Karina Habšudová

Karina Habšudová
Country (sports) Czechoslovakia (1989–92)
 Slovakia (1993–2003)
ResidenceBratislava, Slovakia
Born (1973-08-02) 2 August 1973
Bojnice, Czechoslovakia
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro1989
Retired2003
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$1,878,228
Singles
Career record304–226
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 10 (10 February 1997)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open4R (1991, 1995, 1997)
French OpenQF (1996)
Wimbledon2R (1991, 1999, 2000)
US Open4R (1996, 1997)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games3R (1996, 2000)
Doubles
Career record155–171
Career titles6
Highest rankingNo. 32 (28 May 2001)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (1995, 1997)
French OpenQF (1998)
Wimbledon3R (1993, 2001)
US Open3R (1992, 1999)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games2R (2000)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open2R (2000)
French OpenQF (2001)
WimbledonSF (2001)
US OpenQF (2000)

Karina Habšudová (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈkarina ˈɦapʂudɔʋaː]; born 2 August 1973) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as 10 in the world (1997). Together with Karol Kučera, she won the Hopman Cup in 1998. Her best performance at a Grand Slam tournament came when she got to the quarterfinals of the 1996 French Open, defeating Kristin Godridge, Nathalie Tauziat, Martina Hingis, and Anke Huber before losing to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, 8–10 in the third set.

She also had a successful junior career. She won the girls' singles at the 1991 US Open, and was junior No. 1 for some time.

Biography

Born in Bojnice, Czechoslovakia, Habšudová originally trained as a gymnast but at the age of ten, she switched to tennis under the encouragement of her mother, herself a former amateur tennis player.[1] By the age of fourteen, she had already become the top junior player in Czechoslovakia.[2] In 1990, she was crowned ITF Junior World Champion, and the following year she won the girls' singles title at the US Open.[3]

As a professional, she made the fourth round of the 1991 Australian Open while still a schoolgirl, but her early promise was curtailed by health problems and injuries, including a bout of pneumonia in 1993 and an ankle injury the following year.[4] After suffering another injury just as she had made it to the top 30 in the spring of 1995, she bounced back to enjoy her most successful year in 1996, where she had results such as reaching the final of the German Open and the quarterfinals of the French Open.[1] At the latter event, she beat Martina Hingis and Anke Huber and served for a place in the semifinals against Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, but ultimately lost 8–10 in the third set.[5]

Habšudová eventually broke the top 10 in early 1997, after reaching the final of the Generali Ladies Linz, becoming the first woman representing Slovakia to do so.[3] Though she continued to play on the tour until 2003, she never again matched the same success of her breakthrough season, with later highlights including winning the Hopman Cup in 1998 and her only WTA singles title at the Austrian Open in 1999. In 2001, she reached the semifinals of the Wimbledon mixed doubles tournament partnering David Rikl.[6]

Following her retirement, she worked for several years as a sports editor.[7] She married her husband Milan Cílek in 2003 and they have three children together.[2]

WTA Tour finals

Singles: 5 (1 title, 4 runner-ups)

Legend
Tier I (0)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (0)
Tier IV & V (1)
Titles by surface
Hard 0
Clay 1
Grass 0
Carpet 0
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. May 1996 German Open Clay Steffi Graf 6–4, 2–6, 5–7
Loss 2. Oct 1996 Luxembourg Open Carpet (i) Anke Huber 3–6, 0–6
Loss 3. Feb 1997 Linz Open, Austria Carpet (i) Chanda Rubin 4–6, 2–6
Win 1. Jul 1999 Pörtschach, Austria Clay Silvija Talaja 2–6, 6–4, 6–4
Loss 4. Jul 1999 Sopot Open, Poland Clay Conchita Martínez 1–6, 1–6

Doubles: 12 (6 titles, 6 runner-ups)

Legend
Tier I (1)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (2)
Tier IV & V (3)
Titles by surface
Hard 1
Clay 5
Grass 0
Carpet 0
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. May 1992 European Open, Switzerland Clay Marianne Werdel Amy Frazier
Elna Reinach
5–7, 2–6
Loss 2. Jul 1994 Austrian Open Clay Alexandra Fusai Sandra Cecchini
Patricia Tarabini
5–7, 5–7
Win 1. Sep 1996 Czech Open Clay Helena Suková Eva Martincová
Elena Pampoulova
3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss 3. Jun 1997 Rosmalen Open, Netherlands Grass Florencia Labat Eva Melicharová
Helena Vildová
3–6, 6–7(6–8)
Win 2. Jul 1997 Prague Open, Czech Republic Clay Ruxandra Dragomir Eva Martincová
Helena Vildová
6–1, 5–7, 6–2
Win 3. Jul 1998 Prague Open, Czech Republic Clay Silvia Farina Květa Hrdličková
Michaela Paštiková
2–6, 6–1, 6–2
Win 4. Jul 1998 Warsaw Open, Poland Clay Olga Lugina Liezel Horn
Karin Kschwendt
7–6(7–2), 7–5
Win 5. Jul 1999 Pörtschach, Austria Clay Silvia Farina Olga Lugina
Laura Montalvo
6–4, 6–4
Loss 4. Feb 2000 Hanover Grand Prix, Germany Hard (i) Silvia Farina Åsa Carlsson
Natalia Zvereva
3–6, 4–6
Loss 5. Jun 2000 Rosmalen Open, Netherlands Grass Catherine Barclay Erika deLone
Nicole Pratt
6–7(4–7), 3–4 ret.
Win 6. Oct 2000 Bratislava Open, Slovakia Hard (i) Daniela Hantuchová Petra Mandula
Patricia Wartusch
w/o
Loss 6. Feb 2001 Dubai Championships,
United Arab Emirates
Hard Åsa Carlsson Yayuk Basuki
Caroline Vis
0–6, 6–4, 2–6

ITF Circuit finals

Legend
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles: 11 (6–5)

Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1. 27 November 1989 ITF Budapest, Hungary Carpet (i) Nóra Köves 6–4, 6–1
Loss 2. 26 March 1990 Open de Limoges, France Carpet (i) Pascale Paradis-Mangon 4–6, 4–6
Loss 3. 23 April 1990 ITF Sutton, United Kingdom Clay Radka Bobková 6–3, 5–7, 6–7
Loss 4. 7 May 1990 ITF Swansea, United Kingdom Clay Radka Bobková 5–7, 5–7
Win 5. 21 May 1990 ITF Katowice, Poland Clay Anna Földényi 6–3, 6–2
Loss 6. 13 August 1990 ITF Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia Clay Andrea Strnadová 3–6, 4–6
Win 7. 12 December 1994 ITF Přerov, Czech Republic Hard (i) Henrieta Nagyová 6–1, 6–4
Win 8. 27 February 1995 ITF Prostějov, Czech Republic Hard (i) Martina Hingis 7–5, 6–4
Win 9. 27 January 1997 ITF Prostějov, Czech Republic Carpet (i) Barbara Paulus 6–7(4), 6–1, 6–3
Win 10. 7 December 1998 ITF Bad Gögging, Germany Carpet (i) Marlene Weingärtner 7–6(3), 6–2
Loss 11. 11 June 2001 Open de Marseille, France Clay Klára Koukalová 4–6, 6–4, 6–7(3)

Doubles: 3 (3–0)

Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1. 15 July 1991 ITF Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia Clay Radka Bobková Kateřina Šišková
Markéta Štusková
6–1, 6–3
Win 2. 22 July 1991 ITF Schwarzach, Austria Clay Katarína Studeníková Agnese Gustmane
Heidi Sprung
6–3, 6–1
Win 3. 13 September 1993 ITF Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic Clay Larisa Neiland Radka Bobková
Petra Langrová
6–3, 6–4

Head-to-head record against top 10 players

Players who have been ranked world No. 1 are in boldface.

References

  1. ^ a b "Tennis: Karina Habšudová".
  2. ^ a b "Po tenise zostalo prázdne miesto. Zaplnila ho rodina". 16 August 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Karina Habsudova".
  4. ^ "DATE BECOMES HABSUDOVA'S LATEST UPSET VICTIM".
  5. ^ Finn, Robin (5 June 1996). "TENNIS;Sampras Scrambles to Win, but Seles Exits". The New York Times.
  6. ^ "Clijsters doubles the odds of a Belgian fairy tale".
  7. ^ "Ako dnes žije tenistka Karin Habšudová a za čo vymenila kurty?". 18 November 2013.