Monica Niculescu

Monica Niculescu

Monica Niculescu during one of her matches in the Fed Cup Group I 2011 Europe/ Africa.
Residence	Bucharest, Romania
Born	25 September 1987 (1987-09-25) (age 24) Slatina, Romania
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Turned pro	May 2002
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed both sides)
Career prize money	US$1,480,814
Singles
Career record	290–168
Career titles	0 WTA, 15 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 29 (October 24, 2011)
Current ranking	No. 29 (October 24, 2011)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	3R (2011)
French Open	1R (2008,2009,2011)
Wimbledon	2R (2008,2010,2011)
US Open	4R (2011)
Doubles
Career record	255–133
Career titles	1 WTA, 21 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 24 (June 7, 2010)
Current ranking	No. 52 (September 12, 2011)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	3R (2010)
French Open	QF (2010)
Wimbledon	3R (2009)
US Open	3R (2009)
Last updated on: September 12, 2011.

Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a Romanian tennis player. As of October 24, 2011 she is ranked No. 29 at the WTA Tour Singles Ranking.^[1] Her highest WTA ranking is currently her present ranking in singles, reached on 24 Oct 2011, 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 Calin 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 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 6–2, 6–3. Alongside Sorana Cîrstea Niculescu was the fourteenth seed in women's doubles; they lost to Nathalie Dechy and Mara Santangelo in the second round 6–3, 6–3.

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 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships in Dubai. 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 6–3, 6–2. Niculescu also partnered Elena Vesnina 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 Andalucía Tennis Experience and Barcelona Ladies Open due to forearm injury.^[2]

2010

Monica Niculescu at the 2010 US Open

In 2010 Monica started the tournament in Auckland coming from qualifying. In the first round of qualifying has gone Kurumi Nara with the score 6–1, 7–6. In the second round of qualifying has gone Kristína Kučová with the score 3–6, 6 –3, 6–1.In the last round of qualifying has gone Rebecca Marino with 6–4, 1–6, 6–3 qualifying, first round, where they lost to # 5 Virginie Razzano with the score 5–7, 4–6. The doubles went along with Ioana Raluca Olaru of a pair of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Carla Suárez Navarro with the score 7–5, 7–5 in the second round losing to Cara Black and Liezel Huber with the score 3–6, 2–6. The tournament in Australian Open lost in first round at Jelena Janković with the score 4–6, 0–6. And in doubles along with Chan Yung-jan passed the first round of Monique Adamczak and Nicole Kriz with the score 6–3, 6–1. The group passed the second round consists of two Russian girl Alla Kudryavtseva and Ekaterina Makarova with 6–4, 6–4 in the third round losing to # 6 Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs with the score 5–7, 3–6. In the next tournament ITF in Midland lost in first round at Eleni Daniilidou with the score 4–6, 2–6. In the next tournament Memphis lost in first round qualifying on a player coming from Valérie Tétreault with the score 3–6, 4–6. In doubles, reached the semifinals along with Riza Zalameda losing to Vania King and Michaëlla Krajicek with the score 1–6, 4–6. The tournament in Indian Wells lost in qualifying at Tamarine Tanasugarn with the score 0–6, 1–6. In doubles, together with Michaëlla Krajicek lost in first round at Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Yan Zi with a score of 7–6, 6–2. The tournament in Marbella failed to qualify in the first round in singles, but double crossing with Sophie Lefèvre by Kristina Barrois and Ioana Raluca Olaru with the score 6–3, 4–6, [10–7] in the second round losing to Virginia Ruano Pascual and Meghann Shaughnessy with the score 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 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 number 4 seed Li Na 6-4, 6-0 in the first round and advanced to the semi-finals where she lost to the 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 (2-7), 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) first round over Karin Knapp, a second round 7-6 (7-5), 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 semis.

Personal life

Monica Niculescu was born in Slatina, but her family moved to Bucharest when she was four.^[2] Her mother, Cristiana Silvia Niculescu is a pharmaceutical sales rep; her father Mihai Niculescu is an engineer.^[2] Niculescu has an older sister, Gabriela, who was a professional tennis player and currently attends University of Idaho.^[2]

Monica Niculescu cited Martina Hingis and Andre Agassi her tennis idols.^[2] She enjoys shopping, movies, reading and spending time with her family.^[2] Niculescu listed her favourite movie Butterfly Effect with Ashton Kutcher.^[2]

WTA Career Finals

Singles: 1 (0–1)

Before 2009 Starting in 2009 Grand Slam tournaments (0) WTA Championships (0) Tier I (0) Premier Mandatory (0) Tier II (0) Premier 5 (0) Tier III (0) Premier (0) Tier IV & V (0) International (0/1)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1.	23 October 2011	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Hard (i)	Victoria Azarenka	2–6, 2–6

Doubles: 6 (1–5)

Before 2009 Starting in 2009 Grand Slam tournaments (0) WTA Championships (0) Tier I (0) Premier Mandatory (0) Tier II (0/1) Premier 5 (0) Tier III (0) Premier (0/1) Tier IV & V (0) International (1/3)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partener	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1.	17 August 2008	New Haven. United States	Hard	Sorana Cîrstea	Květa Peschke Lisa Raymond	6–4, 5–7, [7–10]
Winner	1.	12 July 2009	Budapest, Hungary	Clay	Alisa Kleybanova	Alona Bondarenko Kateryna Bondarenko	6–4, 7–6(7–5)
Runner-up	2.	2 August 2009	Stanford, United States	Hard	Chan Yung-jan	Serena Williams Venus Williams	1–6, 4–6
Runner-up	3.	January 16, 2010	Hobart, Australia	Hard	Chan Yung-jan	Květa Peschke Chuang Chia-jung	6–3, 3–6, [7–10]
Runner-up	4.	18 July 2010	Prague, Czech Republic	Clay	Ágnes Szávay	Timea Bacsinszky Tathiana Garbin	5–7, 6–7(4–7)
Runner-up	5.	23 July 2011	Baku, Azerbaijan	Hard	Galina Voskoboeva	Mariya Koryttseva Tatiana Poutchek	3–6, 6–2, [8–10]

Singles performance timeline

Tournament	2008	2009	2010	2011	W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	1R	2R	1R	3R	3–4
French Open	1R	1R	LQ	1R	0–3
Wimbledon	2R	1R	2R	2R	3–4
US Open	1R	1R	1R	4R	3–4
Win–Loss	1–4	1–4	1–3	6–4	9–15
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	A	Not Held			0–0
Year-End Championship
WTA Tour Championships	A	A	A	A	0–0
WTA Premier Mandatory Tournaments
Indian Wells	A	1R	LQ1	2R	1–3
Key Biscayne	A	1R	A	2R	1–2
Madrid	NH	1R	A	1R	0–2
Beijing	NT I	A	A	SF	4–0
WTA Premier 5 Tournaments
Dubai	LQ	2R	A	LQ	4–3
Rome	2R	1R	A	A	3–2
Cincinnati	A	A	2R	1R	3–2
Montreal/Toronto	2R	1R	1R	LQ	2–4
Tokyo	A	A	A		0–0
WTA Premier Tournaments
Charleston	A	A	A	A	0–0
Moscow	LQ	2R	1R		2–2
Doha	2R	Not Held		LQ	1–1
Berlin	A	Not Held			0–0
Zurich	2R	Not Held			1–1
San Diego	A	A	A	A	0–0
Year-End ranking	47	91	80

Doubles performance timeline

Tournament	2008	2009	2010	2011	W-L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	2R	3R	2R	4–3
French Open	2R	3R	QF	3R	8–4
Wimbledon	2R	3R	2R	2R	5–4
US Open	2R	3R	2R	1R	4–4
Win–Loss	3–3	7–4	7–4	4–4	21–15
Year-End Championship
WTA Tour Championships	A	A	A	A	0–0
WTA Premier Mandatory Tournaments
Indian Wells	A	QF	1R	1R	2–3
Key Biscayne	A	1R	2R	2R	3–3
Madrid	NH	2R	A	1R	1–2
Beijing	Tier	A	A	1R	0–1
WTA Premier 5 Tournaments
Dubai	A	QF	A	2R	3–2
Rome	A	A	A	A	0–0
Cincinnati	1R	SF	QF	1R	5–4
Montreal/Toronto	1R	1R	SF	2R	4–4
Tokyo	A	A	A		0–0
WTA Premier Tournaments
Charleston	A	A	A	A	0–0
Moscow	SF	SF	QF		5–3
Doha	QF	Not Held		1R	1–2
Berlin	1R	Not Held			0–1
Zurich	QF	Not Held			1–1
San Diego	A	A	A	A	0–0
Year-End ranking	35	30	30

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Monica Niculescu stats at the WTA Tour's official website.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Monica Niculescu profile at the WTA Tour's official website.

External links

• Monica Niculescu at the Women's Tennis Association
• Monica Niculescu at the International Tennis Federation
• Monica Niculescu at the Fed Cup
• Monica Niculescu activity at Tenis Romania website
• Monica Niculescu Blog

Persondata
Name	Niculescu, Monica
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1987–09-25
Place of birth	Slatina, Romania
Date of death
Place of death