Jill Craybas

Jill Craybas
Country (sports)  United States
Residence Huntington Beach, California
Born (1974-07-04) July 4, 1974
Providence, Rhode Island
Height 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Turned pro 1996
Retired 2013
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
College University of Florida
Prize money US$2,534,110
Singles
Career record 432–447
Career titles 1 WTA (4 ITF)
Highest ranking No. 39 (April 17, 2006)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 3R (2004)
French Open 2R (2001, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011)
Wimbledon 4R (2005)
US Open 2R (2004, 2005, 2006, 2009)
Doubles
Career record 161–240
Career titles 5 WTA (1 ITF)
Highest ranking No. 41 (June 23, 2008)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open 2R (2006–07, 2011)
French Open QF (2004)
Wimbledon 3R (2007)
US Open 2R (2004–06, 2012)
Last updated on: May 27, 2013.

Jill N. Craybas (born July 4, 1974) is an American former professional tennis player. At 39 years of age, she was one of the oldest players on the WTA Tour, as well as the longest serving, having turned pro in 1996. From the 2000 US Open to the 2011 US Open, Craybas competed in 45 consecutive Grand Slam main draws, her best result coming in the 2005 Wimbledon Championships where she reached the fourth round which included wins over Marion Bartoli and Serena Williams.

Early years

Craybas was born in Providence, Rhode Island. She received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she played for coach Andy Brandi's Florida Gators women's tennis team in National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and Southeastern Conference (SEC) competition from 1993 to 1996. As a senior in 1996, she won the NCAA women's singles tennis championship. She was the 1995–96 recipient of the Honda Sports Award for Tennis, recognizing her as the outstanding collegiate female tennis player of the year.[1]

Craybas graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in telecommunications in 1996, and has said in interviews that she hopes to enter film or television production when her playing career ends. She was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2008.[2][3]

Craybas credits her achievements to her long-time coach, Raja Chaudhuri. Chaudhuri has worked with her from the start of her tennis career.

Professional career

Craybas turned professional in 1996. She has won one WTA title at the Tokyo Japan Open. She beat Silvija Talaja in the final after trailing 4–0 in the third set. In the 2006 season, Craybas reached one quarterfinal at Hobart as the eighth seed, losing to unseeded Italian Mara Santangelo in three sets. She has also reached the semifinals of a Tier III event in Memphis, a fourth-round showing at the Tier I event in Key Biscayne, Florida and a further quarterfinal appearance at Stanford in late July.

Craybas is best known for her 2005 defeat of Serena Williams in the 3rd round of Wimbledon. She beat Williams 6–3, 7–6, then lost to Serena's older sister, and eventual champion, Venus Williams 6–0, 6–2.

On March 25, 2006, Craybas once again served up an early round defeat of a top seeded player. This time it was second-seeded Kim Clijsters in the second round of the NASDAQ-100 tournament. After having led in both the first and third sets, Clijsters eventually lost by a score of 7–5, 3–6, 7–5. It was Clijsters earliest ever exit from the NASDAQ-100, and Clijsters was the defending champion.

By that time Craybas, then a veteran on the tour, was thought to be playing the best tennis of her life. However, after having a successful start to 2006, she fell short of what was expected of her from her dramatically impressive start, losing to lower-ranked opponents in first rounds or having difficult first round draws against the top players in the world.

She began 2007 by reaching the semifinals of a Tier IV event in Auckland, New Zealand. She beat all of her opponents in straight sets before bowing out to Russian Vera Zvonareva 6–3, 7–5. She next took part in the Tier II event in Sydney, where she lost in the last round of qualifying to Russian Vera Dushevina 6–1, 3–6, 6–1. At the first Grand Slam tournament of the year at the Australian Open, she suffered a first-round loss to the tenth-seeded Nicole Vaidišová 6–4, 5–7, 6–1. Craybas bounced back into winning form at her next tournament in the U.S., at an ITF tournament in Midland, Michigan. As the top-seeded, she beat all of her opponents in straight sets until a hard-fought 2–6, 6–3, 6–3 victory over second-seeded and fellow American Laura Granville. Because of her lower ranking, she suffered in tough draws, not going further than the second round of any tournament since.

Jill Craybas at the 2008 US Open

At the start of 2008, Craybas entered the Pattaya Women's Open in Pattaya, Thailand, where, as the seventh-seed, she played some of the best tennis of her career and beat Olga Savchuk 6–1, 6–1 in the first round, Renata Voráčová 2–6, 6–1, 6–3 in the second round and Andreja Klepač 6–4, 6–4 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals she beat Akgul Amanmuradova 6–4, 6–0 and lost to the top seed Agnieszka Radwańska in a tie-break in the third set, 6–2, 1–6, 7–6. Craybas's ranking improved from World No. 77 to World No. 60 because of these results.

Craybas won the Istanbul Cup in doubles.

Craybas represented the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the tennis singles event. She became the last qualifier for the event, replacing Tamira Paszek of Austria.[4] The opening came available when fellow American Ashley Harkleroad elected to skip the games after she became pregnant.[5] At the US Open 2013, Craybas announced her retirement from tennis.

WTA career finals

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Legend
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 (1–1)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. October 6, 2002 Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo, Japan Hard Croatia Silvija Talaja 2–6, 6–4, 6–4
Runner-up 1. February 10, 2008 Pattaya Women's Open, Pattaya City, Thailand Hard Poland Agnieszka Radwańska 2–6, 6–1, 6–7(4–7)

Doubles: 14 (5 titles, 9 runners-up)

Legend
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 (5–9)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1. May 19, 2003 WTA Madrid Open, Madrid, Spain Clay South Africa Liezel Huber Italy Rita Grande
Indonesia Angelique Widjaja 		6–4, 7–6(8–6)
Winner 2. August 16, 2004 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open, Cincinnati, United States Hard Germany Marlene Weingärtner Switzerland Emmanuelle Gagliardi
Germany Anna-Lena Grönefeld 		7–5, 7–6(7–2)
Runner-up 1. October 31, 2004 Fortis Championships Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg Hard Germany Marlene Weingärtner Spain Virginia Ruano Pascual
Argentina Paola Suárez		 1–6, 7–6(7–1), 3–6
Runner-up 2. September 26, 2005 Hansol Korea Open Tennis Championships, Seoul, South Korea Hard South Africa Natalie Grandin Chinese Taipei Chan Yung-jan
Chinese Taipei Chuang Chia-jung		 2–6, 4–6
Runner-up 3. January 9, 2006 Moorilla Hobart International, Hobart, Australia Hard Croatia Jelena Kostanić France Émilie Loit
Australia Nicole Pratt		 2–6, 1–6
Runner-up 4. June 18, 2006 DFS Classic, Birmingham, United Kingdom Grass South Africa Liezel Huber Serbia Jelena Janković
China Li Na		 2–6, 4–6
Runner-up 5. October 30, 2006 Bell Challenge, Quebec City, Canada Hard Russia Alina Jidkova United States Carly Gullickson
United States Laura Granville		 3–6, 4–6
Runner-up 6. September 10, 2007 Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic, Bali, Indonesia Hard South Africa Natalie Grandin China Ji Chunmei
China Sun Shengnan		 3–6, 2–6
Runner-up 7. April 28, 2008 ECM Prague Open, Prague, Czech Republic Clay Netherlands Michaëlla Krajicek Czech Republic Andrea Hlaváčková
Czech Republic Lucie Hradecká		 6–1, 3–6, [6–10]
Winner 3. May 19, 2008 Istanbul Cup, Istanbul, Turkey Clay Belarus Olga Govortsova New Zealand Marina Erakovic
Slovenia Polona Hercog 		6–1, 6–2
Winner 4. October 4, 2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo, Japan Hard New Zealand Marina Eraković Japan Ayumi Morita
Japan Aiko Nakamura 		4–6, 7–5, [10–6]
Runner-up 8. November 2, 2008 Bell Challenge, Quebec City, Canada Hard Thailand Tamarine Tanasugarn Germany Anna-Lena Grönefeld
United States Vania King		 6–7(3–7), 4–6
Runner-up 9. July 17, 2010 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo, Palermo, Italy Clay Germany Julia Görges Italy Alberta Brianti
Italy Sara Errani		 4–6, 1–6
Winner 5. June 17, 2012 Gastein Ladies, Bad Gastein, Austria Clay Germany Julia Görges Germany Anna-Lena Grönefeld
Croatia Petra Martić		 6–7(4–7), 6–4, [11–9]

Grand Slam Singles Timeline

Tournament19961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012W–L
Australian Open A A A 1R LQ 1R 2R 1R 3R 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R 2R LQ 11–13
French Open A A A LQ A 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 2R 2R 2R 5–12
Wimbledon A A A LQ LQ 1R 2R 1R 2R 4R 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R LQ 6–12
US Open 1R A 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 2R 2R 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R 10–15
Titles–Finals 0–1 0–0 0–1 0–2 0–1 1–4 2–4 0–4 4–4 4–4 1–4 1–4 1–4 3–4 1–4 2–4 0–0 32–52

Grand Slam Doubles Timeline

Tournament199820032004200520062007200820092010201120122013W–L
Australian Open 1R 1R 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R 2R 2R 2R 5–10
French Open QF 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 4–9
Wimbledon 2R 1R 1R 1R 3R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 3–10
US Open 1R 1R 2R 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 2R 5–11
Titles–Finals 0–1 1–2 4–4 1–4 2–4 3–4 0–4 1–4 0–4 1–3 2–3 2–3 17–40

See also

References

Craybas announces retirement

  1. ↑ Collegiate Women Sports Awards, Past Honda Sports Award Winners for Tennis. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  2. ↑ F Club, Hall of Fame, Gator Greats. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Nine Members Inducted Into University of Florida Athletics Hall of Fame," GatorZone.com (April 11, 2008). Retrieved May 23, 2011.
  4. ↑ Olympic Tennis Event – Acceptance lists ITF Tennis, 6 August 2008
  5. ↑ Ashley Harkleroad to skip Olympics USA Today, 3 June 2008
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