Jelena Pandžić

Jelena Pandžić

Country	Croatia
Residence	Leverkusen, Germany
Born	(1983-03-17) March 17, 1983 Split, Croatia (then Yugoslavia)
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro	1999
Plays	Right Handed (Double Handed Backhand)
Prize money	$134,550
Singles
Career record	234 - 116
Career titles	0 WTA, 11 ITF
Highest ranking	136 (22 September 2008)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	Q1 (2009)
French Open	2R (2008)
Wimbledon	Q1 (2008)
US Open	Q2 (2008, 2010)
Doubles
Career record	50 - 30
Career titles	0 WTA, 5 ITF
Highest ranking	226 (13 October 2008)
Last updated on: 24 November 2014.

Jelena Pandžić (born March 17, 1983 in Split, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia) is a professional tennis player from Croatia.

Tennis career

She began playing tennis aged seven and as a junior she was considered a very promising player for the future, being ranked as the world number one in the under 14 age bracket.^[1] In the mid-nineties she was spotted by Nick Bollettieri who personally coached her for a time. In his autobiography My Aces, My Faults, published in 1996, Bollettieri writes about seeing Jelena play for the first time at a tournament in the south of France, writing, "She played like she was from another planet."

1999–2002

Pandžić's first senior tournament on the ITF circuit was in April 1999 where she qualified and reached the quarter finals of the Makarska $10000 tournament. By 2002 she had made some progress up the rankings, winning three ITF singles titles, but had not yet fulfilled her initial promise. Her highest ranking was 374, achieved in October 2002.

2003–2006

In 2003 Pandžić only played one game of tennis before a car crash put her out of action. Over the next few years she did not play in any professional ranking tournaments. Instead, she attended university in the USA and played on the college tennis circuit, representing Fresno Pacific University.^[1]

2007

In May 2007, Pandžić once more began playing on the professional circuit and this time she began to put together an impressive string of results. Despite beginning with no ranking and having to qualify for the lowest tier of events, she reached a year-end ranking of 255, having won 4 of the 13 tournaments she entered.

2008–2009

Although she began 2008 with three first-round losses, Pandžić continued her climb up the rankings. Her first appearance in the main draw of a WTA event came when she qualified for the ECM Prague Open. She lost in the first round to Melinda Czink.

In May 2008, with a ranking of 189, she was able to enter the qualifying rounds of the French Open. With wins over Eva Hrdinová, Julie Coin and Monica Niculescu, Pandžić managed to qualify for the main draw of a grand slam for the first time in her career. She then won her first round match against Séverine Brémond in three sets but was beaten heavily 6–2 6–0 in the second round by Agnieszka Radwańska, the 14th seed.

As well as the WTA and ITF tour events, Pandžić also plays for professional teams in both Germany and the USA. She is currently part of the St. Louis Aces team for the 2008 World TeamTennis league, alongside Anna Kournikova and Andy Roddick.^[2]

The end of 2008, saw Pandžić losing repeatedly in first rounds, and this continued through January 2009, when she disclosed she has been playing with a calf injury for some time, and was not sure if she will be able to continue playing professional tennis.

2010

At the end of May 2010, Pandžić started her second comeback by qualifying for and winning a 10K challenger in Sumter, South Carolina. In addition to playing well in a number of other ITF events, she has used her protected ranking of 163 to enter some WTA events as well, losing tight matches to high ranked players. In a time of just over 3 months, she has accumulated 50 points and a record of 16–5 and is ranked 548 as of early August. She entered the 2010 US Open – Women's Singles Qualifying beating Sarah Gronert 7–6, 3–6, 7–5 in the first round before losing to Alexandra Panova 2–6, 3–6 in the second.

ITF finals

Singles: 16 (11–5)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	21 Aug 2000	Westende, Belgium	Clay	Lisa Fritz	2–6, 6–3, 4–6
Runner-up	2.	26 March 2001	Amiens, France	Clay	Sophie Erre	7–6 3–6 6–7
Winner	3.	15 October 2001	Makarska, Croatia	Clay	Petra Dizdar	1–6, 7–5, 6–1
Winner	4.	11 March 2002	Makarska, Croatia	Clay	Libuše Průšová	6–1, 2–6, 7–6
Winner	5.	26 Aug 2002	Spoleto, Italy	Clay	Shelley Stephens	7–5, 6–1
Runner-up	6.	3 June 2007	Houston, United States	Hard (i)	Asia Muhammad	3–6 6–4 4–6
Winner	7.	19 June 2007	Fort Worth, United States	Hard	Lauren Embree	6–4, 6–1
Winner	8.	26 June 2007	Edmond, United States	Hard	Gabriela Paz	3–6, 6–1, 6–4
Winner	9.	17 July 2007	Wichita, United States	Hard	Gabriela Paz	6–4, 6–4
Winner	10.	31 July 2007	St. Joseph, United States	Hard	Stacia Fonseca	6–3, 6–1
Winner	11.	24 May 2010	Sumter, United States	Hard	Alexis King	6–2, 1–6, 6–2
Runner-up	12.	13 September 2010	Redding, United States	Hard	Jamie Hampton	6–3, 1–6, 4–6
Runner-up	13.	18 June 2012	Koeln, Germany	Clay	Julia Kimmelmann	2–6, 6–1, 5–7
Winner	14.	13 Aug 2012	Brčko, Bosnia-Herzegovina	Hard	Tamara Curovic	6–3, 4–1, RET
Winner	15.	18 March 2013	Ipswich, Australia	Hard	Storm Sanders	7–5, 2–6, 6–2
Winner	16.	19 Aug 2013	San Luis Potosi, Mexico	Hard	Ana Sofia Sanchez	6–4, 6–4

Doubles Finals: 8 (5–3)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	07 August 2000	Rebecq, Belgium	Clay	Lenka Snajdrova	Debbrich Feys Karin Kues	6-7 (5) 6-2 6-4
Runner–up	2.	26 March 2001	Amiens, France	Clay	Bianca Cremer	Olivia Cappelletti Julie Coin	5-7 1-6
Runner–up	3.	13 August 2001	Koksijde, Belgium	Clay	Marina Lazarovska	Lenka Snajdrova Aleksandra Srndovic	2-6 4-6
Winner	4.	22 July 2007	Wichita, United States	Hard	Jennifer Elie	Anna Egorova Madina Rakhim	6-2 3-6 6-1
Winner	5.	9 August 2008	Monterrey, Mexico	Hard	Magdaléna Rybáriková	Monique Adamczak Melanie South	4-6 6-4 10-8
Winner	6.	28 September 2008	Ashland, United States	Hard	Līga Dekmeijere	Julie Ditty Carly Gullickson	6-3 3-6 10-8
Runner-up	7.	13 September 2010	Redding, United States	Hard	Kim Anh Nguyen	Christina Fusano Yasmin Schnack	2-6 6-3 [6-10]
Winner	8.	13 August 2012	Brčko, Bosnia-Herzegovina	Hard	Karla Popovic	Dagmara Baskova Tereza Malikova	6-3 6-2

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "JELENA PANDZIC". Retrieved 17 February 2015. 
2. ↑ St. Louis Aces Team

External links

• Jelena Pandžić at the Women's Tennis Association
• Jelena Pandžić at the International Tennis Federation

Women's Tennis Association: Top Croatian female singles tennis players as of 20 April 2015 1. Mirjana Lučić-Baroni (61 1) 2. Ajla Tomljanović (65 1) 3. Ana Konjuh (98 ) 4. Petra Martić (174 1) 5. Donna Vekić (177 69) 6. Tereza Mrdeža (179 2) 7. Ana Vrljić (229 13) 8. Ema Mikulčić (289 1) 9. Jana Fett (298 30) 10. Adrijana Lekaj (344 4)