Françoise Abanda

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Françoise Abanda

Françoise Abanda at the junior 2012 US Open.
Country  Canada
Residence Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Born (1997-02-05) February 5, 1997
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money $18,436
Singles
Career record 28–17
Career titles 0 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking No. 336 (February 3, 2014)
Current ranking No. 336 (February 3, 2014)
Grand Slam Singles results
French Open Junior 3R (2012)
Wimbledon Junior SF (2012)
US Open Junior 3R (2011)
Doubles
Career record 14–8
Career titles 0 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking No. 274 (February 3, 2014)
Current ranking No. 274 (February 3, 2014)
Grand Slam Doubles results
French Open Junior QF (2012)
Wimbledon Junior SF (2012)
US Open Junior QF (2012)
Last updated on: February 3, 2014.

Françoise Abanda (born February 5, 1997) is a Canadian junior tennis player. She reached her highest WTA singles ranking of 336 on February 3, 2014. Abanda is currently playing on the Junior Circuit and on the ITF Circuit, and achieved her career high junior rank of No. 4 on April 29, 2013.

Early life

Françoise started playing tennis at age 7, after her elder by three years sister Élisabeth started playing herself two years earlier. She is a member of Tennis Canada's National Training Centre in Montreal since 2009. Her parents, Blaise Abanda and Cicle Assono Ahibena, are from Cameroon. Her sister Élisabeth also played tennis professionally, and is currently a student at Barry University.

Tennis career

2011–12

In 2011, Abanda reached the third round of the junior US Open in singles. In May 2012, she was eliminated in the third round of the junior French Open in singles, and in the quarterfinals in doubles. She lost in the semifinals of the junior Wimbledon in June 2012 in both singles and doubles.[1] She played and won her first professional match at the $25,000 ITF in Granby in July, defeating World No. 331 Jennifer Elie 6–1, 2–6, 6–4 in the first round before losing to compatriot Eugenie Bouchard 6–2, 7–5 in the second.[2] She also reached the doubles semifinals. In August, she reached last round qualies at the Rogers Cup as a wildcard, with a win over World No. 104 Irina Falconi in the second round.[3] Abanda then won in September the G1 tournament in Repentigny, becoming only the second Québécoise (after Eugenie Bouchard in 2011), and fourth Canadian to win the title there.[4] She made it to the quarterfinals of the junior US Open in doubles at the beginning of September. Also in 2012, she won the GB1 Pan American Closed ITF Championships, with a 7–6(7–5), 4–6, 7–5 win over fellow Canadian Carol Zhao in the final.[5] In October 2012, Abanda reached the doubles semifinals at the $50,000 ITF in Saguenay.[6] She reached a week later her second straight doubles semifinals, this time at the $50,000 ITF Challenger in Toronto.[7]

2013

Abanda made a first return following her shoulder's injury at an ITF in March but lost in the first round. She made a second return in August at the US Open and reached the second round of the junior event. The next week, she was awarded a wildcard (with fellow Canadian Carol Zhao) in the doubles main draw at the Challenge Bell. This was the first WTA main draw of her career, but lost 6–7(4–7), 5–7 to Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Rodionova in the quarterfinals.[8] During the first two weeks of October, Abanda played two back-to-back ITFs in Mexico. In the first, a $15,000 ITF held in Victoria, Abanda reached the quarterfinals in singles and the semifinals in doubles, with Victoria Rodríguez. The second tournament, a $25,000 ITF held in Tampico, saw Abanda beat Ana Sofía Sánchez in straight sets in the first round but ultimately lost in the second round. In doubles, she reached the quarterfinals partenering Indy de Vroome.[9][10] As a result, she broke the top 400 in doubles for the first time, at world number 397. In mid-October, Abanda made it to the quarterfinals in singles at the 25K in Rock Hill.[11] At the end of October, Abanda reached her first professional doubles final at the ITF $50,000 in Saguenay, but was defeated (with partner Victoria Duval) 5–7, 3–6 by Marta Domachowska and Andrea Hlaváčková. She also made it to the quarterfinals in singles.[12] A week later at the 50K in Toronto, Abanda (with Duval again) won her first professional title with a 7–6(7–5), 2–6, [11–9] win over Melanie Oudin and Jessica Pegula.[13] At the beginning of December and the last tournament of her season, Abanda reached the quarterfinals at the ITF 25K in Mérida.[14]

2014

In mid-January, Abanda won her first professional singles title with a 6–3, 6–4 victory over compatriot Heidi El Tabakh at the ITF $25,000 in Port St. Lucie.[15]

WTA Challenger and ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Legend
WTA Challenger 125s (0–0)
ITF $100,000 (0–0)
ITF $75,000 (0–0)
ITF $50,000 (0–0)
ITF $25,000 (1–0)
ITF $15,000 (0–0)
ITF $10,000 (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. January 19, 2014 Port St. Lucie, United States Clay Canada Heidi El Tabakh 6–3, 6–4

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Legend
WTA Challenger 125s (0–0)
ITF $100,000 (0–0)
ITF $75,000 (0–0)
ITF $50,000 (1–1)
ITF $25,000 (0–0)
ITF $15,000 (0–0)
ITF $10,000 (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner–up 1. October 26, 2013 Saguenay, Canada Hard (i) United States Victoria Duval Poland Marta Domachowska
Czech Republic Andrea Hlaváčková		 5–7, 3–6
Winner 1. November 1, 2013 Toronto, Canada Hard (i) United States Victoria Duval United States Melanie Oudin
United States Jessica Pegula		 7–6(7–5), 2–6, [11–9]

Junior singles performance timeline

Tournament2011201220132014W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A 0–0
French Open A 3R A 2–1
Wimbledon A SF A 4–1
US Open 3R 2R 2R 4–3
Win–Loss 2–1 7–3 1–1 10–5

Junior doubles performance timeline

Tournament2011201220132014W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A 0–0
French Open A QF A 2–1
Wimbledon A SF A 3–1
US Open 1R QF A 2–2
Win–Loss 0–1 7–3 0–0 7–4

References

  1. ↑ "Three Canucks in Wimbledon junior semis". The Gazette. Retrieved October 25, 2012. 
  2. ↑ "Une Francoise Abanda sans complexes bat Jennifer Elie à Granby". WTA Québec. Retrieved October 25, 2012. 
  3. ↑ "Abanda falls in final round of RCup qualies". The Gazette. Retrieved October 25, 2012. 
  4. ↑ "Abanda triomphe chez les filles – L’Australien Nick Kyrgios s’impose chez les garçons". Internationaux de tennis junior de Repentigny. Retrieved October 25, 2012. 
  5. ↑ "Canadian juniors win titles in Tulsa". Tennis Canada. Retrieved October 25, 2012. 
  6. ↑ 's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100027520 "Drawsheet". ITFTennis.com. Retrieved November 4, 2012. 
  7. ↑ 's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100027531 "Drawsheet". ITFTennis.com. Retrieved November 4, 2012. 
  8. ↑ "Main draw doubles". WTATennis.com. Retrieved September 8, 2013. 
  9. ↑ "Drawsheet". ITFTennis.com. Retrieved October 15, 2013. 
  10. ↑ "Drawsheet". ITFTennis.com. Retrieved October 15, 2013. 
  11. ↑ 's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100030054 "Drawsheet". ITFTennis.com. Retrieved October 22, 2013. 
  12. ↑ 's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100029601 "Drawsheet". ITFTennis.com. Retrieved October 26, 2013. 
  13. ↑ "Canada's Abanda wins first pro title, taking doubles crown at Tevlin Challenger". Times Colonist. Retrieved November 1, 2013. 
  14. ↑ "Drawsheet". ITFTennis.com. Retrieved December 5, 2013. 
  15. ↑ "Drawsheet". ITFTennis.com. Retrieved January 18, 2014. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Françoise Abanda.
Women's Tennis Association: Canada Top ten Canadian female singles tennis players as of February 3, 2014.
Women's Tennis Association: Canada Top ten Canadian female doubles tennis players as of February 3, 2014.
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