Carla Suárez Navarro

Carla Suárez Navarro

Carla in-action at the 2011 US Open
Country (sports)	Spain
Residence	Barcelona, Spain
Born	(1988-09-03) September 3, 1988 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Height	1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Turned pro	2003
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$1,394,463
Singles
Career record	246–160
Career titles	0 WTA, 6 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 19 (April 8, 2013)
Current ranking	No. 19 (April 8, 2013)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	QF (2009)
French Open	QF (2008)
Wimbledon	3R (2009)
US Open	4R (2011)
Doubles
Career record	60–70
Career titles	0 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 113 (April 12, 2010)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	QF (2013)
French Open	1R (2009)
Wimbledon	2R (2009, 2012)
US Open	2R (2009, 2012)
Last updated on: May 28, 2012.

Template:Spanish name 2 Carla Suárez Navarro (born September 3, 1988 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) is a Spanish tennis player. She began playing for Spain in the 2008 Fed Cup. On March 4, 2013, she reached her career high ranking at World No. 21.

Suárez Navarro first came to prominence by reaching the quarter-finals of the 2008 French Open as a qualifier, in what was her first appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament and only her third appearance in the main draw of a WTA Tour tournament. She also reached the quarter-finals of the 2009 Australian Open, defeating Venus Williams en route.

Career

2008–2009

Suárez playing at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships

At the French Open, Suárez Navarro reached the quarter-finals of her first Grand Slam main draw tournament. After she won three qualifying matches, she defeated former World No. 1 Amélie Mauresmo of France in the second round 6–3, 6–4, Australian Casey Dellacqua in the third round, and 26th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta in the fourth round 6–3, 6–2. Suárez Navarro then lost to third-seeded Jelena Janković in the quarterfinals 6–3, 6–2. At Wimbledon, Suárez Navarro lost to second-seeded Janković in the second round 6–1, 6–3.

Suárez Navarro reached the second Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career at the 2009 Australian Open before being defeated by Elena Dementieva 6–2, 6–2. She upset Venus Williams in the second round 2–6, 6–3, 7–5. This was her first win over a top 10 player.

In March, Suárez Navarro reached her first final on the WTA Tour at the Andalucia Tennis Experience, a clay court event in Marbella, Spain. She lost to Jelena Janković in the final 6–3, 3–6, 6–3.

At Roland Garros seeded 22, she defeated Edina Gallovits 6–1, 6–4 and Lucie Hradecká 6–2, 6–4, before losing to Victoria Azarenka in the third round 7–5, 5–7, 2–6.

At Wimbledon, Suárez Navarro defeated #25 Kaia Kanepi in the first round and Ekaterina Makarova in the second round. She faced defending champion Venus Williams for the first time since the 2009 Australian Open but was unable to repeat the upset win, losing 0–6, 4–6.

2010

Suárez Navarro had a good start to 2010, making the second round of the 2010 ASB Classic in Auckland before losing to top seed Flavia Pennetta in straight sets. She then made the quarter-final of the 2010 Moorilla Hobart International before losing to No.2 seed Shahar Pe'er 6–4, 6–7, 5–7.

At the 2010 Australian Open, Suárez Navarro made it to the third round before losing to top seed, the defending (and eventual) champion Serena Williams, 0–6, 3–6.

She was upset in the first round of the 2010 Copa BBVA-Colsanitas by World No.198 Kristina Antoniychuk 1–6, 4–6, then made it to the semi-finals of the 2010 Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco before losing to Polona Hercog 3–6, 5–7.

Unseeded at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California, Suárez Navarro reached the fourth round, losing to Alisa Kleybanova 6–2, 6–7, 4–6. Along the way, she gained one of the biggest wins of her career by defeating World No.3 and top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–4, 4–6, 6–1 in the second round.

She reached the final of the Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella for the second year in a row, losing to Flavia Pennetta 2–6, 6–4, 3–6.

Suarez Navarro suffered an ankle injury at the tournament in Fes, Morocco. She returned to play in the 2010 French Open, losing her first-round match to Olga Govortsova 6–7, 1–6, she remained sidelined until the 2010 US Open.

2011

Carla began the season at the 2011 ASB Classic in Auckland. As the ninth seed, she was upset in round two by Heather Watson. She also lost early in Hobart to Alberta Brianti.

Going into the Australian Open, she defeated American Christina McHale by 4–6, 6–3, 6–4; but lost to eventual titlist Kim Clijsters of Belgium in the following round. Next she represented Spain at the Fed Cup against Estonia in Tallinn, where she had a 1–1 record; getting past Anett Kontaveit but falling to Kaia Kanepi.

Then, Suárez followed an early loss in Paris with a semifinal and a quarterfinal, in Bogota and Acapulco, respectively. An elbow injury caused her to stop playing for two and a half months and withdraw from Roland Garros.

She returned to the competition at the 2011 Open GDF Suez de Marseille, where she beat Sun Shengnan and Aleksandra Wozniak to make the quarterfinals, but was beaten by homecrowd favourite Pauline Parmentier.

She failed to qualify for Wimbledon, losing to Ekaterina Ivanova in round two.

In early September, Suárez reached round four of the US Open for the first time, defeating Mathilde Johansson, Simona Halep and compatriot Silvia Soler Espinosa. However, her run was ended by Andrea Petkovic.

2012

Carla Suarez Navarro was impressive in the 2012 French Open, reaching the third round. In the first round, Suarez Navarro comfortably beat Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6–0, 6–2. She progressed to the second round, where she faced Sesil Karatantcheva, of Kazakhstan and beat her 4–6, 6–4, 6–1. She made it to the third round, where she lost to Yaroslava Shvedova, also of Kazakhstan 6–4, 7–5, who had just returned from an injury.

At Wimbledon 2012 Carla Suarez Navarro only made it to the first round, but it was against fifth seed Samantha Stosur of Australia. She was well beaten losing 6–1, 6–3, which saw her make an early exit out of Wimbledon 2012. 

At Italiacom Open, she reached the quarterfinals, losing to Laura Robson 4–6 6–2 3–6.

In the London 2012 Olympics, she beat Samantha Stosur in a thrilling first round match, 3–6, 7–5, 10–8, avenging her first round defeat to the Australian at Wimbledon the previous month.

Playing style

Unlike most female professional tennis players, she has a single-handed backhand. Suárez Navarro has said in interviews that her favorite shot is her cross-court backhand and that her favorite surfaces are clay and hard. Frew McMillan has said, "There's something of Justine Henin about her game. She has a great variety of shots."

WTA career finals

Singles: 5 (0–5)

Legend: Before 2009	Legend: Starting in 2009
Grand Slam tournaments (0/0)
WTA Championships (0/0)
Tier I (0/0)	Premier Mandatory (0/0)
Tier II (0/0)	Premier 5 (0/0)
Tier III (0/0)	Premier (0/0)
Tier IV & V (0/0)	International (0/5)

Outcome	No.	Date	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1.	April 12, 2009	Marbella, Spain	Clay	Jelena Janković	3–6, 6–3, 3–6
Runner-up	2.	April 11, 2010	Marbella, Spain	Clay	Flavia Pennetta	2–6, 6–4, 3–6
Runner-up	3.	May 5, 2012	Estoril, Portugal	Clay	Kaia Kanepi	6–3, 6–7(6–8),4–6
Runner-up	4.	March 2, 2013	Acapulco, Mexico	Clay	Sara Errani	0–6, 4–6
Runner-up	5.	May 4, 2013	Oeiras, Portugal	Clay	Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova	5–7, 2–6

Grand Slam Singles performance timeline

Tournament	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	W–L
Australian Open	A	LQ	QF	3R	2R	2R	3R	10–5
French Open	A	QF	3R	1R	A	3R	4R	11–5
Wimbledon	A	2R	3R	A	LQ	1R		3–3
US Open	LQ	1R	2R	1R	4R	2R		5–5
Win–Loss	0–0	5–3	9–4	2–3	4–2	4–4	5–2	29–18

Grand Slam Doubles performance timeline

Tournament	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	W–L
Australian Open		1R	1R	1R	2R	QF	5–5
French Open		1R			1R		0–2
Wimbledon	1R	2R			2R		2–3
US Open	1R	2R		1R	2R		2–4
Win–Loss	0–2	2–4	0–1	0–2	3–4	4–1	9–14

External links

• Carla Suárez-Navarro at the Women's Tennis Association