| Country | Great Britain England |
|---|---|
| Residence | Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire |
| Born | 20 August 1979 |
| Turned pro | 2002 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Career prize money | $238,565 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 159–157 |
| Career titles | 0 (3 ITF) |
| Highest ranking | 199 (10 July 2006) |
| Grand Slam results | |
| French Open | Q1 (2008) |
| Wimbledon | 2R (2006) |
| US Open | Q1 (2006) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 115–141 |
| Career titles | 0 (8 ITF) |
| Highest ranking | 67 (24 May 2010) |
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |
| Australian Open | 2R (2010) |
| French Open | 1R (2009, 2010) |
| Wimbledon | 1R (2003–2010) |
| US Open | 1R (2009) |
| Last updated on: 5 July 2010. | |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tennis | ||
| Competitor for England | ||
| Commonwealth Games | ||
| Bronze | 2010 Delhi | Mixed Doubles |
Sarah Leah Borwell (born 20 August 1979) is an English professional tennis player who specialises primarily in doubles. She is currently the British number 1 in doubles, ranked 67 in the world (as of 24 May 2010). Her career high doubles ranking is 67, set on 24 May 2010 and her career high singles ranking is 199, which she reached on 10 July 2006.
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Borwell was born in Middlesbrough.[1] She attended Nunthorpe School,[1] where Jonathan Woodgate and Liam Plunkett were fellow students, she even shared a class and school football team with Woodgate who is a year her junior at The Avenue Primary school, where dual year classes were present. She was a regular player for the Schools boys football team, more than holding her own and deserving her place in the team.[2] and Prior Pursglove College in Guisborough.[1] She won a tennis scholarship to the University of Houston, where she completed a business degree.[2]
Her father is a scout at Aston Villa F.C.,[2] and her mother coaches Mini Tennis and is a supervisor for school sports.[1]
Borwell made her tennis debut in August 2002 at the ITF tournament held in Bath, England where she suffered a first round defeat. She played four more tournaments that year and reached the quarter-finals of two of them (both on clay). The season ended with Borwell ranked world no. 744.[3]
She began 2003 with another quarter-final loss in January and two months later made her first appearance in an ITF tournament final, losing in straight sets to Australian Lisa McShea, 6–1 6–4. She notched up one more semi-final loss and another quarter-final loss in ITF events before making her debut on the WTA tour at the tier III DFS Classic held in Birmingham. She experienced a defeat in the first round of qualifying at the hands of a young future world number 1, Maria Sharapova. Borwell was then granted a wild card into the qualifying event of her home Grand Slam, Wimbledon, where she was defeated in straight sets by Argentine Gisela Dulko in the first round. She spent the rest of the year on the ITF circuit, reaching two more semi-finals (one as a qualifier). She finished 2003 ranked 349.[3]
2004 was a year of first and second round defeats for Borwell. She played the entire year on the ITF circuit, reaching only one quarterfinal and one semifinal (albeit as a qualifier) and as such her year-end ranking fell 68 places to number 417.[3]
She made a more promising start to 2005, reaching the quarter-finals in her second ITF tournament of the season and the semi-finals in her third. She again played on the ITF tour until June when she was again given a wild card into the tier III Birmingham DFS Classic qualifying rounds. She managed to go one better than her previous year's appearance at the tournament by beating 16th seed Sunitha Rao in three tight sets before losing to 8th seed Rika Fujiwara from Japan. Another wild card followed, but this time into the main draw of Wimbledon where her opponent in round one was American, Shenay Perry. Despite a valiant performance in a first set tie-break (which she eventually lost 11–13) she lost the match in two sets, 7–6(11) 6–3. The rest of her year was spent playing ITF tournaments where she reached one quarter-final. She did however beat two women ranked higher than herself to qualify for the tier III Bell Challenge held in Quebec City, Canada in November. She lost in the first round to Emma Laine of Finland. 2005 ended with Borwell ranked 331.[3]
In February 2006, Borwell attempted to qualify for the Canara Bank Bangalore Open, a tier III tournament held in India. She lost to Akgul Amanmuradova, 6–2 6–1. March saw success for Borwell as she reached the semi-finals of Sunderland ITF before losing to Gaelle Widmer, 6–1 6–3. This was immediately followed by her first ever title in Sheffield where she did not drop a single set en route to the final where she defeated Nadja Roma, 4–6 6–1 6–4. Two consecutive first round losses followed before a quarter-final loss to Anne Keothavong in the ITF tournament held in Madras. May saw another ITF final appearance for Borwell in Nagano where she was forced to retire after losing a close first set 7–5 to Tomoko Yonemura. In June, Borwell had her first victory in the main draw of a WTA event after being given a wild card into the DFS Classic in Birmingham and defeating fellow Briton Melanie South in three sets. Jamea Jackson beat her in the second round. Two consecutive wild cards followed, the first into the main draw of the International Women's Open in Eastbourne (where she did not make it past the first round) and the second into the main draw of Wimbledon. She had a shock victory here by winning her first round match against world number 66, Marta Domachowska, 6–3 6–7(3) 6–4. This set up a second round match against future world number 1, Ana Ivanović, which she lost, 6–1 6–2. Following Wimbledon, Borwell reached the quarter-finals of one ITF tournament that year and was beaten in the first round of qualifying of the US Open by Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro. Her ranking was 218 at the end of this season.[3]
From January to June 2007, Borwell played on the ITF tour. She reached three quarter-finals in this time. Then she participated in the French Open qualifying tournament where she was beaten by Stéphanie Dubois. She lost in qualifying for the DFS Classic, International Women's Open and Wimbledon before reaching the quarter-finals of the ITF tournament held in Felixstowe. Her next tournament was another ITF, this one held in Frinton where she defeated fellow Briton, Jade Curtis, in the final, 6–4 1–6 6–3. The second ITF title of her career. This was followed by another quarter-final appearance in an ITF tournament before she lost in the qualifying rounds for three consecutive WTA tournaments. One more quarter-final in an ITF tournament rounded off her results for 2007. She finished the year at a ranking of 264.[3]
Borwell spent most of 2008 playing on the ITF circuit, reaching two consecutive finals in March in Dijon and Bath. She lost the first to Olga Brózda and won the second by defeating Stéphanie Vongsouthi. In July she reached her only other singles final of the ITF season in the Felixstowe tournament, losing to Neuza Silva, 3–6 2–6. Her participation on the WTA tour that year consisted of four losing efforts as she attempted to qualify for the DFS Classic, the Banka Koper Slovenia Open, the Nordea Nordic Light Open and the Bell Challenge. Borwell was awarded a wild card into the qualifying draw of Wimbledon where she was beaten by Yaroslava Shvedova, 6–4 6–7(5) 6–4. In November, Borwell made the decision to stop playing singles and become a doubles specialist.[3]
With her doubles ranking high enough for her to enter the main draw of many WTA tournaments without having to qualify. She reached the quarterfinals of four International tournaments: ASB Classic, Moorilla Hobart International, Abierto Mexicano Telcel and the Monterrey Open. She also made the semi final of the main tour event in Bad Gastein. In 2010 Borwell teamed up full time with American Raquel Kops-Jones. So far they have made 3 quarter finals but their higlight has been a semi final in the WTA events at Ponte Vedra Beach and Stanford.
Both the French Open and Wimbledon proved to be a frustrating experience for Borwell and Kops-Jones. Although sandwiched between both tournaments they picked up an ITF title in Nottingham (defeating Naomi Broady and Katie O'Brien in the final) they suffered 1st round defeats in both Grand Slam events. At the French they came up against nemesis' and eventual finalists Katarina Srebotnik and Květa Peschke and were thrashed 6–0 6–1. At Wimbledon they played a high quality game against 5th seeds Liezel Huber and Bethanie Mattek-Sands. They played the first two centre court before bad light forced the match to be resumed the next day, at one set all. where Huber and Mattek prevailed 7–5 in the decider. Borwell did however win a round with Colin Fleming in the Mixed Doubles before losing in the second round to top seeds Nenad Zimonjić and Sam Stosur
In July, Borwell teamed up with Martina Hingis and Scoville Jenkins to form the New York Buzz team at the World Team Tennis Championships. Although they struggled and were the least successful team, Borwell and Jenkins registered a very impressive Mixed Doubles success against John McEnroe and Kim Clijsters
At the Bank of West Classic Borwell and Jones caused a huge upset in round 1 as they defeated Lisa Raymond and Renne Stubbs 6–0, 4–6, 12–10. On the win Borwell said 'We deserved that.'[4] They reached the semi final despite Borwell being hit on the head with a 10–6 champion tie break win against Lilia Osterloh and Riza Zamelada, Borwell said this win was more important than their first round win.[5] The blow to the head Borwell received in that match turned out to be a brain bleed that kept her out of action for about a month, causing her to miss the US Open.
Borwell returned to action at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, competing for England in both the Women's and Mixed doubles. Anna Smith and Ken Skupski were her respective partners. Borwell and Smith were seeded 2nd, however could not live up to that ranking losing their quarter final match in straight sets. Borwell and Skupski however combined well eventually winning the bronze medal, defeating Smith and partner Ross Hutchins.
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| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 19 March 2006 | Sheffield $10,000 | Hard | Nadja Roma | 4–6 6–1 6–4 |
| 2. | 21 July 2007 | Frinton $10,000 | Grass | Jade Curtis | 6–4 1–6 6–3 |
| 3. | 23 March 2008 | Bath $10,000 | Hard | Stéphanie Vongsouthi | 6–4 7–6(5) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | 24 October 2004 | Bolton $10,000 | Hard | Emily Webley-Smith | Hannah Collin Anna Hawkins |
7–5 1–6 6–2 |
| 2. | 7 August 2005 | Vancouver $25,000 | Hard | Sarah Riske | Lauren Barnikow Antonia Matic |
6–4 3–6 7–6(0) |
| 3. | 9 November 2007 | Port Pirie $25,000 | Hard | Courtney Nagle | Daniella Dominikovic Emily Hewson |
6–2 6–2 |
| 4. | 22 February 2008 | Capriolo $25,000 | Carpet | Kelly Anderson | Darija Jurak Ivana Lisjak |
7–6(7) 6–4 |
| 5. | 10 May 2008 | Irapuato $25,000 | Hard | Robin Stephenson | Stefania Boffa Nikola Francova |
6–4 3–6 [10–4] |
| 6. | 12 July 2008 | Felixstowe $25,000 | Grass | Courtney Nagle | Nikola Franková Anna Hawkins |
7–5 6–3 |
| 7. | 23 November 2008 | Odense $100,000 | Carpet | Courtney Nagle | Gabriela Chmelinova Mervana Jugić-Salkić |
6–4 6–4 |
| 8. | 31 May 2010 | Nottingham $50,000 | Grass | Raquel Kops-Jones | Naomi Broady Katie O'Brien |
6–3 2–6 [10–7] |
|
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| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | 16 March 2003 | Benalla $10,000 | Grass | Lisa McShea | 6–1 6–4 |
| 2. | 28 May 2006 | Nagano $25,000 | Carpet | Tomoko Yonemura | 7–5 ret. |
| 3. | 16 March 2008 | Dijon $10,000 | Hard | Olga Brózda | 7–5 4–6 6–4 |
| 4. | 13 July 2008 | Felixstowe $25,000 | Grass | Neuza Silva | 6–3 6–2 |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | 23 March 2003 | Yarrawonga $10,000 | Grass | Bree Calderwood | Chia-Jung Chuang Ilke Gers |
6–1 7–5 |
| 2. | 15 July 2006 | Felixstowe $25,000 | Grass | Jane O'Donoghue | Trudi Musgrave Christina Wheeler |
6–2 6–4 |
| 3. | 22 March 2008 | Bath $10,000 | Hard | Olivia Scarfi | Martina Babakova Iveta Gerlová |
6–1 5–7 [10–1] |
| 4. | 6 June 2008 | Surbiton $50,000 | Grass | Elizabeth Thomas | Julie Ditty Abigail Spears |
7–6(2) 6–2 |
| 5. | 28 September 2008 | Shrewsbury $75,000 | Hard | Courtney Nagle | Anna Smith Johanna Larsson |
7–6(6) 6–4 |
| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
Career Win-Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0–0 |
| French Open | - | - | - | - | Q1 | - | 0–0 |
| Wimbledon | Q1 | - | 1R | 2R | Q2 | Q1 | 1–2 |
| US Open | - | - | - | Q1 | - | - | 0–0 |
| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | Career Win-Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2R | 1–1 |
| French Open | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1R | 1R | 0–2 |
| Wimbledon | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 0–8 |
| US Open | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1R | 0–1 |
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