Monica Niculescu

Monica Niculescu

Country  Romania
Residence Bucharest, Romania
Born 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$ 2,783,987
Singles
Career record 371-239
Career titles 2 WTA, 16 ITF
Highest ranking No. 28 (February 27, 2012)
Current ranking No. 41 (September 22, 2014)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 3R (2011, 2012, 2014)
French Open 2R (2014)
Wimbledon 2R (2008, 2010, 2011)
US Open 4R (2011)
Doubles
Career record 322-183
Career titles 4 WTA, 21 ITF
Highest ranking No. 24 (June 7, 2010)
Current ranking No. 39 (September 8, 2014)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open QF (2012)
French Open QF (2010)
Wimbledon 3R (2009)
US Open 3R (2009, 2010)
Team competitions
Fed Cup 28–16
Last updated on: May 19, 2014.

Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a professional Romanian tennis player. 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.

She reached quarterfinals in Doha, where she lost to Samatha Stosur.

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: 4 (2 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 (2–2)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. 23 October 2011 BGL Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg Hard (i) Belarus Victoria Azarenka 2–6, 2–6
Runner-up 2. 21 October 2012 BGL Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg (2) Hard (i) United States Venus Williams 2–6, 3–6
Winner 1. 2 March 2013 Brasil Tennis Cup, Florianópolis, Brazil Hard Russia Olga Puchkova 6–2, 4–6, 6–4
Winner 2. 21 September 2014 Guangzhou International Women's Open, Guangzhou, China Hard France Alizé Cornet 6–4, 6–0

Doubles: 14 (4 titles, 9 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 (4–6)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. 17 August 2008 Pilot Pen Tennis, New Haven, United States Hard Romania Sorana Cîrstea Czech Republic Květa Peschke
United States Lisa Raymond		 6–4, 5–7, [7–10]
Winner 1. 12 July 2009 GDF SUEZ Grand Prix, Budapest, Hungary Clay Russia Alisa Kleybanova Ukraine Alona Bondarenko
Ukraine Kateryna Bondarenko		 6–4, 7–6(7–5)
Runner-up 2. 2 August 2009 Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, United States Hard Chinese Taipei Chan Yung-jan United States Serena Williams
United States Venus Williams		 1–6, 4–6
Runner-up 3. 16 January 2010 Moorilla Hobart International, Hobart, Australia Hard Chinese Taipei Chan Yung-jan Czech Republic Květa Peschke
Chinese Taipei Chuang Chia-jung		 6–3, 3–6, [7–10]
Runner-up 4. 18 July 2010 ECM Prague Open, Prague, Czech Republic Clay Hungary Ágnes Szávay Switzerland Timea Bacsinszky
Italy Tathiana Garbin		 5–7, 6–7(4–7)
Runner-up 5. 23 July 2011 Baku Cup, Baku, Azerbaijan Hard Kazakhstan Galina Voskoboeva Ukraine Mariya Koryttseva
Belarus Tatiana Poutchek		 3–6, 6–2, [8–10]
Winner 2. 14 January 2012 Moorilla Hobart International, Hobart, Australia Hard Romania Irina-Camelia Begu Chinese Taipei Chuang Chia-jung
New Zealand 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 Australia Jarmila Gajdošová Thailand Tamarine Tanasugarn
China Zhang Shuai		 6–2, 2–6, [8–10]
Runner-up 7. 21 October 2012 BGL Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg Hard (i) Romania Irina-Camelia Begu Czech Republic Andrea Hlaváčková
Czech Republic Lucie Hradecká 		3–6, 4–6
Runner-up 8. 22 June 2013 AEGON International, Eastbourne, United Kingdom Grass Czech Republic Klára Zakopalová Russia Nadia Petrova
Slovenia Katarina Srebotnik 		3-6, 3-6
Winner 3. 4 January 2014 Shenzhen Open, Shenzhen, China Hard Czech Republic Klára Zakopalová Ukraine Lyudmyla Kichenok
Ukraine Nadiya Kichenok 		6–3, 6–4
Winner 4. 11 January 2014 Moorilla Hobart International, Hobart, Australia Hard Czech Republic Klára Zakopalová United States Lisa Raymond
China Zhang Shuai 		6–2, 6–7(5–7), [10–8]
Runner-up 9. 13 April 2014 BNP Paribas Katowice Open, Katowice, Poland Hard (i) Czech Republic Klára Koukalová Ukraine Yuliya Beygelzimer
Ukraine Olga Savchuk 		4–6, 7–5, [7–10]
Runner-up 10. 17 January 2015 Moorilla Hobart International, Hobart, Australia Hard Russia Vitalia Diatchenko Netherlands Kiki Bertens
Sweden Johanna Larsson 		5–7, 3–6

Singles performance timeline

Tournament200620072008200920102011201220132014W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open A A 1R 2R 1R 3R 3R 1R 3R 7–7
French Open A A 1R 1R LQ 1R 1R 1R 2R 1–6
Wimbledon A A 2R 1R 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R 3–7
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 3–3 14–26
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

Tournament200620072008200920102011201220132014W-L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open A A A 2R 3R 2R QF 3R 2R 10–6
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 4–6 1–1 31–24
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

YearGrand Slam
singles titles		WTA
singles titles		Total
singles titles		Earnings ($)Money list rank
2003 0 0 0 6,343 493
2004 0 0 0 9,073 433
2005 0 0 0 ? ?
2006 0 0 0 ? ?
2007 0 0 0 ? ?
2008 0 0 0 249,035 67
2009 0 0 0 315,414 67
2010 0 0 0 251,188 77
2011 0 0 0 549,493 38
2012 0 0 0 450,393 45
2013 0 1 1 406,372 62
2014* 0 1 1 577,944 42
Career* 0 1 1 2,915,523 115

*As of Oct 6, 2014

References

  1. ↑ Monica Niculescu stats at the WTA Tour's official website.
  2. ↑ 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

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