Anke Huber

Anke Huber

Country	Germany
Residence	Ludwigshafen, Germany
Born	(1974-12-04) 4 December 1974 (age 37) Bruchsal, West Germany
Height	1.73 m
Weight	58 kg
Turned pro	1989
Retired	31 October 2001
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	US$4,768,292
Singles
Career record	447–225
Career titles	12
Highest ranking	No. 4 (14 October 1996)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	F (1996)
French Open	SF (1993)
Wimbledon	4R (1991, 1993, 1995, 2000, 2001)
US Open	QF (1999, 2000)
Olympic Games	QF (Barcelona 1992)
Doubles
Career record	130–129
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 30 (10 July 2000)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	3R (1996, 1997, 1998)
French Open	SF (1992)
Wimbledon	3R (1992, 2000)
US Open	QF (2000)
Last updated on: 19 February 2009.

Anke Huber (born 4 December 1974) is a German retired professional tennis player. She was the runner-up in women's singles at the 1996 Australian Open. Her career-high singles ranking was fourth, also in 1996.

Early life

Huber was born in Bruchsal, Baden-Württemberg. She started playing tennis at the age of seven, after being introduced to the game by her father, Edgar. In junior competition, she won the under-12 German Championships in 1986, the under-14s in 1987, the under-16s in 1988, and the European Championships in 1989. She was also a semifinalist at Wimbledon's junior tournament in 1990.

Career

Huber made her Grand Slam tournament debut at the 1990 Australian Open, a year before she graduated from high school. After defeating Maider Leval and Elise Burgin, she was defeated in the third round by 13th-seeded Raffaella Reggi. In August 1990, she defeated Marianne Werdel Witmeyer to win the Schenectady tournament, a warm-up for the US Open. Jennifer Capriati then defeated Huber in the first round of that tournament 7–5, 7–5. Huber was the runner-up in her next event, losing in Bayonne to Nathalie Tauziat in straight sets. She finished 1990 ranked World No. 34.

Huber became Germany's top female tennis player upon Steffi Graf's retirement in 1999. Only two years later, however, it was Huber's turn to hang up her racquet. She cited a persistent ankle injury and the desire for a "normal life" as the reasons for her retirement. She originally planned to quit after the 2002 Australian Open, her favorite tournament, but changed her mind when she unexpectedly qualified for the year-ending Sanex Championships in Germany. "I thought there's nothing better than to celebrate saying goodbye in front of the home fans in your own country," said Huber. Huber's final match took place on 31 October 2001, against Justine Henin, in which she lost 6–1, 6–2.

During her twelve-year professional career, Huber reached 23 singles finals (winning twelve of them), 29 singles semifinals, and 50 singles quarterfinals. Her career record in singles was 447–225, and she amassed US$4,768,292 in career prize money.

Huber represented her country at three levels: the Olympic Games in 1992 in Barcelona and in 1996 in Atlanta; the Fed Cup from 1990 through 1998 and in 2000 and 2001, helping Germany to victory in 1992 by beating Spain's Conchita Martínez in the final; and the Hopman Cup, which she won with Boris Becker in 1995.

Although she did not win a Grand Slam title, Huber felt proud of her accomplishments, especially because she had to walk in Graf's footsteps. "I recognised pretty early on that I would never have her success, but I was still always measured against her," she says. "So, whenever I got into the quarterfinals or the semis of a Grand Slam tournament, it counted for nothing. Sometimes it was good to have her, because she drew the attention away from me," Huber continued. "On the other side, there was always the pressure to be the second Steffi Graf."

In 2002, Huber accepted a role with the German Tennis Federation and became the co-tournament director for the annual Porsche Tennis Grand Prix WTA tournament in Filderstadt, Germany.

Personal life

In April 2005, Huber gave birth to her first child, a boy (Moritz Luca), to her partner Roger Wittmann. A second, a girl (Laura Sophie), followed in October 2006.^[1][2]

Grand Slam singles finals

Runner-up (1)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
Runner-up	1996	Australian Open	Hard	Monica Seles	6–4, 6–1

Titles (13)

Singles (12)

No.	Date	Tournament Name	Location	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	26 August 1990	OTB International Open	Schenectady, New York, U.S.	Hard	Marianne Werdel Witmeyer	6–1, 5–7, 6–4
2.	20 October 1991	Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (1)	Filderstadt, Germany	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	2–6, 6–2, 7–6(4)
3.	18 July 1993	Citroen Cup (1)	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Judith Wiesner	6–4, 6–1
4.	31 July 1994	Styrian Open (2)	Styria, Austria	Clay	Judith Wiesner	6–3, 6–3
5.	16 October 1994	Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (2)	Filderstadt, Germany	Hard (I)	Mary Pierce	6–4, 6–2
6.	13 November 1994	Virginia Slims of Philadelphia	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.	Carpet (I)	Mary Pierce	6–0, 6–7(4), 7–5
7.	1 October 1995	Sparkassen Cup (1)	Leipzig, Germany	Carpet (I)	Magdalena Maleeva	walkover
8.	23 June 1996	Wilkinson Championships	's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Grass	Helena Suková	6–4, 7–6(2)
9.	6 October 1996	Sparkassen Cup (2)	Leipzig, Germany	Carpet (I)	Iva Majoli	5–7, 6–3, 6–1
10.	27 October 1996	SEAT Open	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Carpet (I)	Karina Habšudová	6–3, 6–0
11.	16 April 2000	Estoril Open	Lisbon, Portugal	Clay	Nathalie Dechy	6–2, 1–6, 7–5
12.	23 July 2000	Idea Prokom Open	Sopot, Poland	Clay	Gala León García	7–6(4), 6–3

Doubles (1)

No.	Date	Tournament Name	Tournament Location	Surface	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1.	4 March 1997	Rexona Cup	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Mary Pierce	Ruxandra Dragomir Iva Majoli	2–6, 7–6(1), 6–2

Runner-ups (14)

Singles (11)

Grand slam events in boldface.

Doubles (3)

• 1993: Brighton (with Larisa Savchenko Neiland)
• 1999: Sydney (with Mary Joe Fernandez)
• 1999: Moscow (with Julie Halard)

Grand Slam 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).

See also

• Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final

References

External links

• Anke Huber at the Women's Tennis Association
• Anke Huber at the International Tennis Federation
• Anke Huber at the Fed Cup