Monica Niculescu

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Monica Niculescu
Singles
Niculescu during the 2011 Fed Cup
Country	Romania
Residence	Bucharest, Romania
Born	(1987-09-25) 25 September 1987 Slatina, Romania
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Turned pro	May 2002
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed both sides)
Prize money	US$ 2,337,579
Career record	350–219
Career titles	1 WTA, 16 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 28 (February 27, 2012)
Current ranking	No. 54 (January 27, 2014)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	3R (2011, 2012, 2014)
French Open	1R (2008, 2009, 2011, 2013)
Wimbledon	2R (2008, 2010, 2011)
US Open	4R (2011)
Doubles
Career record	297–170
Career titles	4 WTA, 21 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 24 (June 7, 2010)
Current ranking	No. 70 (November 4, 2013)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	QF (2012)
French Open	QF (2010)
Wimbledon	3R (2009)
US Open	3R (2009, 2010)
Last updated on: November 4, 2013.

Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a Romanian tennis player. As of November 4, 2013 she is ranked no. 60 in the WTA Tour Singles Ranking and is the third-ranked Romanian player, and is also the oldest Romanian in the top 100.^[1] Her highest WTA ranking is no. 28 in singles, reached on February 27, 2012, and no. 24 in doubles, reached on June 7, 2010.^[1]

Niculescu was born in Slatina, Romania, but moved to Bucharest when she was four.^[2] She is currently coached by Călin Stelian Ciorbagiu.^[2]

2009

Niculescu opened the season at the Brisbane International, where she lost to Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round in three sets.^[2] She also lost in the first round of the Moorilla Hobart International to Alyona Bondarenko. At the 2009 Australian Open, Niculescu beat Katie O'Brien in the first round, 6–4, 6–4, before losing to Sara Errani in the second, 2–6, 3–6. Alongside Sorana Cîrstea, Niculescu was the fourteenth seed in women's doubles; they lost to Nathalie Dechy and Mara Santangelo in the second round, 3–6, 3–6.

At the Open GDF Suez held in Paris, Niculescu defeated Timea Bacsinszky in the first round, before losing to eventual champion Amélie Mauresmo in the second. She then took part in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. She beat Shuai Peng in the first round in three sets, 3–6, 7–5, 6–2, and then lost to world no. 3 Jelena Janković in the second, 3–6, 2–6. Niculescu also partnered Elena Vesnina in doubles, and the two reached the quarterfinals in women's doubles; they lost to Anabel Medina Garrigues and Francesca Schiavone. Niculescu had two consecutive first-round losses, at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California (fell to Anna-Lena Grönefeld) and Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida (fell to Tamira Paszek). Partnering Alisa Kleybanova, she reached the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open, where they lost to Maria Kirilenko and Flavia Pennetta. At the Sony Ericsson Open she partnered Kleybanova again, but they lost to second seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual.

Niculescu withdrew from the Andalucía Tennis Experience and Barcelona Ladies Open due to a forearm injury.^[2]

2010

Monica Niculescu at the 2010 US Open

In 2010, Monica started the season in Auckland, coming from qualifying. In the first round, she lost to fifth seed 5 Virginie Razzano, 5–7, 4–6. In doubles, she partnered Ioana Raluca Olaru, and they defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues and Carla Suárez Navarro, 7–5, 7–5. In the second round, they lost to Cara Black and Liezel Huber, 3–6, 2–6.

At the Australian Open, she lost in the first round to Jelena Janković, 4–6, 0–6. In doubles, she partnered Chan Yung-jan and defeated Monique Adamczak and Nicole Kriz, 6–3, 6–1. The pair defeated Alla Kudryavtseva and Ekaterina Makarova in the second round, 6–4, 6–4. In the third round, the lost to sixth seeds Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs, 5–7, 3–6.

Niculescu then played an ITF tournament in Midland, but lost in the first round to Eleni Daniilidou 4–6, 2–6.

In Memphis, she lost in the first round qualifying to Valérie Tétreault. In doubles, she reached the semifinals along with Riza Zalameda, losing to Vania King and Michaëlla Krajicek, 1–6, 4–6.

At Indian Wells, she lost in qualifying to Tamarine Tanasugarn. In doubles, together with Michaëlla Krajicek, she lost in first round to Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Yan Zi, 6–7, 2–6.

In Marbella failed to qualify in singles, but in doubles she partnered Sophie Lefèvre. They defeated Kristina Barrois and Ioana Raluca Olaru in the first round, 6–3, 4–6, [10–7]. However, in the second round, they lost to Virginia Ruano Pascual and Meghann Shaughnessy, 2–6, 4–6.

2011

At the 2011 Australian Open, Niculescu defeated Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets, 6–0, 6–3. Facing off against the 32nd seed, Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, Niculescu cruised through the match winning 6–4, 6–1. In the third round, she lost to the 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, 0–6, 6–7.

Niculescu defeated Patricia Mayr-Achleitner in the first round and compatriot Alexandra Dulgheru in the second round, 6–3, 6–0, to advance to the third round of the 2011 US Open. In defeating Lucie Safarova, 6–0, 6–1, Niculescu advanced to the fourth round of a Grand Slam singles competition for the first time in her career, where she lost 4–6, 3–6 to unseeded Angelique Kerber.

At the Tier 1 China Open, she shocked the world with a dominating victory over fourth seed Li Na, 6–4, 6–0 in the first round and advanced to the semifinals, where she lost to eventual runner-up, Andrea Petkovic.

She advanced to her first WTA final at the International tournament in Luxembourg, losing to Victoria Azarenka, 2–6, 2–6. En route to the final, she spent many hours on court with a 6–7, 7–5, 7–6 first-round victory over Karin Knapp, a second-round 7–6, 3–6, 6–1 win over Anabel Medina Garrigues, and a 7–5, 4–6, 6–3 win in 3 hours over 2010 finalist Anne Keothavong in the semifinals.

2012

At the Australian Open, Niculescu made it to the third round by defeating Alizé Cornet and Pauline Parmentier, but she was defeated by then–world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, 2–6, 2–6.

Personal life

Her mother, Cristiana Silvia Niculescu is a pharmaceutical sales representative; her father Mihai Niculescu is an engineer.^[2] Niculescu has an older sister, Gabriela, who was a professional tennis player and attended University of Idaho, after transferring from USC after her junior year.^[2]

Monica Niculescu cited Martina Hingis and Andre Agassi as her tennis idols.^[2] She enjoys shopping, movies, reading, and spending time with her family.^[2] Niculescu listed her favourite movie as Butterfly Effect with Ashton Kutcher.^[2]

WTA career finals

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

Legend (pre/post 2009)
Grand Slam tournaments (0-0)
WTA Tour Championships (0-0)
Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0-0)
Tier II / Premier (0–0)
Tier III, IV & V / International (1–2)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	23 October 2011	BGL Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Hard (i)	Victoria Azarenka	2–6, 2–6
Runner-up	2.	21 October 2012	BGL Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg (2)	Hard (i)	Venus Williams	2–6, 3–6
Winner	1.	2 March 2013	Brasil Tennis Cup, Florianópolis, Brazil	Hard	Olga Puchkova	6–2, 4–6, 6–4

Doubles: 12 (4 titles, 8 runners-up)

Legend (pre/post 2009)
Grand Slam tournaments (0-0)
WTA Tour Championships (0-0)
Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0-0)
Tier II / Premier (0–3)
Tier III, IV & V / International (4–5)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	17 August 2008	Pilot Pen Tennis, New Haven, United States	Hard	Sorana Cîrstea	Květa Peschke Lisa Raymond	6–4, 5–7, [7–10]
Winner	1.	12 July 2009	GDF SUEZ Grand Prix, Budapest, Hungary	Clay	Alisa Kleybanova	Alona Bondarenko Kateryna Bondarenko	6–4, 7–6^(7–5)
Runner-up	2.	2 August 2009	Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, United States	Hard	Chan Yung-jan	Serena Williams Venus Williams	1–6, 4–6
Runner-up	3.	16 January 2010	Moorilla Hobart International, Hobart, Australia	Hard	Chan Yung-jan	Květa Peschke Chuang Chia-jung	6–3, 3–6, [7–10]
Runner-up	4.	18 July 2010	ECM Prague Open, Prague, Czech Republic	Clay	Ágnes Szávay	Timea Bacsinszky Tathiana Garbin	5–7, 6–7^(4–7)
Runner-up	5.	23 July 2011	Baku Cup, Baku, Azerbaijan	Hard	Galina Voskoboeva	Mariya Koryttseva Tatiana Poutchek	3–6, 6–2, [8–10]
Winner	2.	14 January 2012	Moorilla Hobart International, Hobart, Australia	Hard	Irina-Camelia Begu	Chuang Chia-jung Marina Erakovic	6–7^(4–7), 7–6^(7–4), [10–5]
Runner-up	6.	22 September 2012	Guangzhou International Women's Open, Guangzhou, China	Hard	Jarmila Gajdošová	Tamarine Tanasugarn Zhang Shuai	6–2, 2–6, [8–10]
Runner-up	7.	21 October 2012	BGL Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Hard (i)	Irina-Camelia Begu	Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká	3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	8.	22 June 2013	AEGON International, Eastbourne, United Kingdom	Grass	Klára Zakopalová	Nadia Petrova Katarina Srebotnik	3-6, 3-6
Winner	3.	4 January 2014	Shenzhen Open, Shenzhen, China	Hard	Klára Zakopalová	Lyudmyla Kichenok Nadiya Kichenok	6–3, 6–4
Winner	4.	11 January 2014	Moorilla Hobart International, Hobart, Australia	Hard	Klára Zakopalová	Lisa Raymond Zhang Shuai	6–2, 6–7^(5–7), [10–8]

Singles performance timeline

Tournament	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	1R	2R	1R	3R	3R	1R	5–6
French Open	A	A	1R	1R	LQ	1R	1R	1R	0–5
Wimbledon	A	A	2R	1R	2R	2R	1R	1R	3–6
US Open	A	A	1R	1R	1R	4R	1R	1R	3–6
Win–Loss	0-0	0-0	1–4	1–4	1–3	6–4	2–4	0–4	11–23
Year-End Championship
WTA Tour Championships	Did Not Qualify								0–0
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	Not Held		A	Not Held			A	NH	0–0
WTA Premier Mandatory Tournaments
Indian Wells	A	A	A	1R	LQ	2R	2R	2R	2–4
Miami	A	A	A	1R	A	2R	2R	1R	1–4
Madrid	Not Held			1R	A	1R	1R	1R	0–4
Beijing	NT I			A	A	SF	2R		5–2
WTA Premier 5 Tournaments
Dubai	Not Tier I			2R	A	LQ	NP5		1–1
Doha	Not Tier I		A	Not Held		NP5	QF	2R	4–2
Rome	A	A	2R	1R	A	A	1R	1R	3–4
Cincinnati	Not Tier I			A	2R	1R	A	LQ	1–2
Canada	A	A	2R	1R	1R	LQ	A		2–3
Tokyo	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R		0–1
Year-End ranking	222	197	47	101	83	30	58

Doubles performance timeline

Tournament	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	W-L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	2R	3R	2R	QF	3R	9–5
French Open	A	A	2R	3R	QF	3R	2R	3R	11–6
Wimbledon	A	A	2R	3R	2R	2R	2R	1R	6–6
US Open	A	A	2R	3R	2R	1R	1R	1R	4–4
Win–Loss	0-0	0-0	3–3	7–4	7–4	4–4	5–4	4–4	30–23
Year-End Championship
WTA Tour Championships	Did Not Qualify								0–0
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	A	Not Held			A	NH			0–0
WTA Premier Mandatory Tournaments
Indian Wells	A	A	A	QF	1R	1R	2R	1R	3–5
Key Biscayne	A	A	A	1R	2R	2R	SF	1R	6–5
Madrid	NH	NH	NH	2R	A	1R	2R	A	1–3
Beijing	Tier	Tier	Tier	A	A	1R	1R		0–2
WTA Premier 5 Tournaments
Dubai	A	A	A	QF	A	2R	1R	A	3–3
Rome	A	A	A	A	A	A	11	QF	2–2
Cincinnati	A	A	1R	SF	QF	1R	A		5–4
Montreal/Toronto	A	A	1R	1R	SF	2R	A		4–4
Tokyo	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R		0–1
WTA Premier Tournaments
Charleston	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0–0
Moscow	A	A	SF	SF	QF	A	A		5–3
Doha	A	A	QF	Not Held		1R	A	A	1–2
Berlin	A	A	1R	Not Held					0–1
Zurich	A	A	QF	Not Held					1–1
San Diego	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0–0
Year-End ranking	159	131	35	30	30	50	27

WTA Tour career earnings

Year	WTA singles titles	Total singles titles	Earnings ($)	Money list rank
2003	0	0	6,343	493
2004	0	0	9,073	433
2005	0	0	?	?
2006	0	0	?	?
2007	0	0	?	?
2008	0	0	249,035	67
2009	0	0	315,414	67
2010	0	0	251,188	77
2011	0	0	549,493	38
2012	0	0	450,393	45
2013*	1	1	406,372	62
Career*	1	1	2,337,579	125

*As of Nov 4, 2013

References

↑ 1.0 1.1 Monica Niculescu stats at the WTA Tour's official website.
↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Monica Niculescu profile at the WTA Tour's official website.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monica Niculescu.

Monica Niculescu at the Women's Tennis Association
Monica Niculescu at the International Tennis Federation
Monica Niculescu at the Fed Cup
Monica Niculescu activity at Tenis Romania website
Monica Niculescu Blog

v t e Women's Tennis Association: Top ten Romanian female singles tennis players as of 27 January 2014

1. Simona Halep (10 1) 2. Sorana Cîrstea (23 2) 3. Monica Niculescu (54 10) 4. Alexandra Cadanțu (63 3) 5. Irina-Camelia Begu (147 20)

6. Alexandra Dulgheru (157 6) 7. Andreea Mitu (179 1) 8. Cristina Dinu (216 5) 9. Ana Bogdan (305 5) 10. Laura-Ioana Andrei (338 2)

v t e Women's Tennis Association: Top ten Romanian female doubles tennis players as of 13 January 2014

1. Monica Niculescu (51 9) 2. Irina-Camelia Begu (71 1) 3. Raluca Olaru (76 2) 4. Elena Bogdan (139 ) 5. Alexandra Cadanțu (199 3)

6. Laura-Ioana Andrei (210 2) 7. Cristina Dinu (222 ) 8. Alexandra Dulgheru (234 3) 9. Diana Buzean (307 4) 10. Andreea Mitu (335 4)

Persondata
Name	Niculescu, Monica
Alternative names
Short description	Romanian tennis player
Date of birth	1987–09-25
Place of birth	Slatina, Romania
Date of death
Place of death

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