquets, eventually using the nCode nBlade.[30] Since the beginning of 2008, Ivanovic has used Yonex racquets. She previously used the RQiS 1 Tour XL 95, but at the beginning of the Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open 2010 in Cincinnati switched to a prototype version of a new Yonex racket.[31] Ivanovic plays with the Yonex EZONE 100 model.
Ivanovic is an offensive baseliner who is notable for her aggressive play. In 2007 and 2008, Ivanovic was regarded as one of the best competitors on the women's tour.[citation needed] After winning the 2008 French Open and becoming no. 1, Ivanovic endured a decline in form. Many critics attributed this to lack of confidence. At the 2010 Australian Open, Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova commented that, "while she has absolutely no confidence in herself, she still fights till the last point." She has since made some improvements to her playing style after appointing a new coach in 2010. As a result, she started to play with more confidence and won matches more consistently.
Ivanovic's serve is a powerful weapon. She hit a 124.9 mph (201.0 km/h) serve at the French Open in 2007, the fifth fastest serve of all time on the WTA Tour.[32] As of late, however, her serve has become unreliable, mostly due to technical issues with her ball toss. The success of her ball toss is directly associated with her nerves. During the French Open final in 2007, Ivanovic was overcome with nerves and her toss went astray. During Ivanovic's slump in play in 2009, her serve became gradually less effective as her confidence diminished. Ana indicated in 2010 she is confident she has rectified these problems.[33]
Another one of Ivanovic's strengths is her powerful forehand. A flat stroke, hit with not a lot of topspin which gives it its power,[34] it has been considered to be one of the best forehands in the game.[35] Ivanovic tends to hit more winners of this wing. Her backhand, although not as big as her forehand, has improved over the years. Ivanovic's movement and net play were once considered to be her weaknesses, but they have both improved over the years. She is considered now to be considerably faster than when she started playing professional tennis.[citation needed]
Ivanovic's best surface is the clay court, where her height allows her to strike clean winners off of high-bouncing balls. Nonetheless, she is capable of performing well on hard and grass courts as well. When she launched her re-branded site during 2010, she stated in her bio that she likes all surfaces.[10]
Ivanovic has won the following awards:[10]
W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | A | P | Z# | PO | SF-B | F | NMS |
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).
Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | SR | W–L | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam Tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | A | 3R | 2R | 3R | F | 3R | 2R | 1R | 4R | 0 / 8 | 17–8 | ||||||
French Open | A | A | QF | 3R | F | W | 4R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 1 / 8 | 25–7 | ||||||
Wimbledon | A | A | 3R | 4R | SF | 3R | 4R | 1R | 3R | 0 / 7 | 17–7 | |||||||
US Open | A | LQ | 2R | 3R | 4R | 2R | 1R | 4R | 4R | 0 / 8 | 13–8 | |||||||
Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–1 | 9–4 | 8–4 | 16–4 | 16–3 | 8–4 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 5–2 | 1 / 31 | 71–30 | ||||||
Year-End Championship | ||||||||||||||||||
WTA Tour Championships | A | A | A | A | SF | RR | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 2–4 | |||||||
Tournament of Champions | Not Held | A | W | W | 2 / 2 | 6–0 | ||||||||||||
Career Statistics | ||||||||||||||||||
Titles–Finals | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–5 | 3–4 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | N/A | 11–15 | ||||||
Overall Win–Loss | 12–5 | 37–5 | 40–14 | 35–18 | 51–18 | 38–15 | 24–14 | 33–20 | 32–20 | 20–12 | N/A | 322–141 | ||||||
Year End Ranking | 705 | 97 | 16 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 22 | 17 | 22 | – |
Ivanovic has appeared as a character in Smash Court Tennis 3, released in 2007, Virtua Tennis 2009, released in 2009, Grand Slam Tennis for Wii, also released in 2009, Top Spin 4 and Virtua Tennis 4 both released in 2011. She is also featured in Grand Slam Tennis 2, released in 2012.[36] She stars, among others, alongside Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Lindsay Davenport, Anna Chakvetadze, Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova.
Ana has appeared in a song called "Hurricane Ana," produced by Serbian rapper Filip Filipi and Collie Buddz.[37] Also, she appeared on a number of international magazines like FHM (Germany, United Kingdom, Australia), Cosmopolitan (Serbia), Vanidades (Mexico), Grazia (Serbia), The Best Shop (Serbia), Sports Illustrated (South Africa) and others.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ana Ivanović |
|
|
|
|
Persondata | |
---|---|
Name | Ivanovic, Ana |
Alternative names | Ивановић, Ана |
Short description | Serbian tennis player |
Date of birth | November 6, 1987 |
Place of birth | Belgrade, Serbia |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
Serena Williams at the 2011 AEGON International |
|
Country | United States |
---|---|
Residence | Palm Beach Gardens, Florida[1] |
Born | (1981-09-26) September 26, 1981 (age 30) Saginaw, Michigan |
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) |
Weight | 70.3 kg (155 lb) |
Turned pro | September 1995 |
Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
Career prize money | US$ 36,019,574 (1st all-time among women athletes and 4th all-time among tennis athletes) |
Singles | |
Career record | 523–106 (83%) |
Career titles | 41 WTA[1] (10th in overall rankings) |
Highest ranking | No. 1 (July 8, 2002) |
Current ranking | No. 5 (May 28, 2012) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | W (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010) |
French Open | W (2002) |
Wimbledon | W (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010) |
US Open | W (1999, 2002, 2008) |
Other tournaments | |
Championships | W (2001, 2009) |
Olympic Games | QF (2008) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 153–20 (88.4%) |
Career titles | 20 |
Highest ranking | No. 1 (June 7, 2010) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | W (2001, 2003, 2009, 2010) |
French Open | W (1999, 2010) |
Wimbledon | W (2000, 2002, 2008, 2009) |
US Open | W (1999, 2009) |
Other Doubles tournaments | |
Olympic Games | Gold medal (2000, 2008) |
Mixed Doubles | |
Career record | 27–3 (90%) |
Career titles | 2 |
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |
Australian Open | F (1999) |
French Open | F (1998) |
Wimbledon | W (1998) |
US Open | W (1998) |
Last updated on: May 28, 2012. |
Olympic medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Women's tennis | ||
Competitor for the United States | ||
Gold | 2000 Sydney | Doubles |
Gold | 2008 Beijing | Doubles |
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on November 2, 2009.[2] She is the only female player to have won over $35 million in prize money.
Her 27 Grand Slam titles places her ninth on the all-time list: 13 in singles, 12 in women's doubles, and 2 in mixed doubles. She is the most recent player, male or female, to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously and only the fifth woman in history to do so. She was also the first woman, along with sister Venus Williams, to hold all four Grand Slam doubles titles simultaneously since Martina Hingis did so in 1998. Her 13 Grand Slam singles titles is sixth on the all-time list.[3] Williams ranks fourth in Grand Slam women's singles titles won during the open era, behind Steffi Graf (22 titles) and Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova (18 titles each).[3] She has won more Major titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles than any other active player, male or female.
Williams has won two Olympic gold medals in women's doubles.[4] She has won more career prize money than any other female athlete in history.[5] Serena has played older sister Venus in 23 professional matches since 1998, with Serena winning 13 of these matches. They have met in eight Grand Slam finals, with Serena winning six times. Beginning with the 2002 French Open, they played each other in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals, which was the first time in the open era that the same two players had contested four consecutive Grand Slam finals. The pair have won 12 Grand Slam doubles titles together. She is the first player, male or female, to win 5 Australian Open singles titles during the open era.
Serena Williams was born in Saginaw, Michigan, to Richard Williams and Oracene Price. She is of African American heritage and is the youngest of Price's five daughters: half-sisters Yetunde (1972–2003), Lyndrea and Isha Price, and full sister Venus.[1] When the children were young, the family moved to the city of Compton in Los Angeles county, where Serena started playing tennis at the age of five.[6] Her father home-schooled Serena and her sister Venus[7] and to this day, Serena Williams was and remains coached by both her parents.[1]
Williams' family moved from Compton to West Palm Beach[8] when she was nine so that she could attend the tennis academy of Rick Macci, who would provide additional coaching. Macci spotted the exceptional talents of the sisters. He did not always agree with Williams' father but respected that "he treated his daughters like kids, allowed them to be little girls".[9] Richard stopped sending his daughters to national junior tennis tournaments when Williams was 10, since he wanted them to take it slow and focus on school work. Another motivation was racial, as he had allegedly heard parents of white players talk about the Williams sisters in a derogatory manner during tournaments.[10] At that time, Williams had a 46–3 record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and was ranked No. 1 among under 10 players in Florida.[11] In 1995, when Serena was in the ninth grade, Richard pulled his daughters out of Macci's academy, and from then on took over all coaching at their home. When asked in 2000 whether having followed the normal path of playing regularly on the junior circuit would have been beneficial, Williams responded: "Everyone does different things. I think for Venus and I, we just tried a different road, and it worked for us."[11]
Williams is primarily a baseline player. Her game is built around taking immediate control of rallies with a powerful and consistent serve (considered by some to be the best in the women's game),[12] return of serve, and forceful groundstrokes from both her forehand and backhand swings. Williams' forehand is considered to be among the most powerful shots in the women's game as is her double-handed backhand. Williams strikes her backhand groundstroke using an open stance, and uses the same open stance for her forehand. Williams's aggressive play, a "high risk" style, is balanced in part by her serve, which combines great power and placement with very high consistency.[13] Her serve has been hit as hard as 128 mph (206.5 km/h), the second-fastest all-time among female players (Venus recorded the fastest with 129 mph).[citation needed] Serena also possesses a very solid volley and powerful overhead which is very useful for her net game. Although many think of Williams as only an offensive player, she also plays a strong defensive game.[14]
Williams's first professional event was in September 1995, at the age of 13, at the Bell Challenge in Quebec City. She lost in the first round of qualifying to world no. 149 Annie Miller in less than an hour of play and earned US$240 in prize money.
Williams did not play a tournament in 1996. The following year, she lost in the qualifying rounds of three tournaments, before winning her first main-draw match in November at the Ameritech Cup Chicago. Ranked world no. 304, she upset world no. 7 Mary Pierce and world no. 4 Monica Seles, recording her first career wins over top 10 players and becoming the lowest-ranked player in the open era to defeat two top 10 opponents in one tournament.[1] She ultimately lost in the semifinals to world no. 5 Lindsay Davenport. She finished 1997 ranked world no. 99.
Williams began 1998 at the Medibank International Sydney. As a qualifier ranked world no. 96, she defeated world no. 3 Davenport in the quarterfinals, before losing to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals. Williams made her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open, where she defeated sixth-seeded Irina Spîrlea in the first round, before losing to sister Venus in the second round in the sisters' first professional match.[15] Williams reached six other quarterfinals during the year, but lost all of them, including her first match against world no. 1 Martina Hingis at the Lipton International Players Championships in Key Biscayne, and her second match against Venus at the Italian Open in Rome. She failed to reach the quarterfinals of any Grand Slam tournament the remainder of the year, losing in the fourth round of the French Open to Sánchez Vicario, and the third round of both Wimbledon and the US Open, to Virginia Ruano Pascual and Spîrlea, respectively. She did, however, win the mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon and the US Open with Max Mirnyi, completing the Williams family's sweep of the 1998 mixed doubles Grand Slam tournaments. Williams won her first professional title in doubles in Oklahoma City with Venus, becoming the third pair of sisters to win a WTA title.[1] The Williams sisters won two more doubles titles together during the year. Serena finished the year ranked world no. 20 in singles.
Williams lost in the third round of the 1999 Australian Open to Sandrine Testud. The following month, she won her first professional singles title, when she defeated Australian Open runner-up Amélie Mauresmo, 6–2, 3–6, 7–6, in the final of the Open Gaz de France in Paris. With Venus also winning the IGA Superthrift Classic in Oklahoma City that day, the pair became the first sisters to win professional tournaments in the same week.[16] A month later, Serena won her first Tier I singles title at the Evert Cup in Indian Wells, California by defeating world no. 7 Steffi Graf, 6–3, 3–6, 7–5, in the final. At the following tournament, the Tier I Lipton International Players Championships in Key Biscayne, Williams defeated world no. 1 Martina Hingis in the semifinals, before Venus ended her 16-match winning streak in the first all-sister singles final in WTA history.[1] On April 5, 1999, Serena made her top-10 debut at world no. 9.
Williams played three tournaments during the 1999 European spring clay court season. She lost in the quarterfinals of the Tier I Italian Open in Rome to World No. 1 Hingis and in the quarterfinals of the Tier I German Open in Berlin to World No. 7 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario. Serena and Venus won the women's doubles title at the French Open, but Serena was upset by Mary Joe Fernandez in the third round of the singles competition. She then missed Wimbledon because of injury.
When she returned to the tour, Williams won a Fed Cup singles match, before playing two tournaments during the 1999 North American summer hard-court season. She won the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles, defeating world no. 1 Hingis in the semifinals and Julie Halard-Decugis in the final. Williams was seeded seventh at the US Open, where she defeated world no. 4 Monica Seles, world no. 2 Lindsay Davenport, and world no. 1 Hingis to become the second African-American woman (after Althea Gibson in 1958) to win a Grand Slam singles tournament.[1] The Williams sisters also won the doubles title at this tournament, their second Grand Slam title together.
To complete 1999, Williams won a doubles match in the Fed Cup final against Russia, her third tournament of the year at the Grand Slam Cup in Munich, and lost in the second round of the tournament in Filderstadt. Williams ended the year ranked world no. 4 in just her second full year on the main tour.
Williams started 2000 by losing in the fourth round of the Australian Open to 16th seeded Elena Likhovtseva. She failed to defend her titles in Paris and Indian Wells, although she did win the Faber Grand Prix in Hanover. Williams missed the French Open because of injury. She returned at Wimbledon, where she lost to eventual champion Venus in the semifinals after Serena had lost just 13 games in advancing to the second Grand Slam semifinal of her career. The Williams sisters teamed to win the doubles title at the event. Williams successfully defended her title in Los Angeles in August, defeating world no. 1 Hingis in the semifinals and world no. 2 Davenport in the final. She reached the final of the Du Maurier Open in Montreal, Canada the following week, where an injury forced her to retire from her match with Hingis. Her defense of the US Open title ended when she lost in the quarterfinals to second-seeded Davenport. Williams teamed with Venus to win the gold medal in doubles at the Sydney Olympics in September. She then won her third singles title of the year the following week at the Toyota Princess Cup in Tokyo. She finished the year ranked world no. 6.
Williams played two tournaments in Australia at the beginning of 2001, losing to world no. 1 Hingis in the quarterfinals of both the tournament in Sydney and the Australian Open. Serena and her sister Venus won the women's doubles title at the latter tournament, becoming only the fifth doubles team in history to win all four Grand Slam women's doubles titles during their career, a "Career Grand Slam".
She did not play again until March, when she defeated Kim Clijsters in the final of the Tier I Tennis Masters Series in Indian Wells, California. She advanced to the final there when Venus withdrew just before the start of their semifinal match. Venus claimed that an injury prevented her from playing, but the withdrawal was controversial. Neither Williams sister has entered the tournament since.[17] The following week at the Tier I Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Williams lost to Jennifer Capriati in the quarterfinals.
Williams did not play a clay-court tournament before the 2001 French Open, where she lost in the quarterfinals to Capriati, 2–6, 7–5, 2–6. Williams also did not play a grass-court tournament before Wimbledon, where she again lost in the quarterfinals to Capriati, 7–6, 5–7, 3–6, marking the fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament at which Williams had exited in the quarterfinals.
Williams played three tournaments during the 2001 North American summer hard-court season. After losing in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Los Angeles, Williams captured her second title of the year at the Tier I Rogers Cup in Toronto, defeating Seles in the semifinals and world no. 3 Capriati in the final. Williams was seeded tenth at the US Open, where she defeated world no. 6 and Wimbledon runner-up Justine Henin in the fourth round, world no. 3 Davenport in the quarterfinals, and world no. 1 Hingis in the semifinals, before losing to sister Venus in the final. That was the first Grand Slam final contested by two sisters during the open era.
At the 2001-ending Sanex Championships in Munich, Williams defeated Silvia Farina Elia, Henin, and Testud en route to the final. She then won the championship by walkover when Davenport withdrew before the start of the final because of a knee injury. Williams finished 2001 at world no. 6 for the second straight year.
Injury forced Williams to retire from her semifinal match at the Medibank International Sydney and to withdraw from the 2002 Australian Open. She won her first title of the year at the State Farm Women's Tennis Classic in Scottsdale, USA, defeating world no. 2 Jennifer Capriati in the final. She then won the Tier I Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne for the first time, becoming one of three players in the open era to defeat the world's top 3 at one tournament,[1] after beating world no. 3 Martina Hingis in the quarterfinals, world no. 2 and sister Venus in the semifinals, and world no. 1 Capriati in the final. Her 6–2, 6–2 win over Venus was her second career win over her sister.
Williams played three clay court tournaments before the 2002 French Open. Her first tournament was at Charleston, where she was the third seed. Serena reached the quarterfinals after wins over Jennifer Hopkins and Nathalie Dechy, but eventually lost to world no. 30, Patty Schnyder, 6–2, 4–6, 5–7. She reached her first clay-court final in May, at the Eurocard German Open in Berlin, losing to Justine Henin in a third set tiebreak. The following week, Williams won her first clay court title at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, defeating Capriati in the semifinals and Henin in the final.[18] This raised her ranking to a new high of world no. 3. Williams, as the third seed at the French Open, made the last eight at the tournament with wins over Martina Sucha, Dally Randriantefy, Janette Husárová, and a three-set win over Vera Zvonareva. In her quarterfinal match, she defeated '00 champion, Mary Pierce, 6–1, 6–1. In the semifinals, she faced defending champion and world no. 1, Jennifer Capriati. After an outstanding display of tennis, Williams advanced to her first French Open final, 3–6, 7–6, 6–2. In the final, she faced world no. 2 and older sister, Venus. Serena won in the final, 7–5, 6–3, to claim her second Grand Slam title, her first in almost two and a half years. Serena rose to a career high of no. 2 after the win, second only to older sister Venus
At the 2002 Wimbledon Championships, Williams defeated Evie Dominikovic, Francesca Schiavone, Els Callens, and Chanda Rubin to reach her third Wimbledon quarterfinal. In her next match, Williams breezed past Daniela Hantuchová, 6–3, 6–2, and Amélie Mauresmo, 6–2, 6–1, to reach the final for the first time. There, she again defeated defending champion and no. 1 Venus, 7–6, 6–3, to win a Grand Slam singles title without dropping a set for the first time in her career. This victory earned Williams the world no. 1 ranking, dethroning her sister and becoming only the second African-American woman to hold that ranking.[1] The Williams sisters also won the doubles title at the tournament, the fifth Grand Slam doubles title for the pair.
Williams played just one tournament between Wimbledon and the US Open, losing in the quarterfinals of the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles to Chanda Rubin, ending a 21-match winning streak. As the top-seeded player at the US Open, she defeated Corina Morariu, future rival Dinara Safina, Nathalie Dechy, and Dája Bedáňová to make her fourth consecutive quarterfinal, where she crushed Daniela Hantuchová, 6–2, 6–1, to book a place in the semifinals against former champion and no. 1 Lindsay Davenport. It marked the fourth consecutive time she face Davenport at the US Open. After a tight second set, Serena made her third US Open final in four years, where she faced Venus once more. Serena won the US Open title for the second time with a 6–4, 6–3 win in the final, making it her fourth Grand Slam singles title to date.
Williams won two consecutive singles titles in the fall, defeating Kim Clijsters to win the Toyota Princess Cup in Tokyo, and Anastasia Myskina to win the Sparkassen Cup in Leipzig, Germany. She reached the final at the year-end Home Depot Championships, where she lost to fifth seeded Clijsters in straight sets, ending her 18-match winning streak.
Williams finished 2002 with a 56–5 record, eight singles titles, and the world no. 1 ranking. She was the first African-American (male or female) to end a year with that ranking since Althea Gibson in 1958. She was the first woman to win three Grand Slam titles in one year since Hingis in 1997.[1]
At the 2003 Australian Open, Williams went on to reach the semifinals for the first time, where she recovered from 5–2 down in the third set and saved two match points, before defeating Clijsters. She faced her sister Venus for the fourth consecutive Grand Slam final and won, 7–6, 3–6, 6–4, to become the sixth woman in the open era to complete a Career Grand Slam, joining Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, and Margaret Court. She also became the fifth woman to hold all Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously, joining Maureen Connolly Brinker, Court, Graf, and Navratilova.[19] The Williams sisters won their sixth Grand Slam doubles title together at this event.
Williams then captured singles titles at the Open Gaz de France in Paris and the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, defeating Clijsters in the semifinals and Capriati in the final. The following week, Williams lost the final at the clay-court Family Circle Cup in Charleston, USA to Henin, her first loss of the year after 21 wins. She also lost to Mauresmo in the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. Despite these losses, Williams was the top seed at the French Open, where she lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Henin, 2–6, 6–4, 5–7, marking Williams's first loss in a Grand Slam tournament since 2001. The match was controversial, as Williams questioned Henin's sportsmanship, and spectators applauded Williams's errors.[20] She was know to be dating [Larar Arrington] at the time.
Williams rebounded from the loss at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships, defeating Henin in the semifinals and Venus in the final, 4–6, 6–4, 6–2. This was Williams' second consecutive Wimbledon title and her sixth Grand Slam singles title overall. This was her last tournament of the year, as knee surgery prevented her from competing in the year's remaining events, including the US Open. As a result, she lost the world no. 1 ranking to Clijsters in August, having held it for 57 consecutive weeks. Williams finished the year ranked world no. 3 and with four titles. On September 14, 2003, while Williams was still recovering from surgery, her sister Yetunde Price was murdered.
Williams withdrew from the Australian Open to continue rehabilitating her left knee. She then withdrew from further tournaments, which generated speculation that she was losing interest in the sport.[21] After eight months away from the tour, Williams began her comeback at the Tier I NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, where she defeated 16-year-old Russian Maria Sharapova in the fourth round and world no. 8 Elena Dementieva in the final. This was the third consecutive year that Williams had won this tournament.
She then played three clay-court tournaments leading up to the French Open. She lost in the quarterfinals of the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida, and, the following week at the Tier I Family Circle Cup in Charleston, she withdrew before her third-round match because of an injured knee. She was away from the tour for four weeks before playing the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, where she lost to world no. 9 Jennifer Capriati in the semifinals, 4–6, 4–6. Although ranked world no. 7, she was seeded second at the French Open. She won her first four matches over players ranked outside the top 50, before Capriati beat her in the quarterfinals,3–6, 6–2, 3–6. This was the first time she had lost before the semifinals at a Grand Slam singles tournament since Wimbledon in 2001.
She was seeded first at Wimbledon, even though her ranking had dropped to world no. 10. She reached the final, where she was defeated by 13th-seeded Sharapova 1–6, 4–6. This loss caused her ranking to drop out of the top 10 for the first time since early 1999.
Williams reached her third final of the year at the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles on hard courts. She lost there to Lindsay Davenport, 1–6, 3–6, which was her first loss to Davenport since the 2000 US Open. Williams then withdrew before her quarterfinal match at the Acura Classic in San Diego with another left knee injury. This injury caused her to miss both the Tier I Rogers AT&T Cup in Montreal and the Athens Olympics. She returned for the US Open, where she was seeded third even though she was ranked world no. 11. She lost there in the quarterfinals to world no. 8 Capriati, 6–2, 4–6, 4–6. This match featured several missed line calls, including one that led to the suspension of the chair umpire for the remainder of the tournament. This match is commonly referred to as the impetus for the current challenge system.[22][23]
Williams played only three tournaments the remainder of the year. She won her second title of the year at the China Open in Beijing, in which she defeated US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. Five weeks later, she lost in the second round of the tournament in Linz, Austria to world no. 73 Alina Jidkova, but still qualified for the WTA Tour Championships. In the round-robin phase of the tournament, she defeated world no. 5 Dementieva, lost to world no. 1 Davenport, and defeated world no. 3 Anastasia Myskina. She lost to world no. 6 Sharapova in the final, 6–4, 2–6, 4–6. Williams trailed 5–2 in the second set, when she asked for treatment of an abdominal injury that caused her to serve around 65 mph. She led 4–0 in the third set, before Sharapova won the last six games of the match.[24] Williams finished 2004 ranked world no. 7, but did not win a Grand Slam singles tournament for the first time since 2001.
At the 2005 Australian Open, Williams rejected suggestions that she and sister Venus were a declining force in tennis, following Venus's early exit at the tournament.[25] In the quarterfinals, Williams defeated second-seeded Mauresmo, 6–2, 6–2. In the semifinals, she saved three match points in defeating fourth-seeded Sharapova, 2–6, 7–5, 8–6. In the final, Williams defeated world no. 1 Davenport, 2–6, 6–3, 6–0, to win her second Australian Open singles title and seventh Grand Slam singles title. The win moved Williams back to world no. 2, and she stated that she was now targeting the no. 1 spot.[26]
She did not, however, reach the final at any of her next five tournaments. She withdrew before her quarterfinal match at the Open Gaz de France in Paris, citing a stomach illness.[27] Three weeks later, she retired from her semifinal match with Jelena Janković at the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open, citing a strained tendon in her right shoulder.[28] Four weeks later, she lost to sister Venus for the first time since 2001 in the quarterfinals of the Tier I NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne, 1–6, 6–7. The following week, a left ankle injury forced her to retire from her quarterfinal match on clay at the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island. Five weeks away from the tour did not improve her results, as she lost in the second round of the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome to Francesca Schiavone, 6–7, 1–6. The ankle injury also caused her to miss the French Open.[29]
She returned for Wimbledon as the fourth seeded player, but, after struggling through her first two matches in three sets, she was defeated in the third round by world no. 85 Jill Craybas, 3–6, 6–7.
After winning her first match at the Tier I Rogers Cup in Toronto, a recurrence of her left knee injury caused her to withdraw from the tournament. At the US Open, Williams lost to her sister Venus in the fourth round, 6–7, 2–6. This was the earliest the sisters had met in a Grand Slam tournament since their first meeting at the 1998 Australian Open. Williams played just one more match the remainder of the year, a loss to world no. 127 Sun Tiantian at the tournament in Beijing. She failed to qualify for the year-end championship for the first time since 1998. She finished the year ranked world no. 11, her first time finishing outside of the top 10 since 1998.
Williams did not participate in any of the official warm-up tournaments for the 2006 Australian Open.[30] Williams was the defending champion at the Australian Open, but fell to world no. 17 Daniela Hantuchová in the third round, 1–6, 6–7.[30] She then withdrew from tournaments in Tokyo (citing her lack of fitness)[31] and Dubai and from the Tier I NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne (citing a knee injury and lack of fitness).[32] On April 10, her ranking fell out of the top 100 for the first time since November 16, 1997. Shortly after, she announced that she would miss both the French Open and Wimbledon because of a chronic knee injury. She said that she would not be able to compete before "the end of the summer", on doctor's orders.[33]
Williams returned to the Tour in July at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati. Ranked world no. 139 because of her inactivity, she defeated world no. 11 Myskina in the first round, 6–2, 6–2, before losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Vera Zvonareva. She also reached the semifinals in Los Angeles, losing to world no. 28 Janković in straight sets.
At the US Open, Williams was unseeded in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 1998 and needed a wildcard to enter the tournament because her ranking was too low. She lost to top-seeded Mauresmo in the fourth round, 4–6, 6–0, 2–6.[30] She did not play again in 2006, ending the year ranked world no. 95. This was her lowest year-end ranking since 1997. Williams played just four tournaments in 2006.
Williams began 2007 with renewed confidence, stating her intention to return to the top of the rankings,[34] a comment former player and commentator Pat Cash branded "deluded."[35]
Williams lost in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Hobart, Australia, a warm-up for the Australian Open.[36] Williams was unseeded at the Australian Open because of her world no. 81 ranking and was widely regarded as "out of shape."[37] In the third round, however, Williams defeated fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova, which was her first win over a top-10 player since defeating Lindsay Davenport in the 2005 Australian Open final. In the final, Williams defeated top-seeded Maria Sharapova, 6–1, 6–2[38] to win her third Australian Open singles title and her eighth Grand Slam singles title. Williams dedicated the title to her deceased sister Yetunde.[38] Her performance in the final was described by TENNIS.com as "one of the best performances of her career"[37] and by BBC Sport as "arguably the most powerful display ever seen in women's tennis."[39]
Williams next played at the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida in late March. In the final, Williams defeated world no. 1 Justine Henin, 0–6, 7–5, 6–3 after saving 2 match points at 40–15 in the second set.[40]
At the Tier I Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina on clay courts, Williams retired from her second-round match because of a groin pull. The following week, Williams won her first singles match in the first round Fed Cup tie against Belgium on hard courts,[41] but withdrew from the second singles match to rest her knee. Williams played only one clay-court tournament in Europe before the French Open. In Rome at the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Williams lost to 14th-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland in the quarterfinals, 3–6, 6–2, 6–7.[41] After the tournament, however, she re-entered the top 10 at world no. 9. As the eighth seed at the French Open, Williams lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Henin, 4–6, 3–6.[41] Williams said her performance was "hideous and horrendous" and worse than ever.[42] She also said that she felt "violated".[43]
Despite the loss, Williams was one of the favorites for the Wimbledon title.[44] During her fourth round match against Daniela Hantuchová, Williams collapsed from an acute muscle spasm at 5–5 in the second set. After a medical timeout and holding serve to force a tiebreak, rain forced play to be suspended for nearly two hours. When the players returned, Williams won the match, 6–2, 6–7, 6–2.[45] Williams then lost her quarterfinal match with world no. 1 Henin, 4–6, 6–3, 3–6. Williams started the match with a heavily taped calf and was forced to use a one-handed backhand slice because of a left thumb injury. Williams was criticized for claiming after the match that she would have beaten Henin had Williams been healthy.[46] After Wimbledon, Williams moved up to world no. 7, her highest ranking since 2005.
Because of the thumb injury, Williams did not play a tournament between Wimbledon and the US Open.[41] At the US Open, she beat 2007 Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli in the fourth round,[41] but lost her third consecutive Grand Slam singles quarterfinal to Henin, 6–7, 1–6.[41]
In October, Williams lost in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Stuttgart to world no. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova.[41] Williams then reached her third final of the year at the Tier I Kremlin Cup in Moscow, defeating Kuznetsova in the semifinals, before losing to Elena Dementieva.[41] Nevertheless, Williams's performances at these tournaments raised her ranking to world no. 5 and qualified her for the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid. Her participation there was short. Because of injury, she retired from her first match with Anna Chakvetadze, after losing the first set, and then withdrew from the tournament.[47] Williams finished 2007 as World No. 7 and the top-ranked American for the first time since 2003.[41]
Williams started 2008 by participating on the U.S. team that won the Hopman Cup for the fifth time in Perth, Australia.[48] Williams was the seventh seed at the Australian Open, but lost in the quarterfinals to world no. 4 and third-seeded Jelena Janković, 3–6, 4–6.[49] This was her fourth straight loss in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament. In the women's doubles event, Serena and her sister Venus lost in the quarterfinals to the seventh-seeded team of Zheng Jie and Yan Zi.
Williams then withdrew from three tournaments because of an urgent need for dental surgery.[50] Upon her return to the Tour, Williams won three consecutive singles titles. At the Tier II tournament in Bangalore, India, Serena defeated sister Venus in the semifinals, 6–3, 3–6, 7–6,[49] after Serena saved a match point at 6–5 in the third set. This was the first time they had played each other since the fourth round of the 2005 US Open. Serena then defeated Schnyder in the final.[49] At the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Williams won her fifth career singles title there, tying Steffi Graf for the most singles titles at this tournament. Williams defeated world no. 1 Henin in the quarterfinals, world no. 3 Kuznetsova in the semifinals, and world no. 4 Janković in the final.[49] This was her 30th career singles title.
At the clay-court Tier I Family Circle Cup in Charleston, Williams defeated, for the fourth consecutive time, second-seeded Sharapova in the quarterfinals.[49] In the final, Williams defeated Vera Zvonareva[49] to capture her tenth career Tier I title and first clay-court title since the 2002 French Open. Her 17-match winning streak was ended by Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals of the Tier I Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, 6–2, 1–6, 6–7.[49] Williams was the fifth-seeded player at the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome and made it to the quarterfinals, where Alizé Cornet received a walkover over Williams[49] because of a back injury.
Williams was the fifth-seeded player at the French Open. Although she was the only former winner of this tournament in this year's draw, following the sudden retirement of four-time champion Henin, she lost in the third round to 27th-seeded Katarina Srebotnik, 4–6, 4–6.[49]
At Wimbledon, the sixth-seeded Williams reached the finals for the first time in four years. She defeated former world no. 1 and 2006 Wimbledon champion Amélie Mauresmo in the third round, before losing the final to her older sister Venus in straight sets.[49] This was the first Grand Slam final in which the Williams sisters had played each other since 2003. Serena and Venus then teamed to win the women's doubles title without dropping a set the entire tournament, their first Grand Slam women's doubles title since 2003.
Williams then played four World Team Tennis matches for the Washington Kastles,[51] contributing 49 points for her team.
Williams was seeded first at the tournament in Stanford, California, but retired from her semifinal match against qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak while trailing 6–2, 3–1[49] because of a left knee injury. That injury caused Williams to withdraw from the tournament in Los Angeles the following week.
Playing in the singles draw at the Olympics for the first time in Beijing, Williams was the fourth-seeded player in singles, but lost to fifth-seeded and eventual gold-medalist Dementieva in the quarterfinals, 6–3, 4–6, 3–6.[49] Serena and her sister Venus won the gold medal in doubles to add to their victory at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, beating the Spanish team of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual in the final.
Williams was seeded fourth at the US Open and defeated her seventh-seeded sister Venus in the quarterfinals, 7–6, 7–6. Serena trailed 5–3 in both sets and saved two set points in the first set and eight set points in the second set. Williams then defeated Safina in the semifinals and second-seeded Jelena Janković, 6–4, 7–5, in the final, after saving four set points at 5–3 in the second set. This was her third US Open and ninth Grand Slam singles title. This victory returned her to the world no. 1 ranking for the first time since 2003.[52]
At the Tier II Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Williams was the top seed, but lost to world no. 30 Li Na in the second round, 6–0, 1–6, 4–6. Serena also played doubles there with her sister Venus, but they withdrew after winning their first round match because of a left ankle injury to Serena. On October 3, Williams announced her withdrawal from the Tier I Kremlin Cup in Moscow, citing a continuing left ankle injury and a desire to give her body time to recover from a packed playing schedule.[53] Because of her withdrawal, she lost the world no. 1 ranking to Janković.
Williams defeated Safina in her first round-robin match at the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, before losing to her sister Venus, 5–7, 6–1, 6–0 in her second round-robin match. She then withdrew from her match against Dementieva, citing a stomach muscle injury. She ended the year ranked world no. 2 and with four singles titles, her strongest performance in both respects since 2003.
At the Medibank International in Sydney, top-seeded Williams lost in the semifinals to Russian Elena Dementieva for the third consecutive time, 3–6, 1–6.
Williams was seeded second at the Australian Open. She claimed her tenth Grand Slam singles title by defeating Dinara Safina in the final, 6–0, 6–3, in 59 minutes. This win returned her to the world no. 1 ranking and resulted in her becoming the all-time career prize money leader in women's sports, overtaking golfer Annika Sörenstam. In women's doubles, Serena and her sister Venus captured the title for the third time.
At the Open GDF SUEZ in Paris, Williams withdrew from the tournament before her scheduled semifinal with Dementieva because of a knee injury. Williams was the top seed at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, a Premier 5 event on the tour. She defeated former world no. 1 Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals, before losing to her sister Venus in the semifinals, 1–6, 6–2, 6–7.
At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, a Premier Mandatory event, Williams was upset in the final by 11th seeded Victoria Azarenka. This was the first of four consecutive losses for Williams, the longest losing streak of her career.[54] She was defeated in her opening match at her first three clay-court events of the year, including the Premier 5 Internazionali d'Italia in Rome and the Premier Mandatory Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open. She lost the world no. 1 ranking to Safina on April 20. Despite not having won a match on clay in 2009 before the French Open, she reached the quarterfinals there, before losing to the eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6–7, 7–5, 5–7. This ended her 18-match Grand Slam tournament winning streak.
She rebounded at Wimbledon, saving a match point in defeating fourth seeded Dementieva in the semifinals, 6–7, 7–5, 8–6. In the final, Serena defeated her sister Venus, 7–6, 6–2, to win her third Wimbledon title and her 11th Grand Slam singles title. Although Williams was now holding three of the four Grand Slam singles titles, she continued to trail Safina in the WTA rankings, a fact Williams publicly mocked.[55] Williams and her sister Venus teamed to win the women's doubles title at Wimbledon for the second consecutive year, their ninth Grand Slam title in women's doubles.
Following Wimbledon, Williams played two Premier 5 tournaments before the US Open. She lost in the third round of the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati and in the semifinals, to world no. 5 Dementieva, of the Rogers Cup in Toronto.
She was seeded second at the US Open, where she lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Kim Clijsters amid controversy involving shouting at a line judge when defending match point, an offense which ultimately cost Williams the point and therefore the match. She continued in the doubles competition, teaming up with Venus to win their third Grand Slam doubles title of the year and tenth of their career.[56][57]
Williams played only two tournaments after the US Open. At the Premier Mandatory China Open in Beijing, she was defeated in the third round by Nadia Petrova. Williams won all three of her round-robin matches at the year-end WTA Tour Championships in Doha, Qatar, defeating world no. 7 Venus Williams, world no. 5 Dementieva, and world no. 3 Kuznetsova. She saved a match point against Venus, before winning in a third-set tiebreak. She then advanced to the final, when US Open runner-up Wozniacki retired from their semifinal match while trailing, 6–4, 0–1. In the final, Williams played Venus for the second time in four days, winning once again, 6–2, 7–6, against her tired and error-stricken sister.[58] This was Serena's second singles title at this event.
Williams finished the year ranked world no. 1 for the second time in her career, having played in 16 tournaments, more than any other year. She also broke the record previously set by Justine Henin for the most prize money earned by a female tennis player in one year, with Williams earning $6,545,586. In doubles, the Williams sisters finished the year ranked world no. 2, despite playing only six tournaments as a pair. She won five Grand Slam titles, putting her total Grand Slam titles at 23.
Williams was named Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press[59] in a landslide vote (66 of 158 votes – no other candidate received more than 18 votes). She also was the International Tennis Federation World Champion in singles and doubles.[60]
Williams's first scheduled tournament was the Medibank International Sydney. She defeated Frenchwoman Aravane Rezaï in the semifinals, 3–6, 7–5, 6–4, after trailing 5–2 in the second set and being two points from defeat. She then lost the final to world no. 5 and defending champion Elena Dementieva, 3–6, 2–6.
At the Australian Open, Williams was the defending champion in both singles and doubles. She reached the singles quarterfinals without losing a service game or a set, where she eliminated Victoria Azarenka, 4–6, 7–6, 6–2, after trailing 4–0 in the second set. In the semifinals, Williams defeated 16th seeded Li Na, 7–6, 7–6, on her fifth match point to reach her fifth final in Melbourne and her fifteenth Grand Slam singles final. She then defeated 2004 champion Justine Henin, 6–4, 3–6, 6–2, for her twelfth Grand Slam singles title. This was the first time that Henin and Williams had played each other in a Grand Slam tournament final.[61] Williams is the first female player to win consecutive Australian Open singles titles since Jennifer Capriati in 2001–02.[3] In doubles, Serena and Venus successfully defended their title by defeating the top-ranked team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber in the final, 6–4, 6–3.
A leg injury then caused Williams to withdraw from five consecutive tournaments, including the Premier 5 Dubai Tennis Championships and the Premier Mandatory Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne. She returned to the WTA Tour at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, where she lost to Jelena Janković in the semifinals, 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(5–7), after failing to convert a match point while serving at 5–4 in the third set, and then surrendering a 5–2 lead in the deciding tiebreaker.
At the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, she received a first-round bye. In her first match, she made 73 unforced errors in defeating Vera Dushevina in the longest match of her career, 3 hours, 26 minutes, 6–7, 7–6, 7–6. Williams saved a match point at 6–5 in the second set, then injured her upper leg early in the third set. She then fell to 16th seeded Nadia Petrova, 6–4, 2–6, 3–6. Williams won only two of her eighteen opportunities to break Petrova's serve. She teamed with Venus to win the doubles title.
At the French Open, she lost to Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals, 3–6, 7–6, 6–8. Williams made 46 unforced errors and squandered a match point at 5–4 in the final set. It was the first Grand Slam tournament that Williams had not won or been defeated by the eventual champion since the 2008 French Open. Williams had not advanced past the quarterfinals at this event since 2003. She also played doubles with Venus as the top seeds. Their defeat of Huber and Anabel Medina Garrigues in the semifinals improved their doubles ranking to world no. 1. They then defeated 12th seeds Květa Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik in the final, 6–2, 6–3, to win their fourth consecutive Grand Slam women's doubles title.
Her next tournament was Wimbledon, where she defeated Russian Vera Zvonareva in the final, 6–3, 6–2, without facing a break point and breaking the serve of Zvonareva three times.[62][63] She did not lose a set in the tournament.[64] After the match, Martina Navratilova said that Williams is in the top 5 of all the women's tennis players in all of history, which she said that "it's not just about how many Slams you win or how many tournaments you win—it's just your game overall. And she’s definitely got all the goods."[63] Serena was the defending champion in doubles with her sister Venus, winning the last two years. They lost in the quarterfinals to Elena Vesnina and Zvonareva, 6–3, 3–6, 4–6.
In Munich on July 7, Williams stepped on broken glass while in a restaurant.[65] She received 18 stitches, but the following day she lost an exhibition match to Kim Clijsters, 3–6, 2–6, in Brussels before a world-record crowd for a tennis match, 35,681 at the King Baudouin Stadium.[66] The cut foot turned out to be a serious injury, requiring surgery and preventing her from playing for the remainder of 2010. As a result, she lost the world no. 1 ranking to Dane Caroline Wozniacki on October 11, 2010[67] and ended the year ranked no. 4 in singles, despite having played only six tournaments, and no. 11 in doubles after four tournaments.
Because of her continuing rehabilitation for her foot injury, Serena withdrew from the 2011 Hopman Cup and the 2011 Australian Open.[68][69] On March 2, 2011, she confirmed that she had suffered a hematoma and a pulmonary embolism.[70][71][72] She made her first appearance on the WTA tour in almost a year at the 2011 AEGON International in Eastbourne,[73] winning her first match since Wimbledon, against Tsvetana Pironkova, but lost to top-seeded world no. 3 Vera Zvonareva in the second round, in a match that lasted over three hours.
Her next tournament was Wimbledon, where she was the defending champion. Despite being ranked no. 26, she was seeded seventh. In her first round match, she defeated French no. 2, Aravane Rezai. She then won her second round match against Simona Halep, and her third round against Maria Kirilenko. Her tournament ended when she lost to ninth seed, Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli in the round of 16.
Williams then played in Stanford as an unseeded player. She won her opening-round match against Anastasia Rodionova. In her second-round match, she took out Maria Kirilenko in three sets to set up a meeting with Wimbledon finalist Maria Sharapova. Serena won in straight sets. In the semifinals, Serena took on Wimbledon semifinalist, Sabine Lisicki and also defeated her in two sets. Serena won her first final of the season, against Marion Bartoli in two sets. Serena won her 38th career WTA singles title and her first title in 2011.
In her next tournament, Williams won the Rogers Cup, Serena started off strongly by beating Alona Bondarenko. In her second-round match, she beat Julia Goerges in straight sets, as well. After back-to-back three-setters against Jie Zheng and Lucie Safarova, the semifinals matched Serana against one of the most consistent players of the year, Viktoria Azarenka. Serena won, advancing to her second consecutive final. In the final, Serena defeated Samantha Stosur to win her second consecutive title and her 39th career title overall. At the Cincinnati Open, Serena defeated Lucie Hradecka, only to withdraw the next day, citing a right toe injury.
Next on her schedule was the US Open. She was seeded 28th and faced Bojana Jovanovski in the first round, winning the match easily. She next faced Michaëlla Krajicek, winning in two sets. In the third round she defeated Azarenka. She moved into the finals with two set wins over Ana Ivanovic, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals. She lost the final, 2–6, 3–6, to Samantha Stosur, during a match which featured her verbally abusing the chair umpire.
The US Open final turned out to be Williams' last match in 2011, and she ended the year ranked world no. 12 with 2 titles and with a 22–3 record for the season. She only participated in six tournaments throughout the season.
Williams started the year by playing her debut at Brisbane International as her preparation for the Australian Open.[74] She defeated Chanelle Scheepers in the first round and Bojana Jovanovski in the second. However, during her match against Jovanovski, she injured her left ankle when serving for the match late in the second set. As a result, Williams was forced to withdraw from the tournament.[75] Next she participated at the Australian Open where she was seeded 12th. She defeated Tamira Paszek in the first round and Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová in the second round.[76] She beat Hungarian Greta Arn in the third round.[77] Williams was knocked out of the Australian Open by Ekaterina Makarova 6–2, 6–3. Serena however, came back from her loss at the Australian Open, by cruising to a 5–7, 6–1, 6–1, victory over Anastasiya Yakimova, completing the U.S sweep over Belarus in the Fed Cup.
Williams returned to competition in Miami where she was seeded 10th. She avenged her US Open final loss to Samantha Stosur by beating her 7–5, 6–3 in the fourth round in a match where she fired 20 aces. Her quarterfinals berth brought her back to the top 10 of the world ranking. Her run, however, ended in the quarterfinals where Caroline Wozniacki defeated her 4–6, 4–6. A week later, she made her first final appearance of the season in Charleston where she defeated Sam Stosur convincingly 6–1, 6–1 in the semifinals. She went on to win her first title of the season, her 40th career title, after defeating Lucie Šafářová 6–0, 6–1 in the final. Her success at Family Circle Cup brought her ranking up to No. 9 in the world.
Williams started her European clay court season in Madrid as the ninth seed where she advanced to her second consecutive final following a third round victory against Caroline Wozniacki by 1–6, 6–3, 6–2 and world no. 2 , Maria Sharapova, in the quarterfinals by 6–1, 6–3. Her run to the final assured her ranking to increase to world no. 6 [78]. She eventually won her 41st title after defeating the world no.1, Victoria Azarenka, 6–1, 6–3, in the final. A week later, she participated in Rome as the ninth seed where she reached the semifinals. She withdrew before her semifinals match against Li Na citing a lower back injury. Her run, however, will bring her ranking to world no. 5.
On May 29th, 2012 lost in the first round of a major tournament for the first time in her career, falling to Virginie Razzano of France 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 Tuesday at the French Open. The fifth-seeded Williams was two points from victory nine times in the second set, including leading 5-1 in the tiebreaker. But Razzano won six straight points to force a third set, and then took control of the match.
Tournament | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | SR | W–L |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australian Open | 2R | 3R | 4R | QF | A | W | A | W | 3R | W | QF | W | W | A | 4R | 5 / 12 | 54–7 |
French Open | 4R | 3R | A | QF | W | SF | QF | A | A | QF | 3R | QF | QF | A | 1R | 1 / 11 | 39–10 |
Wimbledon | 3R | A | SF | QF | W | W | F | 3R | A | QF | F | W | W | 4R | 4 / 12 | 60–8 | |
US Open | 3R | W | QF | F | W | A | QF | 4R | 4R | QF | W | SF | A | F | 3 / 12 | 58–9 | |
Win–Loss | 8–4 | 11–2 | 12–3 | 18–4 | 21–0 | 19–1 | 14–3 | 12–2 | 5–2 | 19–3 | 19–3 | 23–2 | 18–1 | 9–2 | 3–2 | 13 / 47 | 211–34 |
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 1999 | US Open | Hard | Martina Hingis | 6–3, 7–6(7–4) |
Runner-up | 2001 | US Open | Hard | Venus Williams | 2–6, 4–6 |
Winner | 2002 | French Open | Clay | Venus Williams | 7–5, 6–3 |
Winner | 2002 | Wimbledon | Grass | Venus Williams | 7–6(7–4), 6–3 |
Winner | 2002 | US Open (2) | Hard | Venus Williams | 6–4, 6–3 |
Winner | 2003 | Australian Open | Hard | Venus Williams | 7–6(7–4), 3–6, 6–4 |
Winner | 2003 | Wimbledon (2) | Grass | Venus Williams | 4–6, 6–4, 6–2 |
Runner-up | 2004 | Wimbledon | Grass | Maria Sharapova | 1–6, 4–6 |
Winner | 2005 | Australian Open (2) | Hard | Lindsay Davenport | 2–6, 6–3, 6–0 |
Winner | 2007 | Australian Open (3) | Hard | Maria Sharapova | 6–1, 6–2 |
Runner-up | 2008 | Wimbledon (2) | Grass | Venus Williams | 5–7, 4–6 |
Winner | 2008 | US Open (3) | Hard | Jelena Janković | 6–4, 7–5 |
Winner | 2009 | Australian Open (4) | Hard | Dinara Safina | 6–0, 6–3 |
Winner | 2009 | Wimbledon (3) | Grass | Venus Williams | 7–6(7–3), 6–2 |
Winner | 2010 | Australian Open (5) | Hard | Justine Henin | 6–4, 3–6, 6–2 |
Winner | 2010 | Wimbledon (4) | Grass | Vera Zvonareva | 6–3, 6–2 |
Runner-up | 2011 | US Open (2) | Hard | Samantha Stosur | 2–6, 3–6 |
Serena Williams has played her sister Venus 12 times in Grand Slam singles tournaments and 11 times in other tournaments (including 11 finals). Serena has a three match lead in the head-to-head series, 13–10. They are the only women during the open era to have played each other in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals.
In her 2004 U.S. Open quarterfinal match against Jennifer Capriati, an overrule was made by chair umpire Mariana Alves in Capriati's favor, even though later video review showed this to be clearly in error. Williams attempted to argue the call, but was not successful. Capriati won the match, but tournament officials dismissed the umpire from the tournament. The controversy renewed calls for the adoption of technology like the MacCam and Hawk-Eye systems.[79]
In 2009, Williams again was involved in a controversial U.S. Open match, this time against Kim Clijsters in the semifinal round. The drama began at the end of the first set, when Williams slammed her racquet on the court in frustration over losing the set. She was given a warning, with a potential second violation carrying a one-point penalty. While trailing 4–6, 5–6, 15–30, Williams's second serve was called a foot fault, resulting in two match points for Clijsters. Williams gestured with her racquet to the lineswoman who had made the call and yelled at her, including profanities.[80] During the subsequent on-court conference between the head judge, the lineswoman, US Open officials, and Williams, a television microphone picked up Williams saying to the lineswoman, "I didn't say I would kill you. Are you serious?"[81] The incident resulted in Williams being penalized a point for unsportsmanlike conduct — necessitated by the earlier warning for racquet abuse — meaning Clijsters won the match 6–4, 7–5. The following day, Williams was issued the maximum permissible on-site fine of $10,000 (plus $500 for racquet abuse). After further investigation, the Grand Slam Committee in November 2009 fined her $175,000 in lieu of suspending her from the 2010 US Open or other Grand Slam events.[82] They also placed her on a two year probation, so if Williams commits another offense in the next two years at a Grand Slam tournament, she will be suspended from participating in the following US Open. If she commits no offenses in the next two years, her fine will be reduced to $82,500.[82] Williams initially refused to apologize for her outburst, both in her post-match press conference[83] and in an official statement released the following day.[56] She eventually apologized to the lineswoman in a statement two days following the incident.
In the final of the 2011 U.S. Open against Samantha Stosur, Williams again generated controversy. After shouting "Come on!" as the Australian attempted to return a forehand Williams believed to be a winner, chair umpire Eva Asderaki awarded the point to Stosur based on the USTA's deliberate hindrance rule, which states, "If a player commits any act which hinders his opponent in making a stroke, then, if this is deliberate, he shall lose the point or if involuntary, the point shall be replayed."[84] As the point was 30–40 on Williams's serve, the penalty gave the break of serve to Stosur. Williams became angry with the chair umpire and made several gestures and unflattering comments toward her during the next several changeovers, warning her, "Don't look at me," and telling her that if Asderaki ever saw Williams coming toward her, she should "look the other way". She told the umpire that she was "a loser", "a hater" and "unattractive, on the inside". Williams initially gained momentum in the set following the penalty, breaking back in the next game, but eventually flagged and lost the match, 6–2, 6–3. At the end of the match, she declined to offer the customary handshake to Asderaki. Williams mentioned the incident in her post-match speech as the tournament runner-up, claiming, "I hit a winner, but I guess it didn't count," but added, "It wouldn't have mattered in the end. Sam played really well."[85][86] A writer for ESPN suggested that Williams could avoid being found to have violated the terms of the "probation" on which she was placed following her 2009 outburst, as she did not appear to have used profanity in addressing Asderaki during the match.[87] In the end, Williams was fined $2,000 and was not barred from competing in the 2012 US Open because "...Williams's conduct, while verbally abusive, [did] not rise to the level of a major offence under the grand slam code of conduct."[88]
Williams was once known for her unusual and colorful outfits on court. In 2002, there was much talk when she wore a black lycra [[catsuit] at the US Open.[89] At the 2004 US Open, Williams wore denim skirts and knee-high boots—tournament officials, however, did not allow her to wear the boots during matches.[90] At Wimbledon in 2008, the white trench coat she wore during warm-up for her opening match was the subject of much discussion since it was worn despite the sunny weather.[91] Off-court, Williams has also presented new designs. In November 2004, at the London premiere of After the Sunset she wore a red gown that had a near-topless effect.[92]
Williams formerly had a special line with Puma[93] and currently has a line with Nike. The deal with Nike is worth US$40 million and was signed in April 2004.[94] Since 2004, she has also been running her own line of designer apparel called "Aneres"—her first name spelled backward. In 2009 she launched a signature collection of handbags and jewelry.[95] The collection, called Signature Statement, is sold mainly on the Home Shopping Network (HSN).
In early 2010, Williams became a certified nail technician in preparation for her upcoming nail collection with a company called HairTech.[96]
Williams has appeared on television and also provided voice work on animated shows: in a 2001 episode of The Simpsons Serena joined the animation along with sister Venus, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.[97] She has also provided guest voice work in a 2005 episode of Playhouse Disney's animated kids show Higglytown Heroes and a 2007 episode of the Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender,[98] which she has described as her "favorite show".[99]
Williams has posed for the 2003 and 2004 editions of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.[100] In April 2005, MTV announced plans to broadcast a reality show around the lives of Serena and Venus, which was eventually aired on ABC Family. Williams has appeared twice on MTV's Punk'd and in 2007, appeared in the ABC reality television series Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race. In 2002, she played Miss Wiggins in the season 3 episode "Crouching Mother, Hidden Father" of My Wife and Kids;[101] she has also guest-starred during episodes of The Bernie Mac Show, ER and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.[102] In 2007 Williams appeared in the music video of "I Want You" by the American rapper Common, alongside performers Alicia Keys and Kanye West.[103]
In late 2009, Williams became the first active female professional athlete to appear in a feminine hygiene product advertising campaign. A series of online videos and print advertisements for Tampax Pearl tampons showed her hitting balls at Mother Nature, played by Catherine Lloyd Burns, to prevent Mother Nature giving her a red-wrapped gift, representing her menstrual period. In the online videos, the two have dueling press conferences over the "bad blood" between them. "A lot of celebrities are not open to working with our brand, and we're thrilled that Serena is", said a brand manager for Tampax at Procter & Gamble.[104]
In May 2012, a minute of a new hip-hop track by Serena Williams was leaked, along with reports the sports star was planning to release an album.[105]
In August 2009, Serena and Venus Williams became part-owners of the Miami Dolphins. The formal announcement was made during a press conference overlooking the practice field. The Williams are the first African-American females to obtain ownership in an NFL franchise. Other prominent owners include: Jimmy Buffett, Gloria and Emilio Estefan (the first Cuban-American owners), and Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez . Stephan Ross, the majority owner of the Dolphins, said "We are thrilled to have Venus and Serena join the Dolphins as limited partners. They are among the most admired athletes in the world and have become global ambassadors for the game of tennis. Their addition to our ownership group further reflects our commitment to connect with aggressively and embrace the great diversity that makes South Florida a multicultural gem."[106]
In 2008 Williams helped to fund the construction of the Serena Williams Secondary School in Matooni, Kenya.[107][108] She received a Celebrity Role Model Award from Avon Foundation in 2003 for work in breast cancer.[109] Williams has also been involved in a number of clinics at schools and community centers, particularly those which have programs focusing on at-risk youth.[1] She has also won the "Young Heroes Award" from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater L.A. and Inland (2003) and the "Family Circle and Prudential Financial Player Who Makes a Difference Award" (2004).[1] In response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Williams, along with other ATP and WTA stars decided to forego their final day of preparation for the 2010 Australian Open to form a charity event in which all proceeds will go to the Haiti earthquake victims.[110]
Serena has published along with her sister Venus Williams and author Hilary Beard[111] a book titled Venus & Serena: Serving From The Hip: 10 Rules For Living, Loving and Winning by Boston: Houghton Mifflin in 2005.[111] [112][113][114][115] During the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, Williams said that she is in the process of writing a TV show storyline, which will be converted into script form by her agency. She stated that the show will represent subject matter from a mix of popular American television shows such as Desperate Housewives,, and Family Guy.[116] Serena released her first solo published work, an autobiography entitled On the Line, following the 2009 US Open.
Williams has been the target of an alleged stalker, who was arrested at the gate to her Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., neighborhood on Monday, May 2, 2011. Police report that Patenema Ouedraogo, identified as an African who attended college in Texas, is barred from being near Serena by a preliminary injunction. Police say Ouedraogo was able to track Serena's whereabouts using the social networking site Twitter, and got her address from the letter her attorney sent telling him to stay away from her. Police say Ouedraogo once made it all the way to Serena's dressing room when she made an appearance on the Home Shopping Network at their studios in Tampa, Fla., on April 13, 2011.[117]
Tournament Name | Years | Record accomplished | Player tied |
---|---|---|---|
Hopman Cup | 2003–2008 | Two Hopman Cup Titles won | Dominik Hrbatý Tommy Robredo James Blake Arantxa Sánchez Vicario |
Australian Open | 2003–2010 | 5 singles titles during the open era | Stands alone[3] |
Australian Open | 2007 | Unseeded winner of singles title | Chris O'Neil (1978) |
1999 French Open – 2010 French Open | 1999–2010 | Highest streak of consecutive initial Grand Slam finals won (doubles) (12) | Venus Williams |
Grand Slam tournaments | 2002 | Won two Grand Slam singles tournaments in the same calendar year in straight sets | Billie Jean King Martina Navratilova Steffi Graf Martina Hingis Justine Henin |
Grand Slam tournaments | 2000–present | Won 4 Grand Slam singles tournaments in straight sets | Evonne Goolagong |
Sony Ericsson Open (Key Biscayne) | 2002–2008 | 5 singles titles overall | Steffi Graf |
2009 WTA Tour | 2009 | Highest single year earnings at $6,545,586 (2009) | Stands alone |
1995–present | Highest prize money career earnings by a female athlete at $34,962,357 | Stands alone | |
2010 Wimbledon | 2010 | Most aces served by a female at a Grand Slam (89) | Stands alone |
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2012) |
|
|
In 2005, Tennis Magazine ranked her as the 17th-best player in 40 years.[120]
In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" by Time.[121]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Serena Williams |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Serena Williams |
|
|
Persondata | |
---|---|
Name | Williams, Serena Jameka Ross Evelyn |
Alternative names | |
Short description | American tennis player |
Date of birth | September 26, 1981 |
Place of birth | Saginaw, Michigan, United States |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
Country | Italy |
---|---|
Residence | Palermo, Italy |
Born | (1983-02-18) 18 February 1983 (age 29) Taranto, Italy |
Height | 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in) |
Weight | 60 kg (130 lb) |
Turned pro | 1999 |
Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
Career prize money | US$ 3,155,533 |
Singles | |
Career record | 389–267 |
Career titles | 6 WTA, 9 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 18 (12 September 2011) |
Current ranking | No. 19 (28 May 2012) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | 3R (2006, 2010) |
French Open | 3R (2011) |
Wimbledon | 3R (2005, 2009, 2011) |
US Open | 3R (2011) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 291–157 |
Career titles | 13 WTA, 10 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 9 (14 May 2012) |
Current ranking | No. 9 (28 May 2012) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | F (2012) |
French Open | SF (2004) |
Wimbledon | 3R (2002, 2004, 2010) |
US Open | SF (2001) |
Other Doubles tournaments | |
WTA Championships | QF (2001) |
Last updated on: 28 May 2012. |
Roberta Vinci (born 18 February 1983 in Taranto) is an Italian tennis player. As of 28 May 2012, Vinci is ranked world no. 19 in the WTA Tour Rankings.[1] Vinci has won 19 WTA Tour titles, six in singles and 13 in doubles.
Her first title came in the 2007 Copa Colsanitas, over Tathiana Garbin. She won her second title at the 2009 Barcelona Ladies Open, over Maria Kirilenko. Her third title was at the 2010 BGL Luxembourg Open, over Julia Görges. Her fourth title was for her second victory after 2009 at the 2011 Barcelona Ladies Open, over Lucie Hradecká. Her fifth title was her first win on grass at the 2011 's-Hertogenbosch, over Jelena Dokic. Her third victory in 2011 and sixth title was in Budapest.
She and her Italian teammates Mara Santangelo, Flavia Pennetta, and Francesca Schiavone beat the Belgian team 3–2 in the 2006 Fed Cup final. Justine Henin-Hardenne had to retire in the fifth and final match due to an injury in her right knee, which allowed Italy to win their first Fed Cup trophy.[2] With the Italian team, she also won the Fed-Cup in 2009 and 2010 against the USA.
Contents |
Roberta Vinci was born to Angelo, an accountant, and Luisa, a homemaker;[3] she has an older brother, Francesco, who is a student.[3] Vinci was introduced to tennis at the age of six.[3] She currently resides in Palermo, and is coached by her boyfriend Francesco Palpacelli.[3]
Vinci won the 1999 French Open in girls' doubles with fellow Italian Flavia Pennetta.[3][4] She qualified for her first Grand Slam at the 2001 US Open, but lost to Martina Suchá in the first round.
One of the biggest victories of her career came in 2005 was when she beat former world no. 2 and 2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina in the quarterfinals at the Hastings Direct International Championships in Eastbourne. As a qualifier, she reached the semifinals of 2004 French Open against another qualifier, Russian Vera Douchevina. Alongside Sandrine Testud, Vinci reached the semifinals in women's doubles. In 2007 at Bogotá, Roberta Vinci won her first WTA title against the top seed Tathiana Garbin, also of Italy, in three sets, after falling behind 0–3 in the final set. She won the title after Garbin had to retire.[5]
Vinci qualified for the Brisbane International and defeated Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the first round, before losing to top seed Ana Ivanović in the second. She then fell to fellow Italian Corinna Dentoni in the qualifications for Moorilla Hobart International. Vinci lost to eventual quarterfinalist Carla Suárez Navarro in the first round of the 2009 Australian Open. Vinci also played for Italy's Fed Cup team in the Fed Cup World Group stage versus France. Italy won 5–0.
At her first clay event, Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, Vinci defeated sixth seed Lucie Šafářová in the first round, and then fell to Ágnes Szávay of Hungary. Vinci then lost in the second rounds of both the Monterrey Open (defeated by Iveta Benešová) and the Paribas Open in Indian Wells (defeated by Sybille Bammer), and fell in the qualifications for Miami Sony Ericsson Open to Anastasia Rodionova.[6] Vinci then fell to eventual champion and former world no. 1 Jelena Janković in the quarterfinals of the Andalucía Tennis Experience in Marbella. At the Barcelona Ladies Open, Vinci earned her second career title, defeating Pauline Parmentier in the first round, Flavia Pennetta in the second, Anastasiya Yakimova in the quarterfinals, Francesca Schiavone in the semifinals, and defending champion Maria Kirilenko in the final.[7]
Vinci reached the second round of the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem held in Fes. After she defeated Mariana Duque Marino in the first round, she lost to qualifier Polona Hercog in the second. At the Premier Mandatory event Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Vinci lost in the first round to Kateryna Bondarenko. She then beat María José Martínez Sánchez in the first round of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, and then was beaten by Vera Dushevina in the second.
Vinci beat no. 31 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round to set up a third-round matchup with no. 2 Serena Williams.
Vinci lost to eventual champion Ana Ivanović in the 2010 Generali Ladies Linz semifinals, 3–6, 5–7. She won her third WTA-title in the BGL PNB Paribas Luxembourg Open against Julia Görges, 6–3, 6–4.
Vinci scored the biggest win of her career in Toronto, beating defending champion and world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, 6–4, 7–5, in the second round of the Rogers Cup. In the second set, Vinci rallied from 1–5 down and saved multiple set points, before going on to win the match. In the third round, she defeated former world no. 1 Ana Ivanović, 7–6(3), 6–2.
As of 15 August 2011, she was ranked world no. 19.
As the 18th seed, at the 2011 US Open, Vinci made it to the third round. In the first round, she defeated the Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu, 6–3, 6–4. She then defeated Alizé Cornet, 6–2, 6–3. In the third round, she was sent home by Andrea Petkovic, 4–6, 0–6. Despite losing in the third round, this was Vinci's best performance so far in the US Open.
Starting the year at the 2012 ASB Classic, she was seeded 6th and defeated Rebecca Marino in the first round before falling 3–6, 4–6 to unseeded Elena Vesnina in the second round. Roberta then suffered early round losses at the 2012 Apia International Sydney and the 2012 Australian Open to Daniela Hantuchova and Zheng Jie respectively.
Her next tournament came at the 2012 Open GDF Suez where she was seeded 7th. She defeated Simona Halep 6–4, 6–4, then Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6–3, 1–6, 6–3, before falling to eventual finalist Marion Bartoli in a third set tiebreaker in the quarterfinals. Vinci then traveled to Mexico where she participated in her next 2 tournaments, the 2012 Monterrey Open and the 2012 Abierto Mexicano Telcel. Seeded first in both events, she was upset by Nina Bratchikova in the second round of Monterrey, before bowing out to eventual champion Sara Errani in the semifinals at Acapulco.
Roberta then traveled to the 2012 BNP Paribas Open. Seeded 21st, she beat Silvia Soler Espinosa, 16th seeded Dominika Cibulkova, before falling to second-seeded Maria Sharapova 2–6, 1–6. She returned to the top 20 following her fourth round appearance. She then bowed out to 10th seeded Serena Williams in the third round of the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open. She will next participate at the 2012 Barcelona Ladies Open where she is the defending champ.
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 2012 | Australian Open | Hard | Sara Errani | Svetlana Kuznetsova Vera Zvonareva |
5–7, 6–4, 6–3 |
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 2012 | Miami, United States | Hard | Sara Errani | Maria Kirilenko Nadia Petrova |
7–6(0), 4–6, [10–4] |
Winner | 2012 | Madrid, Spain | Clay (blue) | Sara Errani | Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina |
6–1, 3–6, [10–4] |
Winner | 2012 | Rome, Italy | Clay | Sara Errani | Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina |
6–2, 7–5 |
Legend: Before 2009 | Legend: Starting in 2009 |
---|---|
Grand Slam tournaments (0/0) | |
Olympic Gold (0/0) | |
WTA Championships (0/0) | |
Tier I (0/0) | Premier Mandatory (0/0) |
Tier II (0/0) | Premier 5 (0/0) |
Tier III (1/0) | Premier (0/0) |
Tier IV & V (0/0) | International (5/1) |
Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 1. | 25 February 2007 | Bogotá, Colombia | Clay | Tathiana Garbin | 6–7(5), 6–4, 0–3 ret. |
Winner | 2. | 19 April 2009 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | Maria Kirilenko | 6–0, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 1. | 17 April 2010 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | Francesca Schiavone | 6–1, 6–1 |
Winner | 3. | 24 October 2010 | Luxembourg City, Luxembourg | Hard (i) | Julia Görges | 6–3, 6–4 |
Winner | 4. | 30 April 2011 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | Lucie Hradecká | 4–6, 6–2, 6–4 |
Winner | 5. | 18 June 2011 | 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands | Grass | Jelena Dokić | 6–7(7), 6–3, 7–5 |
Winner | 6. | 10 July 2011 | Budapest, Hungary | Clay | Irina-Camelia Begu | 6–4, 1–6, 6–4 |
Legend: Before 2009 | Legend: Starting in 2009 |
---|---|
Grand Slam tournaments (0/1) | |
Olympic Gold (0/0) | |
WTA Championships (0/0) | |
Tier I (0/4) | Premier Mandatory (1/1) |
Tier II (0/1) | Premier 5 (1/0) |
Tier III (1/1) | Premier (0/1) |
Tier IV & V (2/0) | International (8/3) |
Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 1. | 12 February 2001 | Doha, Qatar | Hard | Sandrine Testud | Kristie Boogert Miriam Oremans |
7–5, 7–6(4) |
Runner-up | 1. | 18 October 2001 | Zürich, Switzerland | Hard | Sandrine Testud | Lindsay Davenport Lisa Raymond |
6–3, 2–6, 6–2 |
Runner-up | 2. | 31 January 2002 | Tokyo, Japan | Hard | Els Callens | Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs |
6–1, 6–1 |
Runner-up | 3. | 21 February 2002 | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Hard | Sandrine Testud | Barbara Rittner María Vento-Kabchi |
6–3, 6–2 |
Winner | 2. | 19 September 2005 | Portorož, Slovenia | Hard | Anabel Medina Garrigues | Jelena Kostanić Tošić Katarina Srebotnik |
6–4, 5–7, 6–2 |
Winner | 3. | 13 January 2006 | Canberra, Australia | Hard | Marta Domachowska | Claire Curran Liga Dekmeijere |
7–6(5), 6–3 |
Runner-up | 4. | 22 February 2007 | Bogotá, Colombia | Clay | Flavia Pennetta | Lourdes Domínguez Lino Paola Suárez |
1–6, 6–3, [11–9] |
Runner-up | 5. | 10 May 2007 | Berlin, Germany | Clay | Tathiana Garbin | Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur |
6–3, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 6. | 17 May 2007 | Rome, Italy | Clay | Tathiana Garbin | Nathalie Dechy Mara Santangelo |
6–4, 6–1 |
Runner-up | 7. | 22 February 2010 | Acapulco, Mexico | Clay | Sara Errani | Polona Hercog Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová |
6–2, 1–6, [10–2] |
Winner | 4. | 11 April 2010 | Marbella, Spain | Clay | Sara Errani | Maria Kondratieva Yaroslava Shvedova |
6–4, 6–2 |
Winner | 5. | 17 April 2010 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | Sara Errani | Timea Bacsinszky Tathiana Garbin |
6–1, 3–6, [10–2] |
Winner | 6. | 15 January 2011 | Hobart, Australia | Hard | Sara Errani | Kateryna Bondarenko Līga Dekmeijere |
6–3, 7–5 |
Winner | 7. | 13 February 2011 | Pattaya City, Thailand | Hard | Sara Errani | Sun Shengnan Zheng Jie |
3–6, 6–3, [10–5] |
Runner-up | 8. | 10 April 2011 | Marbella, Spain | Clay | Sara Errani | Nuria Llagostera Vives Arantxa Parra Santonja |
3–6, 6–4, [10–5] |
Runner-up | 9. | 12 June 2011 | Birmingham, United Kingdom | Grass | Sara Errani | Olga Govortsova Alla Kudryavtseva |
1–6, 6–1, [10–5] |
Winner | 8. | 17 July 2011 | Palermo, Italy | Clay | Sara Errani | Andrea Hlaváčková Klára Zakopalová |
7–5, 6–1 |
Runner-up | 10. | 27 August 2011 | New Haven, United States | Hard | Sara Errani | Chuang Chia-jung Olga Govortsova |
7–5, 6–2 |
Runner-up | 11. | 26 January 2012 | Australian Open, Australia | Hard | Sara Errani | Svetlana Kuznetsova Vera Zvonareva |
5–7, 6–4, 6–3 |
Winner | 9. | 26 February 2012 | Monterrey, Mexico | Hard | Sara Errani | Kimiko Date-Krumm Zhang Shuai |
6–2, 7–6(6) |
Winner | 10. | 4 March 2012 | Acapulco, Mexico | Clay | Sara Errani | Lourdes Dominguez Lino Arantxa Parra Santonja |
6–2, 6–1 |
Runner-up | 12. | 31 March 2012 | Miami, United States | Hard | Sara Errani | Maria Kirilenko Nadia Petrova |
7–6(0), 4–6, [10–4] |
Winner | 11. | 15 April 2012 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | Sara Errani | Flavia Pennetta Francesca Schiavone |
6–0, 6–2 |
Winner | 12. | 13 May 2012 | Madrid, Spain | Clay (blue) | Sara Errani | Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina |
6–1, 3–6, [10–4] |
Winner | 13. | 20 May 2012 | Rome, Italy | Clay | Sara Errani | Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina |
6–2, 7–5 |
Tournament | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | W–L | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam Tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q1 | 3R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 2R | 5–7 | |||||||||||||||||
French Open | A | A | A | A | A | Q2 | Q2 | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | Q1 | 1R | 2R | 3R | 1R | 3–8 | |||||||||||||||||
Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | Q3 | Q3 | 3R | A | 2R | Q2 | 3R | 2R | 3R | 8–6 | ||||||||||||||||||
US Open | A | A | A | A | 1R | Q1 | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 3–9 | ||||||||||||||||||
WTA Premier Mandatory Tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indian Wells | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | 2R | 3R | 1R | 4R | 5–5 | |||||||||||||||||
Miami | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | LQ | 3R | 1R | 3R | 3–6 | |||||||||||||||||
Madrid | Not Held | 2R | LQ | 3R | 3R | 7–4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Beijing | Not Held | Not Tier I | 1R | 2R | 2R | 4–3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WTA Premier 5 Tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dubai | Not Tier I | A | A | 2R | NP5 | 3–4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rome | A | A | Q2 | Q1 | Q2 | Q1 | Q1 | Q2 | 2R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 4–8 | |||||||||||||||||
Montréal / Toronto | A | A | A | A | Q1 | Q1 | A | A | 1R | A | 2R | A | 2R | Q2 | QF | 5–4 | ||||||||||||||||||
Cincinnati | NH | Not Tier I | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1–3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tokyo | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | A | A | 2R | A | QF | A | 2R | 2R | A | 5–3 |
Tournament | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | W–L | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | 3R | 1R | QF | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | F | 14–11 | |||||||||||
French Open | QF | QF | 1R | SF | 1R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 3R | 15–11 | ||||||||||||
Wimbledon | A | 3R | 1R | 3R | 1R | A | 1R | A | 1R | 3R | 3R | 8–7 | ||||||||||||
US Open | SF | 1R | A | 1R | 3R | 2R | 1R | A | 1R | 1R | QF | 10–9 |
|
|
|
|
Persondata | |
---|---|
Name | Vinci, Roberta |
Alternative names | |
Short description | Tennis player |
Date of birth | 18 February 1983 |
Place of birth | Taranto, Italy |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
Toray Pan Pacific Open 2009 in Tokyo |
|
Country | Japan |
---|---|
Residence | Ōta, Gunma, Japan |
Born | (1990-03-11) March 11, 1990 (age 22) Ōta, Gunma, Japan |
Height | 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in) |
Weight | 55 kg (120 lb; 8.7 st) |
Turned pro | 2005 |
Retired | Active |
Plays | Right-handed (two-handed both sides) |
Career prize money | US $1,038,204 |
Singles | |
Career record | 199–152 |
Career titles | 0 WTA, 8 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 40 (October 3, 2011) |
Current ranking | No. 88 (May 21, 2012) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | 3R (2011) |
French Open | 2R (2011, 2012) |
Wimbledon | 2R (2010) |
US Open | 1R (2009, 2010, 2011) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 74–63 |
Career titles | 0 WTA, 2 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 65 (February 9, 2009) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
French Open | 1R (2009) |
Wimbledon | 2R (2010) |
US Open | 2R (2010) |
Last updated on: January 10, 2011. |
Ayumi Morita (森田 あゆみ, Morita Ayumi?, born March 11, 1990 in Ōta, Gunma, Japan[1]) 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.
Contents |
On September 16, 2008, she beat world No. 19 Ágnes Szávay 6–7, 7–5, 6–4 in the Toray Pan Pacific Open.[2]
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.
Her first tournament of 2011 was the 2011 ASB Classic. She faced Romanian teenager Simona Halep and lost 6–0, 7–6 despite recovering from being two breaks down in the second set. Her next tournament was the 2011 Moorilla Hobart International. She faced Akgul Amanmuradova and won 3–6, 6–1, 7–6. Her next opponent was Bethanie Mattek-Sands, to whom she lost to by a score of 6–3, 6–1. Ayumi played at the 2011 Australian Open – Women's Singles where she defeated #27 seed Alexandra Dulgheru 6–4, 6–4. She then defeated wildcard Caroline Garcia in the second round 6–4, 6–4. She was defeated by Peng Shuai in the third round 6–1, 3–6, 6–3.
At the 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships, Morita successfully qualified by defeating Sophie Lefèvre 6–2, 6–4 and Vesna Manasieva 7–5, 6–1. In the first round of the main draw, she defeated No.14 seed Petra Kvitová 7–6, 7–6. Before the match, Kvitová had only lost once in 2011 and had already won two titles. Morita will play Indian wildcard Sania Mirza in the second round.
$100,000 tournaments |
$75,000 tournaments |
$50,000 tournaments |
$25,000 tournaments |
$10,000 tournaments |
Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 1. | 15 May 2005 | Fukuoka, Japan | Carpet | Yung-Jan Chan | 3–6, 2–6 |
Runner-up | 2. | 14 May 2006 | Fukuoka, Japan | Carpet | Yung-Jan Chan | 3–6, 6–4, 1–6 |
Winner | 3. | 6 August 2006 | Tokachi, Japan | Carpet | Erika Takao | 6–3, 4–6, 7–6(8–6) |
Winner | 4. | 30 September 2006 | Tokyo, Japan | Hard | Yung-Jan Chan | 3–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 5. | 6 May 2007 | Gifu, Japan | Carpet | Yung-Jan Chan | 3–6, 1–6 |
Runner-up | 6. | 9 June 2007 | Surbiton, England | Grass | Brenda Schultz-McCarthy | 6–4, 4–6, 6–7(5–7) |
Winner | 7. | 22 July 2007 | Kurume, Japan | Carpet | Erika Takao | 6–1, 3–1 ret. |
Runner-up | 8. | 5 August 2007 | Obihiro, Japan | Carpet | Sophie Ferguson | 4–6, 3–6 |
Winner | 9. | 2 November 2008 | Tokyo, Japan | Hard | Jarmila Gajdošová | 6–2, 2–6, 6–3 |
Winner | 10. | 22 November 2008 | Kolkata, India | Hard | Elora Dabija | 6–3, 6–1 |
Winner | 11. | 30 November 2008 | Toyota, Japan | Carpet | Ksenia Lykina | 6–1, 6–3 |
Winner | 12. | 4 October 2010 | Toyota, Japan | Hard | Jill Craybas | 6–3, 7–5 |
Winner | 13. | 31 October 2011 | Taipei | Hard | Kimiko Date-Krumm | 6–2, 6-2 |
$100,000 tournaments |
$75,000 tournaments |
$50,000 tournaments |
$25,000 tournaments |
$10,000 tournaments |
Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 1. | 23 July 2005 | Kurume, Japan | Carpet | Erika Sema | Chin-Wei Chan Su-Wei Hsieh |
4–6, 3–6 |
Runner-up | 2. | 17 February 2006 | Sydney, Australia | Hard | Junri Namigata | Chin-Wei Chan Chia-Jung Chuang |
2–6, 1–6 |
Runner-up | 3. | 16 February 2007 | Melbourne, Australia | Clay | Natsumi Hamamura | I-Hsuan Hwang Ye-Ra Lee |
2–6, 1–6 |
Winner | 4. | 6 May 2007 | Gifu, Japan | Carpet | Ai Sugiyama | Kumiko Iijima Seiko Okamoto |
6–1, 3–6, 6–0 |
Winner | 5. | 13 May 2007 | Fukuoka, Japan | Carpet | Akiko Yonemura | Rika Fujiwara Junri Namigata |
6–2, 6–2 |
Runner-up | 6. | 5 August 2007 | Obihiro, Japan | Carpet | Akiko Yonemura | Kumiko Iijima Junri Namigata |
6–7(3–7), 0–6 |
Winner | 7. | 10 October 2009 | Tokyo, Japan | Hard | Yung-Jan Chan | Kimiko Date-Krumm Rika Fujiwara |
6–2, 6–4 |
|
|
Persondata | |
---|---|
Name | Morita, Ayumi |
Alternative names | |
Short description | Tennis player |
Date of birth | 11 March 1990 |
Place of birth | Ōta, Gunma, Japan |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
This biographical 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. (September 2011) |
Stosur at the 2009 US Open |
|
Country | Australia |
---|---|
Residence | Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia |
Born | (1984-03-30) 30 March 1984 (age 28) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) |
Weight | 65 kg (140 lb; 10.2 st) |
Turned pro | 1999 |
Plays | Right (two-handed backhand) |
Career prize money | $ 10,401,252 |
Singles | |
Career record | 380–260 |
Career titles | 3 WTA, 4 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 4 (21 February 2011) |
Current ranking | No. 6 (28 May 2012) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | 4R (2006, 2010) |
French Open | F (2010) |
Wimbledon | 3R (2009) |
US Open | W (2011) |
Other tournaments | |
Championships | SF (2010, 2011) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 342–158 |
Career titles | 23 WTA, 11 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 1 (6 February 2006) |
Current ranking | No. 42 (28 May 2012) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | F (2006) |
French Open | W (2006) |
Wimbledon | F (2008, 2009, 2011) |
US Open | W (2005) |
Other Doubles tournaments | |
WTA Championships | W (2005, 2006) |
Olympic Games | 2R (2008) |
Mixed Doubles | |
Career titles | 2 |
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |
Australian Open | W (2005) |
French Open | SF (2005) |
Wimbledon | W (2008) |
US Open | 2R (2008) |
Last updated on: 28 May 2012. |
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.
Contents |
Stosur was born in Brisbane, Queensland, the daughter of Tony and Diane, and has two brothers, Dominic and Daniel.[1] She is of Polish descent through her grandfather.[2] When she was six, the family house and business on the Gold Coast was destroyed by a flood, and the family moved to Adelaide.[3] 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.[4] Stosur attended Helensvale State High School on the Northern Gold Coast.[5] She went away on her first overseas trip at the age of 13, competing in the World Youth Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia.[1]
At the age of 14, Stosur joined the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) under Geoff Masters. In 2001, when she was 16, she joined the Australian Institute of Sport tennis program.[1]
Stosur travels with a small entourage comprising Coach Dave Taylor and Personal Trainer Simmone Morrow. While Taylor is well known in the tennis circle as the Fed Cup Captain for Australia, little is known about Morrow. Commentators such as Sam Smith from Eurosport UK have attributed Stosur's high level of fitness to Morrow, stating that both Taylor and Morrow have an equal part to play in Stosur's 2011 success at the US Open. Morrow, who is a retired Olympic softball player, despite having been in Stosur's entourage since early 2009, has only been recently identified by Eurosport's Sam Smith as Stosur's personal trainer.
Stosur is single and is good friends with tennis players Gigi Fernandez, Rennae Stubbs and Lisa Raymond.
This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (September 2011) |
Stosur first played professional tennis in 1999 on the ITF circuit. She debuted on the Women's Tennis Association tour in 2000, losing in the first qualifying round of the Australian Open. In 2001 she won four straight ITF titles. In 2002 she lost in the first round at the Gold Coast event.
In 2003, Stosur won her first WTA singles matches, reaching the third round of the Australian Open. She lost in the third round to no. 7 seed, Daniela Hantuchová. She also qualified for a WTA event in Memphis.
In 2004, Stosur reached the semifinals of the Gold Coast event, before falling to Ai Sugiyama. The next week, she reached the second round of the WTA tournament in Hobart, then the second round of the Australian Open. She later qualified for WTA events in Acapulco, Indian Wells, Vienna and Birmingham. Stosur competed at the Athens Olympics, where she lost in the first round. She continued to play WTA qualifying events, qualifying for the Japan Open and Bali in the autumn of 2004. At the end of the 2004 season, Stosur reached the doubles final in Québec City, partnered with Els Callens from Belgium.
In 2005 Stosur reached her first WTA tour final at her home event in Gold Coast, losing to Patty Schnyder. She was runner-up at the Sydney event, defeating by walkover the world no. 1 Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinal and Elena Dementieva in the semifinal, before losing to fellow Australian Alicia Molik, and won her first doubles title partnering Australian Bryanne Stewart at the same tournament. Stosur lost to world no. 2 Amélie Mauresmo in the first round of the Australian Open, but won the mixed doubles title with Scott Draper over Liezel Huber and Kevin Ullyett.
In July, she teamed up with American Lisa Raymond, winning seven WTA doubles titles before the end of the year, including the U.S. Open, the Kremlin Cup, and the WTA Tour Championships. Stosur finished the year ranked no. 46 in singles and no. 2 in doubles.
In 2006 Stosur represented Australia alongside Todd Reid at the Hopman Cup, winning all of her singles matches. She then lost in the first round in Sydney to Czech Nicole Vaidišová in three sets.
At the Australian Open, Stosur made it to the fourth round in singles, falling to Martina Hingis. She and Lisa Raymond also made it to the women's doubles final, where they were defeated by Chinese duo Yan Zi and Zheng Jie.
After losing at the Australian Open, Stosur and Raymond won 18 straight matches, winning titles in Tokyo, Memphis, Indian Wells, and Miami. They also won in Charleston, at the French Open, and the WTA Tour Championships.
On 28 August, Stosur achieved a career-high ranking of number 30, after reaching the semifinals at New Haven, where she lost to Lindsay Davenport in two tiebreakers. She finished off the year winning the doubles title at the WTA Tour Championships in Madrid, ranked no. 1 in doubles and a career-high to that point no. 29 in singles.
Stosur and Lisa Raymond successfully defended their doubles titles in Tokyo, Indian Wells, and Miami. The pair also won the German Open in Berlin. In singles, Stosur reached three quarterfinals, at Gold Coast, Tokyo, and Memphis. In Rome, she defeated first seed Amélie Mauresmo in the second round, saving two match points, before losing to Patty Schnyder in the following round.
After the French Open, Stosur started showing symptoms of what would only after months be diagnosed as Lyme disease, an infection transmitted by the bite of ticks. By then, her form had slumped. She lost in the second round at Wimbledon, withdrew from many tournaments on the US hardcourt circuit, and lost in the first round of the U.S. Open, where she was seeded 29th, to the then ranked no. 96 Alizé Cornet of France. Stosur did not play any more tournaments in 2007.
Stosur returned playing two ITF tournaments before the 2008 Rome Masters in May, where she was defeated in the second round by Venus Williams. The tournament also saw the return of the doubles team of Stosur and Lisa Raymond with a second round loss. Less than a month later, they were defeated in the third round of the 2008 French Open, where Stosur reached the second round in singles, losing to Petra Kvitová.
Stosur showed great promise at Wimbledon; while only making the second round in singles, losing to Nicole Vaidišová, she made the finals of both the ladies and mixed doubles. She and Lisa Raymond lost the final to Venus and Serena Williams. The Williams sisters had just played against each other in the final of the ladies singles. With mixed doubles partner Bob Bryan, Stosur defeated Mike Bryan and Katarina Srebotnik to win the title.
At the Beijing Olympics, Stosur was defeated in the second round of the singles tournament by no. 4 seed Serena Williams. In doubles, Stosur (formerly ranked no. 1) partnered Rennae Stubbs, ranked no. 5 at the time; however, the pair were unseeded because the ITF determined the seedings for the doubles competition based on both singles and doubles rankings standings. The pair lost in the second round to the Spanish team of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual, who were then ranked no. 2.
At the US Open, Stosur lost in the first round of singles to seventh seed Venus Williams. She and Mahesh Bhupathi were eliminated in the second round of the mixed doubles competition by Rennae Stubbs and Robert Lindstedt. Raymond and Stosur were runners-up at the women's doubles event, losing to the top ranked team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber.
By the end of the year Stosur was ranked no. 52 in the WTA singles rankings, 110 spots above her ranking in June. In spite of missing the first 4 1/2 months of the tour, Raymond and Stosur finished the season as the seventh best team at the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships, with Stosur ranked no. 14 in doubles, 156 positions higher than she was when she returned to playing on the ITF circuit.
In her first tournament of the year, Stosur fell to Lucie Šafářová in the second round of the Brisbane International. At the Medibank International, she was defeated by no. 1 seed Serena Williams, 6–3, 6–7, 7–5. Seeded fourth in doubles, the pair of Stosur and Rennae Stubbs lost to Peng Shuai and Hsieh Su-wei in the first round of the tournament. Stosur lost in the third round to world no. 4 Elena Dementieva, 7–6, 6–4. She also won through to the third round in doubles, partnering Stubbs, defeating the Radwańska sisters 6–1, 6–4. However, they then lost to eventual champions Venus and Serena Williams, 4–6, 2–6.
In the Fed Cup Asia/Oceanic Zone competition, Stosur won four matches against various opponents from South Korea, Thailand, and Chinese Taipei. The Australian team, which also included Casey Dellacqua and Jelena Dokić, advanced to the World Group II play-offs, winning all of its twelve rubbers.
At the Dubai Tennis Championships, Stosur was defeated in the second round by Zheng Jie. Together with Stubbs, she was ousted in the semifinals of the doubles competition by the world no.1 team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber, 4–6, 4–6.
In Indian Wells, Stosur was eliminated in the second round by Agnieszka Radwańska 6–3, 3–6, 5–7. In doubles, Stosur lost to Vera Zvonareva and Victoria Azarenka in the second round 2–6, 6–3, 7–10. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Stosur defeated no. 2 seed Dinara Safina in the third round, 6–1, 6–4. Safina would have reached the no. 1 ranking had she won the match. She lost to Victoria Azarenka 1–6, 0–6. She reached the same round in doubles, losing to Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Patty Schnyder, 7–6, 2–6, 8–10. Due to her results, Stosur's singles ranking rose from 43 to 31.
At the MPS Group Championships in Ponte Vedra Beach, Stosur was eliminated in the first round by no. 2 seed and eventual champion Caroline Wozniacki, 3–6, 7–6, 1–6. She then played for the Australian Fed Cup team in Mildura, Australia against Switzerland in their World Group II playoff on 25–26 April. Stosur won the opening rubber of the tie in straight sets then sealed the victory for Australia in the third rubber with a tight three-set victory, improving her 2009 Fed Cup singles record to 6–0. With this result, the Australian team advanced to the World Group II in 2010.
On to the clay season, Stosur was eliminated in the first round of the Rome Masters by qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova, and was also defeated in her first match in doubles. She then competed at the Madrid Masters, where she upset no.10 seed Agnieszka Radwańska in the first round, but fell to Anna Chakvetadze in the second round 6–1, 2–6, 6–7. Stosur and Stubbs made it to the semifinals, but were defeated by the world no. 1 team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber 5–7, 6–7.
At the 2009 French Open, Stosur and Stubbs fell in the third round to 16th seeds Yan Zi and Zheng Jie. In singles, Stosur defeated Francesca Schiavone, 6–4, 6–2, in the first round and Yanina Wickmayer, 6–3, 4–6, 6–4, in the second. She then beat fourth seed Elena Dementieva in the third round, 6–3, 4–6, 6–1, and Virginie Razzano of France, 6–1, 6–2, for a place in the quarterfinals, where she defeated Sorana Cîrstea, 6–1, 6–3, and advanced to her first ever Grand Slam semifinal against no. 7 seed and eventual champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova. After losing the first set 4–6, Stosur fought back a break of serve to win the second set 7–6, after trailing 2–5 in the tiebreaker, but lost in the final set 3–6. This made her the lowest seed in the tournament to reach the furthest. With this result, Stosur cracked the top 20 on the WTA Rankings for the first time in her career.
Stosur started the grass season playing at the AEGON International. She lost in the second round to sixth seed and eventual champion Caroline Wozniacki, 1–6, 7–5, 1–6. Having beaten the world no. 1 team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber in the semifinals, she was a runner-up in the doubles tournament, losing the final to Ai Sugiyama and Akgul Amanmuradova.
As the 18th seed at Wimbledon, Stosur lost in the third to 13th seed Ana Ivanović, 5–7, 2–6. In ladies' doubles, Stosur reached her second consecutive final, this time partnering Rennae Stubbs. The third seeds beat second seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual in three sets, 6–7, 6–4, 6–2 in the semifinals, but were defeated in the final by fourth seeds Venus and Serena Williams in straight sets, 6–7, 4–7. Stosur was also defending the mixed doubles title together with Bob Bryan, but the second seeds were defeated in the quarterfinals by 9th seeds and eventual champions Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Mark Knowles.
Stosur started the US Open Series in Stanford, making it into the semifinals, where she lost to eighth seed Marion Bartoli.
Stosur then competed at the LA Women's Tennis Championships as the no. 13 seed. She made it to her fifth WTA Tour final, where she lost to no. 10 seed Flavia Pennetta. Her next tournament was Toronto, where she defeated no. 6 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round, 6–4, 6–3, before being eliminated by 4th seed and eventual champion Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals 6–7, 6–1, 6–3. At the same tournament, Stosur and Stubbs defeated the world no. 1 team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber in the semifinals, 3–6, 6–3, [10–7], but lost to Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez, 6–2, 5–7, [9–11], in the final.
With these results, Stosur improved her ranking to a career-high no. 15 in singles just in time for the US Open, where she was seeded accordingly. She lost to American Vania King in the second round, 5–7, 6–4–6. Stosur entered the doubles event with compatriot Rennae Stubbs. As the third seeds, they made the semifinals without dropping a set, where they faced no. 1 seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber. They won the first set, but lost the next two after a two-day rain interruption, 7–5, 3–6, 1–6.
At the 2009 Toray Pan Pacific Open, Stosur was defeated by Maria Sharapova in the second round, 0–6, 1–6. Seeded 15th at the China Open, Stosur lost a three-setter to Alizé Cornet. Stosur then played in Osaka as the third seed. Stosur captured her first-ever title on the WTA tour by beating Francesca Schiavone in the finals, 7–5, 6–1, in just over an hour. This win secured her a spot at the 2009 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions held in Bali. She also qualified at the 2009 WTA Tour Championships in the doubles event partnering compatriot Rennae Stubbs. They lost a hard-fought semifinals match against no. 1 seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber, 6–3, 6–7 8–10.
Stosur was one of only two players on tour who played at both year-end championships. The other one was María José Martínez Sánchez, who was in Stosur's group at Bali for the round-robin stage with Ágnes Szávay. Stosur won her first match against Szávay in three sets, 6–2, 3–6, 6–1, but lost her second to María José Martínez Sánchez, 6–7, 5–7. This loss cost her the semifinals spot, as Martínez Sánchez won both her round-robin matches.
After her success in 2009, Stosur decided to focus on singles and take part in doubles less. Her partnership with Rennae Stubbs ended, and she partnered with Nadia Petrova; she took part in only the major tournaments in hopes of reaching the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha.
Alongside Lleyton Hewitt, Stosur represented Australia at the 2010 Hopman Cup. The Australians were the top seeds. Their first tie was against Romania, where Stosur lost unexpectedly to Sorana Cîrstea in a three-setter, and then lost in the mixed doubles, 5–7, 1–6. The next tie was against the USA, where Stosur beat Melanie Oudin in straight sets, 6–2, 6–4. Hewitt also won his singles match against John Isner, sealing the tie. In mixed doubles, Hewitt-Stosur lost 6–2, 1–6, 5–10. To advance to the final, Australia needed to win their tie against Spain 3–0. This result was, however, reversed, Australia losing to Spain 0–3. Stosur's last preparation tournament prior to the Australian Open was the Medibank International. Stosur lost to Flavia Pennetta,3–6, 1–6, in the first round.
Stosur was guaranteed a seeding of 13 for the 2010 Australian Open. She lost against world number 1 and defending champion Serena Williams, 4–6, 2–6. Despite the loss, she moved up to a career-high ranking of no. 11. She played with Russian Nadia Petrova in the doubles event of the Australian Open. They were seeded fifth, but lost to another Russia-Australian duo, Vera Dushevina and Anastasia Rodionova in the first round.
She then travelled to Adelaide to represent Australia at the Fed Cup alongside Alicia Molik, Casey Dellacqua, and Rennae Stubbs against Spain. Stosur won both of her singles matches by beating María José Martínez Sánchez, 2–6, 6–4, 6–4, and Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6–1, 6–3. Stosur and Rennae Stubbs won their doubles match, 6–4, 6–2, gifting Australia a 3–2 win in the tie.
Her next tournament was the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she was seeded ninth. Stosur was stunned in the opening round, 6–3, 2–6, 6–7, at the hands of veteran Tathiana Garbin. She had better success in the doubles partnering Nadia Petrova. The pair was seeded fourth and reached the semifinals after receiving a first-round bye, then a walkover, and a win against fifth seeds Alisa Kleybanova and Francesca Schiavone, 6–7, 7–5, [11–9].
Seeded eighth at the BNP Paribas Open, Stosur received a first-round bye. In the quarterfinals, she defeated 12th seed and defending champion Vera Zvonareva, 6–2, 7–6, to move through to her first semifinal at the tournament, where she lost to eventual champion Jelena Janković, 2–6, 4–6, with Stosur making 47 unforced errors in the match. With her success, she reached a career-high ranking of no. 10, making her only the third Australian woman to achieve this feat in 10 years, after Jelena Dokić reached number 4 in 2002 and Alicia Molik reached number 8 in 2005. In doubles, Stosur was third seed with Nadia Petrova. They had a comfortable route to the final, dropping only one set, where they lost 4–6, 6–2, [5–10] to Květa Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik
Stosur's next tournament was the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, where she was seeded ninth. Due to her seeding, Stosur received a bye in the first round. She lost in the quarterfinals, losing to eventual champion Kim Clijsters, 3–6, 5–7. In the doubles draw, Stosur and Petrova were seeded third and reached the final without dropping a set. However, Stosur and Petrova were defeated in the second straight final, losing in a super-tiebreak 3–6, 6–4, [7–10] to Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta.
Stosur began her clay season at the Family Circle Cup, where she was seeded fourth. In the final, she defeated Vera Zvonareva, 6–0, 6–3, for her fifth consecutive victory over the Russian. With this, she won her second and biggest WTA title, which put her back inside the top 10 at world no. 10. She is the only Australian woman to have won this title.
Then, Stosur competed in the World Group Play-offs in Ukraine. After the first day, the Aussies had a commanding lead, going 2–0 against Ukraine. This was helped by a 6–3, 6–0 win from Stosur against Mariya Koryttseva, and Anastasia Rodionova's win over Alona Bondarenko, 0–6, 6–3, 7–5. Stosur then secured victory for Australia with a 7–6, 6–3 win over Lyudmyla Kichenok. Because of this, Australia played in the World Group in 2011 against the top seed Italy.
Stosur then competed at the 2010 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. Her 11-game winning streak was ended by former world no. 1 Justine Henin in the final, 4–6, 6–2, 1–6. Despite this result, Stosur was awarded a new career high ranking of world no. 8.
Her next scheduled tournament was the Rome Masters; however, Stosur had to withdraw due to fatigue. With this, her next scheduled tournament was the Madrid Open as the no. 8 seed. In the quarterfinals, Stosur was broken multiple times by Venus Williams, losing 3–6, 3–6. Because of her run, she rose to world no. 7. In doubles, Stosur resumed her partnership with Nadia Petrova as third seeds with a first-round bye. However, they were knocked out in the second round by Anastasia Rodionova and Patty Schnyder.
Coming in to the French Open Stosur was seeded seventh and was one of the favourites to win the title, due to her semifinal run in 2009 and her tour-best 14–2 record on clay in 2010. She was drawn in the same quarter as Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, which was dubbed the toughest section of the draw. Becoming the first Australian woman to reach a Grand Slam singles final since Wendy Turnbull at the 1980 Australian Open, she was the heavy favourite for the title, by dispatching three consecutive former world no. 1's and favorites for the title (4th – Justine Henin, QF – Serena Williams and SF – Jelena Janković). She was upset by Italian Francesca Schiavone, 4–6, 6–7.
In doubles, Stosur and her partner Nadia Petrova were the fourth seeds. They defeated Irina Pavlovic and Laura Thorpe in the first round, 6–4, 6–4, then defeated Vania King and Michaëlla Krajicek in the second round 6–4, 6–7, 6–4. Their run came to an end at the hands of Ukrainian sisters Alona Bondarenko and Kateryna Bondarenko, when the fourth seeds retired trailing 1–6, 0–1.
Stosur's next scheduled tournament was the AEGON International in Eastbourne in the week prior to Wimbledon. In the semifinal. she was defeated by eventual champion Ekaterina Makarova. 6–7, 5–7, in a disappointing display, despite leading the first set 3–0 and having a chance to serve for that set at 5–3. With her semifinals appearance in the AEGON International in Eastbourne, she attained a new career high of world no. 6. Also, with this appearance, she was ranked no. 1 in the race to the WTA Tour Championships in Doha.
Her next tournament was the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. As the sixth seed, Stosur fell in the first round to Kaia Kanepi, 4–6, 4–6, after saving three match points. As the 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone also lost in the first round, Stosur and Schiavone were the first two women in history who reached the French Open final, but failed to win a match at Wimbledon. Despite not winning a match, she received a new career-high ranking of world no. 5, due to Elena Dementieva's withdrawal from the tournament due to injury. Dementieva held the world no. 5 position before the 2010 Wimbledon Championships began and had semifinal points to defend.
Stosur also played in the doubles event, hoping to have success similar to the previous year with then-partner Rennae Stubbs. She played with her 2010 partner Nadia Petrova as the third seeds, but lost in the third round to eventual champions Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova, 4–6, 4–6. She also competed in the mixed doubles event as first seeds with Nenad Zimonjić. They received a bye in the first round, and in the second round, they defeated Colin Fleming and Sarah Borwell, 6–1, 6–4. They then faced the Belgium duo Xavier Malisse and Kim Clijsters, but lost 4–6, 6–7.
Stosur's next scheduled tournament was the 2010 Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, where she was the first seed, but lost in a semifinal match-up with Victoria Azarenka, 2–6, 3–6.
She then participated in the Mercury Insurance Open in San Diego. As the second seed, she lost in the quarterfinals to Flavia Pennetta, 4–6, 3–6.
Due to a shoulder injury, she withdrew from her next two events; the Cincinnati Masters and the Rogers Cup in Montreal. This meant that Stosur had only taken part in one of the five Premier 5 tournaments of the year. By missing both Premier 5 tournaments, Stosur fell to no. 6, since Kim Clijsters won the Cincinnati Masters tournament.
After taking time off to recover from her injury, Stosur took part in the 2010 Pilot Pen Tennis tournament at New Haven, in hopes of regaining some of the lost ranking points and in preparation for the US Open. Stosur lost to Nadia Petrova, 1–6, 2–6, in the quarterfinals.
At the 2010 US Open Stosur was seeded fifth. In her first quarterfinal at the US Open, she was up a break in the third set, before falling to defending champion and second seed Kim Clijsters, 4–6, 7–5, 3–6. Stosur announced that she would not take part in the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Instead, Stosur competed at the final Premier Mandatory event of the year, the China Open, where she lost in the first round to qualifier, Anastasija Sevastova in three sets, 6–2, 6–7, 5–7. Stosur qualified in singles for the year-ending WTA Tour Championships in Doha for the first time in her career, following the withdrawal of American, Venus Williams.[6]
Stosur then attempted to defend her title at the 2010 HP Open as top seed, her only WTA International tournament of the year. She lost against Kimiko Date-Krumm in the quarterfinals, 7–5, 3–6, 6–7, becoming the first top 10 player in WTA history to lose to an opponent over the age of 40.
Stosur competed at the 2010 WTA Tour Championships, where she was seeded fifth. Stosur was drawn in the Maroon Group alongside world no. 1, Caroline Wozniacki, world no. 6 Francesca Schiavone, and world no. 9 Elena Dementieva, seeded first, fourth, and seventh respectively, due to the William Sisters' withdrawal. In her first match against Schiavone, she avenged her Roland Garros final loss to the Italian by defeating her in straight sets, 6–4, 6–4, coming back from a 0–4 deficit in the first set. Her next opponent was world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. Stosur continued her dominant showing, recording a 6–4, 6–3 win to secure her spot in the semifinals. She then fell to Elena Dementieva, 6–4, 4–6, 6–7, but secured her spot in the semifinals by winning one set. Stosur finished in first position in her round-robin group, but lost to three-time US Open Champion and world no. 4 Kim Clijsters in the semifinals.
Stosur ended her year at world no. 6 with 4,982 ranking points, just behind world no. 5 Venus Williams with 4,985 ranking points. In addition, Stosur was the only player in 2010 to defeat both current world no. 1 players, Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki. She also had the best percentage of points scored on second serve amongst her peers.
Stosur began her 2011 season by competing at the Brisbane International. She fell in straight sets to fellow Australian, Jarmila Groth in the second round. After this tournament, Stosur competed at the Medibank Sydney International as the fourth seed. She lost in the second round to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Stosur was seeded fifth at the 2011 Australian Open, where she lost in the third round to 25th seed Petra Kvitová, 6–7, 3–6. Stosur's ranking rose to number 5, despite her early loss at the Australian Open. Stosur then rose to a new career high no. 4, following a quarterfinal showing at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Stosur had a disappointing start to the first American leg of the year, falling in the third round of the Indian Wells to Dinara Safina, 6–7, 4–6. In Miami, Stosur was seeded fourth, but was defeated in the fourth round by 16th seed and former no. 1 Maria Sharapova, 4–6, 1–6.
After Miami, Stosur played at Charleston, where she failed to defend her title, falling in the third round to Elena Vesnina in two sets.
In Stuttgart, as fifth seed, Stosur lost to Germany's Julia Görges in the semifinals, 4–6, 6–3, 5–7. However, she won in the doubles tournament, partnering Germany's Sabine Lisicki, by defeating the German team of Kristina Barrois and Jasmin Wöhr in the final, 6–1, 7–6.
Stosur's next tournament was the 2011 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where she was the fifth seed. She lost in the third round to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets, 6–7, 3–6. She then competed in Rome. The sixth-seeded Stosur reached the final, but suffered a straight-set 2–6, 4–6 defeat to seventh seed Sharapova.
Stosur was seeded eighth at the 2011 French Open, yet was upset by Gisela Dulko, 6–4, 1–6, 3–6, in the third round. This loss meant that Stosur's ranking dropped to world no. 10.
Stosur's next tournament was the 2011 AEGON International as seventh seed. Stosur progressed to the semifinals, where she lost to Marion Bartoli. At Wimbledon, Stosur suffered a first-round loss to world no. 262 Melinda Czink. In mixed doubles, Stosur partnered with Mike Bryan, but lost in the first round. In ladies doubles, Stosur partnered with Sabine Lisicki. Along the way, the pair upset the top seeds and defending champions Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova in the second round. Stosur and Lisicki made it to the final, but lost in straight sets to Květa Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik, 3–6, 1–6.
Stosur began her US Open Series campaign with a straight-set loss to her doubles partner, Lisicki, in the second round of Bank of the West Classic, 3–6, 5–7. However, Stosur bounced back at the Rogers Cup in Toronto by reaching the final, having defeated Li Na and Agnieszka Radwanska along the way. Stosur was defeated by Serena Williams in the final, 4–6, 2–6. She then competed in the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. She defeated qualifier Eleni Daniilidou, 6–3, 6–1, in the first round. She would then face Serena Williams for the second week in a row in the second round. However, Williams withdrew because of a toe injury, which meant a walkover for Stosur. In the third round, she defeated fifth seed Li Na for the second time in two weeks in three sets, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4. She then faced Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals and lost in straight sets, 3–6, 2–6.
Stosur was seeded ninth at the US Open, and she drew Sofia Arvidsson in the first round and defeated her, 6–2, 6–3.[7] In the second round, she defeated American Coco Vandeweghe, 6–3, 6–4.[8] The third round was one of Stosur's hardest matches against Nadia Petrova, finally prevailing 7–6, 6–7, 7–5 after a 3 hour 16 minute battle.[9] She played Maria Kirilenko in the fourth round and won 6–2, 6–715–17, 6–3. The second set tiebreak score of 15–17 was the longest in any Major in the history of women's tennis.[10] She then beat second seed Vera Zvonareva, 6–3, 6–3, to reach the semifinals for the first time.[11] Stosur followed this milestone with a 6–3, 2–6, 6–2 win over German player Angelique Kerber to reach her first US Open singles final,[12] where she defeated three-time champion Serena Williams, 6–2, 6–3, for her first Grand Slam tournament singles title,[13][14][15] the first by an Australian woman since Evonne Goolagong Cawley won Wimbledon in 1980.[16]
Stosur suffered two second round losses at the 2011 Toray Pan Pacific Open and the 2011 China Open, both to Maria Kirilenko. However, on 9 October 2011 it was announced that Stosur had qualified for the year-ending WTA Tour Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.
Stosur was runner-up at the 2011 HP Open where she was defeated by second seed, Marion Bartoli, 6–3, 6–1 in the final. Along the way she defeated Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, 6–3, 3–6, 7–5, Misaki Doi, 6–2, 6–4, seventh seed Chanelle Scheepers, 6–2, 6–3 and Zheng Jie, 7–6(5), 3–6, 6–3.
Stosur was placed in the white group for the 2011 WTA Tour Championships. Stosur's first match was against second seed Maria Sharapova, winning the match, 6–1, 7–5. In this match, not only did Stosur cause an upset against the second seed, she won her first match against the Russian after losing to Sharapova in their previous nine encounters. In addition, Stosur has won six of her last seven matches against current top 2 players. (The only loss against a current top two player at that time was world no. 1, Serena Williams in the 2010 Australian Open.) In Stosur's second round robin match, she lost to fourth seed Victoria Azarenka 6–2, 6–2. This was her fifth loss against Azarenka and has yet to win a single set from Azarenka. Stosur thrashed fifth seed Li Na 6–1, 6–0 in her final round robin match to advance to the semifinals for the second straight year, where she met maroon group winner, Petra Kvitova for a spot in the final. She lost the match 5–7 6–3 6–3, despite being 7–5 1–0 up with a break point to go 2–0. Despite the loss, this was the first time Stosur won a set against Kvitova. Kvitova went on to defeat Azarenka in the final, making it the second consecutive year that Stosur lost to the eventual champion in the semifinals. Because of Stosur's performance at the WTA Championships, she replaced Vera Zvonareva as the World Number 6, and will finish the season ranked 6 for the second straight year.
Seeded first, Stosur started the year lost in the second round of the Brisbane International to Iveta Benesova 4–6, 2–6. Stosur then suffered two first round defeats at the hands of Francesca Schiavone at the Apia International Sydney 2–6, 4–6, and then by Romanian Sorana Cîrstea 6–7(2), 3–6 at the Australian Open. Stosur admitted that the she could not cope under the heavy weight of home expectation especially after winning the 2011 U.S. Open.[17] Despite the result, Stosur's ranking remained at no 5. due to her not having too many ranking points to lose and Li Na failing to defend her finalist points at last year's Australian Open. Stosur then traveled to Fribourg, Switzerland to represent Australia in their Fed Cup tie against Switzerland. She won both of her singles rubbers against Timea Bacsinszky 6–2, 7–5 and Stefanie Voegele 6–3, 6–2.
She then competed at the 2012 Qatar Total Open in Doha where she was seeded three and avenged her loss in the first round of the Australian Open by defeating Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 7-6(5) in the second round and eventually lost in the final to current world no. 1 Victoria Azarenka, who had not lost a match (17–0) to that point in 2012. Her second Middle-East tournament was the 2012 Dubai Tennis Championships where she defeated Lucie Safarova in the second round 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-1 but for the second straight year lost to former world number no. 1 Jelena Jankovic 4-6, 2-6.
Stosur then traveled to the USA to compete in two premier tournaments, the first being 2012 BNP Paribas Open where she defeated young American Irina Falconi 6-0, 6-3 to make the third round where she lost a very tough match to Nadia Petrova 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-7(5). Then at the Miami Stosur made the quarterfinsls after making a big comeback from 2-6, 2-5 to defeat Chanelle Scheepers 2-6, 7-5, 6-2. Serena Williams got revenge on Stosur for the 2011 US Open final by defeating Sam 7-5, 6-3.
At the 2012 Family Circle Cup in Charleston, Stosur entered the tournament as second seed and had a first round bye. Stosur defeated wild card player Jamie Hampton 6–0, 7–5 in the second round and Galina Voskoboeva 6–3, 4–6, 6–2 in the third round. At the quarterfinals, Stosur defeated Venus Williams for the first time 6–3, 4–6, 6–3 after losing to her in the previous four encounters. However, Stosur's run ended in the semifinals where she lost to eventual champion Serena Williams 1–6 1–6. Had Stosur won against Serena, she would be been the eighth player to defeat both Williams sisters at any one tournament.
After this Stosur made her way to Stuttgart were she won both her singles matches against Germany in the Fed-Cup World Group play-off. She defeated two top twenty players Angelique Kerber, the same player who Stosur faced in the 2011 US Open semifinal and Andrea Petkovic for their first ever head-to-head match. At the WTA event in the same city, Stosur reached the quarterfinals by defeating the defending champion Julia Georges in three sets. She lost in the quarterfinals to Maria Sharapova 7–6, 6–7, 5–7 despite holding a match point in the second set.
At the third Premier Mandatory event in Madrid, Stosur defeated Petra Martic 7–5, 4–6, 7–6(5) and Christina McHale 2–6, 6–4, 6–0 in the first two rounds on the blue clay courts. Stosur's third round opponent will be Petra Cetkovska, who defeated tenth seed Vera Zvonareva and Lourdes Domínguez Lino in straight sets. Stosur won the match in straight sets 6–3, 6–2 to reach the quarterfinals where she lost a tight match to Lucie Hradecka 7-6(8), 7-6(6).
Currently, Williams leads 6–3 in head to head matches. Their first match occurred during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in the second round when Williams was ranked world no. 4, with Williams winning 6–2, 6–0. Since then, both players have been equally matched. Both players even had match points against each other, but lost the match in the end. Such examples of this include Stosur having four match points at the 2009 Medibank International, but lost to Williams. Another example was the 2010 French Open where Williams had a match point, but Stosur won. The only time both players didn't play a complete match was at the 2011 Western and Southern Group Open in the second round where Williams withdrew from the match due to a toe injury. They met at the 2011 US Open final where Stosur prevailed 6–3, 6–2, despite Serena's status as a heavy favourite. Serena avenged the defeat at the 2012 Miami Masters, where Williams defeated Stosur 7–5, 6–3. They next met a week later at the 2012 Family Circle Cup where Williams again defeated Stosur 6–1, 6–1.
Some of these matches were marked by controversy. In the 2010 Australian Open fourth round match, Seven Network stopped broadcast of that match in order to air their news program. Then at the 2011 US Open Final Williams shouted 'C'mon!' during a crucial point in the match before Stosur had a chance to hit the ball and Williams was docked the point.
Currently, Stosur leads 6–4 in head to head matches. Their major matches include the 2009 final of HP Open in Osaka where Stosur lifted her first WTA singles title, and the 2010 French Open final where both players reached their first ever grand slam final, but with Schiavone coming out on top despite Stosur being the heavy favorite to win the championship.
Currently, Stosur leads 8–2 in their head to head matches. In their first two meetings, Zvonareva won both of those matches. After that, Stosur has won the last eight matches, including the 2010 Family Circle Cup final and the 2011 US Open quarterfinal match.
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. (September 2010) |
The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (March 2011) |
General
An accomplished doubles player, Stosur in her early years developed a serve and volley style of play but as the years progressed, she started to feel more comfortable hitting on the baseline and coming to the net less often. Although she is known for being a doubles specialist and having great volleys and drop-shots while playing doubles, in her singles matches, Stosur has a tendency to miss-hit these shots. Her right-handed forehand ground-strokes, hit with heavy top-spin, are considered her best, as evidenced by her often choosing to hit inside-out forehands. She can hit forehand winners from any side of the court, and her motion when hitting her forehands makes it hard for her opponents to guess where she will hit it to. Accordingly, many players attack her backhand side, which was considered a weakness of her game; however in 2010, Stosur adopted Pat Rafter's signature backhand slice, to add to her game and help her set up points. She has also improved on her two-handed backhand and has even generated winners on occasion. Stosur is also noted for her athleticism and after bouncing back from a career-threatening Lyme's Disease, she has became one of the fittest players on tour.
Serve
Because of its power, kick and variety, Stosur's serve is widely considered one of the best on the women's tour. Her first serve, however erratic, reaches more than 118 mph (190 km/h) on a regular basis. Her second, a high bouncing kick serve, is highly rated as being the best second serve in the women's game by media and players alike, and was thought to play a key role in her French Open success in 2009 and 2010. One thing that Stosur has changed in her game, thanks to coach David Taylor, is the fact that her serve has been less predictable with Stosur sometimes even using her kick serve as first serves. Her good serving motion has helped her overhead smashes and she rarely misses those shots.
Surface
Her favourite surface is hard court. Stosur has also mentioned that her least favourite surface is grass and this is mostly because her biggest weapons (top-spin forehand & kick-serve) are not very effective on this surface. Her performances at Wimbledon have reflected this, as she has only gone past the second round once on the lone grass-court Grand Slam event.
Weakness
In her earlier years on the WTA tour, Stosur's real weakness was her inability to handle the pressure at major matches and being poor at closing out matches. In her first four WTA tour finals, she won the first set only to lose the match. On her off-days, she can hit over 50 unforced errors. She has shown great improvement in these areas, and the weaknesses are seen less frequently now, as evidenced by her calm dispatch of the four-time Roland Garros champion and former World No. 1 Justine Henin; one time Roland Garros champion and the then-current World No. 1 Serena Williams; and former World No. 1 Jelena Janković, in the 4th round, quarter-final and semi-final at the 2010 Roland Garros.
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 2010 | French Open | Clay | Francesca Schiavone | 4–6, 6–7(2–7) | [18] |
Winner | 2011 | US Open | Hard | Serena Williams | 6–2, 6–3 | [13] |
Tournament | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam Tournaments | ||||||||||||||
Australian Open | 1R | 3R | 2R | 1R | 4R | 2R | A | 3R | 4R | 3R | 1R | |||
French Open | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 2R | SF | F | 3R | ||||
Wimbledon | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 3R | 1R | 1R | ||||
US Open | A | A | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | QF | W |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Samantha Stosur |
Awards and achievements | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Paola Suárez & Virginia Ruano Pascual |
WTA Doubles Team of the Year (with Lisa Raymond) 2005, 2006 |
Succeeded by Cara Black & Liezel Huber |
Preceded by Paola Suárez & Virginia Ruano Pascual |
ITF Doubles Champions (with Lisa Raymond) 2005, 2006 |
Succeeded by Cara Black & Liezel Huber |
Preceded by Elena Dementieva |
WTA Diamond Aces 2010 |
Succeeded by Caroline Wozniacki |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Persondata | |
---|---|
Name | Stosur, Samantha |
Alternative names | Stosur, Samantha |
Short description | Tennis player |
Date of birth | 1984-3-30 |
Place of birth | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
Date of death | |
Place of death |