Tamarine Tanasugarn
 | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (April 2009) |
 | |
| Country (sports) |  Thailand |
|---|---|
| Residence | Bangkok, Thailand |
| Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) |
| Turned pro | 1994 |
| Plays | right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | US$ 2,662,605 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 442–342 |
| Career titles | 2 WTA, 11 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 19 (13 May 2002) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 4r (1998) |
| French Open | 3r (2002) |
| Wimbledon | QF (2008) |
| US Open | 4r (2003) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 202–194 |
| Career titles | 6 WTA, 3 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 15 (13 September 2004) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Australian Open | 3r (2000) |
| French Open | 2r (2002, 2004, 2007) |
| Wimbledon | 2r (1996, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008) |
| US Open | QF (2004) |
| Last updated on: 16 February 2009. | |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women's Tennis | ||
| Asian Games | ||
 |
2002 Busan | Singles |
|
1998 Bangkok | Singles |
Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thai: แทมมารีน ธนสุกาญจน์, IPA: [tʰɛːmmriːn tʰsukʰatɕn]; born 24 May 1977) is a professional female American tennis player. She was born in Los Angeles, California, U.S. and turned professional in 1994. She has been in the top twenty in both singles and doubles.
Tanasugarn's highest WTA ranking has been world number 19, a ranking she achieved on 13 May 2002, which is the highest ranking ever achieved for Thai female player. She has won two singles titles. She was briefly a doubles partner with Maria Sharapova, with whom she won two titles in 2003. She won a total of five doubles titles. Her highest doubles ranking was world number 15 which she achieved on 13 September 2004. With Liezel Huber, she reached the 2004 US Open doubles quarterfinals. Her biggest success came in 2008 when she became the first Thai tennis player ever to reach a quarterfinal in professional Grand Slam.
In her career, Tanasugarn has defeated former number ones Amélie Mauresmo[1], Jennifer Capriati[2] and Jelena Jankovic. She has also beaten a Australian Open and French Open champion, Mary Pierce[3]. she is also widely regarded as grass court specialist. She has reached fourth round in Wimbledon seven times (1998-2003, 2004, 2008) and broke through quarterfinal once in 2008. She has also succeeded her second major in Ordina Open, and was a runner-up at Birmingham,the both are grass court tournaments. Following these grass court tournaments, Tanasugarn has ousted many top 10 players in their respective time, such as, Nathalie Tauziat at Eastbourne number 10 at that time, 2001, Amelie Mauresmo at Wimbledon number 6 at that time in 2001, Dinara Safina at S'hertogenbosh number 9 at that time in 2008 and Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon number 3 at that time in 2008.[4]
Tanasugarn is also a regular competitor for the Thailand Fed Cup team, helping the team join the World Group II in 2005 and 2006, after beating Australia and Croatia in their play-off matches.
Playing style
 | This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (March 2009) |
Playing comfortably in grass court, Tanasugarn suites her best game and strategy well when she performs on grass. Once she gave a reason that grass court is familiar with the court she has been practicing in Thailand and especially loves the atmosphere at Wimbledon. Her game is based on good strategy, precise groundstroke, and favours to deliver winners from a baseline. Tanasugarn is also known for her flat and topspin-flat groundstroke which are especially effective and offensive on grass, frequently are able to draw unforced errors from opponents.
Career
Junior
During her junior career, most of the expense is supported by her father, Virachai Tanasugarn, a lawyer, who was a former Thai basketball player and inspired his daughter to become a professional tennis player. In 1995, at 17, Tanasugarn reached her junior grand slam final at Wimbledon with a win over Anna Kournikova in semifinal but lost to the Polish Aleksandra Olsza 7-5, 7-6. With this achievement, it built both of her confidence on becoming a promising star and potential grass court specialist.[5]
1994-1999
She has turned pro since 1994, and made her WTA debut in 1993 Pattaya Women's Open but lost to Australian, Rennae Stubbs, 6-4, 7-6(7-3) and got through the second round in 1994 beating world number 44, Marianne Werdel Witmeyer in the first round 1-6, 7-5, 7-5. In 1995, Tanasugarn started participating the Grand Slams but lost in the qualifying rounds in four of them[6]. In 1996, she lost early in qualifying round in Australian Open, though, Tanasugarn came in the attention spot in 1996 when she reached the final at Pattaya Women's Open. This is her first major final, but it was a bitter final when she lost to Ruxandra Dragomir, 7-6(7-4), 6-4. With this result her rank leveled up to number 79, her tennis career had stepped up to the level that she hungered to seek more of the excitements and experiences. In 1997, she reached third round in Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open, semifinal at Hobart and ended the year with number 46 rank. 1998 was a breakthrough year for Tanasugarn, in 3rd round at Australian Open, she was victorious over the defending French Open Champion Iva Majoli, her first top 10 victory with a score 6-0, 6-2. In the third Grand Slam of the year, she repeated the fourth round entrance in Grand Slam but was stopped by Martina Hingis, three months later she reached her first tier II semifinal in Tokyo Princess Cup but was defeated by Monica Seles, in the end of the year she was in the top 40 players[7]. The next year wasn't as successful as expected, her ranking dropped to 77 in the mid-season, though for second consecutive year she reached the fourth round in Wimbledon, with a win over thirteenth seed, Sandrine Testud, but could not proceed further, she lost to Mirjana Lucic, 7-5, 6-3. She then tried to gain the ranking back by competing in the Challengers and ended the year in 72 position, her lowest rank in two years.[8]
2000-2004
After the disappointing season last year, Tanasugarn boosted her confidence up in the mixed double tournament Hopman Cup. She partnered with another Thai rising star Paradorn Srichaphan, their performance drew much criticism when they both battled their path through the final. Tanasugarn beat Jelena Dokic from Australia, Barbara Schett from Austria,Ai Sugiyama from Japan and Henrieta Nagyova from Slovakia,took the wins from all the single matches. In the final, facing Amanda Coetzer, Tanasugarn started with more consistency and took the first set but the South African eventually won with 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 score. In men's single Paradorn Srichaphan had fought hard but was pushed by Wayne Ferreira to 7-6(14-12), 6-3 lost, then Thai team surrendered to the South African team again in mixed double, making the 3-0 score lost in the final.[9] Nonetheless, by this result has made them the first Asians ever to reach the final in Hopman Cup. Later she has wrote in her personal column on her mid-career comeback issue, "There was a bit of lopsided and disappointing performance in that year but having reached the final at Hopman Cup made me feel the motivation and inspiration in the sport once more".
Tanasugarn started the tournament with 3rd round in Australian open, despite taking the first set from the opponent, Tanasugarn eventually lost to her rival Sandrine Testud, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. Just a week before Wimbledon, Tanasugarn reached her second WTA final at Birmingham, with a win over Julie Halard-Decugis en route. In the final match with Lisa Raymond, Tanasugarn lost in three sets thriller match. She then again reached fourth round in wimbledon for third consecutive years but lost to eighth seeded Serena Williams in two sets. Tanasugarn also reached three semifinals at Japan Open Tennis Championships, Kuala Lampur and Shanghai, she represented Thailand in 2000 Olympic game but was ousted in the second round by Venus Williams. Her year-end ranking was number 29, the first time in the top 30 in year-ended ranking.[10]
2001 is considered as one of her best season, She began her season in Sydney but lost in the first round to Brie Rippner, In Australian Open she reached the third round, but lost to the American, Serena Williams, 6-1, 6-4. In Dubai, Tanasugarn succeeded her second Tier II semifinal, but lost to Martina Hingis, although she leads 3-0 in the first set. In American Outdoor Hard Court Season, she got through to the third round at Indian Wells but lost to Anke Huber and also reached the fourth round at Miami lost to Jennifer Capriarti. In Roland Garros, Tanasugarn lost in the first round to Zsofia Gubacsi 4-6, 7-5, 7-5. In grass court season, she collected her second and third top ten wins against Nathalie Tauziat, in Eastbourne and Amelie Mauresmo, in third round, Wimbledon. That was her fourt consecutive appearance in the fourth round. However, she lost early again to Nathalie Tauziat. Tanasugarn made the third career final at Japan Open Tennis Championships, she lost to former number one Monica Seles, 6-3, 6-2. At the end of season, Tanasugarn was ranked in the top 30 for two consecutive years.
2002, Tanasugarn reached her fourth major final at Canberra, as numeber one seed, Tanasugarn beated Patty Schnyder in the quarterfinal, she eventually lost to the Isaraeli,Anna Smashnova in the final. Tanasugarn made her first Tier I quaterfinal appearance at Toray Pan Pacific Open with a win over former number four, Magdalena Maleeva. Tanasugarn lost in her fifth major final, at Doha, to Monica Seles, this made her record 0-5 in major finals . On May 13, she was ranked number 19 in the world, her best career rank to date and held it for nearly 10 non-consecutive weeks. In her personal column "Tammy Ka" she has cited this accomplishment as a result of "The hard-working, time-dedicated and intensive training". However, her opportunity to rise the rank was interrupted by her unsatisfied performance on clay. Nonetheless, Tanasugarn has made her best result on clay in Roland Garros, as number 17 seed, she reached the third round for the first time, and eventually lost to the Italian, Silvia Farina Elia, this was so far her best performance on clay court. Tanasugarn reached fourth round in Wimbledon for fifth consecutive years, but was upset by Monica Seles in two sets. In Us Open she suffered from little finger fraction but persisted to continue playing, she lost in the second round to the American Bea Bielek. Tanasugarn ended the year ranked number 28.
2003, Tanasugarn reached the third round in Australian Open for fourth consecutive years. Tanasugarn succeeded her first tour major in Hyderabad[disambiguation needed], beat Maria Kirilenko from Russia in quarterfinal, the Italian, Flavia Pennetta in semifinal and Iroda Tulyaganova from Uzbekistan in the final, 6-4, 6-4. Tanasugarn made her second tier I quarterfinal in Toray Pan Pacific Open for second consecutive years, she beated Silvia Farina Elia and lost to Lindsay Davenport in tight two sets. Tanasugarn's run at Wimbledon was stopped early by Akiko Morigami, This was her earliest exit in Wimbledon since she turned pro. Tanasugarn made her fourth round in US Open for the first time, she beated the Italian, Rita Grande, the swiss Patty Schnyder and her fourth top ten win over number 9 seed, Daniela Hantuchova. She lost to Amelie Mauresmo in two sets in the following round. Tanasugarn was ranked 34 in the end of the year.
In 2004, Tanasugarn dropped from the top 50 for the first time in four years, her best performance was her sixth fourth round in Wimbledon, she lost to the japanese,Ai Sugiyama in two sets. Tanasugarn was also the semifinalist in Japan Open Tennis Championships, but lost to her former double partner Maria Sharapova.
2005-2007
After her unsatisfactory performance in 2004, Tanasugarn also had to deal with multiple injuries which affected most of her career in 2005, her ranking dropped out of the top 100, therefore Tanasugarn chose to play in Challenger Level tournaments to collect the points.
2006, She had once mentioned retiring from tennis career, however, after she qualified to play in the main draw of Wimbledon and reached the third round, Tanasugarn was charged back up and decided to give it another shot. Tanasugarn reached her homecountry tournament final again in PTT Bangkok Open, facing Vania King, she was two games away from taking the title leading in the final set 4-2, but King fought back to win the match.[11]. Despite losing the match with the support and warmth she was given by her home country, Tanasugarn regained some confidence to get back to the tour. She finished that year ranked 75th.
Unfortunately in 2007, Tanasugarn still struggled with injuries and had to play in many challengers, she ended the season ranked 124th.
2008
Tanasugarn made her successful comeback with many great results in 2008. Tanasugarn qualified to play in main draw at Australian Open, beated Jelena Dokic along the way, she lost to the Austrian, Sybille Bammer in the first round. She decided to skip the clay court seasons, due to her difficulty playing games on that surface and chose to play in hard court challengers which she had said that the ball bouncing is familiar to grass surface. Tanasugarn won the challenger title at Gifu, defeated the comeback former world number four, Kimiko Date Krumm from Japan. In grass court season, Tanasugarn beated the Austrian seed, Tamira Paszek in Birmingham but lost to Bethanie Mattek in the fourth round. A week later, Tanasugarn has stunned many tennis fans, ranked number 85, she reached her eighth major final, beated the french open runner-up Dinara Safina in two sets, at Ordina Open final match. This is her second major title, she beated Kateryna Bondarenko, Ashley Harkleroad, Michaella Krajicek and Alyona Bondarenko on the way to final. Continuously, she reached her seventh fourth round in Wimbledon, upset the russian Vera Zvonareva en route and surprised the world number three, Jelena Jankovic with the two sets defeat in the fourth round. In quaterfinal, she lost to the eventual champion Venus Williams, 6-4,6-3. Tanasugarn became the first Thai player to make a grand slam quarterfinal and has said that reaching the quaterfinal in Wimbledon is her most accomplished dream so far, since she had been stopped for six times in the fourth round by Martina Hingis in 1998, Mirjana Lucic in 1999, Serena Williams in 2000, Nathalie Tauziat in 2001, Monica Seles in 2002 and Ai Sugiyama in 2004. The best results in the year are also reaching the quaterfinals at Japan Open Tennis Championships, lost to Caroline Wozniacki, Pattaya Women's Open, lost to Agnieszka Radwanska. She also gained second victory over former number one, Amelie Mauresmo at Doha but was stopped in the third round by Maria Sharapova. Tanasugarn ended the 2008 tournament ranked number 35, her best ranking in four years.
2009
Tanasugarn was seeded 32 in Australian Open but lost early to the spaniard, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 5-7, 3-6. Next week after the first slam, Tanasugarn played Fed Cup for Thailand, Although holding a chance to have a match, Tanasugarn ended up losing to the Australian Samantha Stosur, 6-4, 5-7, 0-6, Thailand finished in the third place in Asia/Oceania group, after Australia and New Zealand. Tanasugarn started her next tournament in her homecountry at Pattaya Women's Open, seeded 6, she got through to the quarterfinal for second consecutive years, however she lost to Sania Mirza in straight sets. In Double, partnering Yaroslava Shvedova, the team, seeded number two, got into the final and won the match over, Yuliya Beygelzimer and Vitalia Diatchenko, 6-3, 6-2. This double title in Pattaya is her first major title in her own country after being a runner-up for two times in single, in 1996 at Pattaya and in 2006 at Bangkok. Due to the Pattaya double final match, Tanasugarn had to reschadule and missed the Barclay Dubai tennis tournament in the following week. In Indian Wells, Tanasugarn faced the chinese fromer ranked 16, Na Li, who is also a runner up at Monterrey Open just a week ago, Tanasugarn ended up losing in straight sets, 4-6 4-6. In Miami, she beated Nathalie Dechy in striagth sets 6-3, 7-5 in the first round. Despte taking the first set from number 10 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, Tanasugarn succumbed to the polish teen, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6. In the first round of Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open Tanasugarn lost to Virginie Razzano in three set, 0-6, 6-4, 3-6.
Next week, she will play an international WTA tournament in Strasbourg, France as sixth seed.
WTA Tour finals (20)
Singles wins (2)
Singles runner-ups (6)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Wikipedia articles needing copy edit from April 2009
- Thai tennis players
- 1977 births
- Living people
- People from Bangkok
- People from Los Angeles, California
- Olympic tennis players of Thailand
- Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics