.jpg) Bacsinszky at the2018 US Open | |
| Country (sports) |  Switzerland |
|---|---|
| Residence | Belmont-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Born | (1989-06-08)8 June 1989 (age 36) Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Turned pro | October 2004 |
| Retired | 16 July 2021 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | US$ 6,665,012 |
| Official website | timea-b.com |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 422–246 |
| Career titles | 4 |
| Highest ranking | No. 9 (16 May 2016) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 3R (2015,2017,2019) |
| French Open | SF (2015,2017) |
| Wimbledon | QF (2015) |
| US Open | 3R (2008) |
| Other tournaments | |
| Olympic Games | 1R (2008,2016) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 171–106 |
| Career titles | 5 |
| Highest ranking | No. 36 (31 January 2011) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Australian Open | 2R (2010,2011) |
| French Open | 2R (2008,2015) |
| Wimbledon | 2R (2010) |
| US Open | 3R (2010,2018) |
| Other doubles tournaments | |
| Olympic Games | F (2016) |
| Mixed doubles | |
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
| Wimbledon | 1R (2010) |
| US Open | 1R (2010) |
| Team competitions | |
| Fed Cup | 28–25 |
Medal record | |
Timea Bacsinszky (Hungarian:Bacsinszky Tímea; born 8 June 1989) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. A former top ten singles player, Bacsinszky reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 9, on 16 May 2016. She won four singles and five doubles titles on theWTA Tour, as well as 13 singles and 14 doubles titles on theITF Circuit
A former prodigy on the junior tennis circuit, Bacsinszky semi-retired from tennis in 2011 at the age of 22 following a major foot injury. After playing a qualifying match at the2013 French Open, she made a full comeback onto the WTA Tour in 2014 with success, winning her opening-round match at three of themajor events and upsetting world No. 4 and five-time Grand Slam winnerMaria Sharapova en route to the quarterfinals inWuhan, earning her a first ever year-end top 50 ranking. Her breakthrough year in singles came in 2015, winning a career-best 15 consecutive matches spanning two titles, upsettingMadison Keys andPetra Kvitová en route to the semifinals of theFrench Open (the first time she advanced past the third round of a major), reaching her first Premier Mandatory final at theChina Open, and becoming the first Swiss female tennis player to be ranked in the top 10 sinceMartina Hingis in 2007. Bacsinszky received theWTA Most Improved Player of the Year award for her massive singles rise that year. She once again reached the semifinals of the French Open in2017. She also reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in2015, and of the French Open in2016. Bacsinszky announced on 16 July 2021 that she had retired from the sport.[1]
RepresentingSwitzerland, Bacsinszky has aFed Cup career match record of 28–25.[2] She won thesilver medal in women's doubles at the2016 Summer Olympics inRio de Janeiro, partnering Hingis.
Bacsinszky, who first picked up a racket at age 5, was pushed hard to succeed in youth tennis by her father Igor, a tennis coach fromSatu Mare County,Transylvania, who escapedCeaușescu'sRomania to Switzerland in 1982.[3][4] She has stated that she resented him for this and remains estranged from him after her parents divorced, though she still developed a passion for competitive tennis.[5] Her mother, Suzanne (Zsuzsanna in Hungarian), is a dentist fromDebrecen, Hungary.[6] As both her parents areHungarian,[3][7][4] she had thought about representing Hungary at international level.[4] She has one brother, Daniel, a music teacher and member ofThe Evpatoria Report, and two sisters, Sophie (musician and student) and Melinda.[3] While growing up, Bacsinszky idolizedMonica Seles. She spent part of her childhood inSatu Mare, visiting friends and family.[4]
Bacsinszky's early tennis highlights included reaching the semifinals of three junior Grand Slam tournaments in 2004–05. Her breakthrough professional tournament was the2006 Zurich Open, where she qualified then defeatedAnastasia Myskina andFrancesca Schiavone before losing to former No. 1,Maria Sharapova. Her early years on tour were a learning experience, and she finished both 2006 and 2007 ranked in the 120s.
Her singles ranking climbed in 2008, and she finished in the top 60 three straight years. Most important was reaching the semifinals of theDiamond Games in February, winning three qualifying and several main draw matches before losing to world No. 1,Justine Henin, in three sets. She won her first WTA singles title at the2009 Luxembourg Open, then won her first three doubles titles the following year.
Bacsinszky suffered a serious foot injury in the spring of 2011, requiring surgery and a long recovery.[8] She returned at theFed Cup the following February then used her protected ranking to play several WTA tournaments. She also played a number ofITF Women's Circuit events. However, she decided to skip the Olympics for personal reasons[9] and soon took a hiatus from tennis altogether. She ended up working in restaurants and bars while preparing to attend hotel management school.[10]
In May 2013, Bacsinszky received an email, stating she was eligible to compete in that month'sFrench Open qualifier. With no practice and having to take time off work, she drove from Lausanne to Paris; she lost her first match but felt her passion for the game reignited. Thus she hired Dimitri Zavialoff, former coach of compatriotStan Wawrinka, and committed herself to reviving her tennis career.[10][11][12] Her gradual return to the WTA Tour reached a big milestone at the2014 Wuhan Open when she upset No. 4, Maria Sharapova, in the third round. A few weeks later, she won her fourth career doubles title.
Bacsinszky began the year inShenzhen, upsetting No. 4Petra Kvitová in the semifinal before losing to No. 3,Simona Halep, in her first WTA Tour final in five years. She then reached the third round of theAustralian Open followed by back-to-back titles in Mexico atAcapulco andMonterrey, beatingCaroline Garcia in both finals. As a result, her ranking rose into the top 30 for the first time. She continued this good form at the Premier Mandatory event inIndian Wells, defeating No. 8Ekaterina Makarova en route to the quarterfinals where she lost to No. 1,Serena Williams, thereby ending her win streak at a career-best 15 matches.[5]
At theFrench Open she advanced past the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, once again upsetting Kvitová. She made it all the way to the semifinals and a rematch with No. 1 Williams; Bacsinszky led by a set and a break but lost the last ten games.[13] Then, after making the quarterfinals ofWimbledon, her ranking rose to 13.
TheUS Open Series, however, saw unstable results for her, falling in the first round of all four tournaments she entered, including losing toBarbora Strýcová in her opening match at theUS Open. Entering theChina Open in poor form, Bacsinszky beat ItalianCamila Giorgi, qualifierMariana Duque-Marino, and three former top-10 players includingCarla Suárez Navarro,Sara Errani andAna Ivanovic to advance her first ever Premier-Mandatory final where she lost toGarbiñe Muguruza in straight sets. Her run to the final put her in the top 10 in theWTA rankings for the first time.
She lost out on her run to theWTA Finals, however, because the last tournament she played (Luxembourg) held its final on Saturday and the points could not count for the race. She withdrew from theWTA Elite Trophy due to a left knee injury that had already forced her retirement in her first round match in Luxembourg. After the end of the season, Bacsinszky received the WTA's Most Improved Player Award, ending the year No. 12 in the rankings.
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Bacsinszky's first two tournaments both ended in defeats as she lost toAnastasia Pavlyuchenkova andAnna Karolína Schmiedlová at theBrisbane International and at theSydney International, respectively. Her next tournament was theAustralian Open, where she beatKateřina Siniaková but lost toAnnika Beck. At the Fed Cup, Bacsinszky lost both of her matches in Switzerland's tie against Germany, but these losses did not do any harm to Switzerland who beat Germany in the doubles. She then withdrew from the Dubai Championships. At theQatar Ladies Open, Bacsinszky defeatedBethanie Mattek-Sands andYulia Putintseva before losing to eventual champion Carla Suárez Navarro. However, Bacsinszky was not able to defend her back-to-back title in Acapulco and Monterrey from 2015 as they were set in the same dates as the aforementioned tournaments.
In March, she reached the fourth round atIndian Wells beatingTsvetana Pironkova andEugenie Bouchard respectively, but lost toDaria Kasatkina subsequently. She then made a surprising semifinal run atMiami Open, beatingAgnieszka Radwańska and Simona Halep, two top-5 players, back-to-back. She lost toSvetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets in the semifinal.
At the clay-court season, Bacsinszky won her fourth WTA title inRabat, losing only one set in the tournament, and re-entered the top 10. She made the quarterfinals atRome (losing to Garbiñe Muguruza) and reached her highest career ranking at No. 9. At theFrench Open, she beatSílvia Soler Espinosa, Eugenie Bouchard,Pauline Parmentier andVenus Williams en route to her second straight quarterfinal, but lost to the unseededKiki Bertens.[14]
Coming to the grass-court season, Bacsinszky playedEastbourne but was defeated by the in-formKristina Mladenovic in straight sets. AtWimbledon, she started her campaign by beating qualifierLuksika Kumkhum in the first round and set up a rematch of last year's fourth round match againstMonica Niculescu. Similar to last year, Bacsinszky turned the match around with a comeback win by winning six games in a row in the last set. However, she lost in straight sets to the eventual quarterfinalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She then reached the semifinals of the inauguralLadies Championship Gstaad, losing to Kiki Bertens.
At theSummer Olympics, Bacsinszky suffered a first-round loss to China'sZhang Shuai; however, partnering with Martina Hingis for the first time in doubles, Bacsinszky earned her first Olympic medal, as they beat Daria Gavrilova/Samantha Stosur of Australia, Bethanie Mattek-Sands/CoCo Vandeweghe of the United States,Chan Hao-ching/Chan Yung-jan of Taipei andAndrea Hlaváčková/Lucie Hradecká of Czech Republic en route to the final, where the pair lost to Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina of Russia. They become the first two Swiss female tennis Olympic medalists.
Due to her strong first half of the season, Bacsinszky qualified forElite Trophy in Zhuhai. At the last event of the season, she lost to Zhang Shuai in straight sets in one of the two round-robin matches, but concluded the season with a win againstTímea Babos. She ended the season ranked No. 15.
Bacsinszky withdrew from theShenzhen Open and theSydney International due to injury.[15][16] With no warm-up match before theAustralian Open, she matched her best result at this tournament with a third-round appearance, losing to Daria Gavrilova in three sets. Entering the Fed Cup as the Swiss No. 1, Bacsinszky won both of her rubbers against French playerAlizé Cornet and Kristina Mladenovic. With injuries carried on from the Fed Cup, she had to retire in the first round of Doha and eventually withdrew from Dubai, the first Premier-5 event of the year. The Swiss, however, reached the second week ofIndian Wells for the third consecutive year, only to retire againstKarolína Plíšková due to wrist injury. She also had to withdraw from the Miami Open, where she was a semifinalist from the previous year. In the Fed Cup semifinal against Belarus, Bacsinszky beatAryna Sabalenka but lost toAliaksandra Sasnovich, and Switzerland eventually lost to Belarus 2–3 in that round.
Coming into the clay-court season with few tournaments played from the first quarter of the season, Bacsinszky struggled to go deep in different events including a loss toCiCi Bellis atRabat as the defending champion; a second round loss atMadrid toKiki Bertens, and a loss to Karolína Plíšková in the third round ofRome. The Swiss however did upset the reigning French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza in first round of Madrid, her first top-10 win of the season and first win against the Spaniard.
AtRoland Garros, Bacsinszky defeatedSara Sorribes Tormo,Ons Jabeur,Madison Brengle, Venus Williams, and Kristina Mladenovic to qualify for the semifinals. She lost in the semifinals against eventual championJeļena Ostapenko.
Bacsinszky underwent a surgical procedure in October, thus ending her season prematurely.[17]
Bacsinszky returned to the tour in January at theSt. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy. She lost in the first round to qualifierElena Rybakina.[18] In doubles, she and Vera Zvonareva won the title beatingAlla Kudryavtseva/Katarina Srebotnik in the final.[19] In March, she played at theIndian Wells Open. She was defeated in the first round byWang Qiang. At theMiami Open, she lost in the first round to Ekaterina Makarova.[20]
Bacsinszky kicked off her 2019 season at theShenzhen Open. She lost in the first round to fifth seed Maria Sharapova.[21] InSydney, she reached the quarterfinals before she was defeated by qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich.[22] At theAustralian Open, she upset 10th seed Daria Kasatkina in the first round.[23] She lost in the third round to 18th seed Garbiñe Muguruza.[24]
At theSt. Petersburg Trophy, Bacsinszky was defeated in the first round by eighth seed and eventual finalist,Donna Vekić.[25] Competing at theIndian Wells Challenger, she lost in the third round toFrancesca Di Lorenzo.[26] At theIndian Wells Open, she was defeated in the final round of qualifying byCaty McNally.[27]
Beginning her clay-court season at theLadies Open Lugano, Bacsinszky lost in the second round to Svetlana Kuznetsova.[28] During theFed Cup tie versus the US, Bacsinszky was defeated in both of her rubbers by Sloane Stephens andSofia Kenin. The US team ended up winning the tie over Switzerland 3–2.[29] At theMorocco Open, she lost in the second round to fourth seedAjla Tomljanović.[30] Seeded fourth at theOpen de Cagnes-sur-Mer, she reached the semifinals where she was defeated by eventual championChristina McHale.[31] At theFrench Open, she fell in the second round of qualifying toKurumi Nara.[32] Seeded seventh at theBol Open, she made it to the quarterfinals where she lost to top seed, defending and eventual champion,Tamara Zidanšek.[33]
Playing just one grass-court tournament before Wimbledon, she was defeated in the first round of qualifying atEastbourne by compatriotViktorija Golubic. AtWimbledon, she lost in the first round to ninth seed Sloane Stephens.[34]
As the top seed at theContrexéville Open, Bacsinszky fell in the first round to Kurumi Nara. Playing in her country at theLadies Open Lausanne, she lost in the first round to compatriot Jil Teichmann.[35]
Competing in New York at theUS Open, Bacsinszky was defeated in the first round by Caty McNally.[36]
At theKorea Open, she suffered a double bagel loss in the first round to American wildcardKristie Ahn.[37]
Due to not playing any more tournaments for the rest of the season, Bacsinszky ended the year ranked 125.
Bacsinszky did not play any matches throughout the entirety of 2020, and also did not compete in 2021; as such, by July 2021, her ranking had dropped as far as No. 517 in the world. On 16 July 2021, Bacsinszky announced that she had decided to "turn the page", and that she has retired from the sport with immediate effect.[38]
Bacsinszky usedBabolat racquets throughout her career, endorsing the Pure Storm and, later, the Pure Strike range of racquets. From 2009 until 2015, she was endorsed byLacoste, and she woreASICS clothing from 2016 to 2018. From 2019 until her retirement, she woreLe Coq Sportif apparel. Throughout her career, Bacsinszky wore and endorsedNike footwear. She was also an ambassador for Japanese car manufacturerHonda.[39]
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | SR | W–L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | Q1 | A | Q3 | 2R | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | 3R | 2R | 3R | A | 3R | A | A | 0 / 7 | 8–7 | 50% |
| French Open | A | A | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | A | A | Q1 | 2R | SF | QF | SF | A | Q2 | A | A | 0 / 8 | 19–8 | 70% |
| Wimbledon | A | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | A | A | Q2 | 2R | QF | 3R | 3R | A | 1R | NH | A | 0 / 9 | 11–9 | 55% |
| US Open | A | A | 1R | 3R | 2R | 1R | A | 1R | A | 2R | 1R | 2R | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | 0 / 10 | 5–10 | 36% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 5–4 | 3–3 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 11–4 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 34 | 43–34 | 56% |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | WTA Most Improved Player 2015 | Succeeded by |
