Kirsten Flipkens

Kirsten Flipkens

Kirsten Flipkens at the 2015 Fed Cup
Country Belgium
Residence Mol, Belgium
Born 10 January 1986
Geel, Belgium
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Turned pro 2003
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money $2,252,158
Singles
Career record 367–254
Career titles 1 WTA, 12 ITF
Highest ranking No. 13 (5 August 2013)
Current ranking No. 46 (7 July 2014)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 4R (2013)
French Open 2R (2006, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014)
Wimbledon SF (2013)
US Open 3R (2009)
Doubles
Career record 35–61
Career titles 0 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking No. 117 (6 January 2013)
Current ranking No. 133 (26 May 2013)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open 1R (2010, 2011, 2013)
French Open 1R (2010)
Wimbledon 2R (2013)
US Open 1R (2010, 2012)
Last updated on: 9 August 2013.

Kirsten ("Flipper") Flipkens (/ˈflɪpkənz/; born 10 January 1986 in Geel) is a Belgian professional female tennis player. Her WTA career-high singles ranking is World No. 13,[1] which she achieved in August 2013. She had success as a junior, winning the Girls' singles title at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2003 US Open. Since then she has won one WTA singles title, 12 ITF singles titles, and one ITF doubles title. In 2012, she developed life-threatening blood clots[2] which drastically reduced her ranking. Her comeback led to her best grand slam performance at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, where she reached the semi-final, losing to the eventual champion, Marion Bartoli. On the 22nd of December 2013, she won the award for Sportswoman of the Year in Belgium.

Career

Junior career

In 2002, Flipkens and Elke Clijsters won the girls' US Open doubles title.[3]

In 2003, Flipkens won the Wimbledon Championships in girls' singles beating Anna Chakvetadze 6–4, 3–6, 6–3,[4] and the US Open in girl's singles, defeating Michaëlla Krajicek, 6–3, 7–5. Following her two wins in two Grand Slam juniors events, Flipkens was selected to join the Belgium Fed Cup team for the 2003 Fed Cup's semifinal opposing the United States.[5] She played her first Fed Cup match against then WTA no. 17 Meghann Shaughnessy and lost 7–6 (7/4), 6–7 (8/10), 7–9.[6] At the end of the year, she received the award for Best Belgian Talent[7] and was named ITF Junior World Champion.[8]

Professional career

2003–2011

At the 2006 French Open, Flipkens was playing her first ever Grand Slam tournament. She reached the second round. She also reached the second round in the 2006 US Open after qualifying, falling to eventual semifinalist Jelena Janković. For Wimbledon 2006 she partnered then British no. 2 Andy Murray in mixed doubles.[9] That same year, she lost two singles matches and the decisive doubles match in the Fed Cup final against Italy.

Kirsten Flipkens at the 2009 US Open

In 2009, Flipkens reached the second round of the Australian Open and the French Open. She defeated no. 30 Ágnes Szávay to reach the second round at Wimbledon, where she faced Elena Baltacha. Flipkens beat the British wildcard in straight sets to set up an encounter with top seed Dinara Safina and a place in a Grand Slam third round for the first time in her career. She lost to the Russian, after having a set point in the first set, 5–7, 1–6. At the 2009 US Open, she reached the third round, after victories in straight sets over Dokic and Anabel Medina Garrigues.[10][11] She suffered a defeat in the third round, losing to compatriot and eventual champion Kim Clijsters, 0–6, 2–6.[12] In October 2009, she again defeated Garrigues to reach the quarterfinals of the Luxembourg Open.[13]

At her next Grand Slam, the 2010 Australian Open, Flipkens lost in the first round to another unseeded countrywoman making a comeback, Justine Henin, 4–6, 3–6.[14] At the 2010 French Open, she beat Japan's Ayumi Morita in the first round, 6–1, 6–4. Maria Sharapova beat her in straight sets in the second round. In the week before Wimbledon, she reached the semifinals of the UNICEF Open, a WTA tournament on grass at Rosmalen, where she lost to Andrea Petkovic.[15] At Wimbledon 2010, she lost in the second round to Yanina Wickmayer. She had been troubled by a recurring wrist injury and underwent surgery at the end of the 2010 season.

Flipkens started 2011 with a first-round loss at the Australian Open and did not win one Grand Slam match that year. She reached the semifinals at the 2011 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Fes, Morocco, during the clay-court season.[16] At Rosmalen, she teamed up with Coco Vandeweghe to reach the semifinals in doubles.[17]

2012

In April 2012, doctors discovered blood clots in her calf, which prevented her from playing for two months. During this time, her ranking dropped to no. 262 and she lost her funding from the Flemish Tennis Association (VTV).[2] She returned to the tour at Rosmalen, where she beat Samantha Stosur in the first round[18] and reached the semi-finals.[19] She qualified in singles for the 2012 US Open and made it to the second round, where she was defeated by eventual finalist Victoria Azarenka.[20] She also partnered with Kim Clijsters in doubles, but they were beaten in the first round.[21] In September 2012, she won the Bell Challenge in Quebec for her first WTA title,[22] after wins over top-seeded Dominika Cibulková, Mona Barthel and Lucie Hradecká, among others.[23]

In October, she participated in the Generali Ladies Linz tournament, where she won through qualifying and got into the main draw. She then defeated Alizé Cornet in the first round, a qualifier in the second round, and 2nd seed Ana Ivanovic 6–4, 6–0 in the quarterfinals.[24][25] Ultimately, she lost in three sets to Julia Görges in the semifinals.[26] This result brought her to a career-high 58th position on the WTA rankings. During this month, Clijsters announced that she would help her as a part-coach.[27] In December 2012, Maxime Braeckman became her new coach full-time coach, but she will continue to work with Clijsters as well.[28]

2013

Flipkens started her 2013 season at the Moorilla Hobart International. In the first round, she won against Francesca Schiavone 2–6, 6–3, 7–6 (7/3),[29] and continued with wins over Bojana Jovanovski and Monica Niculescu, before falling to Mona Barthel in the semifinals (4–6, 4–6).[30] Her next tournament was the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open. She defeated Mandy Minella, Klara Zakopalová, Valeria Savinykh in the first rounds to advance to the fourth round where she lost 1–6, 0–6 to Maria Sharapova.[31]

To prepare for Wimbledon, Flipkens participated in the Aegon Classic in Birmingham. Top-seeded of the tournament, she was free from the first round. In the second round, she beat qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic 4–6, 6–4, 7–5.[32] She lost 7–6 (5), 6–2 to Magdalena Rybarikova in the third round.[33] A week later, Flipkens was at the Topshelf Open in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. She advanced to the final but was ultimately beaten by Simona Halep.[34]

Flipkens played at Wimbledon as the 20th seed having not even played in the qualifiers the previous year due to her low ranking. She exceeded expectations by advancing to the semi-finals of a major for the first time in her career, beating former champion Petra Kvitova in three sets in the quarter-finals. She lost 1–6, 2–6 to Marion Bartoli in the semi-final.

She reached a career high of 13th in the world in August 2013.

At the US Open, she was the twelfth seed. However, she was beaten in straight sets in the first round by two-time champion Venus Williams.

She finished the year as 20th in the world.

WTA career finals

Singles: 2 (1 Title, 1 Runner-up)

Winner – Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0)
Premier (0–0)
International (1–1)
Titles by Surface
Hard (0–0)
Grass (0–1)
Clay (0–0)
Carpet (1–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. 16 September 2012 Bell Challenge, Quebec City, Canada Carpet Czech Republic Lucie Hradecká 6–1, 7–5
Runner-up 1. 22 June 2013 Topshelf Open, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Grass Romania Simona Halep 4–6, 2–6

ITF Circuit Finals

Singles: 22 (12–10)

Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Finals by surface
Hard (0–7)
Clay (11–3)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (1–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. 4 August 2002 Petange, Luxembourg Clay (o) Tania Hirschauer 4–6 6–2 6–1
Winner 2. 18 August 2002 Koksijde, Belgium Clay (o) Michelle Gerards 6–4 7–6 (7–3)
Runner-up 1. 2 November 2003 Nottingham, Great Britain Hard (i) Sybille Bammer 4–6 6–3 2–6
Winner 3. 5 April 2004 Naples, Italy Clay (o) Mandy Minella 5–7 6–3 6–1
Winner 4. 25 July 2004 Innsbruck, Austria Clay (o) Michaela Pastikova 6–2 6–3
Winner 5. 14 August 2005 Hechingen, Germany Clay (o) Magdalena Rybarikova 6–4 6–3
Runner-up 2. 5 February 2006 Belfort, France Hard (i) Kristina Barrois 2–6 6–3 6–7 (6–8)
Winner 6. 5 March 2006 Las Palmas, Spain Clay (o) Alla Kudryavtseva 6–1 6–4
Runner-up 3. 30 July 2006 Petange, Luxembourg Clay (o) Yuliya Beygelzimer 7–5 6–7 (6–8) 4–6
Runner-up 4. 22 October 2006 Glasgow, Great Britain Hard (i) Angelique Kerber 4–6 2–6
Runner-up 5. 18 November 2007 Deauville, France Clay (i) Aravane Rezai 4–6 3–6
Winner 7. 2 March 2008 Buchen, Germany Carpet (i) Sandra Zahlavova 6–1 3–6 6–4
Runner-up 6. 18 March 2008 Las Palmas, Spain Hard (o) Chayenne Ewijk 6–4 6–7 (4–7) (4–7)
Winner 8. 20 March 2008 Tessenderlo, Belgium Clay (i) Caroline Maes 7–5 6–1
Winner 9. 15 June 2008 Marseille, France Clay (o) Stephanie Foretz 7–6 (7–4) 6–2
Runner-up 7. 1 March 2009 Biberach, Germany Hard (i) Karolina Sprem 1–6 2–6
Winner 10. 19 July 2009 Zwevegem, Belgium Clay (o) Yurika Sema 6–3 6–3
Runner-up 8. 2 April 2011 Monzon, Spain Hard (o) Petra Cetkovska 7–5 4–6 2–6
Runner-up 9. 18 February 2012 Rabat, Morocco Clay (o) Jasmina Tinjic 6–7 (4–7) 6–2 5–7
Runner-up 10. 26 February 2012 Moscow, Russia Hard (i) Annika Beck 1–6 5–7
Winner 11. 8 July 2012 Middelburg, The Netherlands Clay (o) Aravane Rezai 6–0 6–1
Winner 12. 5 August 2012 Rebecq, Belgium Clay (o) Myrtille Georges 6–2 6–1

Singles performance timeline

Tournament20042005200620072008200920102011201220132014SRW–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open A A A 1R A 2R 1R 1R Q3 4R 2R 0 / 6 5–6
French Open A Q1 2R A Q2 2R 2R 1R A 2R 2R 0 / 5 4–5
Wimbledon Q2 Q3 1R A Q2 3R 2R 1R A SF 3R 0 / 6 10–6
US Open A Q1 2R A Q2 3R 1R Q1 2R 1R 1R 0 / 6 4–6
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 2–3 0–1 0–0 6–4 2–4 0–3 1–1 9–4 4–4 0 / 22 21–22
Career statistics
Year-End ranking 169 201 105 363 104 81 77 194 54 20

Doubles performance timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF R# RR LQ (Q#) A P Z# PO SF-B F-S G NMS NH

Won tournament; or reached Final; Semifinal; Quarter-final; Round 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a Round Robin stage; lost in Qualification Round; absent from tournament event; played in a Davis Cup Zonal Group (with its number indication) or Play-off; won a bronze, silver (F or S) or gold medal at the Olympics; a downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament (Not a Masters Series); or a tournament that was Not Held in a given year.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated either at the conclusion of a tournament, or when the player's participation in the tournament has ended.

Current through 2015 Australian Open.

Tournament201020112012201320142015SRW-L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open 1R 1R A 1R 1R 2R 0 / 5 1–5
French Open 1R A A A 2R 0 / 2 1–1
Wimbledon 1R A A 2R 1R 0 / 3 1–3
US Open 1R A 1R 2R 1R 0 / 4 1–4
Win–Loss 0–4 0–1 0–1 2–3 1–3 1–1 0 / 14 4–13
Preceded by
Barbora Strýcová		 ITF Junior World Champion
2003 		Succeeded by
Michaëlla Krajicek

References

  1. ↑ http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20130722_00666546
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Q AND A With Kirsten Flipkens – By: Matt Cronin". 10sBalls. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  3. ↑ Fayat, Serge (10 September 2002). "US Open – Elke Clijsters et Flipkens". La Libre Belgique (in French). Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  4. ↑ "Wimbledon – Une Belge remporte le tournoi junior". La Libre Belgique. 6 July 2003. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  5. ↑ Fayat, Serge (18 November 2013). "Kirsten Flipkens entre dans la danse". La Libre Belgique (in French). Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  6. ↑ Fayat, Serge (20 November 2003). "Kirsten Flipkens n'a pas tout perdu". La Libre Belgique (in French). Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  7. ↑ Vande Weyer, Philippe; Thirion, Stéphane; Leonardi, Paolo (18 December 2003). "Sportifs de l'année 2003". Le Soir (in French).
  8. ↑ "Roddick, Henin-Hardenne named ITF World Champions" (PDF). itftennis.com. p. 2. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  9. ↑ "Wimbledon: Kirsten Flipkens met Andy Murray in dubbel gemengd". Gazet van Antwerpen (in Dutch). 22 June 2006. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  10. ↑ "Dokic unable to shake off the rust and loses to Flipkens". Reuters. 31 August 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  11. ↑ "L'exploit de Kirsten Flipkens qui attend Clijsters" (in French). DH.be. 2 September 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  12. ↑ "US Open 2009: Venus Williams sets up Kim Clijsters showdown". The Telegraph. 5 September 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  13. ↑ "Flipkens beats Garrigues to advance". ESPN. 21 October 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  14. ↑ "Australian Open 2010: Justine Henin impresses in first round win". The Telegraph. 18 January 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  15. ↑ "HENIN EASES INTO DEN BOSCH FINALE". The Sports Network. 18 June 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  16. ↑ "Halep beats Flipkens to make Morocco final". UPI.com. 23 April 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  17. ↑ "Flipkens éliminée en demi-finales du double à Rosmalen" (in French). 7SUR7.be. 16 June 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  18. ↑ Schlink, Leo (19 June 2012). "Samantha Stosur loses in first round to world No.262 Kirtsen Flipkens". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  19. ↑ "Geen finale in Rosmalen voor Kirsten Flipkens" (in Dutch). Nieuwsblad.be. 22 June 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  20. ↑ "Flipkens no match for classy Azarenka". ESPN. 29 August 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  21. ↑ Waldstein, David (30 August 2012). "U.S. Open – Clijsters Loses in Doubles". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  22. ↑ "Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens wins Bell Challenge". Yahoo! Sports. 16 September 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  23. ↑ "Kirsten Flipkens registers upset". ESPN. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  24. ↑ "UPDATE 4-Tennis-Linz Open women's singles round 1 results". Chicago Tribune. 9 October 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  25. ↑ "Azarenka rolls, Flipkens upsets Ivanovic in Linz". USA Today. 12 October 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  26. ↑ "Goerges beats Flipkens to reach Linz final". CSN Washington. 13 October 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  27. ↑ "Kim Clijsters coach de Kirsten Flipkens" (in French). RTBF.be. 16 October 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  28. ↑ "Un top 20 pour Flipkens "ne serait pas choquant"" (in French). DH.be. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  29. ↑ "Flipkens beats Schiavone in day of upsets". Moorilla Hobart International Tennis. 8 January 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  30. ↑ Smith, Adam (12 January 2013). "Mona Barthel spoils Kirsten Flipkens' party in Hobart semi-final". Herald Sun. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  31. ↑ "Sharapova powers past Flipkens". ESPN. 20 January 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  32. ↑ "Flipkens among second-round winners in Birmingham". Fox News. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  33. ↑ "Top-seeded Kirsten Flipkens out of Aegon Classic". Knoxnews.com. 13 June 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  34. ↑ "Halep beats Flipkens, Mahut wins at Rosmalen". The Fresno Bee. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.

External links

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