Klára Koukalová

Klára Koukalová

Koukalová at the 2014 Kremlin Cup
Full name Klára Koukalová
Country (sports)  Czech Republic
Residence Prague, Czech Republic
Born (1982-02-24) 24 February 1982
Prague, Czechoslovakia
Height 1.66 m
Turned pro 1999
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money $ 4,045,259
Singles
Career record 504–424
Career titles 3 WTA, 7 ITF
Highest ranking 20 (15 April 2013)
Current ranking 111 (8 February 2016)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 3R (2003)
French Open 4R (2012)
Wimbledon 4R (2010)
US Open 1R (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games 1R (2004, 2008, 2012)
Doubles
Career record 105–147
Career titles 4 WTA, 0 ITF
Highest ranking 31 (19 May 2014)
Current ranking 131 (8 February 2016)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open 2R (2008, 2011, 2014)
French Open 3R (2012)
Wimbledon 2R (2010, 2011, 2014)
US Open 3R (2014)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Wimbledon 1R (2014)
US Open 1R (2014)
Team competitions
Fed Cup 10–5
Last updated on: 8 February 2016.

Klára Koukalová (born 24 February 1982) is a Czech tennis player. She was born and still lives in Prague.

Career

Koukalová made her Grand Slam debut at the 2003 Australian Open, defeating fellow qualifier and Grand Slam debutante Maria Sharapova in the first round before going on to upset sixth-seed Monica Seles in the second round. Koukalová's run ended in the third round.

In January 2006, she played comeback player Martina Hingis, at the WTA tournament in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, where she lost in the second round. Koukalová was seeded 29th at the 2006 Australian Open, but lost in the first round to Ekaterina Bychkova. In that year, Koukalová had ten first-round losses in singles and failed to win a doubles match.

In 2008, Koukalová reached the final of the inaugural Cachantun Cup in Chile. She played the top seed Flavia Pennetta, but was forced to retire due to a sprained ankle. This also forced her to withdraw from the next tournament in Bogotá, where she had made the quarterfinals in 2007.

Koukalová's biggest win came at the 2009 Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella, Spain. She defeated world number 1 and ten-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in three sets. Williams was also her first round opponent at the 2009 French Open, where Koulalová lost.

Koukalová gained another good win over a top-5 player, defeating Dinara Safina in the first round of the 2010 Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open.

In the first round of the 2010 Polsat Warsaw Open, Koukalová caused a big upset by defeating fourth seed and world number 14 Marion Bartoli. She was then defeated by world number 205 Gréta Arn in the second round.

At the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, Koukalová advanced to the fourth round for the first time at a Grand Slam. She scored upset wins over 18th seed Aravane Rezaï and tenth seed Flavia Pennetta, before falling to qualifier Kaia Kanepi.

Koukalová made the final at the 2010 e-Boks Danish Open, where she lost to then world number 3 Caroline Wozniacki. Koukalová defeated Rossana de los Rios, Tatjana Malek, Sorana Cîrstea, and Li Na en route to the final. After this tournament, she could not match her performance as she went on to do poorly in her last four tournaments, only advancing to the second round at the 2010 Generali Ladies Linz, where she lost to Patty Schnyder.

Koukalová started her 2011 season at the Hobart International, after having to withdraw from the Brisbane International. She made the semifinals in Hobart, upsetting the top seeded Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals, before falling to her doubles partner Jarmila Groth.

At the 2011 Australian Open, Koukalová defeated American Melanie Oudin in three sets in the first round, before falling to fellow Czech Lucie Šafářová in three sets in the second round. This was Koukalová's first victory at the Australian Open since 2003.

Koukalová was seeded 31st for the 2011 French Open, her first seeding at a Grand Slam since 2006. She was upset in the first round by Taiwanese qualifier Chan Yung-jan.

After her defeat at Roland Garros, Koukalová traveled to Copenhagen to defend her finalist points from the year before. Seeded second, she was upset in the first round by German Kathrin Wörle.

Koukalová then returned to the site of her greatest Grand Slam accomplishment, Wimbledon. Unseeded, she came from a set down to defeat British wildcard Emily Webley-Smith in the first round. In the second round, she avenged her Australian Open loss by upsetting 31st seed Lucie Šafářová in three sets. In the third round, Koukalová fell to eventual finalist Maria Sharapova.

After Wimbledon, Koukalová made the semifinals in Budapest, where she lost to the eventual champion Roberta Vinci, and then made the quarterfinals in Palermo, where she lost to eventual finalist Polona Hercog.

Koukalová played in the 2013 US Open and lost in the first round to Hsieh Su-wei. Remarkably, this was her tenth first round loss at the US Open out of 10 appearances in the main draw.

In 2014, Koukalová won her third WTA singles title in Florianópolis. In the final she defeated second seed Garbiñe Muguruza, winning 11 games in a row from 4–6, 2–5 down to take the title. She also made the final at two other tournaments: at the 2014 Hobart International where she lost Garbiñe Muguruza and at the 2014 Rio Open losing to Kurumi Nara.

Personal life

On 6 June 2006, Klára married Czech footballer Jan Zakopal,[1] but they divorced in January 2014.[2] From June 2006 to March 2014, she used her married name Zakopalová while competing, switching back to Koukalová in April 2014.

WTA finals

Singles (3–12)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0)
Tier II / Premier (0–0)
Tier III, IV & V / International (3–12)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–3)
Clay (0–7)
Grass (1–1)
Carpet (0–1)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. 20 May 2001 Belgian Open, Antwerp, Belgium Clay Germany Barbara Rittner 3–6, 2–6
Runner-up 2. 14 July 2002 Grand Prix SAR, Casablanca, Morocco Clay Austria Patricia Wartusch 7–5, 3–6, 3–6
Runner-up 3. 2 August 2003 Idea Prokom Open, Sopot, Poland (1) Clay Israel Anna Smashnova 2–6, 0–6
Runner-up 4. 19 June 2004 Ordina Open, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Grass France Mary Pierce 6–7(6–8), 2–6
Runner-up 5. 14 August 2004 Idea Prokom Open, Sopot, Poland (2) Clay Italy Flavia Pennetta 5–7, 6–3, 3–6
Winner 1. 18 June 2005 Ordina Open, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Grass Czech Republic Lucie Šafářová 3–6, 6–2, 6–2
Runner-up 6. 24 July 2005 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo, Palermo, Italy Clay Spain Anabel Medina 4–6, 0–6
Winner 2. 25 September 2005 Banka Koper Slovenia Open, Portorož, Slovenia Hard Slovenia Katarina Srebotnik 6–2, 4–6, 6–3
Runner-up 7. 17 February 2008 Cachantún Cup, Viña del Mar, Chile Clay Italy Flavia Pennetta 4–6, 4–5 ret.
Runner-up 8. 8 August 2010 e-Boks Danish Open, Copenhagen, Denmark Carpet (i) Denmark Caroline Wozniacki 2–6, 6–7(5–7)
Runner-up 9. 26 September 2010 Hansol Korea Open, Seoul, South Korea Hard Russia Alisa Kleybanova 1–6, 3–6
Runner-up 10. 6 January 2013 Shenzhen Open, Shenzhen, China Hard China Li Na 3–6, 6–1, 5–7
Runner-up 11. 11 January 2014 Hobart International, Hobart, Australia Hard Spain Garbiñe Muguruza 4–6, 0–6
Runner-up 12. 23 February 2014 Rio Open, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Clay Japan Kurumi Nara 1–6, 6–4, 1–6
Winner 3. 1 March 2014 Brasil Tennis Cup, Florianópolis, Brazil Hard Spain Garbiñe Muguruza 4–6, 7–5, 6–0

Doubles (4–6)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0)
Tier II / Premier (0–2)
Tier III, IV & V / International (4–4)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–4)
Clay (1–1)
Grass (1–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. 17 September 2001 Bell Challenge, Quebec City, Canada Hard (i) Czech Republic Alena Vašková United States Samantha Reeves
Italy Adriana Serra Zanetti
5–7, 6–4, 3–6
Runner-up 2. 25 July 2009 Banka Koper Slovenia Open, Portorož, Slovenia Hard France Camille Pin Germany Julia Görges
Czech Republic Vladimíra Uhlířová
4–6, 2–6
Runner-up 3. 24 October 2009 Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia Hard Russia Maria Kondratieva Russia Maria Kirilenko
Russia Nadia Petrova
2–6, 2–6
Winner 1. 18 June 2011 UNICEF Open, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Grass Czech Republic Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Slovakia Dominika Cibulková
Italy Flavia Pennetta
1–6, 6–4, [10–7]
Runner-up 4. 16 July 2011 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo, Palermo, Italy Clay Czech Republic Andrea Hlaváčková Italy Sara Errani
Italy Roberta Vinci
5–7, 1–6
Runner-up 5. 22 June 2013 Aegon International, Eastbourne, United Kingdom Grass Romania Monica Niculescu Russia Nadia Petrova
Slovenia Katarina Srebotnik
3–6, 3–6
Winner 2. 21 July 2013 Swedish Open, Båstad, Sweden Clay Spain Anabel Medina Garrigues Romania Alexandra Dulgheru
Italy Flavia Pennetta
6–1, 6–4
Winner 3. 4 January 2014 Shenzhen Open, Shenzhen, China Hard Romania Monica Niculescu Ukraine Lyudmyla Kichenok
Ukraine Nadiia Kichenok
6–3, 6–4
Winner 4. 11 January 2014 Hobart International, Hobart, Australia Hard Romania Monica Niculescu United States Lisa Raymond
China Zhang Shuai
6–2, 6–7(5–7), [10–8]
Runner-up 6. 13 April 2014 Katowice Open, Katowice, Poland Hard (i) Romania Monica Niculescu Ukraine Yuliya Beygelzimer
Ukraine Olga Savchuk
4–6, 7–5, [7–10]

Grand Slam performance timeline

Singles

Tournament20032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016W–L
Australian Open 3R 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R 6–14
French Open 1R 2R 2R 1R A 2R 1R 2R 1R 4R 1R 1R 1R 7–12
Wimbledon 1R 2R 1R 1R A 1R 1R 4R 3R 3R 3R 2R 1R 11–12
US Open 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 0–13
Win–Loss 2–4 2–4 2–4 0–4 0–2 1–4 0–3 4–4 3–4 5–4 3–4 1–4 1–4 0–1 24–50
Tournaments won 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3
Year-end ranking 62 46 36 125 62 75 95 41 41 28 35 41 100

Doubles

Tournament20052006200720082009201020112012201320142015W–L
Australian Open A 1R A 2R 1R A 2R 1R 1R 2R 1R 3–8
French Open 1R 1R A 1R A 1R 2R 3R 1R 2R 1R 4–9
Wimbledon 1R 1R 1R 1R A 2R 2R 1R 1R 2R 1R 3–10
US Open 1R 1R 1R 1R A 2R 1R 2R 1R 3R 1R 4–10
Win–Loss 0–3 0–4 0–2 1–4 0–1 2–3 3–4 3–4 0–4 5–4 0–4 14–37

References

  1. Van Agtmael, Claudia (31 July 2006). "Koukalova getrouwd, 'The Scud' breekt, Roddick feest". Tennisinfo.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  2. "Zakopalova heißt nach Scheidung jetzt wieder Koukalova". tennisnet.com (in German). 6 April 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.

External links

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