Emily Webley-Smith

Emily Webley-Smith

Country	United Kingdom
Residence	Wimbledon, London
Born	(1984-07-14) 14 July 1984 Thornbury, Avon
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$152,326
Singles
Career record	255–265
Career titles	0 WTA (2 ITF)
Highest ranking	No. 240 (7 November 2011)
Current ranking	No. 440 (16 September 2013)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	–
French Open	–
Wimbledon	2R (2004)
US Open	–
Doubles
Career record	167–170
Career titles	0 WTA (9 ITF)
Highest ranking	No. 184 (16 September 2013)
Current ranking	No. 184 (16 September 2013)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	–
French Open	–
Wimbledon	1R (2004, 2005, 2007)
US Open	–
Last updated on: 21 November 2011.

Emily Webley-Smith (born 14 July 1984) is an English professional tennis player. She is coached by Jeremy Bates. She is currently the British no. 6 and ranked 258 in the world (as of 2 January 2012). So far in her career she has won two International Tennis Federation singles titles, seven ITF doubles titles and reached a career-high singles ranking of world number 240 (achieved 7 November 2011).^[1] She has also reached the second round of her home Grand Slam, Wimbledon, on one occasion in 2004.^[2]

Personal life

Webley-Smith was born in 1984 in Thornbury, Avon, which is now in South Gloucestershire.^[3] Her mother, Jane, is a PE teacher and her father, Mike, an amateur footballer and cricketer. She also has a sister named Hannah.^[4] Her first introduction to tennis was playing swingball in her garden and in the cricket grounds where her father was the club captain. Webley-Smith describes herself as "individual, deep, emotional, optimistic and resilient".^[5]

Injury problems

Problems with Webley-Smith's right ankle began in 2002 when she broke it whilst on court competing in the qualifying tournament for the $25,000 ITF event in Cardiff and underwent surgery to repair both the bone and the damaged caused to the ligaments. She was unable to compete on the tour for six months.

In November 2003 she needed a second operation on her ankle to remove cartilage which had come loose; an operation which was successful and enabled Emily to play injury-free tennis for almost two years.

However she had to take yet more time out later in 2005 when she began experiencing sharp pains in the same ankle while warming up for an ITF tournament in Puebla, Mexico. She had treatment on the ankle again and returned, with limited success, to competitive tennis in Spring 2006 before having surgery for a third time to remove fluid from her ankle.

She began recovering well before septicaemia left her with an agonisingly swollen ankle and unable to walk for five whole weeks. Webley-Smith said of the time, "My ankle was the size of a football. I remember the doctor trying to take my sock off and I was screaming. I was taking what they call an 'elephant dose' of antibiotics and the strongest painkillers they could give me". She returned full-time to the circuit in August 2006.^[6]

In 2009 she also began to have trouble with her wrist after injuring it during an ITF event in Tanjung Selor in Indonesia, just a number of weeks before Wimbledon. It recovered well enough in time for Webley-Smith to compete in the Wimbledon qualifying rounds however she reaggravated the injury later in the year and was unable to compete again until February 2010.^[7][8]

In her spare time of late she plays on the touchtennis tour against amateurs and other professional tennis players for fun. Her highest ranking was 2 in 2011.

Career

Junior (1998–2002)

Webley-Smith played her first junior ITF tournament in February 1998 and her last in July 2002. Over her junior career in singles, she reached a total of four quarterfinals, two semifinals and the final of the Slazenger Appletise Winchester Junior Tournament. She competed at Wimbledon juniors a total of four times; in 1999, 2000 and 2001 she lost in the qualifying stages but in 2002 she reached the second round of the main draw. Her career-high singles ranking was world no. 119 (reached on 29 April 2002) and her win-loss record was 31–31.^[9]

In doubles she won three tournaments, was a runner-up in another and also reached one semifinal and seven quarterfinals. Her doubles win-loss record was 22–27 and her career-high ranking was world no. 95 (achieved 30 July 2001).^[9]

1999–2002

Webley-Smith played her first match on the ITF tour in October 1999, a match which she lost 0–6 0–6 against Melanie Schnell from Austria. It was her only professional match in 1999.^[10]

In 2000 she played a total of six tournaments. She lost in the qualifying rounds of four $10,000 events in Great Britain (Bournemouth, Frinton, Hatfield and Sunderland), lost in the first round of another (in Glasgow) and was also beaten in the first round of the $25,000 event in Felixstowe by countywoman, Jane O'Donoghue, 4–6 3–6.^[10]

The 2001 season began well for Webley-Smith as in her very first tournament of the year she qualified and reached the quarterfinals of the $10,000 event in Jersey before being beaten by Anne Keothavong, 3–6 6–7⁽⁴⁾. Unfortunately for Emily she was unable to continue this form for the rest of the year, losing in the qualifying stages in every other tournament she entered with the exception of the $10,000 Sunderland ITF where she was defeated again by Keothavong, 3–6 4–6. She also played in the main draw of her final ITF tournament of the year as a lucky loser but was again beaten in round one. She ended the year ranked world no. 712.^[10]

Webley-Smith had a varied year in 2002, with limited success on the ITF tour but also her first appearance in a Grand Slam at Wimbledon where she lost in the first round of qualifying to Nina Dübbers, 1–6 2–6. She only reached one ITF quarterfinal in 2002, at the $10,000 London event in August. In October, Emily broke her ankle during a qualifying match for a $25,000 ITF event in Cardiff and did not compete again that season. Nevertheless, her year-end world ranking rose to world no. 673.^[10]

2003

Webley-Smith played her first professional match since breaking her ankle in 2002, in April at the qualifying event for the $10,000 ITF tournament in Bournemouth where she lost in the second round. In May she reached two consecutive quarterfinals of $10,000 events in Spain: Monzón and Almeira. In June, for the first time in her career she was given a wild card into the DFS Classic qualifying draw, a tier III tournament in Birmingham where she was beaten by Bethanie Mattek in straight sets, 3–6 4–6. She then received another wild card into Wimbledon qualifying and again lost her first round match, 2–6 1–6, to Sada Noorlander. Two more consecutive quarterfinal appearances in ITF tournaments immediately followed this, Waco ($10k) and Vancouver ($25k), and one more in August in a $10,000 event in London. She ended the year with a singles ranking of world no. 469.^[10]

2004

2004 started slowly for Webley-Smith; she won only two of her first ten matches on the ITF circuit. However in March she reached the quarterfinals of the $10,000 tournament in Patras before losing to Ekaterina Dzehalevich, 2–6 0–6. In this same tournament, she reached the doubles final partnering compatriot, Chantal Coombs, and lost to Martina Müller and Vladimíra Uhlířová, 6–7⁽⁷⁾ 3–6. Two months later in May, she reached two more ITF quarterfinals consecutively in Mérida and Surbiton. In June she was given wildcards into the qualifying draws for the DFS Classic (tier III) and the Hastings Direct International Championships (tier II), where she lost in the first and second rounds of qualifying respectively.

This was immediately followed by another wildcard, this one into the main draw of Wimbledon. In her first ever main draw Grand Slam appearance she managed to survive rain delays and defeat Frenchwoman Séverine Beltrame in straight sets, 7–6⁽²⁾ 6–4, to reach the second round^[2] where she faced the no. 31 seed, Amy Frazier. The final result did not go Webley-Smith's way though as she was defeated with a final score of 2–6 6–3 6–8.^[11] Webley-Smith spent the rest of the year on the ITF tour but did not progress past the second round in any tournament she played. Her year-end ranking for 2004 was world no. 272.^[10]

2005

Webley-Smith began the 2005 season well on home ground by reaching the semifinals of the $10,000 ITF tournament in Tipton where she had to retire during her semifinal match against fellow Briton, Katie O'Brien. She continued competing on the ITF circuit for the first half of the year and reached the quarterfinal stages in two more $10,000 tournaments, in Tampico and Ho Chi Minh City. In June she was given a wild card into the qualifying draw for the tier III WTA tournament, the DFS Classic where she lost in the first round of the qualifying event. This was followed by a wild card into the qualifying draw of Wimbledon where she was also beaten in the first round, by Meilen Tu, 5–7 3–6. She reached only one more ITF semifinal that year, in the $25,000 event in Lagos where she lost, 2–6 4–6, to Anne Keothavong. Her year-end ranking for 2005 was world no. 385.^[10]

2006

Webley-Smith spent much of the 2006 season out of action due to suffering from septicaemia as a result of her long-term ankle problems which began in 2002. She was forced to retire in only her second match of the year in February and was unable to compete again until August when she reached the semifinals of a $10,000 ITF tournament in London and the quarterfinals a $10,000 tournament in Istanbul. She was beaten by compatriot Naomi Cavaday in either the first or second round in three out of four consecutive $25,000 tournaments in September, October and November that year. As a result of her injury problems, Webley-Smith's final ranking of the year fell to world no. 713.^[10]

2007

Webley-Smith spent the first three months of 2007 competing in $10,000 ITF tournaments. In April she was a semifinalist in a $10,000 tournament in Obregón in Mexico and in May she reached two $10,000 quarterfinals in Mazatlán and Irapuato, both also in Mexico. She was awarded a wild card into the qualifying draw of Wimbledon where she lost in the first round, 2–6 3–6, to Jenifer Widjaja. She reached only one more quarterfinal that year; in Wrexham ($10,000). Her year-end ranking was world no. 595.^[10]

2008

The 2008 tour started slowly for Webley-Smith as she began the season with four consecutive losses. However in July she reached the quarterfinals of a $10,000 ITF tournament in Atlanta and then immediately went on to reach two consecutive $10,000 ITF finals in Evansville, Indiana and Saint Joseph, Missouri. In late September and early October she reached two more $25,000 ITF quarterfinals and just a few weeks later she reached two consecutive ITF semifinals: in Port Pirie ($25,000) where she was beaten by Melanie South, 1–6 4–6, and in Muzaffarnagar ($10,000) where she lost to Sanaa Bhambri, 0–6 0–6. She reached the quarterfinals of the $50,000 ITF event in Kolkata in November and finished the season ranked world no. 475.^[10]

2009

In February 2009, Webley-Smith returned to the ITF circuit and in March she won the first ITF singles title of her career in Spain by beating Elena Chalova in the final, 6–0 7–6⁽⁵⁾. She then headed to Indonesia for a series of three tournaments but in the third of these she injured her wrist and was forced to retire in round one. Returning to the tour in mid-June, Webley-Smith was given a wild card into the qualifying tournament for the Aegon International where she lost 0–6 6–7⁽⁶⁾ to María José Martínez Sánchez. A second consecutive wild card allowed her entry into qualifying for her home Grand Slam, Wimbledon, where she lost in the first round to Gréta Arn. In August she reached two ITF finals, winning the first to give her the second ITF title of her career and losing the other. Webley-Smith spent the rest of the season competing in Australia and reached two $25,000 quarterfinals before reinjuring her wrist in November. Her year-end season ranking was world no. 332.^[10]

2011

In the spring, Webley-Smith made her first $50,000 ITF singles final in Gifu Japan, where she finished runner up to Sachie Ishizu.^[12]

ITF circuit finals

Singles (2–6)

Result	Date	Category	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	02008-07-2222 July 2008	ITF $10,000	Evansville, United States	Hard	Moulton-Levy, MeganMegan Moulton-Levy	3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	02008-07-2929 July 2008	ITF $10,000	St Joseph, United States	Hard	McDowell, AmandaAmanda McDowell	1–6, 0–6
Winner	02009-03-1010 March 2009	ITF $10,000	Las Palmas, Spain	Hard	Chalova, ElenaElena Chalova	6–0, 7–6(7–5)
Winner	02009-08-033 August 2009	ITF $10,000	New Delhi, India	Hard	Kolesnichenko, AlexandraAlexandra Kolesnichenko	6–1, 6–1
Runner-up	02009-08-1010 August 2009	ITF $10,000	New Delhi, India	Hard	Venkatesha, PoojashreePoojashree Venkatesha	6–7(8–10), 2–6
Runner-up	02011-04-2626 April 2011	ITF $50,000	Gifu, Japan	Hard	Ishizu, SachieSachie Ishizu	1–6, 3–6
Runner-up	02013-12-011 December 2013	ITF $10,000	Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt	Hard	Shymanovich, IrynaIryna Shymanovich	4–6, 3–6

Doubles (10–14)

Result	Date	Category	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	02004-03-2929 March 2004	ITF $10,000	Patras, Greece	Hard	Chantal Coombs	Müller, MartinaMartina Müller Uhlířová, VladimíraVladimíra Uhlířová	6–7(7–9), 3–6
Winner	02004-10-1818 October 2004	ITF $10,000	Bolton, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Sarah Borwell	Hannah Collin Anna Hawkins	7–5, 1–6, 6–2
Runner-up	02005-08-3030 August 2005	ITF $10,000	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Antonia-Xenia Tout	Corina-Claudia Corduneanu Lenore Lăzăroiu	1–6, 2–6
Runner-up	02006-09-2323 September 2006	ITF $10,000	London, Great Britain	Hard	Laura Peterzan	O'Donoghue, JaneJane O'Donoghue Paterson, KarenKaren Paterson	3–6, 3–6
Winner	02006-08-2828 August 2006	ITF $10,000	Istanbul, Turkey	Hard	Ria Dörnemann	Irina Khatsko Mariya Malkhasyan	W/O
Winner	02006-09-2020 September 2006	ITF $10,000	Nottingham, Great Britain	Hard	Stoop, GeorgieGeorgie Stoop	Cavaday, NaomiNaomi Cavaday Claire Peterzan	3–6, 7–5, 6–4
Runner-up	02007-03-1414 March 2007	ITF $10,000	Sunderland, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Ria Dörnemann	Anna Hawkins O'Donoghue, JaneJane O'Donoghue	4–6, 7–6(7–5), 3–6
Runner-up	02007-05-011 May 2007	ITF $10,000	Los Mochis, Spain	Hard	Danielle Brown	Alves, Maria FernandaMaria Fernanda Alves Jennifer Elie	3–6, 0–6
Winner	02008-08-1313 August 2008	ITF $10,000	London, Great Britain	Hard	Moulton-Levy, MeganMegan Moulton-Levy	Martina Babáková Manana Shapakidze	6–1, 6–1
Runner-up	02008-12-2222 December 2008	ITF $50,000	Delhi, India	Hard	Moulton-Levy, MeganMegan Moulton-Levy	Hwang I-hsuan Zhang Ling	3–6, 6–7(4–7)
Runner-up	02009-04-2828 April 2009	ITF $25,000	Balikpapan, Indonesia	Hard	Zhang Ling	Basuki, YayukYayuk Basuki Tedjakusuma, RomanaRomana Tedjakusuma	3–6, 3–6
Winner	02009-08-099 August 2009	ITF $10,000	Delhi, India	Hard	Alexandra Kolesnichenko	Ashmitha Easwaramurthi Dalila Jakupovic	6–2, 6–4
Winner	02009-10-066 October 2009	ITF $25,000	Mount Gambier, Australia	Hard	Rogowska, OliviaOlivia Rogowska	Sema, ErikaErika Sema Sema, YurikaYurika Sema	6–1, 5–7, [10–7]
Runner-up	02010-07-2727 July 2010	ITF $25,000	Almaty, Kazakhstan	Hard	Beygelzimer, YuliaYulia Beygelzimer	Khabibulina, AlbinaAlbina Khabibulina Palkina, KseniaKsenia Palkina	4–6, 4–6
Winner	02010-09-077 September 2010	ITF $10,000	Madrid, Spain	Hard	Broady, NaomiNaomi Broady	Jennifer Ren Sirotkina, MartaMarta Sirotkina	6–2, 6–3
Winner	02012-03-1212 March 2012	ITF $10,000	Bath, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Samantha Murray	Lenka Juríková Katarzyna Piter	4–6, 6–4, [10–5]
Runner-up	02012-03-2626 March 2012	ITF $10,000	Fallanden, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Lara Michel	Xenia Knoll Amra Sadikovic	7–6(9–7), 4–6, [10–12]
Runner-up	02012-05-2121 May 2012	ITF $25,000	Karuizawa, Japan	Grass	Samantha Murray	Hsieh Shu-ying Kumiko Iijima	6–3, 6–7(6–8), [1–10]
Winner	02013-02-044 February 2013	ITF $25,000	Launceston, Australia	Hard	Ksenia Lykina	Allie Kiick Erin Routliffe	7–5 6–3
Runner-up	02013-02-1818 February 2013	ITF $25,000	Mildura, Australia	Grass	Bojana Bobusic	Ksenia Lykina Yurika Sema	4–6, 2–6
Runner-up	02013-07-1515 July 2013	ITF $25,000	Granby, Canada	Hard	Julie Coin	Lena Litvak Carol Zhao	5–7, 4–6
Runner-up	02013-08-055 August 2013	ITF $25,000	Landisville, United States	Hard	Chanel Simmonds	Monique Adamczak Olivia Rogowska	2–6, 3–6
Winner	02013-10-1414 October 2013	ITF $25,000	Lagos, Nigeria	Hard	Naomi Broady	Fatma Al-Nabhani Cristina Dinu	3–6, 6–4, [10–7]
Runner-up	02013-11-1515 November 2013	ITF $15,000	Mumbai, India	Hard	Anamika Bhargava	Hsu Ching-wen Eden Silva	6–4, 7–5

Grand Slam performance timeline

• "A" stands for any tournament the player did not participate in.
• "Q" followed by a number 1-3 denotes which round of the qualifying tournament was reached.
• The career record is only for the player's main draw participation.

References

External links

• WTA Profile
• ITF Profile
• LTA Profile
• ITF Juniors Profile

v t e Women's Tennis Association: Top British female doubles tennis players as of 3 February 2014 1. Laura Robson (87 1) 2. Naomi Broady (139 2) 3. Heather Watson (143 1) 4. Samantha Murray (149 2) 5. Emily Webley-Smith (177 ) 6. Jade Windley (181 1) 7. Nicola Slater (183 3) 8. Anna Smith (195 18) 9. Melanie South (242 1) 10. Tara Moore (244 6)