Monica Niculescu

Monica Niculescu

Monica Niculescu during one of her matches in the Fed Cup Group I 2011 Europe/ Africa.
Residence	Bucharest, Romania
Born	(1987-09-25) 25 September 1987 Slatina, Romania
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Turned pro	May 2002
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$1,897,584
Singles
Career record	311–192
Career titles	0 WTA, 15 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 28 (February 27, 2012)
Current ranking	No. 70 (October 15, 2012)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	3R (2011, 2012)
French Open	1R (2008, 2009, 2011)
Wimbledon	2R (2008, 2010, 2011)
US Open	4R (2011)
Doubles
Career record	281–152
Career titles	2 WTA, 21 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 24 (June 7, 2010)
Current ranking	No. 29 (October 15, 2012)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	QF (2012)
French Open	QF (2010)
Wimbledon	3R (2009)
US Open	3R (2009)
Last updated on: October 15, 2012.

Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a Romanian tennis player. As of October 15, 2012 she is ranked no. 70 in the WTA Tour Singles Ranking and is the fourth-ranked Romanian player (out of 5 in the top-100), and is also the oldest Romanian in the top 100. Her highest WTA ranking is no. 28 in singles, reached on February 27, 2012, and no. 24 in doubles, reached on June 7, 2010.

Niculescu was born in Slatina, Romania, but moved to Bucharest when she was four. She is currently coached by Călin Stelian Ciorbagiu.

2009

Niculescu opened the season at the Brisbane International, where she lost to Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round in three sets. She also lost in the first round of the Moorilla Hobart International to Alyona Bondarenko. At the 2009 Australian Open, Niculescu beat Katie O'Brien in the first round, 6–4, 6–4, before losing to Sara Errani in the second, 2–6, 3–6. Alongside Sorana Cîrstea, Niculescu was the fourteenth seed in women's doubles; they lost to Nathalie Dechy and Mara Santangelo in the second round, 3–6, 3–6.

At the Open GDF Suez held in Paris, Niculescu defeated Timea Bacsinszky in the first round, before losing to eventual champion Amélie Mauresmo in the second. She then took part in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. She beat Shuai Peng in the first round in three sets, 3–6, 7–5, 6–2, and then lost to world no. 3 Jelena Janković in the second, 3–6, 2–6. Niculescu also partnered Elena Vesnina in doubles, and the two reached the quarterfinals in women's doubles; they lost to Anabel Medina Garrigues and Francesca Schiavone. Niculescu had two consecutive first-round losses, at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California (fell to Anna-Lena Grönefeld) and Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida (fell to Tamira Paszek). Partnering Alisa Kleybanova, she reached the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open, where they lost to Maria Kirilenko and Flavia Pennetta. At the Sony Ericsson Open she partnered Kleybanova again, but they lost to second seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual.

Niculescu withdrew from the Andalucía Tennis Experience and Barcelona Ladies Open due to a forearm injury.

2010

Monica Niculescu at the 2010 US Open

In 2010, Monica started the season in Auckland, coming from qualifying. In the first round, she lost to fifth seed 5 Virginie Razzano, 5–7, 4–6. In doubles, she partnered Ioana Raluca Olaru, and they defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues and Carla Suárez Navarro, 7–5, 7–5. In the second round, they lost to Cara Black and Liezel Huber, 3–6, 2–6.

At the Australian Open, she lost in the first round to Jelena Janković, 4–6, 0–6. In doubles, she partnered Chan Yung-jan and defeated Monique Adamczak and Nicole Kriz, 6–3, 6–1. The pair defeated Alla Kudryavtseva and Ekaterina Makarova in the second round, 6–4, 6–4. In the third round, the lost to sixth seeds Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs, 5–7, 3–6.

Niculescu then played an ITF tournament in Midland, but lost in the first round to Eleni Daniilidou 4–6, 2–6.

In Memphis, she lost in the first round qualifying to Valérie Tétreault. In doubles, she reached the semifinals along with Riza Zalameda, losing to Vania King and Michaëlla Krajicek, 1–6, 4–6.

At Indian Wells, she lost in qualifying to Tamarine Tanasugarn. In doubles, together with Michaëlla Krajicek, she lost in first round to Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Yan Zi, 6–7, 2–6.

In Marbella failed to qualify in singles, but in doubles she partnered Sophie Lefèvre. They defeated Kristina Barrois and Ioana Raluca Olaru in the first round, 6–3, 4–6, [10–7]. However, in the second round, they lost to Virginia Ruano Pascual and Meghann Shaughnessy, 2–6, 4–6.

2011

At the 2011 Australian Open, Niculescu defeated Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets, 6–0, 6–3. Facing off against the 32nd seed, Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, Niculescu cruised through the match winning 6–4, 6–1. In the third round, she lost to the 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, 0–6, 6–7.

Niculescu defeated Patricia Mayr-Achleitner in the first round and compatriot Alexandra Dulgheru in the second round, 6–3, 6–0, to advance to the third round of the 2011 US Open. In defeating Lucie Safarova, 6–0, 6–1, Niculescu advanced to the fourth round of a Grand Slam singles competition for the first time in her career, where she lost 4–6, 3–6 to unseeded Angelique Kerber.

At the Tier 1 China Open, she shocked the world with a dominating victory over fourth seed Li Na, 6–4, 6–0 in the first round and advanced to the semifinals, where she lost to eventual runner-up, Andrea Petkovic.

She advanced to her first WTA final at the International tournament in Luxembourg, losing to Victoria Azarenka, 2–6, 2–6. En route to the final, she spent many hours on court with a 6–7, 7–5, 7–6 first-round victory over Karin Knapp, a second-round 7–6, 3–6, 6–1 win over Anabel Medina Garrigues, and a 7–5, 4–6, 6–3 win in 3 hours over 2010 finalist Anne Keothavong in the semifinals.

2012

At the Australian Open, Niculescu made it to the third round by defeating Alizé Cornet and Pauline Parmentier, but she was defeated by then–world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, 2–6, 2–6.

Personal life

Her mother, Cristiana Silvia Niculescu is a pharmaceutical sales representative; her father Mihai Niculescu is an engineer. Niculescu has an older sister, Gabriela, who was a professional tennis player and currently attends University of Idaho.

Monica Niculescu cited Martina Hingis and Andre Agassi as her tennis idols. She enjoys shopping, movies, reading, and spending time with her family. Niculescu listed her favourite movie as Butterfly Effect with Ashton Kutcher.

WTA career finals

Singles: 2 (0–2)

Before 2009 Starting in 2009 Grand Slam tournaments (0) WTA Championships (0) Tier I (0) Premier Mandatory (0) Tier II (0) Premier 5 (0) Tier III (0) Premier (0) Tier IV & V (0) International (0/2)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	23 October 2011	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Hard (i)	Victoria Azarenka	2–6, 2–6
Runner-up	2.	21 October 2012	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Hard (i)	Venus Williams	2–6, 3-6

Doubles: 9 (2–6)

Before 2009 Starting in 2009 Grand Slam tournaments (0) WTA Championships (0) Tier I (0) Premier Mandatory (0) Tier II (0/1) Premier 5 (0) Tier III (0) Premier (0/1) Tier IV & V (0) International (2/4)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	17 August 2008	New Haven. United States	Hard	Sorana Cîrstea	Květa Peschke Lisa Raymond	6–4, 5–7, [7–10]
Winner	1.	12 July 2009	Budapest, Hungary	Clay	Alisa Kleybanova	Alona Bondarenko Kateryna Bondarenko	6–4, 7–6(7–5)
Runner-up	2.	2 August 2009	Stanford, United States	Hard	Chan Yung-jan	Serena Williams Venus Williams	1–6, 4–6
Runner-up	3.	January 16, 2010	Hobart, Australia	Hard	Chan Yung-jan	Květa Peschke Chuang Chia-jung	6–3, 3–6, [7–10]
Runner-up	4.	18 July 2010	Prague, Czech Republic	Clay	Ágnes Szávay	Timea Bacsinszky Tathiana Garbin	5–7, 6–7(4–7)
Runner-up	5.	23 July 2011	Baku, Azerbaijan	Hard	Galina Voskoboeva	Mariya Koryttseva Tatiana Poutchek	3–6, 6–2, [8–10]
Winner	2.	14 January 2012	Hobart, Australia	Hard	Irina-Camelia Begu	Chuang Chia-jung Marina Erakovic	6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–4), [10–5]
Runner-up	6.	22 September 2012	Guangzhou, China	Hard	Jarmila Gajdošová	Tamarine Tanasugarn Zhang Shuai	6–2, 2–6, [8–10]
	3./7.	21 October 2012	Luxembourg, Luxembourg	Hard (i)	Irina-Camelia Begu	Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká

Singles performance timeline

Tournament	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	1R	2R	1R	3R	3R	5–5
French Open	1R	1R	LQ	1R	1R	0–4
Wimbledon	2R	1R	2R	2R	1R	3–5
US Open	1R	1R	1R	4R	1R	3–5
Win–Loss	1–4	1–4	1–3	6–4	2–4	11–19
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	A	Not Held				0–0
WTA Premier Mandatory Tournaments
Indian Wells	A	1R	LQ	2R	2R	1–3
Miami	A	1R	A	2R	2R	1–3
Madrid	NH	1R	A	1R	1R	0–3
Beijing	NT I	A	A	SF	2R	5–2
WTA Premier 5 Tournaments
Dubai / Doha	LQ	2R	A	LQ	QF	7–4
Rome	2R	1R	A	A	1R	3–3
Cincinnati	A	A	2R	1R		3–2
Canada	2R	1R	1R	LQ		2–4
Tokyo	A	A	A	A		0–0
Year-End ranking	47	101	83	30

Doubles performance timeline

Tournament	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	W-L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	2R	3R	2R		4–3
French Open	2R	3R	QF	3R		8–4
Wimbledon	2R	3R	2R	2R	2R	6–5
US Open	2R	3R	2R	1R	1R	4–5
Win–Loss	3–3	7–4	7–4	4–4	1–2	22–17
Year-End Championship
WTA Tour Championships	A	A	A	A		0–0
WTA Premier Mandatory Tournaments
Indian Wells	A	QF	1R	1R		2–3
Key Biscayne	A	1R	2R	2R		3–3
Madrid	NH	2R	A	1R		1–2
Beijing	Tier	A	A	1R		0–1
WTA Premier 5 Tournaments
Dubai	A	QF	A	2R		3–2
Rome	A	A	A	A		0–0
Cincinnati	1R	SF	QF	1R		5–4
Montreal/Toronto	1R	1R	SF	2R		4–4
Tokyo	A	A	A			0–0
WTA Premier Tournaments
Charleston	A	A	A	A		0–0
Moscow	SF	SF	QF			5–3
Doha	QF	Not Held		1R		1–2
Berlin	1R	Not Held				0–1
Zurich	QF	Not Held				1–1
San Diego	A	A	A	A		0–0
Year-End ranking	35	30	30

External links

• Monica Niculescu at the Women's Tennis Association
• Monica Niculescu at the Billie Jean King Cup
• Template:TR female profile
• Monica Niculescu Blog