Karina Habšudová (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈkarina ˈɦapʂudɔʋaː]; born 2 August 1973) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as 10 in the world (1997). Together with Karol Kučera, she won the Hopman Cup in 1998. Her best performance at a Grand Slam tournament came when she got to the quarterfinals of the 1996 French Open, defeating Kristin Godridge, Nathalie Tauziat, Martina Hingis, and Anke Huber before losing to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, 8–10 in the third set.

Karina Habšudová
Country (sports) Czechoslovakia (1989–92)
 Slovakia (1993–2003)
ResidenceBratislava, Slovakia
Born (1973-08-02) 2 August 1973 (age 50)
Bojnice, Czechoslovakia
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro1989
Retired2003
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$ 1,878,228
Singles
Career record304–226 (57.4%)
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 10 (10 February 1997)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open4R (1991, 1995, 1997)
French OpenQF (1996)
Wimbledon2R (1991, 1999, 2000)
US Open4R (1996, 1997)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games3R (1996, 2000)
Doubles
Career record155–171 (47.5%)
Career titles6
Highest rankingNo. 32 (28 May 2001)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (1995, 1997)
French OpenQF (1998)
Wimbledon3R (1993, 2001)
US Open3R (1992, 1999)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games2R (2000)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open2R (2000)
French OpenQF (2001)
WimbledonSF (2001)
US OpenQF (2000)

She also had a successful junior career. She won the girls' singles at the 1991 US Open, and was junior No. 1 for some time.

Biography edit

Born in Bojnice, Czechoslovakia, Habšudová originally trained as a gymnast but at the age of ten, she switched to tennis under the encouragement of her mother, herself a former amateur tennis player.[1] By the age of fourteen, she had already become the top junior player in Czechoslovakia.[2] In 1990, she was crowned ITF Junior World Champion, and the following year she won the girls' singles title at the US Open.[3]

As a professional, she made the fourth round of the 1991 Australian Open while still a schoolgirl, but her early promise was curtailed by health problems and injuries, including a bout of pneumonia in 1993 and an ankle injury the following year.[4] After suffering another injury just as she had made it to the top 30 in the spring of 1995, she bounced back to enjoy her most successful year in 1996, where she had results such as reaching the final of the German Open and the quarterfinals of the French Open.[1] At the latter event, she beat Martina Hingis and Anke Huber and served for a place in the semifinals against Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, but ultimately lost 8–10 in the third set.[5]

Habšudová eventually broke the top 10 in early 1997, after reaching the final of the Generali Ladies Linz, becoming the first woman representing Slovakia to do so.[3] Though she continued to play on the tour until 2003, she never again matched the same success of her breakthrough season, with later highlights including winning the Hopman Cup in 1998 and her only WTA singles title at the Austrian Open in 1999. In 2001, she reached the semifinals of the Wimbledon mixed doubles tournament partnering David Rikl.[6]

Following her retirement, she worked for several years as a sports editor.[7] She married her husband Milan Cílek in 2003 and they have three children together.[2]

WTA career finals edit

Singles: 5 (1 title, 4 runner-ups) edit

Legend
Tier I (0)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (0)
Tier IV & V (1)
Titles by surface
Hard 0
Clay 1
Grass 0
Carpet 0
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. May 1996 German Open Clay   Steffi Graf 6–4, 2–6, 5–7
Loss 2. Oct 1996 Luxembourg Open Carpet (i)   Anke Huber 3–6, 0–6
Loss 3. Feb 1997 Linz Open, Austria Carpet (i)   Chanda Rubin 4–6, 2–6
Win 1. Jul 1999 Pörtschach, Austria Clay   Silvija Talaja 2–6, 6–4, 6–4
Loss 4. Jul 1999 Sopot Open, Poland Clay   Conchita Martínez 1–6, 1–6

Doubles: 12 (6 titles, 6 runner-ups) edit

Legend
Tier I (1)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (2)
Tier IV & V (3)
Titles by surface
Hard 1
Clay 5
Grass 0
Carpet 0
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. May 1992 European Open, Switzerland Clay   Marianne Werdel   Amy Frazier
  Elna Reinach
5–7, 2–6
Loss 2. Jul 1994 Austrian Open Clay   Alexandra Fusai   Sandra Cecchini
  Patricia Tarabini
5–7, 5–7
Win 1. Sep 1996 Czech Open Clay   Helena Suková   Eva Martincová
  Elena Pampoulova
3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss 3. Jun 1997 Rosmalen Open, Netherlands Grass   Florencia Labat   Eva Melicharová
  Helena Vildová
3–6, 6–7(6–8)
Win 2. Jul 1997 Prague Open, Czech Republic Clay   Ruxandra Dragomir   Eva Martincová
  Helena Vildová
6–1, 5–7, 6–2
Win 3. Jul 1998 Prague Open, Czech Republic Clay   Silvia Farina   Květa Hrdličková
  Michaela Paštiková
2–6, 6–1, 6–2
Win 4. Jul 1998 Warsaw Open, Poland Clay   Olga Lugina   Liezel Horn
  Karin Kschwendt
7–6(7–2), 7–5
Win 5. Jul 1999 Pörtschach, Austria Clay   Silvia Farina   Olga Lugina
  Laura Montalvo
6–4, 6–4
Loss 4. Feb 2000 Hanover Grand Prix, Germany Hard (i)   Silvia Farina   Åsa Carlsson
  Natalia Zvereva
3–6, 4–6
Loss 5. Jun 2000 Rosmalen Open, Netherlands Grass   Catherine Barclay   Erika deLone
  Nicole Pratt
6–7(4–7), 3–4 ret.
Win 6. Oct 2000 Bratislava Open, Slovakia Hard (i)   Daniela Hantuchová   Petra Mandula
  Patricia Wartusch
w/o
Loss 6. Feb 2001 Dubai Open, United Arab Emirates Hard   Åsa Carlsson   Yayuk Basuki
  Caroline Vis
0–6, 6–4, 2–6

ITF Circuit finals edit

Legend
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles: 11 (6–5) edit

Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1. 27 November 1989 ITF Budapest, Hungary Carpet (i)   Nóra Köves 6–4, 6–1
Loss 2. 26 March 1990 ITF Limoges, France Carpet (i)   Pascale Paradis-Mangon 4–6, 4–6
Loss 3. 23 April 1990 ITF Sutton, United Kingdom Clay   Radka Bobková 6–3, 5–7, 6–7
Loss 4. 7 May 1990 ITF Swansea, United Kingdom Clay   Radka Bobková 5–7, 5–7
Win 5. 21 May 1990 ITF Katowice, Poland Clay   Anna Földényi 6–3, 6–2
Loss 6. 13 August 1990 ITF Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia Clay   Andrea Strnadová 3–6, 4–6
Win 7. 12 December 1994 ITF Přerov, Czech Republic Hard (i)   Henrieta Nagyová 6–1, 6–4
Win 8. 27 February 1995 ITF Prostějov, Czech Republic Hard (i)   Martina Hingis 7–5, 6–4
Win 9. 27 January 1997 ITF Prostějov, Czech Republic Carpet (i)   Barbara Paulus 6–7(4), 6–1, 6–3
Win 10. 7 December 1998 ITF Bad Gögging, Germany Carpet (i)   Marlene Weingärtner 7–6(3), 6–2
Loss 11. 11 June 2001 ITF Marseille, France Clay   Klára Koukalová 4–6, 6–4, 6–7

Doubles: 3 (3–0) edit

Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1. 15 July 1991 ITF Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia Clay   Radka Bobková   Kateřina Šišková
  Markéta Štusková
6–1, 6–3
Win 2. 22 July 1991 ITF Schwarzach, Austria Clay   Katarína Studeníková   Agnese Gustmane
  Heidi Sprung
6–3, 6–1
Win 3. 13 September 1993 ITF Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic Clay   Larisa Neiland   Radka Bobková
  Petra Langrová
6–3, 6–4

Head-to-head record against top 10 players edit

Players who have been ranked world No. 1 are in boldface.

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Tennis: Karina Habšudová".
  2. ^ a b "Po tenise zostalo prázdne miesto. Zaplnila ho rodina".
  3. ^ a b "Karina Habsudova".
  4. ^ "DATE BECOMES HABSUDOVA'S LATEST UPSET VICTIM".
  5. ^ "TENNIS;Sampras Scrambles to Win, but Seles Exits".
  6. ^ "Clijsters doubles the odds of a Belgian fairy tale".
  7. ^ "Ako dnes žije tenistka Karin Habšudová a za čo vymenila kurty?".

External links edit