Claire Curran

This article is about the tennis player. For the politician, see Candidates in the New Zealand general election 2008 by electorate#Dunedin South.

Claire Curran

Country	United Kingdom  Ireland
Residence	Belfast
Born	10 March 1978 (1978-03-10) (age 33) Belfast
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Turned pro	2000
Retired	2007
Plays	Right-handed
Career prize money	US$62,153
Singles
Career record	5–14
Career titles	0 WTA (0 ITF)
Highest ranking	No.919 (13 May 2002)
Doubles
Career record	124–81
Career titles	0 WTA (12 ITF)
Highest ranking	No.89 (30 January 2006)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	-
French Open	-
Wimbledon	1R (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)
US Open	1R (2000)
Mixed Doubles
Career titles	0
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open	-
French Open	-
Wimbledon	2R (2006, 2007)
US Open	-

Claire Curran (born 10 March 1978) is an ex-professional female tennis player.

Curran represented both Great Britain and Ireland in the Fed Cup during her career. She has a Fed Cup win-loss record of 20–7.^[1] She specialised primarily in doubles and reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No.89 (achieved 30 January 2006). She won a total of 12 ITF titles over the course of her career and was a finalist in one WTA event. Curran retired from the sport in 2007 following 6 years of professional play. She suffered from problems with her hips for most of her career, which contributed to her decision to retire.^[2] She and Nigel Sears now coach former British No.1, Anne Keothavong.

Career

Junior (1993–1996)

Claire competed on the junior ITF circuit from July 1993 to August 1996. As a singles competitor she won four titles (The East of Ireland Junior Championships three times from 1994 to 1996 and the City of Dublin Junior Tournament in 1996) and was the runner-up in one singles tournament (in the East of Ireland Junior Championships in 1993). She only once competed in a junior Grand Slam, at the 1996 Wimbledon juniors where she lost in the first round. She ended her junior career with a singles record of 33–16 and a career-high singles ranking of world No.93 (achieved 31 December 1995).^[3]

Curran also won the doubles title at The East of Ireland Junior Championships on three occasions, from 1994 to 1996. As a doubles competitor she reached a career-high ranking of world No.243 (achieved 31 December 1995) and a career win-loss doubles record of 14–12.^[3]

1993–1996

Claire played her first adult match playing doubles for Ireland in the 1993 Fed Cup where she won her two doubles rubbers against competitors from Norway and Israel. She played no other adult events this year.^[4]

In 1994 she again competed in the Fed Cup for Ireland in doubles when she and Lesley O'Halloran were defeated by doubles teams from Slovakia and Zimbabwe. This was again the only adult event Claire played this year.^[4]

One year later she again competed in the Fed Cup for Ireland. She played a more prominent role this year however by competing in both singles and doubles, winning singles matches against players from Malta, Kenya and Cyprus and also winning two doubles rubbers partnering Lesley O'Halloran. Claire played no other adult events this year.^[4]

In 1996 she was not involved in doubles in the Fed Cup but she did win singles rubbers against Malta and Iceland as well as losing one to Ukraine. Curran also made her debut on the ITF circuit in 2006 in a $10,000 event in Dublin where she was beaten in the first round in both the singles and the doubles events (partnering Yvonne Doyle).^[4]

1997–2000

In 1997, Claire competed in only one event. This was the $25,000 ITF tournament held in Dublin where she was beaten in the first round of the singles and the doubles.^[4]

This was again the only ITF event Curran participated in during 1998 and she again experienced first round losses in the singles and doubles competitions.^[4]

The one ITF event Curran entered in 1999 was a $10,000 ITF event in Hilton Head where she won four matches in the qualifying competition before losing just one match short of qualification. She went one step further in the doubles however when she and Esther Knox successfully qualified before losing in round one.^[4]

In 2000, Curran teamed up with Australian Amy Jensen to reach the semifinals of a $10,000 event in Harrisonburg. The duo then received a wild card into the doubles competition in the US Open where they drew the formidable pairing of Martina Hingis and Mary Pierce in the first round. They gave the seeded pair a scare by taking the first set 6-4 however Hingis and Pierce came back strong to take the match, 6–4 0–6 1–6.^[5] She did not compete on the ITF or WTA tour again this season.^[4]

2001–2002

Curran began 2001 with Teryn Ashley as her regular partner and with her she reached the semifinals of a $10,000 ITF in El Paso as qualifiers. They followed this success up with a tournament win in another $10,000 event in Lake Ozark, a run to the semifinals of Mount Pleasant ($25,000) and another run to the quarterfinals in Los Gatos ($50,000). July saw Curran team with Kristen Van Elden from Australia to reach the semifinals of Frinton ($10,000) before again joining with Ashley to reach the quarterfinals of a $10,000 event in Bath before having to retire from the tournament. Curran and Swedish, Helena Ejeson were runners-up in a $10,000 ITF in London in August and after this Curran played no more matches in 2001. She had a year-end doubles ranking of world No.375.^[4]

In January 2002, Claire reached the finals of a $10,000 ITF in Hull partnering fellow Irishwoman, Elsa O'Riain. They lost to Sun Tiantian and Zheng Jie, 6–7⁽⁴⁾ 5–7. Curran then partnered Amanda Augustus to reach the final in the first week of a four-week $40,000 ITF circuit in Australia. They lost to Sarah Stone and Samantha Stosur before heading to the second week of this circuit and reaching the semifinals. In April she competed in doubles for Ireland in the Fed Cup where she and O'Riain won their three doubles rubbers in the Europe/Africa Group II round robins against Egypt, Finland and Botswana. They then went on to beat a doubles team from Liechtenstein in the promotion play-offs. Curran did not compete much more this year due to problems with injuries, having to retire from a number of matches. At the end of 2002 her doubles ranking had fallen to world No.562.^[4]

2003

Curran teamed with O'Riain for her first four tournaments of the year (all $10,000 ITF), resulting in one title and three losses in the semifinals. In the Fed Cup, she and O'Riain were beaten by doubles teams from Netherlands and Great Britain but managed a victory against Poland. Following this she teamed up with Brit, Anna Hawkins, to reach the final of a $10,000 ITF in Bournemouth and then the final of a $10,000 in Edinburgh where the result was a walkover. Curran then went on to reach the semifinals in Dublin ($10,000) and win the event in London ($10,000), both partnering O'Riain. Helena Ejeson was again her partner in early September when the duo took the title in a $10,000 ITF in Sunderland. Claire teamed with İpek Şenoğlu for her next five tournaments and took one title ($25,000), reached two semifinals (both $25,000) and two quarterfinals (one $25,000 and one $50,000). Curran reached the quarterfinals of a $50,000 ITF in Shenzhen with Tzipi Obziler in her final tournament of the year. At the end of 2003, Curran's doubles ranking was up to world No.244.^[4]

2004

Curran won her first three ITF event of the year and went on to reach the semifinals in her fourth, giving her a winning streak of 14 matches at the start of the season. In June she partnered Jane O'Donoghue in the qualifying tournament for Wimbledon where they lost in the first round but were given a spot in the main draw as lucky losers where they were beaten in straight sets. In August she took the title in Lexington ($50,000) with Natalie Grandin and the two of them were also runners up in their next event in Louisville and semifinalists in their next in The Bronx (both $50,000). Curran and Grandin then entered the tier III Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic where they were beaten in the first round by Gisela Dulko and Milagros Sequera, 0–6 1–6. In her final tournament of 2004, Curran partnered Senoglu again to reach the final of a $25,000 ITF in Glasgow. Her year-end doubles ranking was world No.163.^[4]

2005

In February 2005, Curran partnered Kim Kilsdonk and the duo lost in the first round of the tier II event in Paris, the Open Gaz de France. They were beaten, 4–6 3–6, by Iveta Benešová and Květa Peschke. Following this they headed to Antwerp to compete in the Proximus Diamond Games, another tier II tournament. They won two matches to successfully qualify and then went on to beat Francesca Lubiani and Marta Marrero in the first round, 6–3 7–6⁽³⁾. They lost to Anabel Medina Garrigues and Dinara Safina, 4–6 2–6, in the quarterfinals. After this she reached a number of quarterfinals and semifinals of higher-level ITF events before winning in a $50,000 ITF in Saint-Gaudens (with Grandin) in May. This was followed by a run to the semifinals at the İstanbul Cup (tier III) partnering Kim Kilsdonk where they lost, 3–6 3–6, to Sandra and Daniela Klemenschits. June saw Curran and Grandin knocked out in the first round of the women's doubles at Wimbledon by Nadia Petrova and Meghann Shaughnessy. Curran then partnered Kilsdonk to reach the final at the $50,000 ITF in Pétange before reaching three successive WTA quarterfinals: the Budapest Grand Prix (with Rika Fujiwara), the Nordea Nordic Light Open (partnering María José Martínez Sánchez) and the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic (with Grandin). Curran ended the year with a doubles ranking of world No.107.^[4]

2006

In Claire's first tournament of the year, she and Natalie Grandin teamed up to reach the quarterfinals in Auckland. Then, partnering Liga Dekmeijere, she reached the final of the Richard Luton Properties Canberra International, a WTA Tier IV event. They were defeated by Marta Domachowska and Roberta Vinci, 6–7⁽⁵⁾ 3–6. This was followed by a number of first-round losses in WTA tournaments before she competed with Elena Baltacha in the Fed Cup representing Great Britain. They won their three doubles rubbers and then also went on to win their doubles rubber in the promotion play-offs. In June she joined Shenay Perry to reach the quarterfinals of the Hastings Direct International Championships where they were beaten by Liezel Huber and Martina Navrátilová, 4–6 2–6. She then competed in Wimbledon with Jamea Jackson but was again beaten in the first round. She did however reach the second round of the mixed doubles with James Auckland. After Wimbledon, Claire did not compete again in 2006 and her doubles ranking at the end of the year was world No.201.^[4]

2007

In February 2007, Claire teamed with Anne Keothavong to win the title in London ($25,000 ITF) and in March, she and Melanie South were runners-up in another $25,000 ITF, this one in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. In April, Curran again teamed with Baltacha to represent Britain in the Fed Cup. They won doubles rubbers against Luxembourg and Bulgaria but lost one against Poland and also lost one in the promotion play-offs against Sweden. In July, Curran and Keothavong took on the might of Venus and Serena Williams in the first round of Wimbledon doubles and lost, 1–6 3–6. For the second year in a row she reached the second round of the mixed doubles with Auckland but after Wimbledon, decided that her career as a professional tennis player had come to an end due to a combination of injury problems and poor results.^[2][4]

WTA tour and ITF circuit finals

Doubles: 21 (12–9)

Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) WTA Tour Championships (0–0) WTA Tier I (0–0) WTA Tier II–IV (0–1) ITF Circuit (12–8)

Finals by surface Hard (8–6) Clay (4–2) Grass (0–1) Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Winner	02001-05-28 28 May 2001	$10,000 Lake Ozark, Texas, United States	Hard	Teryn Ashley	Alison Nash Andrea Nathan	7–5, 6–1
Runner-up	02001-08-13 13 August 2001	$10,000 London, Great Britain	Hard	Helena Ejeson	Eva Erbova Védy, AurélieAurélie Védy	6–7(4–7), 3–6
Runner-up	02002-01-21 21 January 2002	$10,000 Hull, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Elsa O'Riain	Tiantian, SunSun Tiantian Jie, ZhengZheng Jie	6–7(4–7), 5–7
Runner-up	02002-03-04 4 March 2002	$40,000 Australia Circuit Week 1	Grass	Amanda Augustus	Sarah Stone Stosur, SamanthaSamantha Stosur	0–6, 6–4, 3–6
Winner	02003-03-03 3 March 2003	$10,000 Cairo, Egypt	Clay	Elsa O'Riain	Marielle Hoogland Jennifer Schmidt	6–1, 6–4
Runner-up	02003-04-28 28 April 2003	$10,000 Bournemouth, Great Britain	Clay	Anna Hawkins	Marielle Hoogland Tamaëla, EliseElise Tamaëla	6–3, 2–6, 3–6
Winner	02003-05-05 5 May 2003	$10,000 Edinburgh, Great Britain	Clay	Anna Hawkins	Jacqueline Frohlich Daniela Salomon	W/O
Winner	02003-08-11 11 August 2003	$10,000 London, Great Britain	Hard	Elsa O'Riain	Irina Bulykina Aleksandra Kulikova	6–2, 7–6(7–5)
Winner	02003-09-15 15 September 2003	$10,000 Sunderland, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Helena Ejeson	Kim Kilsdonk Kriz, NicoleNicole Kriz	6–2, 6–1
Winner	02003-10-13 13 October 2003	$25,000 Cardiff, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Şenoğlu, İpekİpek Şenoğlu	Surina De Beer Ilke Gers	6–4, 2–6, 6–3
Winner	02004-01-19 19 January 2004	$10,000 Hull, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Surina De Beer	Anna Bastrikova Vasilisa Davydova	6–0, 6–4
Winner	02004-02-09 9 February 2004	$25,000 Sunderland, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Kim Kilsdonk	Helen Crook Müller, MartinaMartina Müller	6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Winner	02004-02-16 16 February 2004	$25,000 Redbridge, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Kim Kilsdonk	Olga Vymetalkova Navrátilová, GabrielaGabriela Navrátilová	6–3, 3–6, 7–6(12–10)
Winner	02004-07-26 26 July 2004	$50,000 Lexington, Kentucky, United States	Hard	Grandin, NatalieNatalie Grandin	Dellacqua, CaseyCasey Dellacqua Nicole Sewell	7–6(8–6), 6–4
Runner-up	02004-08-02 2 August 2004	$50,000 Louisville, Kentucky, United States	Hard	Grandin, NatalieNatalie Grandin	Ditty, JulieJulie Ditty Gallovits, EdinaEdina Gallovits	6–1, 4–6, 2–6
Runner-up	02004-10-04 4 October 2004	$25,000 Glasgow, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Şenoğlu, İpekİpek Şenoğlu	Baker, LeanneLeanne Baker Lubiani, FrancescaFrancesca Lubiani	3–6, 7–5, 4–6
Winner	02005-05-09 9 May 2005	$50,000 Saint Gaudens, France	Clay	Grandin, NatalieNatalie Grandin	María José Argeri Leticia Sobral	6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	02005-07-19 19 July 2005	$50,000 Petange, Luxembourg	Clay	Kim Kilsdonk	Beygelzimer, YuliyaYuliya Beygelzimer Klösel, SandraSandra Klösel	4–6, 0–6
Runner-up	02006-01-09 9 January 2006	Canberra	Hard	Dekmeijere, LīgaLīga Dekmeijere	Domachowska, MartaMarta Domachowska Vinci, RobertaRoberta Vinci	6–7(5–7), 3–6
Winner	02007-01-31 31 January 2007	$25,000 Sutton, Great Britain	Clay	Keothavong, AnneAnne Keothavong	Hlaváčková, AndreaAndrea Hlaváčková Kachliková, KatarinaKatarina Kachliková	4–6, 6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	02007-03-13 13 March 2007	$25,000 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain	Hard	South, MelanieMelanie South	Cîrstea, SoranaSorana Cîrstea Gojnea, MădălinaMădălina Gojnea	6–4, 6–7(5–7), 4–6

References

1. ^ Claire Curran at the Fed Cup
2. ^ ^{a b} "Curran quits after Wimbledon loss". BBC Sport. BBC. 3 July 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/6266212.stm. Retrieved 2009-04-25. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Claire Curran at the International Tennis Federation Junior Profile
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o} "Activity: CURRAN, Claire (IRL)". www.itftennis.com/womens. http://www.itftennis.com/womens/players/activity.asp?player=35006769. 
5. ^ "Jensen & Curran Lose in First Round of U.S. Open". www.calbears.com. http://www.calbears.com/sports/w-tennis/spec-rel/083100aaa.html. 

External links

• Claire Curran at the Women's Tennis Association
• Claire Curran at the International Tennis Federation
• Claire Curran at the International Tennis Federation Junior Profile
• Claire Curran at the Fed Cup

Persondata
Name	Curran, Claire
Alternative names
Short description	Tennis player
Date of birth	10 March 1978
Place of birth	Belfast
Date of death
Place of death