Eleni Daniilidou

Eleni Daniilidou
Ελένη Δανιηλίδου
Country  Greece
Residence Thessaloniki, Greece
Born September 19, 1982
Chania, Crete, Greece
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Turned pro 1996
Plays Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money $2,898,509
Singles
Career record 453–657
Career titles 5 WTA, 11 ITF
Highest ranking No. 14 (May 12, 2003)
Current ranking No. 345 (June 9, 2014)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 4R (2003)
French Open 3R (2003)
Wimbledon 4R (2002)
US Open 4R (2004)
Doubles
Career record 268–256
Career titles 3 WTA, 14 ITF
Highest ranking No. 21 (January 29, 2007)
Current ranking No. 83 (June 9, 2014)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open QF (2005)
French Open SF (2006)
Wimbledon QF (2006)
US Open 2R (2004, 2007), 1R 2012
Mixed Doubles
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open F (2003)
French Open 1R (2007)
Wimbledon 2R (2006)
US Open 2R (2003)
Last updated on: June 14, 2014.

Eleni Daniilidou (Greek: Ελένη Δανιηλίδου; born September 19, 1982) is a Greek tennis player born in Chania, on the island of Crete.

As of 2011, she has won five WTA singles titles and three doubles titles. In 2003, she reached the Australian Open mixed doubles final. Her highest singles ranking has been 14th. By beating Justine Henin in the first round of the 2005 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first player to defeat a reigning French Open champion in the first round of Wimbledon.

Career summary

Daniilidou begun her professional career in 1996, making the final of her first ITF event, having barely turned 14. She achieved her first ranking in 1998, finishing that year as the world No. 294. In 2001, she broke into the top 100 following a third round appearance at the U.S. Open.

2002 was the best year of Daniilidou's career, finishing it at No. 22 in the world. She won her first WTA Tour singles title at the Ordina Open, beating Amélie Mauresmo, Elena Dementieva and Henin; and reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time at Wimbledon. At the end of the year, she reached her second WTA final at the 2002 Brasil Open – Women's Singles event, beating Monica Seles en route, but lost to Anastasia Myskina.

Daniilidou started 2003 by winning her second WTA title at the ASB Classic and reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open, results which saw her break into the top 20 for the first time, reaching a career high of No. 14 after the Qatar Telecom German Open. She also reached the semifinals of the Open Gaz de France and the DFS Classic.

Daniilidou successfully defended her title at the ASB Classic in 2004, her third WTA singles title. She reached the semifinals at the prestigious NASDAQ-100 Open, beating Jennifer Capriati en route. Later that year she equalled her best Grand Slam performance at the US Open by reaching the fourth round.

2005 was a relatively poor year for Daniilidou, becoming the first since 2001 where she did not win a title. She did, however, cause a huge upset at Wimbledon, beating the reigning French Open champion, Justine Henin. It was the first time the French Open champion had ever lost in the first round of Wimbledon. It also brought the end of Henin's 24-match win streak dating back to the beginning of the clay season. Daniilidou eventually lost in the third round, her best Grand Slam performance of the year. She also reached the semifinals of a lower level WTA event in Portoroz, Slovenia.

She recovered slightly in 2006, going back into the top 50 and winning her fourth WTA singles title at the Hansol Korea Open. She also reached the semifinals of the Ordina Open. She remained in the top 50 in 2007 with her best result being a semifinal at the Pilot Pen Tennis, where she beat Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals after saving a match point.

2008 was an injury-plagued season for Daniilidou, missing almost half the year with a right knee injury. She won her fifth – and to date, last – WTA singles title at the Moorilla Hobart International, but missed several months of events from March. She returned at the Summer Olympics in August, but failed to win a match for the rest of the season, ultimately finishing the year outside the top 100 for the first time since 2000.

In 2009, she played mostly on the ITF Women's Circuit, reaching the final at events in Midland, Westende and Athens but failing to win any of them. In 2010, she continued to play mostly on the ITF Circuit. She returned to Grand Slam play for the first time since 2008 at Wimbledon by qualifying for the main draw, but lost in the first round.

In 2011, she qualified for the French Open, but lost to veteran Jill Craybas in the first round. She was given a wildcard to play in the main draw of the Wimbledon Championships. She recorded her first grand slam victory in nearly four years there by defeating American Coco Vandeweghe in straight sets, before losing to Ana Ivanović in straight sets in the second round. On 10 July 2012,Eleni Daniilidou's journey in Stanford Classic was ended by young Urszula Radwanska of Poland.[1]

Grand Slam finals

Mixed Doubles: 1 (0–1)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up2003Australian OpenHardAustralia Todd WoodbridgeIndia Leander Paes
United States Martina Navratilova		4–6, 5–7

WTA career finals

Singles: 6 (5–1)

Legend: Before 2009 Legend: Starting in 2009
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
Olympic Gold (0–0)
WTA Championships (0–0)
Tier I (0–0) Premier Mandatory (0–0)
Tier II (0–1) Premier 5 (0–0)
Tier III (1–0) Premier (0–0)
Tier IV & V (4–0) International (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. 22 June 2002 Ordina Open, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Grass Russia Elena Dementieva 3–6, 6–2, 6–3
Runner-up 1. 14 September 2002 Brasil Open, Bahia, Brazil Hard Russia Anastasia Myskina 3–6, 6–0, 2–6
Winner 2. 5 January 2003 ASB Classic, Auckland, New Zealand Hard South Korea Yoon Jeong Cho 6–4, 4–6, 7–6(7–2)
Winner 3. 10 January 2004 ASB Classic, Auckland, New Zealand Hard United States Ashley Harkleroad 6–3, 6–2
Winner 4. 1 October 2006 Hansol Korea Open Tennis Championships, Seoul, South Korea Hard Japan Ai Sugiyama 6–3, 2–6, 7–6(7–3)
Winner 5. 11 January 2008 Moorilla Hobart International, Hobart, Australia Hard Russia Vera Zvonareva W–O

Doubles: 12 (3–9)

Legend: Before 2009 Legend: Starting in 2009
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
Olympic Gold (0–0)
WTA Championships (0–0)
Tier I (0–0) Premier Mandatory (0–0)
Tier II (1–2) Premier 5 (0–0)
Tier III (0–2) Premier (0–0)
Tier IV & V (0–2) International (2–2)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. 4 May 2003 J&S Cup, Warsaw, Poland Clay Italy Francesca Schiavone South Africa Liezel Huber
Bulgaria Magdalena Maleeva		 6–3, 4–6, 2–6
Runner-up 2. 16 February 2004 Proximus Diamond Games, Antwerp, Belgium Hard Switzerland Myriam Casanova Zimbabwe Cara Black
Belgium Els Callens		 2–6, 1–6
Winner 1. 12 June 2004 Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, United States Hard Australia Nicole Pratt Luxembourg Claudine Schaul
Czech Republic Iveta Benešová		 6–2, 6–4
Runner-up 3. 12 June 2005 AEGON Classic, Birmingham, United Kingdom Grass United States Jennifer Russell Slovakia Daniela Hantuchová
Japan Ai Sugiyama		 2–6, 3–6
Runner-up 4. 30 November 2006 Gaz de France Stars, Hasselt, Belgium Carpet Germany Jasmin Wöhr United States Lisa Raymond
Australia Samantha Stosur		 2–6, 3–6
Runner-up 5. 24 September 2007 Hansol Korea Open Tennis Championships, Seoul, South Korea Hard Germany Jasmin Wöhr Chinese Taipei Chuang Chia-jung
Chinese Taipei Hsieh Su-wei		 2–6, 2–6
Runner-up 6. 7 January 2008 Moorilla Hobart International, Hobart, Australia Hard Germany Jasmin Wöhr Spain Anabel Medina Garrigues
Spain Virginia Ruano Pascual		 2–6, 4–6
Winner 2. 26 July 2010 İstanbul Cup, Istanbul, Turkey Hard Germany Jasmin Wöhr Russia Maria Kondratieva
Czech Republic Vladimíra Uhlířová		 6–4, 1–6, [11–9]
Runner-up 7. 30 April 2011 Estoril Open, Estoril, Portugal Clay Netherlands Michaëlla Krajicek Russia Alisa Kleybanova
Kazakhstan Galina Voskoboeva		 4–6, 2–6
Winner 3. 16 September 2011 Tashkent Open, Tashkent, Uzbekistan Hard Russia Vitalia Diatchenko Ukraine Lyudmyla Kichenok
Ukraine Nadiya Kichenok		 6–4, 6–3
Runner-up 8. 21 July 2013 Gastein Ladies, Bad Gastein, Austria Clay Germany Kristina Barrois Austria Sandra Klemenschits
Slovenia Andreja Klepač 		1–6, 4–6
Runner-up 9. 28 July 2013 Baku Cup, Baku, Azerbaijan Hard Serbia Aleksandra Krunić Ukraine Irina Buryachok
Georgia (country) Oksana Kalashnikova 		4–6, 7–6(7–3), [10–4]

Singles Performance timeline

Tournament2001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open A 3R 4R 3R 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ 2R 2R 9–9
French Open LQ 2R 3R 1R 1R 1R 1R A A LQ 1R 1R LQ 3–8
Wimbledon 2R 4R 3R 1R 3R 1R 2R A A 1R 2R 1R LQ 10–10
US Open 3R 1R 1R 4R 1R 2R 2R 1R A LQ 1R 1R 1R 7–11
Win–Loss 3–2 6–4 7–4 5–4 2–4 1–4 2–4 0–2 0–0 0–1 1–3 1–4 1–2 29–38

Doubles Performance timeline

Tournament200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open 3R 1R 1R QF 1R 3R 1R A A 2R 1R 1R 8–10
French Open A 3R 1R 1R SF 2R A A 1R 1R 2R 8–8
Wimbledon A 1R 1R 2R QF 2R A A 1R 1R 1R 5–8
US Open A 1R 2R 1R A 2R 1R A 1R 2R 1R 1R 3–9
Win–Loss 2–1 2–4 1–4 4–4 7–3 5–4 0–2 0–0 0–3 2–4 1–4 0–2 24–35

Head to Head

References

  1. ↑ "Success for younger Radwanska in Stanford". The Times Of India. 11 July 2012.

External links

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