Lucie Šafářová

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lucie Safarova
Lucie Safarova At The 2007 US Open
Country Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic
Residence Brno, Czech Republic
Date of birth February 4, 1987 (1987-02-04) (age 21)
Place of birth Brno, Czechoslovakia
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Weight 64 kg (140 lb/10.1 st)
Turned pro 2002
Plays Left; Two-handed backhand
Career prize money $822,463
Singles
Career record: 129-78
Career titles: 3 WTA, 5 ITF
Highest ranking: No. 22 (August 20, 2007)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open QF (2007)
French Open 4R (2007)
Wimbledon 3R (2007)
US Open 3R (2007)
Doubles
Career record: 5-22
Career titles: 0
Highest ranking: No. 445 (September 27, 2004)

Infobox last updated on: November 7, 2007.

Lucie Safarova (Czech: Lucie Šafářová, pronounced [ˈlutsɪjɛ ˈʃafaːr̝ovaː]) is a professional Czech tennis player. She was born on February 4, 1987 in Brno.

Safarova has won three WTA tour singles titles and reached the quarterfinals of the 2007 Australian Open, upsetting defending champion Amelie Mauresmo en-route.

Contents

[edit] Playing Style

She plays left-handed with a two-handed backhand. Her superb timing off the ground allows her to project groundstrokes of effortless power. She is quick to spot opportunities to take the initiative, she hits many spectacular winners, and she runs like the wind. Her preferred surface is clay.

[edit] Career

[edit] 2005 and 2006

In her career she has reached five singles finals: In 2005 at Estoril (clay), 's-Hertogenbosch (grass), Forest Hills (hardcourt), 2006 at Gold Coast (hardcourt), and 2007 in Paris (carpet). She won in Portugal but lost in the Netherlands to fellow Czech tennis player Klara Koukalova 3–6, 6–2, 6–2. In August she won her second tournament over the high-profile Indian teenager Sania Mirza in the final.

She started off 2006 with a straight sets victory in the final of the Gold Coast tournament, upsetting world No. 6 Patty Schnyder in the semifinal en route to the title. Also in 2006 she made her first Tier II semifinal at Amelia Island, losing to eventual champion Nadia Petrova, upsetting Nicole Vaidisova in the round of 16, with another semifinal at the Tier IV Palermo, losing to Anabel Medina Garrigues.

[edit] 2007

At the start of 2007, instead of defending her Gold Coast title, Safarova played the Hopman Cup, representing the Czech Republic. Due to not defending the points at that tournament, Safarova came into the first Slam of the year ranked No.70 and unseeded. Yet, Safarova made headlines at the 2007 Australian Open when she stunned the defending champion and No.2 seed Amelie Mauresmo in the fourth round 6–4, 6–3. She then lost to fellow Czech, Nicole Vaidisova 6–1 6–4 in the quarterfinals. After the Australian Open, her ranking rose from No. 70 to No. 31.

Safarova continued her good start to 2007 at the Open Gaz de France in Paris. Safarova reached the final, defeating Tsvetana Pironkova in three sets and Nicole Vaidisova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Justine Henin, all in straight sets, but she failed against Nadia Petrova (4–6, 6–1, 6–4). She then pulled out of her next event in Antwerp due to a shoulder injury.

Lucie then lost in R3 of both Indian Wells and Miami to Shahar Peer and Serena Williams respectively. She then defeated Daniela Hantuchova 7–6 4–6 6–3 in the Czech Republic vs. Slovak Republic Fed Cup encounter. Lucie then lost in the SF of Tier IV Estoril to Viktoria Azarenka 6–4 6–0.

At Roland Garros, Lucie defeated Mauresmo again, this time in the third round of Roland Garros. Lucie won 6–3 7–6(3), but lost in three sets to Anna Chakvetadze in the next round. It was the second time in a row which Lucie had beaten Mauresmo in a Grand Slam, after winning their only previous encounter in January at the Australian Open.

Image:Lucie Safarova.jpg
Lucie at 2007 Wimbledon

As the #25 seed, Lucie defeated Zuzana Ondraskova at Wimbledon followed by a win over Eleni Daniilidou in three sets, but lost to #3 seed (and #3 ranked) Jelena Jankovic in round 3, also in three sets, after coming within two points of another magical Grand Slam upset. After several long rallies and breathtaking winners, the match was described as the best WTA match of 2007 as of yet, and the best women's Wimbledon match in many years.

She entered the 2007 U.S. Open as the #20 seed, defeating Jessica Moore in the first round and Andrea Petkovic in the second round. She fell to Marion Bartoli in the third round. Closing out the 2007 Grand Slams, she placed third round or better in all, and quarter finals in the Australian Open.

[edit] 2008

At the beginning of 2008, Lucie once again decided to enter the Perth Hopman Cup. Safarova, ranked 23 took on the World 56 Alicia Molik. The Czech lost the match 7–5 6–2, followed by a loss with her partner on and off the court, Tomas Berdych in Mixed Doubles. Lucie Safarova then competed against Serena Williams, who represented the United States, in a very tence battle. Lucie wasn't quite herself in the first set, which she lost 6–0. She managed to come back in the second set and win it 6–2. The final set was a close one which had all Perth fans on the edge of their seat. Lucie couldn't win with the final score being 6–0 2–6 7–5. Safarova and Berdych lost the first set of the mixed doubles 6–0. They had to retire, due to Berdych's wellness. It was unfortunate because we were hoping for a tight second set. The Czech Republics last battle was against India. Lucie won her first match of the Hopman Cup 6–2 4–6 6–3 but unfortunately couldn't do the same in the Mixed Doubles.

Lucie's second competition of the year was the Medibank International. In round one she was in an extremely close match with Australia's Alicia Molik. Lucie won the first set 7–6. In the second set Alicia was up 6–5 and Lucie was able to make it a tiebreaker. Both had set points and match points but Lucie was able to come out on top and win 12-10 in the tie break leaving the final score 7–6, 7–6. Safarova subsequently pulled out of the second round against world No.1 Justine Henin.

Safarova entered the Australian Open as the number 22 seed. In the first round she faced Catalina Castano of Colombia, losing 1–6 4–6 in 71 minutes. The world ranked 23 was so upset, she refused to sign fans autographs. Later it was revealed that a gluteal strain was plaguing her during the match. She sustained the injury from her first round encounter against Alicia Molik at the 2008 Sydney Medibank International.

Competing at the Pacific Life Open in the USA, Safarova, seeded number 26, lost 6–7, 6–2, 4–6 in the second round to American Ashley Harkleroad.

Following that, Safarova played the Sony Ericcson Open, where she lost 2-6, 1-6 in the third round to the number 4 seed Jelena Jankovic.

[edit] WTA Tour titles (3)

[edit] Singles (3)

Legend
Grand Slam (0)
WTA Championships (0)
Tier I (0)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (1)
Tier IV (2)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. May 1, 2005 Estoril, Portugal Clay Flag of the People's Republic of China Na Li 6–7(7–4), 6–4, 6–3
2. August 20, 2005 Forest Hills, U.S. Hard Flag of India Sania Mirza 3–6, 7–5, 6–4
3. January 7, 2006 Gold Coast, Australia Hard Flag of Italy Flavia Pennetta 6–3, 6–4

[edit] Singles finalist (2)

[edit] Singles performance timeline

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through Rome Masters, which will end on May 18, 2008.

Tournament 2005 2006 2007 2008 Career Win-Loss
Australian Open Q 1R QF 1R 4–3
French Open 1R 1R 4R 2R 4–4
Wimbledon 1R A 3R 2–2
U.S. Open 1R 2R 3R 3–3
Grand Slam Win-Loss 0-3 1-3 11-4 1-2 13-12
Doha 1R A A 1R 0–2
Indian Wells A 3R 3R 2R 2–3
Miami A 2R 3R 3R 2–3
Charleston A 3R A A 2–1
Berlin A A 3R 2R 3–2
Rome A 2R A 1R 1–2
Montréal/Toronto 1R 2R 2R 2–3
Tokyo A A A 0–0
Moscow Q A A 0–0
WTA Tour Championships A A A 0–0
Tournaments Won 2 1 0 0 3
Year End Ranking 50 41 24 N/A

A = did not participate in the tournament

Q = Qualifying round loss

[edit] Personal

Safarova speaks three languages, Czech, German and English. She is currently dating Tomas Berdych, a fellow professional tennis player from the Czech Republic.

[edit] External links