Meghann Shaughnessy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Meghann Shaughnessy
Country U.S.
Residence Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
Date of birth April 13, 1979 (1979-04-13) (age 29)
Place of birth Richmond, Virginia, USA
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 67 kg (148 lb)
Turned pro 1996
Plays Right
Career prize money $2,907,943
Singles
Career record: 333-289
Career titles: 6
Highest ranking: No. 11 (10 September 2001)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open QF (2003)
French Open 4 Round (2001)
Wimbledon 4 Round (2001)
US Open 3 Round (2000, 2001, 2002)
Doubles
Career record: 221-115
Career titles: 13
Highest ranking: No. 4 (March 21, 2005)

Meghann Shaughnessy (April 13, 1979) is an American professional tennis player. She was born in Richmond, Virginia, and currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of #11 in 2001, and has won six WTA Tour singles titles. She is best known for her serve, which is one of the most powerful on tour, and has produced as many as 22 aces in a match. Shaughnessy is coached by Rafael Font de Mora (managed by him since age 13 and coached by him for over 20 years). He had been romantically involved with her since before she turned 18. Their romantic and coaching relationship ended in 2005; however, Shaughnessy re-united with Font De Mora as her coach during the latter part of 2006.

http://www.tennisreporters.net/blog_wimbledon_062607.html

Contents

[edit] Opening serves

Shaughnessy made her debut on the WTA Tour in 1996 at a tournament in Budapest, and broke into the top 100 in 1998. In 2000, Shaughnessy won her first WTA singles title at Beijing, defeating Iroda Tulyaganova in the final, and breaking into the top fifty. In her breakout year of 2001, Shaughnessy achieved a career-high singles ranking of #11, won the second singles title of her career at Quebec City, and reached the finals of Hamburg and her home tournament in Scottsdale. She also recorded wins over world number five Conchita Martinez, world number four Monica Seles, and world number two Venus Williams.

In 2002, Shaughnessy began the season by reaching the final of Sydney, and recaptured her career-high #11 ranking. She also reached the quarterfinals or better of four other tournaments that year, with wins over top five players Jelena Dokic and Serena Williams. In 2003, Shaughnessy had another excellent year, featuring the second year end top twenty finish of her career. Shaughnessy captured her third career singles title in Canberra, and also had strong Grand Slam results, reaching her first career Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open, and reaching the Round of 16 at both the US Open and Australian Open. Shaughnessy also scored one of the biggest upsets of the year, defeating world number two Venus Williams in the Round of 16 of the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami. In 2004, Shaughnessy produced sub-par results, finishing just inside of the top 40, with only one top five win, over Anastasia Myskina in Dubai. However, in 2004 Shaughnessy produced the best doubles results of her career, winning seven tournaments with partner Nadia Petrova, including the WTA Year End Championships in Los Angeles. This doubles partnership is now over as Petrova is looking for a new partner for 2006.

[edit] Current form

In 2005, Shaughnessy has struggled with injuries and consistency. Her year began with a right leg injury, which forced her to withdraw from the Australian Open doubles competition, and from a tournament in Hyderabad. However, Shaughnessy showed signs of recovery in February, reaching the final of Memphis, defeating Nicole Vaidišová in the semifinals. The match featured Shaughnessy serving 22 aces in her 7–6 7–6 win. After Memphis, Shaughnessy struggled with back injuries for the duration of the spring, not reaching another semifinal until June at a grass tournament in 's-Hertogenbosch.

By July, Shaughnessy's ranking had dropped so low that she was forced to qualify for the Palo Alto tournament. She successfully qualified, and then stunned number five seed Vera Zvonareva in the first round, before losing to Daniela Hantuchova in the second round. A back injury forced Shaughnessy to withdraw from tournaments in Carlsbad, California and Los Angeles. As a wildcard in New Haven, she defeated number nine seed Nathalie Dechy for the first time in ten attempts, before losing to doubles partner Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the second round. At the US Open, Shaughnessy led sixteen year old Sesil Karatantcheva 6–3 5–2 in the opening round, and held two match points, before losing 3–6 7–5 7–5.

However, on March 24, 2006, Shaughnessy demolished Number 3 seed Justine Henin-Hardenne 7–5, 6–4 in the second round (Henin-Hardenne's 1st round) of the Nasdaq 100 Tournament in Miami. Shaughnessy then won a WTA-level event in Rabat, beating 8th seeded Martina Sucha in three sets, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3. It was her 4th tour title. She became the first American to win a WTA-level title in 2006 as well as the first to reach a WTA final in 2006. Shaughnessy afterwards reached the second round at Istanbul, beating 3rd seeded Anna Chakvetadze in the first round. Then she fell in the first round in the French Open to top seeded and crowd favorite Amelie Mauresmo, 6–4, 6–4.

The next year, she faced the previous year's runner-up, Svetlana Kuznetsova, in the second round of the French Open. Shaughnessy raced into a 5–0 lead in the first set, and in the sixth game held three set points on Svetlana's serve. However, Kuznetsova saved them all, won the game and recovered dramatically to clinch the set on a tie-break, before winning the second set 6–3 for the match.

[edit] Singles (12)

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
Tour Championships (0)
Tier I Event (0)
Tier II Event (0)
Tier III Event (1)
Tier IV and V Event (5)
ITF Circuit (6)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. Jun. 18, 1995 Flag of MexicoMorelia Hard Flag of the Dominican RepublicJoelle Schad 6–4 1–6 7–6
2. Jun. 25, 1995 Flag of MexicoToluca Hard Flag of CanadaRenata Kolbovic 6–3 6–2
3. Dec. 17, 1995 Flag of BrazilSão Paulo Clay Flag of BrazilEugenia Maia 6–1 6–1
4. Jun. 14, 1998 Flag of RussiaSochi Hard Flag of ColombiaFabiola Zuluaga 7–6 6–7 6–2
5. Apr. 8, 2000 Flag of the United StatesWest Palm Beach Clay Flag of SlovakiaHenrieta Nagyova 4–6 7–5 7–6
6. Apr. 30, 2000 Flag of the United StatesSarasota Clay Flag of Puerto RicoKristina Brandi 6–1 6–3
7. Oct. 22, 2000 Flag of the People's Republic of ChinaShanghai Hard Indoors Flag of UzbekistanIroda Tulyaganova 7–6 7–5
8. Sep. 23, 2001 Flag of CanadaQuebec City Hard Indoors Flag of CroatiaIva Majoli 6–1 6–3
9. Jan. 12, 2003 Flag of AustraliaCanberra Hard Flag of ItalyFrancesca Schiavone 6–1 6–1
10. May 21, 2006 Flag of MoroccoRabat Clay Flag of SlovakiaMartina Sucha 6–2 3–6 6–3
11. Aug. 26, 2006 Flag of the United StatesForest Hills Hard Flag of IsraelAnna Smashnova 1–6 6–0 6–4
12. June 16, 2007 Flag of SpainBarcelona Clay Flag of RomaniaEdina Gallovits 6–3 6–2

[edit] External links