Esther Vergeer

Esther Vergeer

Full name	Esther Mary Vergeer
Country	Netherlands
Residence	Woerden, The Netherlands
Born	July 18, 1981 (1981-07-18) Woerden, The Netherlands
Turned pro	1995
Plays	Right Handed
Official web site	www.esthervergeer.nl
Singles
Career record	666–25
Highest ranking	No. 1 (6 April 1999)
Current ranking	No. 1
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	W (2002-4, 2006-9, 2011-12)
French Open	W (2007-11)
US Open	W (2005-7, 2009-11)
Other tournaments
Masters	W (1998-2011)
Paralympic Games	Gold Medal (2000, 2004, 2008)
Doubles
Career record	428–32
Highest ranking	No. 1 (20 October 1998)
Current ranking	No. 2
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	W (2004, 2006-9, 2011-12)
French Open	W (2007-9, 2011)
Wimbledon	W (2009-11)
US Open	W (2005-7, 2009-11)
Other Doubles tournaments
Masters Doubles	W (2001-3, 2005-9, 2011)
Paralympic Games	Gold Medal (2000, 2004)
Team Competitions
World Team Cup	Champion (1998, 2000-09)
Medal record Competitor for Netherlands Women's wheelchair tennis Paralympic Games Gold 2000 Sydney Women's singles Gold 2000 Sydney Women's doubles Gold 2004 Athens Women's singles Gold 2004 Athens Women's doubles Gold 2008 Beijing Women's singles Silver 2008 Beijing Women's doubles
Last updated on: 28 January 2012.

Esther Vergeer (born 18 July 1981, Woerden) is a Dutch wheelchair tennis player. Combining singles and doubles, she has won 39 Grand Slams, 22 year-end championships and 5 Paralympics titles. Vergeer has been the world number one wheelchair tennis player since 1999. In singles, she has not been beaten since January 2003 and is on a winning streak of 444 matches. She is often mentioned as the most dominant player in professional sports.

Early life and career

Vergeer developed paraplegia when she was 8 years old due to an otherwise successful, very risky surgery concerning hemorrhaging blood vessels around her spinal cord. During rehabilitation she learned to play volleyball, basketball, and tennis in a wheelchair. After playing basketball for several years at club level, she was invited to join the national wheelchair basketball team. She played with the Dutch team that won the European championship in 1997.

Vergeer had started playing tennis in parallel with basketball, playing her first international tournament in 1996, and switched to full-time tennis in 1998. Coached by Marc Kalkman, her first big win was at the US Open championships in 1998, moving her from 15th to 2nd in the world ranking. She beat top seed Daniela Di Toro to win the singles title and partnered with Sonja Peters to capture the doubles. Her success led to a photo in the 26 November 1998 TennisWeek issue She continued on and during the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney she did not lose a set to win the gold medal in singles and also won the doubles title with Maaike Smit as her partner. She also won the Wheelchair Tennis masters in 1998.

Wins and accolades

As of 28 January 2012, Vergeer has won 156 singles and 131 doubles titles at international tournaments. Her overall record is 666 wins and 25 losses in singles, and 428 wins and 32 losses in doubles. In singles, she has won 20 Grand Slam, 13 year-end championship, and 3 Paralympic titles while in doubles she has shared 20 Grand Slam, 9 year-end, and 2 Paralympic titles. She has also been part of the Dutch team that has won 14 World Team Cups.

Since 31 March 2001 Vergeer has lost only one singles match (on 30 Jan 2003 at the Sydney International to Daniela Di Toro from Australia). Between August 2004 and October 2006 she even won 250 consecutive sets, only one of which ended with a tiebreaker. Vergeer is currently on a 444-match winning streak.

She has been nominated five times for the Laureus Award for Sportsperson with a Disability of the Year, winning it twice in 2002 and 2008.

In October 2010 she posed nude for ESPN The Magazine's annual Body Issue, marking the first time the magazine has featured a disabled athlete in the Body Issue.

In December 2010 Esther Vergeer was featured on CNN for her tennis record of 401 straight wins receiving congratulations from both Roger Federer and Kim Clijsters.

Major titles

• Australian Open: doubles 2003–04, 2006–09, 2011–12
• French Open: doubles 2007–09, 2011
• Wimbledon: doubles 2009, 2010, 2011
• US Open: doubles 1998–2000, 2003, 2005–07, 2009, 2010
• British Open: singles 2000–2010, doubles 1998–2004, 2006–09
• Japan Open: singles 2004, 2007–08, doubles 2004, 2007–08
• NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters ("World Championships"): singles 1998–2010, doubles 2001–2003, 2005–2009
• Paralympic Games: singles 2000, 2004, 2008 & doubles 2000, 2004

Grand Slam singles finals: 20 (20 titles)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	2002	Wheelchair Classic 8's at Australian Open (1)	Hard	Daniela di Toro	6–2, 6–0
Winner	2003	Wheelchair Classic 8's at Australian Open (2)	Hard	Daniela di Toro	2–6, 6–0, 6–3
Winner	2004	Wheelchair Classic 8's at Australian Open (3)	Hard	Daniela di Toro	4–6, 6–3, 6–1
Winner	2005	US Open (1)	Hard	Korie Homan	6–2, 6–1
Winner	2006	Wheelchair Classic 8's at Australian Open (4)	Hard	Jiske Griffioen	6–4, 6–0
Winner	2006	US Open (2)	Hard	Sharon Walraven	6–1, 6–2
Winner	2007	Australian Open (5)	Hard	Florence Gravellier	6–1, 6–0
Winner	2007	French Open (1)	Clay	Florence Gravellier	6–3, 5–7, 6–2
Winner	2007	US Open (3)	Hard	Florence Gravellier	6–3, 6–1
Winner	2008	Australian Open (6)	Hard	Korie Homan	6–3, 6–3
Winner	2008	French Open (2)	Clay	Korie Homan	6–2, 6–2
Winner	2009	Australian Open (7)	Hard	Korie Homan	6–4, 6–2
Winner	2009	French Open (3)	Clay	Korie Homan	6–2, 7–5
Winner	2009	US Open (4)	Hard	Korie Homan	6–0, 6–0
Winner	2010	French Open (4)	Clay	Sharon Walraven	6–0, 6–0
Winner	2010	US Open(5)	Hard	Daniela di Toro	6–0, 6–0
Winner	2011	Australian Open (8)	Hard	Daniela di Toro	6–0, 6–0
Winner	2011	French Open (5)	Clay	Marjolein Buis	6–0, 6–2
Winner	2011	US Open (6)	Hard	Aniek van Koot	6–2, 6–1
Winner	2012	Australian Open (9)	Hard	Aniek van Koot	6–0, 6–0

Grand Slam singles

Tournament	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Grand Slam Tournaments wheelchair singles
Australian Open	W	W	W	A	W	W	W	W	A	W	W
French Open	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	W	W	W	W	W
US Open	NH	NH	NH	W	W	W	NH	W	W	W

Grand Slam doubles

Tournament	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Grand Slam Tournaments wheelchair doubles
Australian Open	NH	NH	W	A	W	W	W	W	A	W	W
French Open	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	W	W	W	F	W
Wimbledon	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	W	W	W
US Open	NH	NH	NH	W	W	W	NH	W	W	W

Wheelchair Tennis Masters and Paralympic games

Tournament	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	Career SR	Career W-L	Career Win %
Wheelchair Tennis Masters
WTM Singles	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	14 / 14		100%
WTM Doubles	NH	NH	F	W	W	W	LQ	W	W	W	W	W	-	W	9 / 12		75%
Paralympic games
Singles	-	-	W	-	-	-	W	-	-	-	W	-	-	-	3 / 3		100%
Doubles	-	-	W	-	-	-	W	-	-	-	F	-	-	-	2 / 3		66%

To help interpret the performance table, the legend below explains what each abbreviation and color coded box represents in the performance timeline.

Terms to know
SR	tournaments won/played	W-L	Win-Loss
Performance Table Legend
NH	not held	A	absent
LQ	lost in qualifying draw	#R	lost in the early rounds
QF	quarterfinalist	SF	semifinalist
F	runner-up	W	winner

External links

• Official site
• bio – file interview with Esther Vergeer
• The most dominant athlete ever, at sportscolumn.com (June 2007)
• Esther Vergeer at the International Tennis Federation

Awards
Preceded by Daniela Di Toro	ITF Wheelchair Tennis World Champion 2000–2011	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by First Award	Female Player of the Year 2001–2003	Succeeded by Daniela di Toro
Preceded by Vinny Lauwers Martin Braxenthaler	Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability 2002 2008	Succeeded by Michael Milton Daniel Dias
Preceded by First award Jiske Griffioen	Year End Number 1 – Doubles Award 2003–2004 2007–2008 (with Griffioen)	Succeeded by Florence Gravellier Korie Homan
Preceded by First award Kenny van Weeghel Annette Roozen / Marion Nijhof Monique van der Vorst	Dutch Disabled Sportsman / woman of the Year 2002, 2003 2005 2008 2010	Succeeded by Kenny van Weeghel Pieter Gruijters Monique van der Vorst Thierry Schmitter