Leila Meskhi (Georgian: ლეილა მესხი, romanized: leila meskhi, pronounced [leila mesχi]; born 5 January 1968) is a retired Georgian professional tennis player.

Leila Meskhi
ლეილა მესხი
Country (sports) Soviet Union,
 CIS,
 Unified Team,
Georgia (country) Georgia
ResidenceTbilisi, Georgia
Born (1968-01-05) 5 January 1968 (age 56)
Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Height1.64 m (5 ft 4+12 in)
Turned pro1986
Retired1995
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$1,179,720
Singles
Career record223–134
Career titles5 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 12 (5 August 1991)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open4R (1992)
French Open4R (1991, 1992)
Wimbledon2R (1988)
US OpenQF (1990)
Doubles
Career record171–122
Career titles5 WTA, 2 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 21 (10 April 1995)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenQF (1995)
French OpenQF (1994)
Wimbledon2R (1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994)
US OpenSF(1991)
Team competitions
Fed Cup6–5
Medal record
Representing the  Unified Team
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1992 Barcelona Doubles
Representing the  Soviet Union
Universiade
Gold medal – first place 1987 Zagreb Singles
Gold medal – first place 1987 Zagreb Doubles

Meskhi has won five singles and doubles titles on the WTA Tour. She has also won one singles and two doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 5 August 1991, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 12. On 10 April 1995, she peaked at No. 21 in the WTA doubles rankings.

Her best performance at a Grand Slam tournament came when she got to the quarterfinals of the 1990 US Open, defeating Akiko Kijimuta, Natasha Zvereva, Katia Piccolini and Linda Ferrando before losing to eventual champion Gabriela Sabatini in straight sets.

WTA career finals edit

Singles: 11 (5 titles, 6 runner-ups) edit

Legend
Tier I (1)
Tier IV (3)
Tire V (7)
Result No. Date Tournament Category Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. Apr 1988 WTA Singapore Open Tier V Hard   Monique Javer 6–7(3–7), 3–6
Loss 2. Feb 1989 Cellular South Cup, Oklahoma City Tier V Hard   Manon Bollegraf 4–6, 4–6
Win 1. Nov 1989 VS of Nashville Tier V Hard   Helen Kelesi 6–2, 6–3
Win 2. Jan 1990 Auckland Open Tier V Hard   Sabine Appelmans 6–1, 6–0
Loss 3. Feb 1990 Wellington Classic Tier V Hard   Wiltrud Probst 6–1, 4–6, 0–6
Win 3. Oct 1990 Moscow Ladies Open Tier V Carpet (i)   Elena Brioukhovets 6–4, 6–4
Loss 4. Nov 1990 Indianapolis Tier IV Hard (i)   Conchita Martínez 4–6, 2–6
Win 4. Feb 1991 Wellington Classic Tier V Hard   Andrea Strnadová 3–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–2
Loss 5. Apr 1991 Family Circle Cup, Hilton Head Tier I Clay   Gabriela Sabatini 1–6, 1–6
Loss 6. Sep 1991 WTA Bayonne Tier IV Carpet   Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere 6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Win 5. Jan 1995 Hobart International Tier IV Hard   Li Fang 6–2, 6–3

Doubles: 12 (5 titles, 7 runner-up) edit

Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. Sep 1987 Hamburg, West Germany Clay   Natalia Egorova   Claudia Kohde-Kilsch
  Jana Novotná
6–7(1–7), 6–7(6–8)
Loss 2. Apr 1988 Singapore Hard   Svetlana Parkhomenko   Natalia Egorova
  Natalia Medvedeva
6–7, 3–6
Loss 3. Jun 1988 Birmingham, Great Britain Grass   Svetlana Parkhomenko   Larisa Neiland
  Natasha Zvereva
4–6, 1–6
Loss 4. Feb 1989 Wichita, United States Hard   Sandy Collins   Manon Bollegraf
  Lise Gregory
2–6, 6–7
Loss 5. Nov 1989 Nashville, United States Hard   Natalia Medvedeva   Manon Bollegraf
  Meredith McGrath
6–1, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(4–7)
Win 6. Feb 1990 Auckland, New Zealand Hard   Natalia Medvedeva   Jill Hetherington
  Robin White
3–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–3)
Win 7. Feb 1990 Wellington, New Zealand Hard   Natalia Medvedeva   Michelle Jaggard
  Julie Richardson
6–3, 2–6, 6–4
Win 8. Feb 1993 Linz, Austria Carpet (i)   Eugenia Maniokova   Conchita Martínez
  Judith Wiesner
w/o
Winner 9. Apr 1993 Amelia Island, United States Clay   Manuela Maleeva   Amanda Coetzer
  Inés Gorrochategui
3–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win 10. Feb 1994 Linz, Austria Carpet (i)   Eugenia Maniokova   Åsa Carlsson
  Caroline Schneider
6–2, 6–2
Loss 11. Apr 1994 Hamburg, Germany Clay   Eugenia Maniokova   Jana Novotná
  Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
3–6, 2–6
Loss 12. Oct 1994 Essen, Germany Carpet (i)   Eugenia Maniokova   Maria Lindström
  Maria Strandlund
2–6, 1–6

ITF finals edit

$25,000 tournaments

Singles (1–0) edit

Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. 26 January 1987 Tarzana, United States Hard   Clare Wood 1–6, 6–4, 6–2

Doubles (2-0) edit

Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 3. 10 October 1986 Bethesda, United States Hard   Natasha Zvereva   Jane Forman
  Jenni Goodling
6–3, 6–1
Winner 4. 3 May 1987 Taranto, Italy Clay   Natasha Zvereva   Simone Schilder
  Clare Wood
6–3, 6–2

Grand Slam performance timeline edit

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles edit

Tournament 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
Australian Open A A A A 3R A 4R 1R 1R 1R
French Open A A A 1R 3R 4R 4R 3R 3R A
Wimbledon A Q2 2R A 1R A 1R 1R 1R A
US Open A A 3R 3R QF 3R 2R 2R 4R A

External links edit