Sara Errani
![]() Sara Errani at the 2010 US Open | |
Country (sports) | ![]() |
---|---|
Residence | Massa Lombarda, Italy |
Born | Bologna, Italy | April 29, 1987
Height | 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in) |
Turned pro | 2002 |
Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
Prize money | $3,780,343 |
Singles | |
Career record | 316–224 |
Career titles | 6 WTA, 2 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 8 (September 12, 2012) |
Current ranking | No. 8 (September 12, 2012) |
Grand Slam singles results | |
Australian Open | QF (2012) |
French Open | F (2012) |
Wimbledon | 3R (2010, 2012) |
US Open | QF (2012) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 203–133 |
Career titles | 15 WTA, 6 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 3 (June 11, 2012) |
Current ranking | No. 3 (August 27, 2012) |
Grand Slam doubles results | |
Australian Open | F (2012) |
French Open | W (2012) |
Wimbledon | QF (2012) |
US Open | QF (2011, 2012) |
Last updated on: August 27, 2012. |
Sara Errani (born April 29, 1987) is a professional tennis player from Italy. She is currently the Italian number 1. As of 27 August 2012, she is ranked world no. 10. Her highest doubles rank is 3rd. She has won six career singles titles.
Errani's breakthrough season occurred in 2012. At the Australian Open, she reached the quarterfinals in singles and was a finalist in doubles. Known as a clay-court specialist,[1][2] Errani won three titles on clay going into the 2012 French Open, where she reached the finals in both the singles and doubles tournaments, winning the doubles title.[3]
Career
Early life and Junior career
At age 12 her father sent her to the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida. At 16 she moved to Valencia, Spain, to be coached by Pablo Lozano and David Andres.[4]
Errani competed in her first event at the $10,000 Cagliari event in her native country of Italy in 2002 where she lost to Sun Tiantian 6–1, 6–0. She continued to compete in the ITF, where her best performance of the year was a semifinal appearance in Zaton. She continued to participate mainly on the ITF, where she won her first tournament 6–1, 6–4 over Lucia Jiminez in Melilla, Spain 2005.
2008–2011
Her first WTA title of her career was in the Internazionali Femminili di Palermo, where she defeated Mariya Koryttseva. On July 27, 2008, she captured her second career title in two weeks defeating Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6–3, 6–3. She has also won six doubles WTA titles.
In 2009, Errani was the runner-up at two WTA tournaments: in Palermo and Portoroz, as the defending champion in both.
With Italy, she won the Fed Cup in 2009 and 2010.
In February 2011, she reached the final of the PTT Pattaya Open, where she was defeated by Daniela Hantuchová.
2012
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/20120820_115059_Sara_Errani_01.jpg/220px-20120820_115059_Sara_Errani_01.jpg)
At the beginning of 2012, Errani decided to change her racquet, switching from Wilson to Babolat, opting for a heavier and slightly longer model than the last, allowing for more power and better reach. This change caused her to return her $30,000 endorsement fee to Wilson.[5] However, she and several commentators cite the new racquet as a reason for her improved game and her entry into the top ten of the WTA rankings. In the first five months of 2012, she won three singles titles, earning over $1.3 million in prize money. Errani herself dubbed her new racquet "Excalibur", named after the sword of King Arthur.[6]
At the 2012 Australian Open Errani advanced to her first grand slam quarterfinal, defeating Nadia Petrova, Sorana Cirstea, and Jie Zheng en route before losing to Petra Kvitová. Her ranking jumped to world no. 33, a career best.
At the Abierto Monterrey Open, she was the 2nd seed where she reached the semi-finals, losing to eventual champion Timea Babos 6–4, 6–7, 6–4, but she triumphed on the clay in Acapulco as the 3rd seed, winning her third career title. She defeated fellow Italians Roberta Vinci 7–5, 6–1, and 2nd seed Flavia Pennetta 6–7, 7–5, 6–0 in her last two matches.
Errani fell in the opening round of Indian Wells to Vania King 7–6, 6–4, and in the second round of the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open against Sloane Stephens 3–6, 6–2, 7–5.
As the 7th seed at the Barcelona Ladies Open, Errani stormed to her 4th career title and 2nd of the year, not dropping a set, beating 2nd seeded Julia Goerges 6–2, 6–3 in the quarterfinals, Carla Suarez Navarro 6–1, 6–2 in the semifinals, and Dominika Cibulkova 6–2, 6–2 in the final. Afterwards, her ranking rose to world no. 28. In the Fed Cup semifinals against the Czech Republic, Errani lost to Petra Kvitova 6–4, 6–3, but beat Andrea Hlavackova 3–6, 6–2, 6–2, with Italy losing the tie 4–1.
On May 7, 2012 Errani won the 2012 Budapest Grand Prix, tying countrywoman Roberta Vinci for the most titles won by an Italian female in a year at three.[7]
Her performance continued to improve when she reached the finals of the 2012 French Open. En route she defeated Casey Dellacqua, Melanie Oudin and 2008 and 2009 French Open winners Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova, respectively.[8] She secured a place in the semifinals by eliminating the German 10th seed Angelique Kerber 6–3, 7–6, her first ever win over a current top 10 player.[9] In the semifinals, she overcame the reigning US Open champion and 2010 French Open finalist Samantha Stosur 7–5, 1–6, 6–3, to reach her first major singles final, opposite Maria Sharapova.[10] Errani lost in the final with the score of 6–3, 6–2.[11] However, this tournament helped her achieve the Number 10 spot.
In addition to her singles wins, Errani also won six doubles titles with Roberta Vinci including the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open, the 2012 Internazionali BNL d'Italia and the 2012 French Open. She and Vinci also made the finals of the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open and the 2012 Australian Open. Being, the most successful pair in 2012, Errani is currently the number three in doubles.
At Wimbledon, she went down in the third round to Yaroslava Shvedova, suffering the humiliating loss of the first "Golden Set" in the women's tennis open era, and second ever recorded, in the first set, failing to win a point in the entire set.[12] In the month of July, at the Italiacom Open 2012, Errani, without losing a set, won her fourth title of the year, the sixth in her career. She defeated the Czech Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová (seeded number 8th) in the final, with the score of 6–1, 6–3.[13]
Errani then lost in the first round of the singles competition at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.
She then played the 2012 Rogers Cup where she lost in the third round to Li Na 6-4, 6-2. She then lost to Venus WIlliams in the third round of the Western & Southern Open 6-4, 6-2. She then played the New Haven open as the no. 4 seed. She reached the semifinals by beating 5th seed Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-2. She lost in the semifinals to Petra Kvitova 6-1, 6-3.
At the US Open, Errani had a slow start by beating Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco in three sets. However, she easily defeated the Russians Vera Dushevina and Olga Puchkova. She only lost 3 games in these two rounds. In the fourth round, she defeated her first seed of the tournament. She defeated the #6 seed, Angelique Kerber, 7-6, 6-3. In the Quarterfinals, she will meet her doubles partner, Roberta Vinci.
Errani partnered again Roberta Vinci for the US Open. They were seeded number 2, behind the defending champions Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond. Errani and Vinci reached again the Quarterfinals of the US Open while the defending champions lost in the third round. As a result, they will reach the number one spot on 10th September 2012.
Grand Slam Finals
Singles: 1 (0–1)
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 2012 | French Open | Clay | ![]() |
3–6, 2–6 |
Doubles: 2 (1–1)
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 2012 | Australian Open | Hard | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
7–5, 4–6, 3–6 |
Winner | 2012 | French Open | Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
4–6, 6–4, 6–2 |
Career Statistics & Performance Timeline
Women's Singles
Tournament | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | W–L | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slams | |||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
A | LQ | 1R | 3R | 3R | 1R | QF | 8–5 | |||||||||||
![]() |
A | LQ | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | F | 7–5 | |||||||||||
![]() |
LQ | A | 1R | 2R | 3R | 2R | 3R | 6–5 | |||||||||||
![]() |
LQ | 2R | 2R | 3R | 3R | 1R | 6–5 | ||||||||||||
Win–Loss | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 5–4 | 6–4 | 2–4 | 12–3 | 27–20 | |||||||||||
Year-End Ranking[14] | 171 | 70 | 42 | 48 | 43 | 45 |
Women's Doubles
Tournament | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | W–L | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slams | |||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | F | 5–5 | |||||||||||||
![]() |
2R | 2R | 2R | 3R | W | 11–4 | |||||||||||||
![]() |
2R | 2R | 3R | 3R | QF | 8–5 | |||||||||||||
![]() |
1R | 1R | 1R | QF | QF | 3–4 | |||||||||||||
Win–Loss | 2–4 | 2–4 | 3–4 | 7–4 | 13–2 | 27–18 |
References
- ^ Nguyen, Courtney (7 June 2012). "Sara Errani makes improbable run into French Open final". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
{{cite news}}
: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=
(help) - ^ "Quarterfinal Previews and Picks: Day 10". tennis.com. 4 June 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
{{cite news}}
: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=
(help) - ^ "Sara Errani". Retrieved 2012-06-09.
- ^ "Ecco chi è Sara Errani: grinta spagnola, orgoglio italiano" (in Italian). sara-errani.com. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
- ^ "Sara Errani paid Wilson $30k to get out of her contract. Picks up a longer Babolat, has a stunning career year". inagist.com. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
- ^ "Excalibur, il segreto della Errani" (in Italian). ubitennis.com. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
- ^ "Magica Errani, Budapest è sua" (in Italian). ilsole24ore.com. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
- ^ "Errani defeats Kuznetsova in French Open". 3 June 2012.
- ^ "Errani beats Kerber to reach 1st Grand Slam semifinal". 5 June 2012.
- ^ "Sara Errani". Retrieved 2012-06-07.
- ^ "Sara Errani". Retrieved 2012-06-09.
- ^ "Wimbledon 2012: Yaroslava Shvedova claims 'golden set' as Sara Errani makes unwanted history". The Telegraph. 30 Jun 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-01.
- ^ "Errani downs Zahlavova Strycova for win at Palermo". 15 July 2012.
- ^ "Sara Errani – Stats". wtatennis.com. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Sara Errani at the Women's Tennis Association
- {{ITF profile}} template using deprecated numeric ID.