Irina-Camelia Begu

Irina-Camelia Begu

Begu at the 2015 Wimbledon Championships
Full name	Irina-Camelia Begu
Country (sports)	Romania
Residence	Bucharest, Romania
Born	26 August 1990 Bucharest, Romania
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 ^1⁄2 in)
Turned pro	2005
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$ 2,357,779
Singles
Career record	291–183 (61.39%)
Career titles	2 WTA, 11 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 25 (12 October 2015)
Current ranking	No. 34 (8 February 2016)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	4R (2015)
French Open	3R (2015)
Wimbledon	3R (2015)
US Open	2R (2012, 2014)
Doubles
Career record	201–118 (63.01%)
Career titles	4 WTA, 19 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 30 (26 October 2015)
Current ranking	No. 34 (8 February 2016)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	QF (2012)
French Open	3R (2014)
Wimbledon	2R (2012, 2015)
US Open	3R (2015)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	10–6 (62.5%)
Last updated on: 26 March 2016.

Irina-Camelia Begu (born 26 August 1990) is a professional Romanian tennis player who is currently ranked no. 26. On 28 September 2015, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of no. 26. Her highest doubles ranking of no. 35 was reached on 30 July 2012. She is coached by Marius Comănescu. She is the no. 2 female tennis player of Romania.^[1]

Biography

Irina Begu was born in Bucharest. Her mother, Steluţa, works for the Government of Romania, while her father Paul is an electrician. She has an older brother, Andrei.^[2]

She started playing tennis when she was 3 years old, her aunt Aura Wagner coached her and she is currently working with two coaches at a club in Bucharest.^[3] Her hobbies include shopping and going to the cinema with friends. She likes Melbourne and Paris, but her favorite city is New York.^[2]

Irina's favorite surface is clay, she admires Martina Hingis and Roger Federer and her goal is to become a top 10 player.^[2]

Professional career

2011: Breakthrough

Irina lifted both the singles and the doubles trophies at 2011 Copa Bionaire and at the 2011 BCR Open Romania Ladies

Irina Begu started the year at No.234, never winning a main draw match at WTA level.

Begu won the first $100,000 ITF event of her career in February in Cali, defeating world No. 82 Laura Pous Tió in the final in straight sets.

In April, she entered the 2011 Andalucia Tennis Experience as a qualifier and eventually made the qualifications without losing a set. Then she defeated Alberta Brianti 6–4, 6–1 in the first round and followed that up with a 7–5, 6–0 win over Estrella Cabeza Candela to advance to the quarterfinals. She made to the semifinals after she beat 34th-ranked Klára Zakopalová 6–3, 6–3. In the semifinal, she stunned world No. 14 and former world No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova 3–6, 7–6, 6–4 to reach her first WTA final, eventually losing to Victoria Azarenka in straight sets.^[4]

Begu neared her first ever WTA title, reaching her second final of the year in Budapest on 10 July. The Romanian played the semifinal more aggressive than the fifth seed Anabel Medina Garrigues who allowed the youngster break her when counted the most. Irina had previously crashed another Spaniard Estrella Cabeza Candela 6–0, 6–3. Her first round have brought her a 6–4, 6–4 win over another Spanish player, Laura Pous Tió whom she defeated 6–4, 6–4, and a second straight similar win over Ajla Tomljanović of Croatia.^[5] She eventually lost the last act against Top-seeded Roberta Vinci, 4–6, 6–1, 4–6.^[6]

She posted in July the lone upset of second-round at the 2011 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo tournament in Italy, defeating second-seeded Roberta Vinci 6–4, 6–3, after eliminating another local in the first round, Maria Elena Camerin.^[7] Begu lost eventually to the fifth-seed Anabel Medina Garrigues in the quarterfinals, who was also the winner of the competition.^[8]

In the same month, Irina-Camelia Begu won the 2011 BCR Open Romania Ladies title from Bucharest, after defeating the Spanish opponent Laura Pous Tió 6–3, 7–5, in the final. Begu has achieved her third consecutive win against Laura Pous Tió, in 2011, after the ones in Cali and Budapest. It was her fifth final of the year and her second trophy. The 50 WTA points allow Irina to enter the top 50 of best women players in the world, becoming also the highest ranked Romanian player.^[9]

2012: First WTA Title

Irina-Camelia Begu, ranked World No. 96, won her opening match at the US Open, defeating the 8th seed, 2009 finalist and two-time semi-finalist Caroline Wozniacki. She won 6–2, 6–2. She subsequently lost to Sílvia Soler Espinosa of Spain in Round 2.

In September of that year, she won her first WTA title in Tashkent, beating Donna Vekic 6-4 6-4 in the final.

At the 2013 Wimbledon Championships

2014: First WTA Premier Final and Two WTA doubles Titles

Begu starts the season losing in qualifying tours in Sydney and Brisbane.At the Australian Open she play qualifying roung beat Stephanie Vogt, Jovana Jakšić and Madison Brengle before losing in the main draw to kazah Galina Voskoboeva in three sets. In Rio she played the qualifying rounds reaching the quarterfinal after beating 8th seed Vania King and Verónica Cepede Royg in the main draw before losing to Teliana Pereira in two sets. In doubles Begu teamed with María Irigoyen winning the title. On Oeiras she made semifinals beating in her route Kurumi Nara, Kaia Kanepi and Timea Bacsinszky before losing to eventual champion Carla Suárez Navarro 7-6(3), 6-1. On Seoul in singles she lost in the first round to Chanelle Scheepers in three sets. In doubles she paired with Lara Arruabarrena defeating in the final Mona Barthel and Mandy Minella with the score 6-3, 6-3 claiming her second WTA doubles title of the year. On Moscow she reached her first Premier Final beat in her route Donna Vekić with 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-3, 2nd seed Ekaterina Makarova with 6-4, 6-4, Tsvetana Pironkova with 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 and 4th seed Lucie Šafářová with 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-3 before losing to seed 6 and the eventual champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova with the score 6-4, 5-7, 6-1, with this result she comeback in the top 40.

2015: First major 4th round, second WTA title, Top 30

Begu achieved her best singles Grand Slam result at the 2015 Australian Open, reaching the fourth round for the first time before being defeated by Eugenie Bouchard in three sets. Prior to that she upset ninth seed Angelique Kerber in the first round.

In Rio, Begu made semifinals by beating in her route Olivia Rogowska, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Julia Glushko in two sets before losing to eventual winner of the tournament Anna Schmiedlová in three sets.

As the Charleston seed 13, she made quarterfinals after Ekaterina Makarova's withdrawal, losing in two tie-breaks to Angelique Kerber.

At Madrid she made the quarterfinals beating in route Kurumi Nara, Andrea Petkovic's withdrew, and Barbora Strýcová before losing to Petra Kvitová. On Rome she made third round losing in three sets to Victoria Azarenka.

At the French Open Begu reached for the first time 3th round beating on her route Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 7-6(6), Anna Konjuh 6-2, 6-0 before losing to Petra Kvitová with 6-3, 6-2.

On Wimbledon she reached the third round by beating Daria Gavrilova with 7-6(6), 6-1 a tough match with Lesia Tsurenko defending her 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-5, then losing to 4th seed Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-3.

At Washington seed 6, Begu made quarterfinals by beating Madison Brengle and Polona Hercog before losing to 1st seed of the tournament Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 2-6, 6-1. Despite only 2 wins in 6 matches in the American season, with her US Open opener lost, Begu reached a career high as the world no.28 ranking.

Seeded no.1, she then won her second WTA title in Korea Open (tennis), by defeating Kateryna Kozlova 6-2, 6-4, Polona Hercog 6-2, 6-7^6-8, 6-2, Johanna Larsson 6-4, 7-5, Alison Van Uytvanck 6-0, 6-2, and in the final WTA rising star Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 6-1.

Significant finals

Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 finals

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	2015	Wuhan	Hard	Monica Niculescu	Martina Hingis Sania Mirza	2−6, 3−6

WTA career finals

Singles: 5 (2 titles, 3 runners-up)

Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) WTA Tour Championships (0–0) Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0) Tier II / Premier (0–1) Tier III, IV & V / International (2–2)

Titles by Surface Hard (2–1) Grass (0–0) Clay (0–2) Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	10 April 2011	Andalucia Tennis Experience, Marbella, Spain	Clay	Victoria Azarenka	3–6, 2–6
Runner-up	2.	10 July 2011	Poli-Farbe Budapest Grand Prix, Budapest, Hungary	Clay	Roberta Vinci	4–6, 6–1, 4–6
Winner	1.	15 September 2012	Tashkent Open, Tashkent, Uzbekistan	Hard	Donna Vekić	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	3.	19 October 2014	Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia	Hard (i)	Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova	4–6, 7–5, 1–6
Winner	2.	27 September 2015	Korea Open, Seoul, South Korea	Hard	Aliaksandra Sasnovich	6–3, 6–1

Doubles: 8 (4 titles, 5 runners-up)

Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) WTA Tour Championships (0–0) Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–1) Tier II / Premier (0–1) Tier III, IV & V / International (4–3)

Titles by Surface Hard (2–3) Grass (1–0) Clay (1–2) Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	14 January 2012	Moorilla Hobart International, Hobart, Australia	Hard	Monica Niculescu	Chuang Chia-jung Marina Erakovic	6–7^(4–7), 7–6^(7–4), [10–5]
Runner-up	1.	28 April 2012	Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem, Fes, Morocco	Clay	Alexandra Cadanțu	Petra Cetkovská Alexandra Panova	6–3, 6–7^(5–7), [9–11]
Runner-up	2.	21 October 2012	BGL Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg, Luxembourg	Hard (i)	Monica Niculescu	Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká	3–6, 4–6
Winner	2.	21 June 2013	Topshelf Open, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Grass	Anabel Medina Garrigues	Dominika Cibulková Arantxa Parra Santonja	4–6, 7–6^(7–3), [11–9]
Winner	3.	22 February 2014	Rio Open, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Clay	María Irigoyen	Johanna Larsson Chanelle Scheepers	6-2, 6-0
Winner	4.	21 September 2014	Kia Korea Open, Seoul, South Korea	Hard	Lara Arruabarrena	Mona Barthel Mandy Minella	6-3, 6-3
Runner-up	3.	21 February 2015	Rio Open, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Clay	María Irigoyen	Ysaline Bonaventure Rebecca Peterson	0–3, ret.
Runner-up	4.	3 October 2015	Wuhan Open, Wuhan, China	Hard	Monica Niculescu	Martina Hingis Sania Mirza	2−6, 3−6
Runner-up	5.	24 October 2015	Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia	Hard (i)	Monica Niculescu	Daria Kasatkina Elena Vesnina	3–6, 7–6^(9–7), [5–10]

Singles Performance Timeline

Tournament	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	Q3	1R	2R	1R	4R	1R	4–5
French Open	A	Q3	A	2R	2R	1R	Q3	3R		4–4
Wimbledon	A	Q2	Q1	1R	1R	1R	2R	3R		3–5
US Open	A	Q1	A	1R	2R	1R	2R	1R		2–5
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–3	2–4	1–4	2–3	7–4	0–1	13–19
Year-End ranking	231	230	214	40	52	124	42	31

Doubles Performance Timeline

Tournament	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	QF	3R	1R	2R	6–4
French Open	A	1R	2R	3R	2R	4–4
Wimbledon	1R	2R	1R	1R	2R	2–5
US Open	2R	1R	1R	1R	3R	3–5
Win–Loss	1–2	4–4	3–4	2–4	3–3	13–17

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 17 (11–6)

$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.	10 September 2006	Bucharest 6, Romania	Clay	Alexandra Cadanţu	3–6, 6–2, 3–6
Winner	2.	9 September 2007	Braşov, Romania	Clay	Cristina Mitu	7–6^(7–2), 6–2
Runner-up	3.	23 March 2008	Ain Sukhna, Egypt	Carpet	Katarzyna Piter	6–7^(7–9), 4–6
Winner	4.	7 September 2008	Braşov, Romania	Clay	Diana Enache	4–6, 6–4, 6–1
Winner	5.	14 September 2008	Budapest, Hungary	Clay	Laura-Ioana Andrei	7–5, 6–1
Winner	6.	11 October 2008	Jounieh, Lebanon	Clay	Anastasia Yakimova	6–2, 6–0
Winner	7.	26 October 2008	Glasgow, Scotland	Hard	Patricia Mayr	2–6, 7–5, 7–6^(7–1)
Runner-up	8.	11 April 2010	Incheon, South Korea	Hard	Lee Jin-A	4–6, 2–6
Runner-up	9.	15 August 2010	Versmold, Germany	Clay	Magda Linette	2–6, 5–7
Winner	10.	19 September 2010	Podgorica, Montenegro	Clay	Annalisa Bona	6–1, 6–1
Winner	11.	13 February 2011	Cali, Colombia	Clay	Laura Pous Tió	6–3, 7–6^(7–1)
Runner-up	12.	12 June 2011	Marseille, France	Clay	Pauline Parmentier	3–6, 2–6
Winner	13.	23 July 2011	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Laura Pous Tió	6–3, 7–5
Winner	14.	9 March 2014	Campinas, Brazil	Clay	Alexandra Panova	6–2, 6–4
Winner	15.	16 March 2014	Sao Paulo, Brazil	Clay	Alexandra Panova	7–5, 4–6, 6–4
Runner-up	16.	6 April 2014	Medellin, Colombia	Clay	Verónica Cepede Royg	4–6, 6–4, 4–6
Winner	17.	30 June 2014	Contrexéville, France	Clay	Kaia Kanepi	6–3, 6–4

Doubles: 27 (19–8)

$100,000 tournaments

$75,000 tournaments

$50,000 tournaments

$25,000 tournaments

$10,000 tournaments

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	30 June 2006	Galaţi, Romania	Clay	Carmen-Raluca Ţibuleac	Bianca Bonifate Diana Gae	6–2, 7–5
Winner	2.	11 May 2007	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Simona Halep	Laura-Ioana Andrei Ioana Gaspar	6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	3.	31 August 2007	Hunedoara, Romania	Clay	Laura-Ioana Andrei	Diana Enache Antonia Xenia Tout	6–3, 4–6, 4–6
Runner-up	4.	9 September 2007	Braşov, Romania	Clay	Diana Gae	Raluca Ciulei Camelia Hristea	5–7, 4–6
Runner-up	5.	15 June 2008	Craiova, Romania	Clay	Alexandra Damaschin	Laura-Ioana Andrei Diana Enache	3–6, 1–6
Winner	6.	11 July 2008	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Ioana Gaspar	Mihaela Bunea Gabriela Niculescu	4–6, 6–3, [10–3]
Winner	7.	25 July 2008	Hunedoara, Romania	Clay	Elora Dabija	Katarína Poljaková Zuzana Zlochová	7–5, 6–2
Winner	8.	29 August 2008	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Laura-Ioana Andrei	Lyudmyla Kichenok Nadiya Kichenok	6–2, 3–6, [10–6]
Winner	9.	5 September 2008	Braşov, Romania	Clay	Laura-Ioana Andrei	Bianca Hîncu Cristina Stancu	6–2, 6–2
Winner	10.	14 September 2008	Budapest, Hungary	Clay	Laura-Ioana Andrei	Davinia Lobbinger Efrat Mishor	6–2, 6–4
Runner-up	11.	26 October 2008	Glasgow, Scotland	Hard	Laura-Ioana Andrei	Stefania Boffa Amanda Elliott	4–6, 6–7^(3–7)
Winner	12.	9 May 2009	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Simona Halep	Julia Görges Sandra Klemenschits	2–6, 6–1, [12–10]
Winner	13.	10 April 2010	Incheon, South Korea	Hard	Erika Sema	Misaki Doi Junri Namigata	6–0, 7–6^(10–8)
Runner-up	14.	18 July 2010	Darmstadt, Germany	Clay	Erika Sema	Vitalia Diatchenko Laura Siegemund	6–4, 1–6, [4–10]
Winner	15.	30 July 2010	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Elena Bogdan	María Irigoyen Florencia Molinero	6–1, 6–1
Winner	16.	8 August 2010	Hechingen, Germany	Clay	Anaïs Laurendon	Julia Schruff Erika Sema	6–2, 4–6, [10–8]
Winner	17.	18 September 2010	Podgorica, Montenegro	Clay	Mihaela Buzărnescu	Valeria Solovieva Maryna Zanevska	5–7, 7–5, [12–10]
Winner	18.	25 September 2010	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Elena Bogdan	Leticia Costas-Moreira Eva Fernández-Brugués	6–1, 6–3
Runner-up	19.	8 October 2010	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Elena Bogdan	Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino María-Teresa Torró-Flor	4–6, 5–7
Runner-up	20.	27 November 2010	Toyota, Japan	Carpet (i)	Mădălina Gojnea	Shuko Aoyama Rika Fujiwara	6–1, 3–6, [9–11]
Winner	21.	12 February 2011	Cali, Colombia	Clay	Elena Bogdan	Ekaterina Ivanova Kathrin Wörle	2–6, 7–6^(8–6), [11–9]
Winner	22.	11 June 2011	Marseille, France	Clay	Nina Bratchikova	Laura-Ioana Andrei Mădălina Gojnea	6–2, 6–2
Winner	23.	22 July 2011	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Elena Bogdan	Maria Elena Camerin İpek Şenoğlu	6–7^(1–7), 7–6^(7–4), [16–14]
Winner	24.	21 July 2012	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Alizé Cornet	Elena Bogdan Raluca Olaru	6–2, 6–0
Winner	25.	15 March 2014	São Paulo, Brazil	Clay	Alexandra Panova	María Irigoyen María Fernanda Álvarez Terán	6-4 3-6 [11-9]
Winner	26.	31 March 2014	Medellín, Colombia	Clay	María Irigoyen	Monique Adamczak Marina Shamayko	6–2, 7–6(7–2)
Runner-up	27.	30 June 2014	Contrexéville, France	Clay	María Irigoyen	Alexandra Panova Laura Thorpe	3–6, 0–4, ret.

Wins Over Top 10's Per Season

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Round	Score
2012
1.	Caroline Wozniacki	No. 8	US Open, New York City, United States	Hard	1st Round	6–2, 6–2
2015
2.	Angelique Kerber	No. 9	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	1st Round	6–4, 0–6, 6–1
2016
3.	Garbiñe Muguruza	No. 4	Madrid, Spain	Clay	2nd Round	5–7, 7–6^(7-4), 6–3

Awards

2011

• WTA Newcomer of The Year

References

1. "Irina-Camelia Begu's Biography". International Tennis Federation. 17 February 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
2. Begu, Irina (9 April 2011). "Biography". wtatennis.com. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
3. "Arabela din Marbella" (in Romanian). prosport.ro. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
4. "Azarenka dominates Begu, wins in Marbella". tennis.com. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
5. "Budapest: Begu Sets Vinci Final". metrolic.com. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
6. "Vinci beats Begu in final of Budapest Grand Prix". sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
7. "Begu upset is ticket to quarterfinals". upi.com. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
8. "Palermo: Medina Cruises Through The Last Term". metrolic.com. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
9. "The trophy stays in Bucharest!". bcropen.ro. Retrieved 23 July 2011.

External links

• Irina-Camelia Begu at the Women's Tennis Association
• Irina-Camelia Begu at the International Tennis Federation
• Irina-Camelia Begu at the Fed Cup
• Irina-Camelia Begu activity at Tenis Romania website