Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Anastasia Sergeyevna Pavlyuchenkova (Russian: Анастаси́я Серге́евна Павлюче́нкова, Russian pronunciation: [ɐnəstɐˈsʲijə sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvnə pəvlʲʊˈtɕɛnkəvə]; born 3 July 1991) is a Russian professional tennis player and a multiple junior Grand Slam champion. Her career-high ranking of world no. 13 was achieved in July 2011 and she is currently ranked 27th as of 26 October 2015. From July 2007 to September 2009, she was coached at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France.

Pavlyuchenkova is a two-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist, reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open and the US Open in 2011. She has also won eight career singles titles, most notably at Paris indoors and Moscow in 2014. Pavlyuchenkova has enjoyed significant success in doubles as well, reaching the quarterfinals at all four Grand Slams and having won four titles in the discipline, her biggest title coming at the 2013 Mutua Madrid Open where she partnered Lucie Šafářová.

Career

Early career

Born in Samara, RSFR, USSR to father, Sergey and mother, Marina, Pavlyuchenkova first made headlines in 2006 by winning the Australian Open junior title by defeating Caroline Wozniacki. She reached another junior slam final at the French Open where she lost to Agnieszka Radwańska. She then won the US Open junior title against Tamira Paszek and defended her Australian Open title in 2007 by defeating Madison Brengle in the final. Anastasia played for the Sacramento Capitals of the World TeamTennis league in the summer of 2006. Her success in juniors enabled her to enter ITF and WTA tournaments, winning a small ITF tournament in Italy in May 2006. In October 2006, Pavlyuchenkova received a wild card into the Kremlin Cup but lost in the first round to rising Czech Nicole Vaidišová 6–3 6–3.

Australian Open

The Australian Open is a major tennis tournament held annually over the last fortnight of January in Melbourne, Australia. First held in 1905, the tournament is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events of the year – the other three being the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. It features men's and women's singles; men's, women's and mixed doubles and junior's championships; as well as wheelchair, legends and exhibition events. Prior to 1988 the tournament had been played on grass. Since 1988 two types of hardcourt surfaces have been used at Melbourne Park – green Rebound Ace to 2007 and blue Plexicushion from 2008.

The Australian Open typically has high attendance, second only to the US Open. It was also the first Grand Slam tournament to feature indoor play during wet weather or extreme heat with its three primary courts, the Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena and the refurbished Margaret Court Arena equipped with retractable roofs.

History

The Australian Open is managed by Tennis Australia, formerly the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia (LTAA), and was first played at the Warehouseman's Cricket Ground in Melbourne in 1905. This facility is now known as the Albert Reserve Tennis Centre.

Anastasia

Anastasia (also spelled Anastasiya, Annastasia, Anastacia or Annastatia) is a Christian given name bestowed to women and the feminine equivalent of the male name Anastasius. The name is of Greek origin, coming from the Greek word "anastasi" (gr. "ανάσταση"), meaning "resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, where it was the most used name for decades until 2008, when its place was taken by Sophia. It is still heavily used.

Origin

Anastasia was created during the early days of Christianity and was abundantly given to Greek children born in December and around Easter. It was established as the female form of the male name Anastasius, and has the meaning of "resurrection". It is the name of several early saints; Anastasia of Sirmium, a central saint from the 2nd century, is commemorated during the second Mass on Christmas Day each year according to the traditional calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. The name can also be written as Anastasiya, Annastasia, Anastacia or Annastatia. There are a number of short forms; Ana, Anna, Anya, Nastya, Stacia, Stacie, Stacy; as well as various hypocoristics: Nastenka, Nastyusha, Nastyona; Serbian, Slovenian: Nastja.

Elina Svitolina

Elina Mykhaylivna Svitolina (Ukrainian: Еліна Михайлівна Світоліна; born 12 September 1994) is a professional Ukrainian tennis player. As of 5 October 2015, she is ranked world no. 18 and is currently the highest-ranked Ukrainian player.

Svitolina has three WTA titles to her name. She won her maiden title at the 2013 Baku Cup and successfully defended the title in 2014. She then earned her first Top 10 career victory when she defeated Petra Kvitová in the round of 16 in Cincinnati. In 2015, she made her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the French Open where she lost to Ana Ivanovic. That same year, she also won her third WTA title in Marrakech.

Tennis career

Early career

Svitolina's best achievement as a junior is winning the Roland Garros girls event in 2010, beating Tunisian Ons Jabeur in the final. She reached her first professional singles final at the ITF $25,000 tournament in Kharkiv in May 2010. Svitolina also reached the final of the girl's singles event at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships where she lost to future Top 10 player Eugenie Bouchard. Svitolina qualified for the 2012 US Open. She was defeated in the first round by 12th seed and eventual quarter-finalist Ana Ivanovic of Serbia. She won the WTA 125K 2012 Royal Indian Open title in Pune, defeating Andreja Klepač, Rutuja Bhosale, Luksika Kumkhum, former Top 10 player Andrea Petkovic, and Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm in the final.

Venus Williams

Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 7 in singles as of November 9, 2015. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions, for a total of eleven weeks. She became the World No. 1 for the first time on February 25, 2002, becoming the first black American woman to achieve this feat during the Open Era. She is credited as changing the women's game and ushering a new, modern era of power and athleticism on the women's professional tennis tour. She is also regarded as the best grass court player of her generation and is widely considered as one of the all-time greats of women's tennis.

Her seven Grand Slam singles titles ties her twelfth on the all-time list, and is more than any other active female player except for her younger sister Serena Williams. Her 22 overall Grand Slam titles consist of seven in singles, thirteen in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. Her five Wimbledon singles titles tie her with two other women for eighth place on the all-time list. Venus Williams is one of only four women in the open era to have won five or more Wimbledon singles titles. Between the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2001 US Open, Williams won four of the six Grand Slam singles tournaments held. She is one of only five women in the open era to win 200 or more main draw Grand Slam singles matches.