German tennis player (born 1974)
Anke Huber |
| Country (sports) |  Germany |
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| Residence | Ludwigshafen, Germany |
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| Born | (1974-12-04)4 December 1974 (age 50)
Bruchsal,West Germany |
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| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) |
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| Turned pro | 1989 |
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| Retired | 31 October 2001 |
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| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
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| Prize money | $4,768,292 |
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| Singles |
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| Career record | 447–225 (66.5%) |
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| Career titles | 12 WTA, 2 ITF |
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| Highest ranking | No. 4 (14 October 1996) |
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| Grand Slam singles results |
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| Australian Open | F (1996) |
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| French Open | SF (1993) |
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| Wimbledon | 4R (1991,1993,1995,2000,2001) |
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| US Open | QF (1999,2000) |
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| Other tournaments |
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| Tour Finals | F (1995) |
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| Olympic Games | QF (1992) |
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| Doubles |
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| Career record | 130–129 |
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| Career titles | 1 |
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| Highest ranking | No. 23 (9 February 1998) |
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| Grand Slam doubles results |
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| Australian Open | 3R (1996,1997,1998) |
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| French Open | SF (1992) |
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| Wimbledon | 3R (1992,2000) |
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| US Open | QF (2000) |
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| Team competitions |
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| Fed Cup | W (1992) |
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| Hopman Cup | W (1995 withBoris Becker) |
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Anke Huber (born 4 December 1974) is a German retired professionaltennis player. She was the runner-up in women's singles at the1996 Australian Open and the1995 WTA Finals. Huber won 12 singles and one doubles title on theWTA Tour. She finished inside the top 20 for 10 seasons and achieved a career-high ranking of four in October 1996.
Huber was born inBruchsal,Baden-Württemberg. She started playing tennis at the age of 7 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.[1]
Huber made herGrand Slam tournament debut at the1990 Australian Open, a year before she graduated from high school. After defeatingMaider Laval andElise Burgin, she was defeated in the third round by 13th-seededRaffaella Reggi. In August 1990, she defeatedMarianne Werdel Witmeyer to win the Schenectady tournament, a warm-up for theUS 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 toNathalie Tauziat in straight sets. She finished 1990 ranked world No. 34.
Huber became Germany's top female tennis player uponSteffi Graf's retirement in 1999. Two years later, Huber retired, citing a persistent ankle injury and the desire for a "normal life" as the reasons for her retirement. She planned to quit after the2002 Australian Open, her favorite tournament, but changed her mind when she unexpectedly qualified for the year-endingSanex 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 againstJustine Henin, which she lost 6–1, 6–2.
During her 12-year career, Huber reached 23 singles finals (winning 12 of them), 29 singles semifinals, and 50 singles quarterfinals. Her career record in singles was 447–225, and she earnedUS$4,768,292 in career prize money.
Huber represented her country at three levels: theOlympic Games in 1992 inBarcelona and in 1996 inAtlanta; theFed Cup from 1990 through 1998 and in 2000 and 2001, helping Germany to victory in 1992 by beating Spain'sConchita Martínez in the final; and theHopman Cup, which she won withBoris 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 said. "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...On the other side, there was always the pressure to be the second Steffi Graf."
In 2002, Huber accepted a role with theGerman Tennis Federation and became the co-tournament director for the annualPorsche Tennis Grand PrixWTA tournament in Filderstadt, Germany.
In April 2005, Huber gave birth to her first child, a boy, with her partner Roger Wittmann. A second, a girl, followed in October 2006.[2][3]
Singles: (1 runner–up)
[edit]Year-End Championships finals
[edit]Singles: (1 runner–up)
[edit]| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
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| Loss | 1995 | New York City | Carpet (I) | Steffi Graf | 1–6, 6–2, 1–6, 6–4, 3–6 |
Singles: 23 (12–11)
[edit]| Winner – Legend | | Grand Slam tournaments (0–1) | | WTA Tour Championships (0–1) | | Tier I (1–1) | | Tier II (4–6) | | Tier III (4–1) | | Tier IV (2–0) | | Tier V (1–1) |
| | Finals by surface |
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| Hard (2–6) | | Grass (1–0) | | Clay (4–1) | | Carpet (5–4) |
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| Result | W/L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
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| Win | 1–0 | Aug 1990 | Schenectady, U.S. | Tier V | Hard |  Marianne Werdel | 6–1, 5–7, 6–4 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Sep 1990 | Bayonne, France | Tier V | Hard (i) |  Nathalie Tauziat | 3–6, 6–7(8–10) |
| Win | 2–1 | Oct 1991 | Filderstadt, Germany | Tier II | Carpet (i) | Martina Navratilova | 2–6, 6–2, 7–6(7–4) |
| Loss | 2–2 | Jan 1993 | Sydney, Australia | Tier II | Hard | Jennifer Capriati | 1–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 3–2 | Jul 1993 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Tier III | Clay |  Judith Wiesner | 6–4, 6–1 |
| Loss | 3–3 | Oct 1993 | Brighton, UK | Tier II | Carpet (i) |  Jana Novotná | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 4–3 | Jul 1994 | Styria, Austria | Tier IV | Clay | Judith Wiesner | 6–3, 6–3 |
| Win | 5–3 | Oct 1994 | Filderstadt, Germany | Tier II | Hard (i) | Mary Pierce | 6–4, 6–2 |
| Win | 6–3 | Nov 1994 | Philadelphia, U.S. | Tier I | Carpet (i) | Mary Pierce | 6–0, 6–7(4–7), 7–5 |
| Win | 7–3 | Sep 1995 | Leipzig, Germany | Tier II | Carpet (i) |  Magdalena Maleeva | w/o |
| Loss | 7–4 | Nov 1995 | WTA Tour Championships, U.S. | Tour final | Carpet (i) | Steffi Graf | 1–6, 6–2, 1–6, 6–4, 3–6 |
| Loss | 7–5 | Jan 1996 | Australian Open | G. Slam | Hard | Monica Seles | 4–6, 1–6 |
| Win | 8–5 | Jun 1996 | Rosmalen, Netherlands | Tier III | Grass | Helena Suková | 6–4, 7–6(7–2) |
| Loss | 8–6 | Aug 1996 | Los Angeles, U.S. | Tier II | Hard | Lindsay Davenport | 2–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 9–6 | Sep 1996 | Leipzig, Germany | Tier II | Carpet (i) |  Iva Majoli | 5–7, 6–3, 6–1 |
| Loss | 9–7 | Oct 1996 | Filderstadt, Germany | Tier II | Hard (i) |  Martina Hingis | 2–6, 6–3, 3–6 |
| Win | 10–7 | Oct 1996 | Luxembourg | Tier III | Carpet (i) |  Karina Habšudová | 6–3, 6–0 |
| Loss | 10–8 | Feb 1997 | Paris, France | Tier II | Carpet (i) | Martina Hingis | 3–6, 6–3, 3–6 |
| Loss | 10–9 | Aug 1997 | Toronto, Canada | Tier I | Hard | Monica Seles | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 11–9 | Apr 2000 | Estoril, Portugal | Tier IV | Clay | Nathalie Dechy | 6–2, 1–6, 7–5 |
| Win | 12–9 | Jul 2000 | Sopot, Poland | Tier III | Clay |  Gala León García | 7–6(7–4), 6–3 |
| Loss | 12–10 | Feb 2001 | Paris, France | Tier II | Carpet (i) | Amélie Mauresmo | 6–7(2–7), 1–6 |
| Loss | 12–11 | May 2001 | Strasbourg, France | Tier III | Clay |  Silvia Farina Elia | 5–7, 6–0, 4–6 |
| Winner – Legend | | Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) | | WTA Tour Championships (0–0) | | Tier I (0–1) | | Tier II (1–2) | | Tier III (0–0) | | Tier IV (0–0) | | Tier V (0–0) |
| | Finals by surface |
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| Hard (0–2) | | Grass (0–0) | | Clay (1–0) | | Carpet (0–1) |
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| Result | W/L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
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| Loss | 0–1 | Oct 1993 | Brighton, UK | Tier II | Carpet (i) |  Larisa Neiland | Laura Golarsa
 Natalia Medvedeva | 3–6, 6–1, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Apr 1997 | Hamburg, Germany | Tier II | Clay | Mary Pierce |  Ruxandra Dragomir
Iva Majoli | 2–6, 7–6(7–1), 6–2 |
| Loss | 1–2 | Jan 1999 | Sydney, Australia | Tier II | Hard | Mary Joe Fernández |  Elena Likhovtseva
 Ai Sugiyama | 3–6, 6–2, 0–6 |
| Loss | 1–3 | Oct 1999 | Moscow, Russia | Tier I | Carpet (i) | Julie Halard-Decugis | Lisa Raymond
 Rennae Stubbs | 1–6, 0–6 |
| Legend |
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| $25,000 tournaments |
| $10,000 tournaments |
| Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
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| Win | 1. | 29 May 1989 | Katowice, Poland | Clay | Nora Bajčíková | 6–1, 6–2 |
| Win | 2. | 26 November 1989 | Bulleen, Australia | Hard | Rennae Stubbs | 6–4, 6–1 |
Grand Slam singles performance timeline
[edit](W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Head-to-head record against other players in the top 10
[edit]Players who have been ranked world No. 1 are in boldface.
