Ana Konjuh

Ana Konjuh

Country (sports)  Croatia
Born (1997-12-27) 27 December 1997
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Prize money $ 582,998
Singles
Career record 85–47
Career titles 1 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking 55 (15 June 2015)
Current ranking 76 (21 March 2016)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 2R (2016)
French Open 2R (2015)
Wimbledon 3R (2014)
US Open 2R (2015)
Doubles
Career record 8–7
Career titles 0
Highest ranking 321 (14 September 2015)
Current ranking 372 (8 February 2016)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Wimbledon 2R (2015)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Wimbledon 3R (2015)
Team competitions
Fed Cup 10–2
Last updated on: 8 February 2016.

Ana Konjuh (born 27 December 1997) is a Croatian professional tennis player. As of June 2015, she is currently ranked world number 55 and is the youngest player to rank within the top 100.

A successful junior player, Konjuh won both the singles and doubles junior events at the Australian Open in January 2013,[1] and as a result, moved up to number 1 in the ITF junior world rankings.[1][2] Later in the year, she also won the girls' singles event at the 2013 US Open.[3][4][5] She turned her attention to the main tour in 2014, and in October of that year made her debut in the top 100, aged 16.

Konjuh won her first singles title on the WTA Tour at the 2015 Nottingham Open, becoming the youngest player to win a main tour event since 2006.[6] She has also won one title on the ITF Tour.

Tennis career

Junior career

Aged 14, Konjuh was the runner-up at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships in girls' doubles. In December 2012, Konjuh won two prestigious junior tennis tournaments, Eddie Herr and the Orange Bowl.[7][8][9]

In January 2013, she won the singles and doubles events at the 2013 Australian Open, and became the number 1 junior in the world.[1] She also received a call up to the Croatia Fed Cup team,[10] where she scored the biggest win of her career, defeating Urszula Radwańska, ranked number 37 in the world, in Croatia's Fed Cup tie against Poland, at the age of 15.[11]

In September 2013, Konjuh won the singles title at the 2013 US Open, her second singles junior Grand Slam.[3][4][5] Despite being eligible to continue playing junior tournaments for two more years, Konjuh ceased playing junior events at the end of 2013, changing her focus to competing on the main tour in 2014.[12]

Konjuh at the 2013 US Open

2014: First full Tour season and top 100 ranking

Konjuh was awarded a main draw wild card for the 2014 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. On her debut at WTA-level, she stunned top seed and world number 14, Roberta Vinci, in the first round in three sets.[13][14] It was later revealed that Konjuh has signed an exclusive deal with the ASB Classic, meaning that she will compete in the Auckland tournament for the next three years. At the 2014 Australian Open, she came through qualifying to reach her first senior Grand Slam draw, but lost in the first round to eventual champion and fourth seed Li Na.[15]

Konjuh underwent elbow surgery on 23 January in Zagreb.[16] Her recovery lasted four months, and she made her return in May by defeating Allie Kiick at the Open Saint-Gaudens Midi-Pyrénées.[17] Konjuh made it to the semifinals of the $50,000 ITF tournament in France, before losing to eventual champion Danka Kovinić in straight sets. This run helped her up to a new world ranking high of number 189. Her new ranking enabled her to enter the qualifying draw at Roland Garros,[18] but she again suffered defeat to Kovinić in the second round. She was more successful at Wimbledon, qualifying for the main draw with victories over Estrella Cabeza Candela, Laura Siegemund and Stephanie Vogt. She then earned her first career Grand Slam main draw win by defeating Marina Erakovic in the first round, and followed it up with the biggest win of her career to date, toppling former world number 12 Yanina Wickmayer in the second round. Konjuh's run came to an end in the following round, with a straight-sets loss to former world number 1, Caroline Wozniacki.[19]

Konjuh's good form continued at the 2014 İstanbul Cup, where she came through qualifying to reach her first main draw semifinal, defeating top-40 players Magdaléna Rybáriková and Elina Svitolina en route. Her run at the event came to an end with a defeat to Roberta Vinci. Konjuh suffered disappointment at the US Open by losing to Urszula Radwańska in the first round of qualifying.

In October, Konjuh competed at the Japan Women's Open in Osaka and made the quarterinals before losing to Zarina Diyas. The result saw her ranking climb to within the top 100 for the first time, aged just 16. She completed her year by competing in three tournaments in France, reaching the semifinals of ITF events in Poitiers and Nantes, and a quarterfinal showing at the WTA 125 tournament in Limoges. The resulting in Limoges saw Konjuh to a new career high ranking of number 84, and she completed the season ranked world number 90, and as the youngest player within the top 100.

2015: First WTA title

Konjuh began her year in Auckland, comfortably defeating Mona Barthel before losing to Elena Vesnina in the second round. She lost in the first round of the 2015 Australian Open to Magdaléna Rybáriková. After a string of early losses, she qualified for the main draw of the 2015 Prague Open in April, where she defeated the seventh seed, world no. 34 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in three sets in the first round. Konjuh then lost in the second round to wildcard Klára Koukalová. Konjuh's indifferent form continued through the clay-court season, but she earned her first main-draw win at the French Open by defeating Margarita Gasparyan, before losing to 30th seed Irina-Camelia Begu in the second round.

In June, Konjuh competed in the main draw at the inaugural WTA event at the Nottingham Aegon Open and reached the quarterfinals with victories over Shelby Rogers and Casey Dellacqua. After being delayed for over two days due to poor weather, Konjuh advanced to the semifinal by defeating Sachia Vickery, and later that day reached her first WTA tour final by defeating Alison Riske. Due to the poor weather conditions, the final was held back to Monday. Konjuh dropped the first set to opponent Monica Niculescu, but rebounded to earn victory and her first WTA Tour title. At the age of 17, she became the youngest player to win a main tour title since Tamira Paszek in 2006.[6]

Career statistics

WTA finals

Singles (1–0)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0)
Premier (0–0)
International (1–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (1–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. 15 June 2015 Aegon Nottingham Open, Nottingham, Great Britain Grass Romania Monica Niculescu 1–6, 6–4, 6–2

ITF finals (1–3)

Singles (1–2)

Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$15,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (1–2)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. 5 November 2012 Antalya, Turkey Clay Serbia Jovana Jakšić 3–6, 1–6
Runner-up 2. 27 May 2013 Maribor, Slovenia Clay Slovenia Polona Hercog 6–3, 3–6, 3–6
Winner 1. 17 June 2013 Montpellier, France Clay Russia Irina Khromacheva 6–3, 6–1

Doubles (0–1)

Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$15,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (0–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. 15 July 2013 Contrexéville, France Clay Croatia Silvia Njirić Argentina Vanesa Furlanetto
France Amandine Hesse		 6–7(3–7), 4–6

Junior Grand Slam finals

Girls' Singles

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Winner 2013 Australian Open Hard Czech Republic Kateřina Siniaková 6–3, 6–4
Winner 2013 US Open Hard United States Tornado Alicia Black 3–6, 6–4, 7–6(8–6)

Girls' Doubles

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 2012 Wimbledon Grass Switzerland Belinda Bencic Canada Eugenie Bouchard
United States Taylor Townsend		 4–6, 3–6
Winner 2013 Australian Open Hard Canada Carol Zhao Ukraine Oleksandra Korashvili
Czech Republic Barbora Krejčíková		 5–7, 6–4, [10–7]

Grand Slam performance timeline

Singles

Tournament201420152016SR W–L
Australian Open 1R 1R 2R 0 / 3 1–3
French Open Q2 2R 0 / 1 1–1
Wimbledon 3R 1R 0 / 2 2–2
US Open Q1 2R 0 / 1 1–1
Total2–22–41–10 / 75–7

Awards

Year Award Award Category Result Ref.
2013 Dražen Petrović Award Junior Female Athlete
Won
 [20][21]
Female Promise
Won
EOC Piotr Nurowski Prize European Young Athlete Nominated [22][23]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Rogers, Leigh (26 January 2013). "Konjuh wins girls' title and No.1 junior ranking". Australian Open.com. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  2. ↑ Cambers, Simon (26 January 2013). "Kyrgios and Konjuh take home singles titles". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Borna Ćorić i Ana Konjuh osvojili US Open". Glas Istre (in Croatian). 8 September 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Konjuh outlasts Black to win girls' singles title". US Open. 8 September 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  5. 1 2 Harwitt, Sandra (8 September 2013). "Coric and Konjuh secure US Open titles". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  6. 1 2 "COMPOSED KONJUH CROWNED NOTTINGHAM QUEEN". WTA Official Website. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  7. ↑ Fialkov, Harvey (9 December 2012). "Teen prodigy Ana Konjuh coasts to OB 18s title". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  8. ↑ Van Smith, Bill (5 December 2012). "Konjuh plays like she belongs, advances". The Miami Herald. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  9. ↑ "Djere and Konjuh win Orange Bowl titles". International Tennis Federation. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  10. ↑ "Konjuh called up to Croatia Fed Cup team". International Tennis Federation. 10 January 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  11. ↑ "Fed Cup - Poland get promoted to Fed Cup World Group II". tennisworldusa.org. 10 February 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  12. ↑ "In the Spotlight: Ana Konjuh". tenniseurope.org. 23 September 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  13. ↑ "WTA Auckland Classic: Top seed Roberta Vinci beaten by teenager Ana Konjuh". Sky Sports. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  14. ↑ "La perf de Konjuh". L'Équipe (in French). 31 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  15. ↑ Crooks, Eleanor (13 January 2014). "Venus takes her eye off the ball in Melbourne as American loses to Makarova". Daily Mail. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  16. ↑ "Ana ipak treba na operaciju". Dubrovački vjesnik (in Croatian). 7 January 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  17. ↑ "Ana Konjuh vraća se tenisu nakon četiri mjeseca". Večernji list (in Croatian). 12 May 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  18. ↑ Juillard, Alexandre (20 May 2014). "Women's qualifiers: 12 from 96". French Open. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  19. ↑ Imhoff, Dan (5 July 2014). "The future is in good hands with these women". Wimbledon Championships. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  20. ↑ "HOO: Dvostruka nagrada Ani Konjuh". Glas Istre (in Croatian). 30 August 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  21. ↑ "Two reputable awards go to Ana Konjuh, Dubrovnik’s greatest tennis player". dubrovniktoday.net. 1 September 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  22. ↑ "Promising Croatian Teen Up for Prestigious European Olympic Committee Award". Croatia Week. 31 October 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  23. ↑ "Ana Konjuh među pet najboljih, a najbolji je..." (in Croatian). dubrovacki.hr. 28 October 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.

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