Esther Vergeer

Esther Vergeer
Full name Esther Mary Vergeer
Country  Netherlands
Residence Woerden, The Netherlands
Born July 18, 1981 (1981-07-18) (age 30)
Woerden, The Netherlands
Turned pro 1995
Plays Right Handed
Official web site www.esthervergeer.nl
Singles
Career record 656–25
Highest ranking No. 1 (6 April 1999)
Current ranking No. 1
Grand Slam results
Australian Open W (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011)
French Open W (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
US Open W (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011)
Other tournaments
Masters W (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
Paralympic Games Gold Medal (2000, 2004, 2008)
Doubles
Career record 426–32
Highest ranking No. 1 (20 October 1998)
Current ranking No. 3
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open W (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011)
French Open W (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011)
Wimbledon W (2009, 2010, 2011)
US Open W (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011)
Other Doubles tournaments
Masters Doubles W (2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011)
Paralympic Games Gold Medal (2000, 2004)
Team Competitions
World Team Cup Champion (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
Last updated on: 9 December 2011.

Esther Vergeer (born 18 July 1981, Woerden) is a Dutch wheelchair tennis player. Combining singles and doubles, she has won 39 Grand Slams, 22 year-end championships and 5 Paralympics titles. Vergeer has been the world number one wheel chair tennis player since 1999. In singles, she has not been beaten since January 2003 and is on a winning streak of 434 matches. She is often mentioned as the most dominant player in professional sports.[1][2]

Contents

Early life and career

Vergeer developed paraplegia when she was 8 years old due to an otherwise successful, very risky surgery concerning hemorrhaging blood vessels around her spinal cord.[3] During rehabilitation she learned to play volleyball, basketball, and tennis in a wheelchair. After playing basketball for several years at club level, she was invited to join the national wheelchair basketball team. She played with the Dutch team that won the European championship in 1997.

Vergeer had started playing tennis in parallel with basketball, playing her first international tournament in 1996, and switched to full-time tennis in 1998. Coached by Marc Kalkman, her first big win was at the US Open championships in 1998, moving her from 15th to 2nd in the world ranking. She beat top seed Daniela Di Toro to win the singles title and partnered with Sonja Peters to capture the doubles.[4] Her success led to a photo in the 26 November 1998 TennisWeek issue [5] She continued on and during the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney she did not lose a set to win the gold medal in singles and also won the doubles title with Maaike Smit as her partner. She also won the Wheelchair Tennis masters in 1998.[6]

Wins and accolades

As of 6 November 2011, Vergeer has won 153 singles and 130 doubles titles at international tournaments. Her overall record is 656 wins and 25 losses in singles, and 426 wins and 32 losses in doubles.[7] In singles, she has won 19 Grand Slam, 13 year-end championship, and 3 Paralympic titles while in doubles she has shared 19 Grand Slam, 9 year-end, and 2 Paralympic titles. She has also been part of the Dutch team that has won 14 World Team Cups.

Since 31 March 2001 Vergeer has lost only one singles match (on 30 Jan 2003 at the Sydney International to Daniela Di Toro from Australia). Between August 2004 and October 2006 she even won 250 consecutive sets, only one of which ended with a tiebreaker. Vergeer is currently on a 434-match winning streak.[8][9][10][11].

She has been nominated five times [12] for the Laureus Award for Sportsperson with a Disability of the Year, winning it twice in 2002 and 2008.

In October 2010 she posed nude for ESPN The Magazine's annual Body Issue, marking the first time the magazine has featured a disabled athlete in the Body Issue.[13][14]

In December 2010 Esther Vergeer was featured on CNN for her tennis record of 401 straight wins receiving congratulations from both Roger Federer and Kim Clijsters.[11]

Major titles

Grand Slam singles finals: 18 (18 titles)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Winner 2002 Wheelchair Classic 8's at Australian Open (1) Hard Daniela di Toro 6–2, 6–0
Winner 2003 Wheelchair Classic 8's at Australian Open (2) Hard Daniela di Toro 2–6, 6–0, 6–3
Winner 2004 Wheelchair Classic 8's at Australian Open (3) Hard Daniela di Toro 4–6, 6–3, 6–1
Winner 2005 US Open (1) Hard Korie Homan 6–2, 6–1
Winner 2006 Wheelchair Classic 8's at Australian Open (4) Hard Jiske Griffioen 6–4, 6–0
Winner 2006 US Open (2) Hard Sharon Walraven 6–1, 6–2
Winner 2007 Australian Open (5) Hard Florence Gravellier 6–1, 6–0
Winner 2007 French Open (1) Clay Florence Gravellier 6–3, 5–7, 6–2
Winner 2007 US Open (3) Hard Florence Gravellier 6–3, 6–1
Winner 2008 Australian Open (6) Hard Korie Homan 6–3, 6–3
Winner 2008 French Open (2) Clay Korie Homan 6–2, 6–2
Winner 2009 Australian Open (7) Hard Korie Homan 6–4, 6–2
Winner 2009 French Open (3) Clay Korie Homan 6–2, 7–5
Winner 2009 US Open (4) Hard Korie Homan 6–0, 6–0
Winner 2010 French Open (4) Clay Sharon Walraven 6–0, 6–0
Winner 2010 US Open(5) Hard Daniela di Toro 6–0, 6–0
Winner 2011 Australian Open (8) Hard Daniela di Toro 6–0, 6–0
Winner 2011 French Open (5) Clay Marjolein Buis 6–0, 6–2
Winner 2011 US Open (6) Hard Aniek van Koot 6–2, 6–1

Grand Slam singles

Tournament 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Grand Slam Tournaments wheelchair singles
Australian Open W W W A W W W W A W
French Open NH NH NH NH NH W W W W W
US Open NH NH NH W W W NH W W W

Grand Slam doubles

Tournament 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Grand Slam Tournaments wheelchair doubles
Australian Open NH NH W A W W W W A W
French Open NH NH NH NH NH W W W F W
Wimbledon NH NH NH NH NH NH NH W W W
US Open NH NH NH W W W NH W W W

Wheelchair Tennis Masters and Paralympic games

Tournament 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Career SR Career W-L Career Win %
Wheelchair Tennis Masters
WTM Singles W W W W W W W W W W W W W W 14 / 14 100%
WTM Doubles NH NH F W W W LQ W W W W W - W 9 / 12 75%
Paralympic games
Singles - - W - - - W - - - W - - - 3 / 3 100%
Doubles - - W - - - W - - - F - - - 2 / 3 66%

To help interpret the performance table, the legend below explains what each abbreviation and color coded box represents in the performance timeline.

Terms to know
SR tournaments won/played W-L Win-Loss
Performance Table Legend
NH not held A absent
LQ lost in qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds
QF quarterfinalist SF semifinalist
F runner-up W winner

References

  1. ^ Esther Vergeer is the World's Most Dominant Athlete, bleacherreport.com, 27 July 2008
  2. ^ A Champ Has Rivals, but No Equals, The New York Times, 11 September 2010
  3. ^ Biography 1981 – 1990 (Dutch) www.esthervergeer.nl
  4. ^ ITF Profile of Esther Vergeer
  5. ^ Esther Vergeer, 10sballs.com, 18 November 2010
  6. ^ Wheelchair Tennis Masters 1994–1998, ITF tennis, 2011
  7. ^ ITF profile
  8. ^ Kunieda and Vergeer win third Roland Garros titles, ITF tennis, 5 June 2009
  9. ^ Esther Vergeer runs win streak to 376 at U.S. Open's women's wheelchair competition, NY Daily News, 11 September 2009
  10. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/disability_sport/9213076.stm
  11. ^ a b 401 matches undefeated, CNN, 31 December 2010
  12. ^ Laureus World Sports Awards Press Release, 24 January 2008
  13. ^ Esther Vergeer Poses Naked in Her Wheelchair for ESPN, The Spin, 7 October 2010
  14. ^ Wheelchair ace bares body and soul, CNN, 3 November 2010

External links

Awards
Preceded by
Daniela Di Toro		 ITF Wheelchair Tennis World Champion
2000–2011		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by
First Award		 Female Player of the Year
2001–2003		 Succeeded by
Daniela di Toro
Preceded by
Vinny Lauwers
Martin Braxenthaler		 Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability
2002
2008		 Succeeded by
Michael Milton
Daniel Dias
Preceded by
First award
Jiske Griffioen		 Year End Number 1 – Doubles Award
2003–2004
2007–2008 (with Griffioen)		 Succeeded by
Florence Gravellier
Korie Homan
Australian Open women's wheelchair singles champions
  • (2002) Esther Vergeer
  • (2003) Esther Vergeer
  • (2004) Esther Vergeer
  • (2005) Mie Yaosa
  • (2006) Esther Vergeer
  • (2007) Esther Vergeer
  • (2008) Esther Vergeer
  • (2009) Esther Vergeer
  • (2010) Korie Homan
  • (2011) Esther Vergeer
Australian Open women's wheelchair doubles champions
  • (2004) Maaike Smit / Esther Vergeer
  • (2005) Florence Gravellier / Maaike Smit
  • (2006) Jiske Griffioen / Esther Vergeer
  • (2007) Jiske Griffioen / Esther Vergeer
  • (2008) Jiske Griffioen / Esther Vergeer
  • (2009) Korie Homan / Esther Vergeer
  • (2010) Florence Gravellier / Aniek van Koot
  • (2011) Esther Vergeer / Sharon Walraven
Roland Garros women's wheelchair singles champions
  • (2007) Esther Vergeer
  • (2008) Esther Vergeer
  • (2009) Esther Vergeer
  • (2010) Esther Vergeer
  • (2011) Esther Vergeer
Roland Garros women's wheelchair doubles champions
Wimbledon Wheelchair tennis Women’s Doubles Champions
  • (2009) Korie Homan / Esther Vergeer
  • (2010) Esther Vergeer / Sharon Walraven
  • (2011) Esther Vergeer / Sharon Walraven
US Open women's wheelchair singles champions
  • (2005) Esther Vergeer
  • (2006) Esther Vergeer
  • (2007) Esther Vergeer
  • (2009) Esther Vergeer
  • (2010) Esther Vergeer
  • (2011) Esther Vergeer
US Open women's wheelchair doubles champions
  • 1992: Monique Van Den Bosch
  • 1996: Maaike Smit
  • 2000: Esther Vergeer
  • 2004: Esther Vergeer
  • 2008: Esther Vergeer
  • 1992: Monique Van Den Bosch & Chantal Vandierendonck
  • 1996: Monique Kalkman-Van Den Bosch & Chantal Vandierendonck
  • 2000: Maaike Smit & Esther Vergeer
  • 2004: Maaike Smit & Esther Vergeer
  • 2008: Korie Homan & Sharon Walraven