Aleksandra Wozniak

Aleksandra Wozniak

Country	Canada
Residence	Blainville, Quebec, Canada
Born	(1987-09-07) September 7, 1987 (age 24) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	60 kg (130 lb; 9.4 st)
Turned pro	2005
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	US$1,403,749
Official web site	www.aleksandrawozniak.com
Singles
Career record	270–171
Career titles	1 WTA, 9 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 21 (June 22, 2009)
Current ranking	No. 58 (May 28, 2012)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	2R (2012)
French Open	4R (2009)
Wimbledon	2R (2008, 2010)
US Open	3R (2009)
Doubles
Career record	28–45
Career titles	0 WTA, 0 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 136 (June 7, 2010)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	1R (2009)
French Open	2R (2010, 2012)
Wimbledon	2R (2009, 2010)
US Open	1R (2008)
Mixed Doubles
Career titles	0
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open	QF (2009)
Last updated on: May 28, 2012.

Aleksandra Wozniak (born September 7, 1987, in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian professional tennis player. She turned professional in November 2005. Wozniak achieved a career-best ranking of no. 21 on June 22, 2009, making her the fourth-highest ranked Canadian singles player of all time.^[1] She has won one WTA and nine ITF tournaments. At the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford in 2008, she became the first Canadian in 20 years to capture a WTA singles title and is the only Quebecer in history to have accomplished such a feat. She reached a career-high ITF junior ranking of No. 3 on January 31, 2005. She was named Female Player of the Year by Tennis Canada four times (2009, 2008, 2006, 2004). Wozniak is currently Canada's highest-ranked women's singles player.

Early life

Wozniak's family immigrated to Canada from Poland in 1983. She speaks Polish, English and French fluently. She has an elder sister Dorota who, also, plays tennis.^[2][3][4] Aleksandra started playing tennis at the age of three. She was inspired to pick up a racquet by her sister and Monica Seles, her idol growing up and was coached by her father,^[5] Antoni.

Tennis career

2002–05

In 2002, as a 14-year-old, Wozniak won the Canadian Indoors Under-16 and Under-18 championships.^[6] Aleksandra won the Kentucky International Junior Tennis Derby in 2004.^[7] In 2005, Wozniak reached #3 in the juniors.^[8] She also won the Tevlin Challenger 25K tournament in Toronto, the Hamilton Challenger 25K in Canada, the Victoria Challenger 25K and the Junior Casablanca Cup (as well as the doubles) in Mexico, and the Junior Del Cafe Cup (as well as the doubles) in Costa Rica.^[7]

2006

Wozniak won the Pittsburgh Challenger (defeating Belarusian Victoria Azarenka),^[9] the Ashland Challenger (defeating Hungarian Ágnes Szávay),^[10] and Hamilton Challenger tournaments.^[11] In February she beat her first top 100 player, world #63 Na Li in Thailand. In November she defeated her first top 50 player, world #40 Olga Poutchkova in Pittsburgh.

2008

In the first round of the French Open in June, Wozniak made it to the third round, before losing to 11th seed Vera Zvonareva. It was by far her best performance at any of the Grand Slams, and she became the first Québécoise to reach the third round of a Grand Slam since 2002.^[12]

In July, Wozniak won her first WTA singles title at the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, California. During the tournament she beat world #20 Francesca Schiavone of Italy, world #29 Sybille Bammer, and world #5 Serena Williams of the US (who had to retire in the match), before defeating sixth seed Marion Bartoli of France in the final. She was a qualifier to the tournament, so she had to win 3 qualifying matches and then 5 main draw matches in nine days. Wozniak became the first Canadian in 20 years to win a WTA singles title.^[13] The victory vaulted her WTA singles ranking from #85 to #45 in the world. In August 2008, she was presented with key to the city in Blainville, Québec, by the mayor; they renamed it "Wozniakville" for 24 hours because for the first time a woman from Québec won a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title (when she won Stanford in July).^[14] She also received an award from the National Assembly of Québec in October 2008 for her career-high ranking of #37 and first Tour singles title.^[14]

2009

Wozniak was upset by German Sabine Lisicki, also of Polish heritage, in the first round of the Australian Open where Wozniak was the 30th seed. Wozniak joined up with compatriot Daniel Nestor in the mixed doubles, where they made it to the quarterfinals before losing to Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi of India.

In March she defeated world #48 Lucie Šafářová in Indian Wells. That month she moved up to a career-best world #29. She reached her third singles final in April in the Ponte Vedra Beach, beating world #10 Nadia Petrova in the semi-finals, but was then defeated by world #12 Caroline Wozniacki. In May she upset world #13 Marion Bartoli of France at the Madrid Open.^[15]

At the French Open, Wozniak was the No. 24 seed, and became the first Québécoise to ever be seeded at Roland-Garros.^[12] Wozniak made it to the round of 16 before losing to Serena Williams.^[16][17][18] With her French Open success, Wozniak became Canada's first representative in the fourth round of the French Open women's draw in 17 years, and the first Canadian woman to survive into the second week at the French Open since Patricia Hy-Boulais in 1992. Wozniak was also the first Canadian to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam event since Maureen Drake qualified for the round of 16 at the 1999 Australian Open. "That's awesome for Canada and I hope to keep going", said Wozniak.^[19]

She debuted her grass season in June, at the AEGON International in Eastbourne, Wozniak made it to the semifinals, before losing to Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. After that tournament, Wozniak's ranking rose two spots, to a career high of No. 21.^[20] In the first round of Wimbledon, she was the first Canadian to be seeded in singles in 20 years at #23. However she fell in the first round to Italy's Francesca Schiavone.^[21]

At the US Open, she advanced to the third round before losing to 10th seeded Flavia Pennetta. Wozniak entered the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and made it into the third round before losing in three sets to Magdaléna Rybáriková.

Wozniak was named Athlete of the Year for the second time in three years at the 24th edition of the Tennis Quebec Excellence Awards. Her father Antoni and fitness trainer André Parent were joint winners of the International Coach of the Year Award for Quebec athletes.^[22] She was also named Female Athlete of the Year by the Canadian Press in recognition of her outstanding season.

2010

In January, close friend Caroline Wozniacki eliminated Wozniak for the sixth time at the Australian Open in straight sets. After early losses in Miami and Indian Wells, she went to defend her last year final at Ponte Vedra Beach. However, she lost in the quarterfinals to Dominika Cibulková. At the French Open, she lost in the third round to the 5th seed Elena Dementieva in a match that lasted more than three hours. At Wimbledon, Wozniak made it to the second round before losing to 4th seeded Jelena Janković. After losing in the first round of the Rogers Cup in her native Quebec against Timea Bacsinszky, she lost again in the first round again at the US Open against World No. 202 Sally Peers by the score of 6–0, 6–1, in a match that took just 48 minutes. She was out for the remainder of the season due to a forearm injury.^[23]

2011

In her first Grand Slam appearance since coming back from injury, Wozniak qualified for the French Open. She won her first round match against Junri Namigata 6–1, 6–1 before losing in the second round to World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki by the score of 6–3, 7–6^(8–6). She also successfully qualified for Wimbledon but lost in the first round against Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová 7–6^(9–7), 6–4. She won in early August the second biggest tournament of her career at the $100,000 ITF Vancouver Open, where she defeated Jamie Hampton 6–3, 6–1 in the final. Wozniak qualified for her third straight Grand Slam at the US Open. She lost in the first round to young American Christina McHale 6–3, 6–7^(5–7), 6–4.

2012

At the first Grand Slam of the season, the Australian Open, Wozniak defeated Zhang Shuai 6–3, 6–3 in the first round. She made it through to the second round for the first time of her career. She was defeated by the 27th seed Maria Kirilenko 6–4, 1–6, 6–2 in the next round. In March, she won the $100,000 ITF Bahamas Women's Open, beating Alizé Cornet 6–4, 7–5 in the final. Wozniak reached the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open with wins over Eleni Daniilidou and World No. 28 Monica Niculescu in first and second round respectively, but lost to Venus Williams 4–6, 6–4, 7–6^(7–5) after having a match point in the third set. At the French Open, she reached the third round for the fourth time in five years, but lost to World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka 6–4, 6–4.

Fed Cup

Wozniak won her first Fed Cup match in 2004, defeating Swiss Timea Bacsinszky 6–0, 6–4, and boasts a 37–9 record through February 2012. Her 37 total victories is a Canadian Fed Cup record as are her 29 wins in singles. She has appeared in 32 ties during her career in Fed Cup.^[24] In 2006 she beat Argentine world #33 Gisela Dulko, 7–6^(8–6), 6–3.^[11]

Style of play

Wozniak has an all court game that is anchored by an effective first serve and a strong backhand. She also possesses a good overhead.^[25] Her favourite surface is clay.

Career statistics

WTA Tour finals

Singles: 3 (1–2)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner–up	1.	May 21, 2007	Fes, Morocco	Clay	Milagros Sequera	6–1, 6–3
Winner	1.	July 20, 2008	Stanford, United States	Hard	Marion Bartoli	7–5, 6–3
Runner–up	2.	April 12, 2009	Ponte Vedra Beach, United States	Clay	Caroline Wozniacki	6–1, 6–2

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 12 (9–3)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	June 30, 2002	Lachine, Canada	Hard	Beier Ko	6–0, 6–3
Winner	2.	July 17, 2005	Hamilton, Canada	Clay	María José Argeri	6–1, 6–2
Runner–up	1.	October 2, 2005	Pelham, United States	Clay	Soledad Esperón	7–5, 6–2
Winner	3.	October 16, 2005	Victoria, Mexico	Hard	Olga Blahotová	2–6, 6–0, 6–4
Runner–up	2.	October 23, 2005	Mexico City, Mexico	Hard	María José Argeri	6–4, 4–0 ret.
Winner	4.	November 13, 2005	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Olena Antypina	6–4, 6–3
Winner	5.	July 23, 2006	Hamilton, Canada	Clay	Valérie Tétreault	6–1, 6–7(5–7), 6–2
Winner	6.	October 1, 2006	Ashland, United States	Hard	Ágnes Szávay	6–1, 7–6(7–2)
Winner	7.	November 12, 2006	Pittsburgh, United States	Hard	Victoria Azarenka	6–2, ret.
Runner–up	3.	March 23, 2008	Redding, United States	Hard	Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová	7–6(7–4), 6–3
Winner	8.	August 7, 2011	Vancouver, Canada	Hard	Jamie Hampton	6–3, 6–1
Winner	9.	March 17, 2012	Nassau, Bahamas	Hard	Alizé Cornet	6–4, 7–5

Doubles: 2 (0–2)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner–up	1.	June 16, 2002	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Diana Srebrovic	Lauren Cheung Christina Horiatopoulos	6–3, 6–1
Runner–up	2.	July 23, 2006	Hamilton, Canada	Clay	Soledad Esperón	Nicole Kriz Story Tweedie-Yates	6–4, 6–1

Singles performance timeline

Key

Won tournament, or reached Final, Semifinal, Quarterfinal, Round 4, 3, 2, 1, played in Round Robin or lost in Qualification Round 3, Round 2, Round 1, Absent from a tournament or Participated in a team event, played in a Davis Cup Zonal Group (with its number indication) or Play-off, won a bronze or silver match at the Olympics. The last is for a Masters Series/1000 tournament that was relegated (Not a Masters Series). This table is current through the 2012 French Open.

Tournament	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	Q1	1R	1R	A	2R	1–4
French Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	3R	4R	3R	2R	3R	10–6
Wimbledon	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	2R	1R	2R	1R		2–5
US Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	1R	3R	1R	1R		2–5
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–4	3–3	5–4	3–4	1–3	3–2	15–20
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	Not Held			A	Not Held			A	Not Held				0–0
Year-End Championship
WTA Tour Championships	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A		0–0
WTA Premier Mandatory Tournaments
Indian Wells	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	Q2	3R	2R	Q1	1R	1–4
Miami	A	A	A	A	Q1	A	1R	2R	2R	2R	A	3R	3–5
Madrid	Not Held								2R	1R	A	A	1–2
Beijing	Not Tier I								3R	A	A		2–1
WTA Premier 5 Tournaments
Doha	Not Tier I							A	Not P5			1R	0–1
Dubai	Not Tier I								A	A	A	NP5	0–0
Rome	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	A	1R	1–2
Montreal/Toronto	A	A	Q1	1R	1R	1R	2R	2R	1R	1R	2R		3–8
Cincinnati	Not Tier I								2R	A	A		1–1
Tokyo	A	A	A	A	A	Q1	A	1R	3R	A	A		2–2
Career Statistics
Tournaments Played	1	4	4	6	15	26	28	23	25	18	15	14	179
Titles–Finals	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	1–1	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–3
Overall Win–Loss	2–1	11–3	2–4	11–6	44–13	43–24	22–29	40–22	30–25	14–18	28–14	25–13	272–172
Win %	67%	79%	33%	65%	79%	64%	43%	65%	55%	44%	67%	66%	61.22%
Year End Ranking		569	878	491	190	91	130	34	35	126	105		–

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aleksandra Wozniak

• Official website (English) (French)
• Aleksandra Wozniak at the Women's Tennis Association
• Aleksandra Wozniak at the International Tennis Federation
• Aleksandra Wozniak at the Fed Cup
• Aleksandra Wozniak on Twitter

v t e Women's Tennis Association: Top ten Canadian female singles tennis players as of May 28, 2012. 1. Aleksandra Wozniak (58 1) · 2. Stéphanie Dubois (97 1) · 3. Rebecca Marino (140 ) · 4. Heidi El Tabakh (186 3) · 5. Sharon Fichman (197 14) 6. Marie-Ève Pelletier (284 4) · 7. Eugenie Bouchard (328 9) · 8. Gabriela Dabrowski (380 8) · 9. Carol Zhao (595 5) · 10. Erin Routliffe (848 3)

v t e Women's Tennis Association: Top ten female singles tennis players from the Americas as of May 28, 2012. 1. Serena Williams (5 ) · 2. Christina McHale (36 1) · 3. Venus Williams (53 1) · 4. Vania King (57 1) · 5. Aleksandra Wozniak (58 1) 6. Varvara Lepchenko (63 2) · 7. Sloane Stephens (70 9) · 8. Jamie Hampton (90 3) · 9. Stéphanie Dubois (97 1) · 10. Irina Falconi (112 2)