Iveta_Benešová

Iveta Benešová

Iveta Benešová

Czech tennis player


Iveta Benešová (Czech pronunciation: [ˈɪvɛta ˈbɛnɛʃovaː]) (formerly Melzer, Czech: Melzerová; born 1 February 1983) is a Czech former tennis player. She began playing tennis aged seven and turned professional in 1998. She won two WTA Tour singles and 14 doubles tournaments, and one Grand Slam title in mixed doubles, partnering with Jürgen Melzer at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. On 14 September 2012, she married Melzer and adopted his family name (until 2015). She announced her retirement from professional tennis on 13 August 2014.

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Career

2005–2008

Benešová was the first player to be beaten by Ana Ivanovic in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, at the 2005 Australian Open.[1]

At the 2006 Australian Open, for the first time, she reached the third round of a Grand Slam championship by beating fifth seed Mary Pierce. She lost in the next round to former world No. 1 Martina Hingis.[2]

Entering as a qualifier in the 2008 French Open, she reached the third round, beating 15th seed and compatriate Nicole Vaidišová in the first round, but lost to Petra Cetkovská.

2009

Benešová at the 2009 French Open

Benešová started the year by playing the first edition of the Brisbane International. She lost in the first round to qualifier Sesil Karatantcheva. A week later, Benešová lost in the final of the tournament in Hobart to fellow-Czech Petra Kvitová. At the Australian Open, she lost in the second round to eventual semifinalist and fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva.

Immediately after Australian, Benešová played in front of her home crowd in the Fed Cup tie against Spain. Despite losing her singles rubber to Nuria Llagostera Vives, the Czech team advanced to the semifinals after winning the tie 4–1.

At the Open GdF Suez in Paris, she lost in the first round to world No. 1 Serena Williams. Benešová then reached the semifinals of the tournament in Acapulco, a clay-court event. In the quarterfinals, she beat Mathilde Johansson before losing in the semifinals to defending champion Flavia Pennetta.

On 6 April 2009, Benešová achieved her career-high singles ranking of world No. 25.

Seeded 6th at the first edition of the Monterrey Open, she beat fellow Czech Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová in the quarterfinals before losing in the semifinals to unseeded Li Na.

Benešová fell to Ana Ivanovic in the third round of the French Open.

At Wimbledon, she beat Britain's Katie O'Brien, before falling to Jelena Janković in the second round.

2010

In singles, she defeated Romanian Simona Halep in the final of Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem to win her first WTA Tour trophy since 2004.

In doubles, she has won three titles. Along with Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, she grabbed the titles in Paris as their opponents Cara Black and Liezel Huber withdrew and Monterrey defeating Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Vania King. Partnering with Anabel Medina Garrigues, Benešová won Fes, making her winning both singles and doubles in the tournament.

Benešová at the 2008 French Open

2011

Benešová reached the fourth round of the Australian Open,[3] but was defeated by second seed Vera Zvonareva.[4]

Along with Záhlavová-Strýcová she won four titles in doubles.

At the Wimbledon Championships, she won the mixed doubles title with partner and later husband Jürgen Melzer.[5][6]

2012

Benešová once again reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, being defeated by eventual champion Victoria Azarenka in straight sets. On 29 April 2012 she won her last title at the Stuttgart doubles, again with Záhlavová-Strýcová.

She paused from playing tournaments until February 2014, mainly due to shoulder problems.

2014

In her first tournament as Iveta Melzer, she and her partner Petra Cetkovská reached the final of the Acapulco doubles which they lost in the third set.

At the French Open she played the mixed doubles with her husband Jürgen, they lost in the first round against top seeded Alexander Peya and Abigail Spears. It was their last Grand Slam mixed appearance together, at the Wimbledon mixed doubles Jürgen Melzer partnered Anabel Medina Garrigues.

Iveta Melzer ended her career on 15 August 2014, as shoulder problems prevented her from playing her best tennis.

Personal life

On 14 September 2012, Benešová married Austrian tennis player Jürgen Melzer in Austria at Laxenburg Castle. The relationship ended in 2015 and Iveta changed her name back to Benešová.[7][8]

Performance timelines

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.

Singles

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Doubles

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Grand Slam finals

Mixed doubles: 1 title

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WTA career finals

Singles: 8 (2 titles, 6 runner-ups)

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Doubles: 26 (14 titles, 12 runner-ups)

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ITF finals

Singles: 5 (4 titles, 1 runner–up)

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Doubles: 8 (4 titles, 4 runner–ups)

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Top 10 wins

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Notes

  1. The first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Total Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009 to 2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.
  2. In 2009, the Berlin Open was replaced by the Madrid Open. The Premier Mandatory tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.
  3. The WTA Tier I tournaments were reclassified as WTA Premier Mandatory & 5 the same year .

References

  1. "Ten years of Djokovic and Ivanovic at the Grand Slams". The Roar. 17 January 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  2. "Venus Oz Open jinx continues, mixed luck for Indians". The Statesman. 23 January 2009.
  3. "Australian Open 2011: Home hopes crushed as Sam Stosur exits". The Guardian. 22 January 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  4. "Australian Open 2011: Kim Clijsters tested but reaches quarter-finals". The Guardian. 24 January 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  5. "Melzer-Benesova win Wimbledon mixed doubles title". The Sacramento Bee. 3 July 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2011.[permanent dead link]
  6. "Straight win in mixed doubles". The Mercury. 5 July 2011. p. 44.
  7. "Jürgen Melzers Ehe ist gescheitert". www.news.at. News Networld. 10 June 2015.
  8. "Open Letter". Iveta Benesova. 15 July 2015. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015.

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