Aleksandra Wozniak

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This article is about the Canadian tennis player. For the unrelated Danish tennis player, see Caroline Wozniacki.
Aleksandra Wozniak
Country  Canada
Residence Blainville, Quebec, Canada
Born (1987-09-07) September 7, 1987
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro November 2005
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money $1,726,208
Official website www.aleksandrawozniak.com
Singles
Career record 284–185
Career titles 1 WTA, 9 ITF
Highest ranking No. 21 (June 22, 2009)
Current ranking No. 279 (November 11, 2013)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 2R (2012)
French Open 4R (2009)
Wimbledon 2R (2008, 2010, 2012)
US Open 3R (2009)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games 2R (2012)
Doubles
Career record 32–51
Career titles 0 WTA, 0 ITF
Highest ranking No. 136 (June 7, 2010)
Current ranking No. 352 (November 11, 2013)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open 1R (2009, 2010)
French Open 2R (2010, 2012)
Wimbledon 2R (2009, 2010)
US Open 2R (2013)
Other Doubles tournaments
Olympic Games 1R (2012)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open QF (2009)
Last updated on: November 11, 2013.

Aleksandra Wozniak (born September 7, 1987) is a Canadian professional tennis player. She turned professional in November 2005. Wozniak achieved a career-best ranking of no. 21 on June 22, 2009, making her the fourth highest-ranked Canadian singles player of all time.[1] She has won one WTA and nine ITF tournaments. At the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford in 2008, she became the first Canadian in 20 years to capture a WTA singles title and is the only Quebecer in history to have accomplished such a feat. She reached a career-high ITF junior ranking of No. 3 on January 31, 2005. She was named Female Player of the Year by Tennis Canada five times (2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012).

Early life

Wozniak's family immigrated to Canada from Poland in 1983. She speaks Polish, English and French fluently. She has an elder sister Dorota who also played tennis.[2] Aleksandra started playing tennis at the age of three. She was inspired to pick up a racquet by her sister and Monica Seles, her idol growing up, and was coached by her father Antoni.[3]

Tennis career

2002–07: Early years

In 2002, as a 14-year-old, Wozniak won the Canadian Indoors Under-16 and Under-18 championships.[4] Aleksandra won the Kentucky International Junior Tennis Derby in 2004.[5] In 2005, Wozniak reached no. 3 in the juniors.[6] She also won the Tevlin Challenger 25K tournament in Toronto, the Hamilton Challenger 25K in Canada, the Victoria Challenger 25K and the Junior Casablanca Cup (as well as the doubles) in Mexico, and the Junior Del Cafe Cup (as well as the doubles) in Costa Rica.[5]

In 2006, Wozniak won the Pittsburgh Challenger (defeating Belarusian Victoria Azarenka),[7] and the Ashland Challenger (defeating Hungarian Ágnes Szávay).[7] Wozniak also won the Challenger in Hamilton the same year.[8] In February she beat her first top-100 player, world no. 63 Na Li in Thailand. In November 2006, she defeated her first top-50 player, world no. 40 Olga Puchkova in Pittsburgh.

2008: Breakthrough year

In the first round of the French Open in June, Wozniak made it to the third round, before losing to 11th seed Vera Zvonareva. It was by far her best performance at any of the Grand Slams, and she became the first Québécoise to reach the third round of a Grand Slam since 2002.[9]

In July, Wozniak won her first WTA singles title at the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, California. During the tournament she beat world no. 20 Francesca Schiavone of Italy, world no. 29 Sybille Bammer, and world no. 5 Serena Williams of the US (who had to retire in the match), before defeating sixth seed Marion Bartoli of France in the final. She was a qualifier to the tournament, so she had to win three qualifying matches and then 5 main draw matches in nine days. Wozniak became the first Canadian in 20 years to win a WTA singles title.[10] The victory vaulted her WTA singles ranking from no. 85 to no. 45 in the world. In August 2008, she was presented with key to the city in Blainville, Québec, by the mayor; they renamed it "Wozniakville" for 24 hours because for the first time a woman from Québec won a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title (when she won Stanford in July).[11]

She also received an award from the National Assembly of Québec in October 2008 for her career-high ranking of no. 37 and first Tour singles title.[11]

2009: Continuing success

Wozniak in her first round match against Granville at the 2009 US Open

Wozniak was upset by German Sabine Lisicki, also of Polish heritage, in the first round of the Australian Open where Wozniak was the 30th seed. Wozniak joined up with compatriot Daniel Nestor in the mixed doubles, where they made it to the quarterfinals before losing to Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi of India.

In March she defeated world no. 48 Lucie Šafářová in Indian Wells. That month she moved up to a career-best world no. 29. She reached her third singles final in April in the Ponte Vedra Beach, beating world no. 10 Nadia Petrova in the semi-finals, but was then defeated by world no. 12 Caroline Wozniacki. In May, she upset world no. 13 Marion Bartoli of France at the Madrid Open.[12]

At the French Open, Wozniak was the 24th seed and became the first Québécoise to ever be seeded at Roland-Garros. Wozniak made it to the round of 16, before losing to Serena Williams.[13] With her French Open success, Wozniak became Canada's first representative in the fourth round of the French Open women's draw in 17 years, and the first Canadian woman to survive into the second week at the French Open since Patricia Hy-Boulais in 1992. Wozniak was also the first Canadian to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam event since Maureen Drake qualified for the round of 16 at the 1999 Australian Open. "That's awesome for Canada and I hope to keep going", said Wozniak.[14]

She debuted her grass season in June, at the Aegon International in Eastbourne, Wozniak made it to the semifinals, before losing to Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. After that tournament, Wozniak's ranking rose two spots, to a career high of no. 21.[15] At Wimbledon, she was the first Canadian to be seeded in singles in 20 years at no. 23. However she fell in the first round to Italy's Francesca Schiavone.[16]

At the US Open, she advanced to the third round before losing to tenth seed Flavia Pennetta. Wozniak entered the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and made it into the third round before losing in three sets to Magdaléna Rybáriková.

Wozniak was named Athlete of the Year for the second time in three years at the Tennis Quebec Excellence Awards. Her father Antoni and fitness trainer André Parent were joint winners of the International Coach of the Year Award for Quebec athletes.[17] She was also named Female Athlete of the Year by the Canadian Press in recognition of her outstanding season.

2010–11: Injuries

At the 2011 French Open, her first Slam since coming back from injury

In January, Caroline Wozniacki eliminated Wozniak for the sixth time at the 2010 Australian Open in straight sets. After early losses in Miami and Indian Wells, she went to defend her last year final in Ponte Vedra Beach. However, she lost in the quarterfinals to Dominika Cibulková.

At the 2010 French Open, she lost in the third round to fifth seed Elena Dementieva in a match that lasted more than three hours. At 2010 Wimbledon, Wozniak made it to the second round before losing to fourth seed Jelena Janković. After losing in the first round of the 2010 Rogers Cup in her native Quebec against Timea Bacsinszky, she lost again in the first round at the 2010 US Open against world no. 202 Sally Peers in a match that took just 48 minutes. She was out for the remainder of the season due to a forearm injury.[18]

In her first Grand Slam appearance since coming back from injury, Wozniak qualified for the 2011 French Open. She won her first round match against Junri Namigata before losing in the second round to world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. She also qualified for 2011 Wimbledon, but lost in the first round against Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová.

She won in early August 2011 the second biggest tournament of her career at the $100,000 ITF Vancouver Open, where she defeated Jamie Hampton in the final. Wozniak qualified for her third straight Grand Slam at the 2011 US Open, but lost in the first round to young American Christina McHale.

2012: Return to form

Wozniak at the US Open in 2012

At the first Grand Slam of the season, the Australian Open, Wozniak defeated Zhang Shuai in the first round. She made it through to the second round for the first time of her career. She was defeated by 27th seed Maria Kirilenko in the next round. In March, she won the $100,000 ITF Bahamas Women's Open, beating Alizé Cornet in the final. Wozniak reached the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open with wins over Eleni Daniilidou and World No. 28 Monica Niculescu in first and second round respectively, but lost to Venus Williams after having a match point in the third set.

At the French Open, she reached the third round for the fourth time in five years, but lost to World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka. She was eliminated in the second round at Wimbledon by World No. 27 Zheng Jie. Wozniak qualified for the Summer Olympic Games in London, but lost to American Venus Williams in the second round. At the Rogers Cup, she reached the quarterfinals at a Premier 5 tournament for the first time of her career, where she lost to Caroline Wozniacki. She became the first Canadian in 20 years (since Patricia Hy-Boulais in 1992) to reach the quarterfinals there.[19] Wozniak lost in the second round of the US Open to World No. 17 Lucie Šafářová.

She was forced to end her season prematurely after suffering a joint sprain in her right shoulder at the Challenge Bell in September.[20]

2013: More injuries and return

Wozniak made a first return following her injury at the Sony Open Tennis in March, but fell to Kristina Mladenovic in the first round. She was then forced to take a second break of three months to make sure her shoulder is completely healed.[21] She made a second return at the New Haven Open at Yale in mid-August, but was defeated in three sets by World No. 26 Ekaterina Makarova in her opening match.[22][23] Her next tournament was the US Open where she was eliminated by World No. 2 Victoria Azarenka in the second round.[24] In September, Wozniak lost in the first round of the Challenge Bell to the eight seed Caroline Garcia.[25] At the WTA Premier 5 Toray Pan Pacific Open in late September, Wozniak made it to the second round using her protected ranking. She defeated World No. 47 Francesca Schiavone in the opening round, but fell to the second seed Agnieszka Radwańska in the next one.[26] The next week, she lost in the first round of the WTA Premier Mandatory China Open to World No. 13 Sloane Stephens.[27] At the last tournament of her season in early October, the HP Open, she was defeated by Kristina Mladenovic in the first round.[28]

Fed Cup

Wozniak won her first Fed Cup match in 2004, defeating Swiss Timea Bacsinszky and boasts a 37–9 record through February 2012. Her 37 total victories are a Canadian Fed Cup record, as are her 29 wins in singles. She has appeared in 32 ties during her career in the Fed Cup.[29] In 2006, she beat Argentine world no. 33 Gisela Dulko.[8]

Style of play

Wozniak has an all court game that is anchored by an effective first serve and a strong backhand. She also possesses a good overhead.[30] Her favourite surface is clay.

WTA career finals

Singles: 3 (1 title, 2 runners-up)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0)
Tier II / Premier (1–0)
Tier III, IV & V / International (0–2)
Titles by surface
Hard (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (0–2)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner–up 1. May 21, 2007 Marrakech Grand Prix, Fes, Morocco Clay Venezuela Milagros Sequera 1–6, 3–6
Winner 1. July 20, 2008 Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, United States Hard France Marion Bartoli 7–5, 6–3
Runner–up 2. April 12, 2009 MPS Group Championships, Ponte Vedra Beach, United States Clay Denmark Caroline Wozniacki 1–6, 2–6

WTA Challenger and ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 12 (9 titles, 3 runners-up)

Legend
WTA Challenger 125s (0–0)
ITF $100,000 (2–0)
ITF $75,000 (1–0)
ITF $50,000 (1–0)
ITF $25,000 (4–3)
ITF $15,000 (0–0)
ITF $10,000 (1–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. June 30, 2002 Lachine, Canada Hard Singapore Beier Ko 6–0, 6–3
Winner 2. July 17, 2005 Hamilton, Canada Clay Argentina María José Argeri 6–1, 6–2
Runner–up 1. October 2, 2005 Pelham, United States Clay Argentina Soledad Esperón 5–7, 2–6
Winner 3. October 16, 2005 Victoria, Mexico Hard Czech Republic Olga Blahotová 2–6, 6–0, 6–4
Runner–up 2. October 23, 2005 Mexico City, Mexico Hard Argentina María José Argeri 4–6, 0–4 ret.
Winner 4. November 13, 2005 Toronto, Canada Hard (i) Ukraine Olena Antypina 6–4, 6–3
Winner 5. July 23, 2006 Hamilton, Canada Clay Canada Valérie Tétreault 6–1, 6–7(5–7), 6–2
Winner 6. October 1, 2006 Ashland, United States Hard Hungary Ágnes Szávay 6–1, 7–6(7–2)
Winner 7. November 12, 2006 Pittsburgh, United States Hard (i) Belarus Victoria Azarenka 6–2, ret.
Runner–up 3. March 23, 2008 Redding, United States Hard Czech Republic Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová 6–7(4–7), 3–6
Winner 8. August 7, 2011 Vancouver, Canada Hard United States Jamie Hampton 6–3, 6–1
Winner 9. March 17, 2012 Nassau, Bahamas Hard France Alizé Cornet 6–4, 7–5

Doubles: 2 (2 runners-up)

Legend
WTA Challenger 125s (0–0)
ITF $100,000 (0–0)
ITF $75,000 (0–0)
ITF $50,000 (0–0)
ITF $25,000 (0–1)
ITF $15,000 (0–0)
ITF $10,000 (0–1)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner–up 1. June 16, 2002 Toronto, Canada Hard Canada Diana Srebrovic Australia Lauren Cheung
Australia Christina Horiatopoulos		 3–6, 1–6
Runner–up 2. July 23, 2006 Hamilton, Canada Clay Argentina Soledad Esperón Australia Nicole Kriz
United States Story Tweedie-Yates		 4–6, 1–6

Singles performance timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR LQ (Q#) A P Z# PO SF-B F S G NMS NH

Won tournament; or reached Final; Semifinal; Quarter-final; Round 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a Round Robin stage; lost in Qualification Round; absent from tournament event; played in a Davis Cup Zonal Group (with its number indication) or Play-off; won a bronze, silver (F or S) or gold medal at the Olympics; a downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament (Not a Masters Series); or a tournament that was Not Held in a given year.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated either at the conclusion of a tournament, or when the player's participation in the tournament has ended.
This table is current through the 2014 Australian Open.

Tournament20012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A A A 1R Q1 1R 1R A 2R A Q1 1–4
French Open A A A A A A 1R 3R 4R 3R 2R 3R A 10–6
Wimbledon A A A A A A 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R 2R A 3–6
US Open A A A A A A 1R 1R 3R 1R 1R 2R 2R 4–7
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–4 3–3 5–4 3–4 1–3 5–4 1–1 0–0 18–23
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics Not Held A Not Held A Not Held 2R NH 1–1
Year-End Championships
WTA Tour Championships A A A A A A A A A A A A A 0–0
WTA Premier Mandatory Tournaments
Indian Wells A A A A A A 1R Q2 3R 2R Q1 1R A 1–4
Miami A A A A Q1 A 1R 2R 2R 2R A 3R 1R 3–6
Madrid Not Held 2R 1R A A A 1–2
Beijing Not Tier I 3R A A A 1R 2–2
WTA Premier 5 Tournaments
Doha Not Tier I A Not P5 1R A 0–1
Dubai Not Tier I A A A NP5 0–0
Rome A A A A A A A A 2R A A 1R A 1–2
Canada A A Q1 1R 1R 1R 2R 2R 1R 1R 2R QF A 6–9
Cincinnati Not Tier I 2R A A A A 1–1
Tokyo A A A A A Q1 A 1R 3R A A A 2R 3–3
Career Statistics
Tournaments Played 1 4 4 6 15 26 28 23 25 18 15 21 7 193
Titles–Finals 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–2
Overall Win–Loss 2–1 11–3 2–4 11–6 44–13 43–24 22–29 40–22 30–25 14–18 28–14 35–19 2–7 0–0 284–185
Win % 67% 79% 33% 65% 79% 64% 43% 65% 55% 44% 67% 65% 22% 0% 61%
Year-End Ranking – 569 878 491 190 91 130 34 35 126 105 43 280 –

Doubles performance timeline

This table is current through the 2014 Australian Open.

Tournament20072008200920102011201220132014W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A 1R 1R A A A A 0–2
French Open 1R A 1R 2R A 2R A 2–4
Wimbledon A A 2R 2R A 1R A 2–3
US Open A 1R 1R A A 1R 2R 1–4
Win–Loss 0–1 0–1 1–4 2–3 0–0 1–3 1–1 5–13

Awards

2004 – Tennis Canada female player of the year
2006 – Tennis Canada female player of the year
2008 – Tennis Canada female player of the year
2009 – Tennis Canada female player of the year
2009 – Bobbie Rosenfeld Award[31]
2012 – Tennis Canada female player of the year

References

  1. ↑ "Bio p.3". AleksandraWozniak.com. Retrieved October 31, 2008. 
  2. ↑ "Dorota Wozniak's WTA profile". WTA. Retrieved October 31, 2008. 
  3. ↑ "Wozniak puts Canada on world court". WTA Québec. Retrieved May 30, 2009. 
  4. ↑ "Bio p.6". AleksandraWozniak.com. Retrieved October 31, 2008. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Bio p.5". AleksandraWozniak.com. Retrieved October 31, 2008. 
  6. ↑ "Chasing a tennis dream". WTA Québec. Retrieved May 30, 2009. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Google Books Aleksandra Wozniak. Google Books. Retrieved October 31, 2008. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Bio p.4". AleksandraWozniak.com. Retrieved October 31, 2008. 
  9. ↑ "Wozniak's French Open run ends". The Gazette. Retrieved November 23, 2012. 
  10. ↑ "Canada's Wozniak wins first career WTA title". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 31, 2008. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Aleksandra Wozniak's WTA profile". WTA. Retrieved October 31, 2008. 
  12. ↑ "Wozniak a le numéro de Bartoli". WTA Québec. Retrieved November 23, 2012. 
  13. ↑ "Williams brushes aside Wozniak to reach the last eight". The Guardian. Retrieved November 23, 2012. 
  14. ↑ "Wozniak's French Open". Canadian Press. Retrieved May 30, 2009. 
  15. ↑ "Nadal and Wimbledon storylines". Canada.com. Retrieved May 30, 2009. 
  16. ↑ "Schnyder, Wozniak Seeds Out at Wimbledon; Day 2 Schedule". TennisX. Retrieved November 23, 2012. 
  17. ↑ "Aleksandra Wozniak nommée athlète féminine de l'année". La Presse. Retrieved November 23, 2012. 
  18. ↑ "Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak's season over thanks to forearm injury". Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on November 15, 2010. Retrieved October 12, 2010. 
  19. ↑ "Wozniak downs McHale to reach Rogers Cup quarter-finals". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved August 24, 2012. 
  20. ↑ "Shoulder injury sidelines Wozniak for remainder of tennis season". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved September 27, 2012. 
  21. ↑ "Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak out three months with shoulder injury". National Post. Retrieved August 15, 2013. 
  22. ↑ "Wozniak to miss Rogers Cup". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved August 15, 2013. 
  23. ↑ "Aleksandra Wozniak s'incline à son retour". Canoe.ca. Retrieved August 19, 2013. 
  24. ↑ "No. 2 Victoria Azarenka beats Wozniak 6-3, 6-1 in 2nd round of US Open". Times Colonist. Retrieved August 29, 2013. 
  25. ↑ "Aleksandra Wozniak tombe au premier tour". Canoe.ca. Retrieved September 14, 2013. 
  26. ↑ "Venus Williams ousts Azarenka". SportingLife.com. Retrieved September 24, 2013. 
  27. ↑ "WTA China Open: Heather Watson loses to Varvara Lepchenko in three sets". SkySports.com. Retrieved September 30, 2013. 
  28. ↑ "Lisicki moves on in Osaka". TSN.ca. Retrieved October 9, 2013. 
  29. ↑ "Aleksandra Wozniak's Fed Cup profile". Fed Cup. Retrieved November 23, 2012. 
  30. ↑ "Tennis Spy : Aleksandra Wozniak". Yahoo Sport UK. Retrieved October 31, 2008. 
  31. ↑ "Winners: Aleksandra Wozniak, Tennis". The Bobbie Rosenfeld and Lionel Conacher Awards Winners. Retrieved December 27, 2013. 

External links

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