Barbara Schett

Infobox Tennis player
playername = Barbara Schett


nickname = Babsi
country = AUT
residence = Innsbruck, Austria
datebirth = birth date and age|1976|3|10
placebirth = Innsbruck, Austria
height = 5' 9 1/4" (1.76 m)
weight = 148 lbs. (67 kg)
turnedpro = 1992
retired = 2005
plays = Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
careerprizemoney = $3,109,510
singlesrecord = 349–279
singlestitles = 3 WTA, 1 ITF
highestsinglesranking = No. 7 (September 13, 1999)
AustralianOpenresult = 4r (1996, 1998–2000)
FrenchOpenresult = 4r (2000–2001)
Wimbledonresult = 4r (1999)
USOpenresult = QF (1999)
doublesrecord = 214–179
doublestitles = 10 WTA
highestdoublesranking = No. 8 (January 15, 2001)
updated = N/A

Barbara Schett (born 10 March 1976 in Innsbruck) is a former Austrian tennis player, who began playing professionally in 1992. She ended her career at the 2005 Australian Open. Between 1993 to 2004 she played in 48 games for the Austrian Fed Cup team, winning 30. She also represented Austria at the Sydney 2000 Olympics in singles and doubles reaching the quarterfinals in the singles.

Achievements

Barbara Schett won a total of 13 WTA tournaments, 3 in the singles category and 10 in the doubles. She has also won one ITF tournament. In 1999 she qualified for the season ending WTA Tour Championships reaching the quarterfinals and was named TENNIS Magazine's Most Improved Player.

Career in review

1991 - Made Tour debut at Kitzbuhel as a Wild Card (WC) and reached the quarter finals at ITF/Lyss-SUI.

1992 - Won first pro singles title at ITF/Zaragoza-ESP.

1993 - Broke into the Top 200, reaching the quarter-finals at Kitzbuhel (d. world No. 17 K. Maleeva) and Montpellier, both times as a qualifier.

1994 - Played her first Grand Slam, qualifying at the Australian Open & made her debut at Roland Garros (as a qualifier). Reached first WTA Tour semi final at Linz (d. world No. 26 K. Maleeva). Schett broke into Top 100 at No. 99 (April 4) & reached quarter-finals at Tokyo [Japan Open] and Prague.

1995 - Reached Palermo semi-final, Prague quarter-final and played her first Fed Cup singles rubbers for Austria (against U.S.).

1996 - Schett finished in the Top 50 for the first time at No. 38 and won her first Tour singles title and first doubles title (with Husarova) at Palermo. In addition, she reached her first Tier I semi-final at Moscow, won her first Grand Slam matches en route to the Australian Open 4th round and defeated world No. 8 Magdalena Maleeva (first Top 10 victory) in reaching the Amelia Island quarter-finals.

1997 - Won her second Tour singles title at Maria Lankowitz in native Austria and reached Palermo semi-final for the third straight year. Also a quarter-finalist at Hamburg.

1998 - Reached consecutive finals at Palermo and Boston (l. to de Swardt after leading 5–1 and holding match point in third set), semi-finals at Hamburg and Madrid and quarter-finals at Hobart, Maria Lankowitz and Zurich. Also won the Hamburg doubles title (with Schndyer).

1999 - Schett's first Top 10 finish, winning $725,865 (career-best) and scoring 47 Tour singles wins (equal fourth on Tour for season). Defeated world No. 9 Conchita Martinez and No. 4 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario en route to Sydney semi-final (l. to No. 2 Hingis 76 third set). Reached her first Tier I final at Moscow, and Grand Slam quarter-final at the US Open. Broke into the Top 10 at a career-high No. 7 following US Open (September 13) and reached the semi-finals at Auckland and Hamburg. Also qualified for the WTA Tour Championships and Grand Slam Cup.

2000 - Won her third career Tour singles title at Klagenfurt. Recorded victories over No. 5 seed Amanda Coetzer and No. 3 Nathalie Tauziat en route to Zurich semi-final. Reached six more quarter-finals, but also struggled with nagging injuries. She withdrew from Paris & Hannover in February with a stomach muscle injury, retired at Hamburg & withdrew from Strasbourg in May with a sinus infection and retired at Linz with an infected right toe.

2001 - Semi-finalist at Doha (l. to Hingis) and quarter-finalist at Vienna and Moscow. First victory over a world number 2 in six meetings, against Venus Williams at the French Open. Won the Sydney doubles title (with Kournikova), reaching a career-high No. 8 doubles ranking afterwards (January 15) then went on to the Australian Open as mixed doubles runner-up (with Eagle).

2002 - Seventh consecutive Top 50 finish, reaching five quareter-finals, including the Canadian Open (d. world No. 15 Rubin and No. 7 Clijsters, marking fourth time in her career she defeated two Top 20 players in one tournament). Also won the Hamburg doubles (with Hingis).

2003 - Apart from reaching the Madrid semi-final (first in more than two years), Gold Coast quarter-final and Roland Garros 3rd round, she did not win consecutive matches all season. In doubles she won Paris [Indoors] (with Schnyder) and reached the Hobart final (with Wartusch).

2004 - As world No.77 at Indian Wells, defeated world No.13 Paola Suarez 6–3 6–4 (first Top 20 win in nearly 18 months) en route to the 4th round but lost to No.20 C.Martinez. Quarter-finalist at Estoril and s'Hertogenbosch but failed to qualify at three Tour events. In doubles, she won titles at Paris [Indoors] (defended with Schnyder), Budapest (with Mandula) and Stockholm - her 10th career doubles title (with Molik). Also a finalist at Hobart (with Callens), and semi-finalist at 's-Hertogenbosch, Los Angeles, US Open (all with Schnyder) and Linz (with Wartusch). Member of the Austrian Fed Cup team that upset US team 4–1 in the quarter-finals to reach second semi-final in three years (second upset over the US in as many years. She handed Martina Navratilova her first Fed Cup loss after 40 singles/doubles victories dating back to 1975). Schett announced plans in October to retire following the 2005 Australian Open.

2005 - Played final professional event at Australian Open, picking up last victory with defeat of wild card Welford in the 1st round. Fell to No.26 seed Daniela Hantuchova, 6–4 6–0 in the 2nd round in her last professional singles match.

WTA Titles

ingles (3 WTA, 1 ITF)

External links

* [http://www.barbara-schett.net/ Official website]
*wta|id=190349|name=Barbara Schett
* [http://www.itftennis.com/womens/players/player.asp?player=20001297 ITF profile]