Anna Fitzpatrick

Infobox Tennis biography
playername = Anna Fitzpatrick


country = GBR
residence = Sheffield, Great Britain
datebirth = birth date and age|1989|04|06
placebirth =
height = height|meters=1.70
weight = convert|58|kg|lb|abbr=on
turnedpro =
plays = right handed, double handed backhand
careerprizemoney = $47,261
singlesrecord = 60-66
singlestitles = 0 (1 ITF)
highestsinglesranking = No. 318 (June 16 2008)
AustralianOpenresult =
FrenchOpenresult =
Wimbledonresult =
USOpenresult =
doublesrecord = 44-50
doublestitles = 0 (4 ITF)
highestdoublesranking = No. 215 (May 12 2008)
updated = September 25 2008

Anna Fitzpatrick (born 6 April 1989 in Sheffield, England) is an up-and-coming tennis player in the United Kingdom. She is the British number 10 and ranked 415 in the world (as of 06 October, 2008). She trains at the Monte Carlo Tennis Academy and plays right-handed. Her career high ranking is 318 (16 June, 2008).

History

Fitzpatrick attended St Mary's Roman Catholic High School, Chesterfield and Woodhouse Grove School, near Leeds. [ [http://www.lta.org.uk/Performance/TopPlayerProfiles/TopPlayersGirls/FitzpatrickAnna.htm LTA | Top Player Profiles ] ]

Growing up, she played her tennis at Beauchief Tennis Club and at Graves Tennis Centre. In 2004, she was crowned as National Under-15 Champion. [ [http://www.mctacademy.com/players/fitzpatrick.shtml Monte Carlo Tennis Academy (MCTA) - Profile: Anna Fitzpatrick ] ] In August 2006, she won the $10,000 Ilkley ITF Tournament, [ [http://www.itftennis.com/womens/tournaments/tournamentresults.asp?tournament=1100014059&event= ITF Tennis - Womens Circuit - Tournament Results ] ] and finished as runner-up in the National Under-18 Championship, [ [http://www.lta.org.uk/Search/FindATournament/EventResults.htm?Id=1-7AASC&BSMGuid=7be152f1-8b37-4bc1-9ddb-fc32a975e8aa Lawn Tennis Association Event Results ] ] losing both sets in the final against Anna Smith on a tie-break.

In June 2007, already assured of a place at Wimbledon's junior event, Anna won two matches in the LTA play-offs to earn a wildcard into the qualifying rounds for the women's singles. There she beat Japan's Junri Namigata 7–5 6–0, before going down 6–1 6–2 to eighth seed Mathilde Johansson of France. She made it to semi-finals of the junior event, having beaten 4th seed Ksenia Milevskaya 6–4 6–4 in the second round, and Gail Brodsky 6–2 7–5 in the quarter-finals. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/6763973.stm BBC SPORT | Tennis | Road to Wimbledon part one ] ] She then went on to lose to the eventual champion, Urszula Radwańska of Poland in straight sets (6–7 3–6).

Fitzpatrick wrote a series of articles charting her progress in the tournament, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/6260428.stm BBC SPORT | Tennis | Road to Wimbledon part three ] ] and now writes a regular [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7075318.stm column for the BBC] .

Career

2005-2006

Anna made her debut on the ITF women's circuit in March 2005, participating in the $10,000 tournament held in Sunderland where she reached the second round. She failed to make any real impact throughout the rest of 2005, losing 5 of her next 6 matches. The first half of 2006 continued in much the same way (she again lost 5 of her next 6 matches) before a surprise win at the $10,000 ITF in Ilkley, Great Britain, beating fellow Brit, Anna Smith, 6-4 6-3 in the final. Fitzpatrick did not drop a set in the entire tournament. She continued this run of good-form during her next two $10,000 ITF tournaments, reaching the semi-final of the first and the final of the second. Anna then tried her luck in two $25,000 tournaments but without success. She ended 2006 ranked 676 in the world.

2007

2007 began with a string of 6 consecutive losses before again causing a shock by reaching the final of the $10,000 ITF tournament held in Sunderland, Great Britain. She lost this match in straight sets to the number 1 seed Gaelle Widmer, 6-4 6-1. In May 2007 she qualified for the $25,000 ITF Antalya Attaleia and made it to the quarter final before losing in straight sets. Her first appearance in a Grand Slam was thanks to a wild card entry into the qualifying tournament of Wimbledon where she reached the second round before losing to Mathilde Johansson of France. She reached the semi-finals of two more $10,000 ITF tournaments over the rest of the year, ending the 2007 season with a win-loss ratio of 31-31. Her ranking was 358 at the end of 2007.

2008

Fitzpatrick began 2008 in the USA. She failed to qualify for the $25,000 ITF tournament in St. Leo, losing in the first round but managed to qualify and reach the second round in her next tournament, the $75,000 ITF in Midland, Miami. She lost in qualifying in her next four tournaments (including the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open) in April. The second Wimbledon appearance of her career came in July when she lost in the first round of the qualifying tournament to 18th seed Yuliana Fedak of Ukraine. Since Wimbledon, Fitzpatrick has had a string of first and second round defeats in $10,000 and $25,000 ITF tournaments in Spain and Portugal.

Career Highlights

Titles

ingles

Doubles

References

External links

*Wta|id=313008
*ITF female profile|number=100046607
* [http://www.lta.org.uk/Performance/TopPlayerProfiles/TopPlayersGirls/FitzpatrickAnna.htm LTA]
* [http://www.mctacademy.com Monte Carlo Tennis Academy]