Alisa Kleybanova
Encyclopedia
Alisa Mikhaelovna Kleybanova (Russian: Алиса Михаиловна Клейбанова, born July 15, 1989) is a Russian professional tennis
player. Her highest WTA world ranking to date is No. 20, achieved on February 21, 2010. Kleybanova has won two WTA
singles titles.
To date her career-best achievements have been reaching the fourth round at two Grand Slams at Wimbledon
and Australian Open
as a direct entrant, two WTA Tour Tier II quarter-finals (Antwerp, 2008; Eastbourne
, 2008) as a qualifier. Additionally, she has reached one Tier I third round (Miami, 2008) as a qualifier, and one Tier IV quarter-final (Fes
, 2008) as a direct entrant. At other WTA Tour events, she has yet to progress beyond the second round of the main draw; but her WTA career is still young, and she has battled successfully through qualifying to enter one Grand Slam and several further WTA main draws aside from her five notable main draw successes described above.
At the higher levels of the ITF
circuit, she has reached one $100,000 quarter-final, two $75,000 quarter-finals, one $50,000 final and one $50,000 semi-final. In addition, at the lower levels, she has won seven $25,000 titles and one $10,000 title outright, and has reached two further $25,000 finals and another three $25,000 semifinals.
She has also experienced success in the juniors; she won the 2003 Wimbledon Championships
girls' doubles with Sania Mirza
, aged 13. Three years later, she won the same competition with fellow rising Russian star Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
. She also won the girls' doubles at the 2005 US Open with Czech Nikola Franková.
Many critics have cited that Kleybanova's style of play is the modern day version of American Lindsay Davenport
.
In the two weeks following she was awarded special entry into the main draws of two further $10,000 tournaments held in Spain, at Madrid
and Lleida
, and reached the final of the first and the quarter-final of the second.
These three tournaments were the only ones she played all year, but her results were sufficient to place her on the ranking computer at World No. 623 by the year's end.
She next played at Tampa
, Florida
in January 2004, where for the second time in her short career she came through three straight rounds of qualifying without dropping a set; and in the main event she reached the quarter-finals before losing to World No. 223 American Kelly McCain 1–6 3–6.
Audaciously wildcarded into the main draw of a Tier I WTA event at Indian Wells
in March, an extreme upward move from the $10,000 ITF tournaments to which she had hitherto been confined, she defeated World No. 58 Jelena Kostanić
of Croatia in three sets in the first round, 2–6 6–0 7–5, but lost to Israeli World No. 19 Anna Smashnova
in the second, 4–6 0–6.
In April, awarded discretionary junior entry into the main draw of her first $25,000 ITF fixture at Jackson, Massachusetts, she won through to the final, defeating Chinese World No. 155 Peng Shuai
6–4 7–5 in the quarter-finals, but then lost at the last hurdle to her ascending Russian compatriot, then World No. 201 Evgenia Linetskaya
, 6–4 2–6 4–6.
Kleybanova was propelled upwards to World No. 316 following these performances although she had still only played six tournaments on the tour in her career. However, despite this early promise, she did not win another match in four further tournaments entered that year, losing on two straight tiebreaks in the first round of qualifying for the Tier V event at Budapest
, Hungary in late April to Spaniard Paula Garcia, returning in September for a $50,000 contest at Biella
, Italy where she was awarded junior entry into the first round of the main draw but lost to a little-known Austrian, and subsequently losing in the first rounds of two $25,000 tournaments held at Oporto, Portugal the following week and then in November at Raanana, Israel
, where she was beaten 1–6 4–6 by emerging Israeli talent World No. 193 Shahar Pe'er
.
Having failed to defend her ranking points picked up in the tournaments she played in the latter half of 2003, she found her ranking sliding to World No. 364 by the end of 2004.
for the second year running, but this time she lost in the first round to World No. 95 Anne Kremer
of Luxembourg
, 4–6 4–6.
Her ranking having plunged to 520th following her failure to defend her points picked up at Indian Wells a year earlier, she was wildcarded into the qualifying draw instead of the main draw for the Tier I event at Miami
, Florida
that immediately followed, and at first defeated World No. 91 Séverine Beltrame (nowadays known as Séverine Brémond
), but then lost in the second round of qualifying to German Julia Schruff
, 1–6 3–6.
By the time she next competed in July, she had lost nearly all her ranking points and plummeted to World No. 730. This was sufficient to gain her entry to the qualifying draw for a $25,000 tournament held at Felixstowe
, Great Britain; and she successfully came through qualifying, but lost in the second round of the main draw to World No. 228 Jarmila Gajdošová
of Slovakia
.
In August, ranked 618th, she entered qualifying for two successive $25,000 events in China – the first at Wuxi
, where she qualified but lost in the second round of the main draw to World No. 325 Miho Saeki
of Japan; and the second at Nanjing
, where in the first round of qualifying she had to withdraw with the score level at one set all against a little-known Chinese player.
Travelling to Moscow at the end of the month, ranked 530th, she entered qualifying for a further $25,000 event there, and enjoyed not only by far her most successful performance of the year to date but also the best of her career, as she came through three rounds of qualifying and then won the entire tournament. Her vanquished opponents included Galyna Kosyk of the Ukraine
, whom she defeated 4–6 7–5 6–0 in the second round of qualifying, Italians Giulia Gabba, Sara Errani
and Karin Knapp
, all of whom she defeated in straight sets, Margalita Chakhnashvili
of Georgia
, whom she beat 0–6 6–4 6–2 in the semi-finals, and fellow-Russian Vasilisa Bardina
, whom she ousted in the final 6–2 6–2.
Wildcarded into the qualifying draw for the annual Tier I WTA fixture at Moscow in early October, her ranking having leapt back up to World No. 384, Kleybanova double-bagelled American former Top 40 star Alexandra Stevenson
in the first round of qualifying, but then lost a close three-set match to Bulgarian World No. 41 Sesil Karatantcheva
in the second, 6–1 1–6 3–6.
As a direct entrant to a $25,000 ITF event at Makinohara
, Japan the following week, she battled past Japanese World No. 192 Seiko Okamoto
7–5 4–6 7–3 in the first round and World No. 349 Ayumi Morita
6–2 3–6 6–4 in the semi-finals, but otherwise did not drop a set in claiming her second career $25,000 title.
This result elevated her world ranking to a personal-best World No. 294 by the time of her entry into her next $25,000 draw at Sutama
, Japan early in November. On this occasion, she won the whole tournament without losing a single set, defeating Japanese World No. 199 Shiho Hisamatsu
6–3 7–5 in the final to take her third $25,000 title and fourth career ITF tournament victory.
In December, now world-ranked 243rd, she tried her hand at qualifying for a $50,000 tournament at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
, but was defeated in three sets in the qualifying round by a lower-ranked player from Taipei. However, she entered the main draw as a lucky loser, and knocked out Japanese World No. 110 Saori Obata
in the first round, 6–3 7–6(4), before losing to World No. 225 Tiffany Dabek of the USA in Round Two, 5–7 4–6.
The year ended for her with a win-loss record of 28–8 and a world ranking of 244th.
, but lost in the first round of the qualifying draw to American World No. 125 Bethanie Mattek
.
Then in April, having skipped Indian Wells, she was awarded a wildcard into the main draw at Miami
, but was defeated in the first round by French World No. 47 Virginie Razzano
, 5–7 4–6.
In May, she retreated again to the ITF $25,000 level in Italy, playing back-to-back tournaments at Caserta
and Campobasso
. She reached the final in the first of these, recording four straight sets wins including victories over Sanja Ančić
of Croatia in the quarter-finals and World No. 241 Alizé Cornet
of France in the semifinals. But at the last hurdle she lost to World No. 270 Mandy Minella
of Luxembourg
, 2–6 4–6. Then the following week at Campobasso
, she gained her revenge over Minella by defeating her in the final 2–6 6–3 6–3 to pick up the fourth $25,000 title of her career, having earlier again put out Ančić in the semi-finals.
On the strength of these two tournaments, she entered the World Top 200 for the first time in her career.
In late July, world-ranked 198th, she attempted to qualify for the Tier IV WTA event at Budapest
, Hungary, and for the first time in her career succeeded in qualifying for a WTA main draw, after defeating Spanish World No. 117 María José Martínez Sánchez
in the qualifying round. But Spanish World No. 107 Laura Pous Tió
defeated her 6–3 6–4 in the first round proper.
A month later, ranked 193rd, she attempted again to qualify for a $50,000 event at Bronx, New York, but was defeated in straight sets by a slightly lower-ranked opponent, Natalie Grandin
, in the first round of the qualifying draw.
She followed up this disappointment by attempting to qualify for a Grand Slam main draw for the first time at the US Open at the end of August, and progressed to the qualifying round with wins over Thai World No. 115 Tamarine Tanasugarn
(6–3 6–1) and Japan's World No. 224 Shiho Hisamatsu (5–7 6–3 6–3), then lost to German World No. 130 Sandra Kloesel, 3–6 3–6.
Returning to Moscow in early October, she tried again to qualify for the annual WTA Tier I event there, but this time lost in the second round of qualifying to her compatriot World No. 84 Vasilisa Bardina
, 4–6 5–7.
She next played in early November, where, as a direct entrant into the first round of a $75,000 ITF tournament at Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, she had reached 4–6 7–6 1–1 against American World No. 44 Shenay Perry
before her opponent retired. But in the second round, she lost in straight sets to Canadian World No. 130 Stéphanie Dubois
, 5–7 4–6.
Her ranking having slipped to World No. 262 by the middle of the month following her failure to defend her $25,000 tournament victories a year previously, she nonetheless gained direct entry into a $50,000 event at Lawrenceville
, Georgia
, and easily surpassed her previous career-best record at this level of tournament by reaching the semi-finals with back-to-back straight sets victories over Americans World No. 129 Ahsha Rolle
and World No. 104 Bethanie Mattek
and Argentine World No. 115 Clarisa Fernández
. But it was to be an American star of the future, Julie Ditty
, then ranked only 297th, who would oust her 6–1 6–2 in the semi-finals.
At the end of November, ranked 238th, Kleybanova entered another $50,000 draw at San Diego, California
, and beat Ireland's Kelly Liggan
6–2 6–2 in the first round before losing to upcoming compatriot Ekaterina Afinogenova 3–6 3–6 in the second.
She did not play in December, and ended the year ranked World No. 262. Although this was down 18 places from the start of the year, the marginal loss was primarily a consequence of her choosing to focus on higher-level challenges at the expense of her previous year's points attained at $25,000 events; and the useful experience she had gained in the process would serve as an effective springboard into higher echelons of the WTA World rankings in future years. Her win-loss record for the year was 20–10.
, Belarus
in early March, world-ranked 239th, Kleybanova could only reach the quarter-finals before losing in three sets to British World No. 222 Amanda Keen, 7–5 4–6 2–6, having had to struggle through two three-sets victories over lower-ranked players Lina Stančiūtė
of Lithuania
and fellow-Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
to reach even that far.
At Moscow at the end of March, she entered another $25,000 tournament, and this time reached the semi-finals without dropping a set after her quarter-final opponent World No. 232 Nika Ožegović
of Croatia retired at 1–4 down to the Russian teenager. But in the semi-finals she was defeated by another young Russian, World No. 199 Evgeniya Rodina
, 4–6 6–7(4).
In Moscow again two months later, she reached her second successive $25,000 semi-final, this time losing to a compatriot, World No. 224 Ekaterina Makarova
5–7 4–6.
By the middle of July, Kleybanova's WTA world-ranking had slipped to 273rd. Deciding nonetheless to continue at the $25,000 level into the early summer, she reached a quarter-final at Rome in mid-July before losing in straight sets to a lower-ranked Austrian called Patricia Mayr.
But the following week, still in Italy at Monteroni d'Arbia
, she won her fifth career $25,000 title and first of the year, after defeating World No. 195 Darya Kustova
of Belarus
2–6 6–2 6–4 in the semi-finals, and Estonian World No. 223 Margit Rüütel
6–1 7–5 in the final.
A week later, she decided to step up to the $75,000 level for the first time that year, and gained direct entry to an event of that calibre at Rimini
, Italy. Having battled past both her first two opponents by the identical scoreline of 6–3 2–6 6–2, including Ukrainian World No. 174 Mariya Koryttseva
in Round One, to reach her career-first $75,000 main draw quarter-final, she then found herself engaged in a very close battle with Swiss World No. 133 and former Top 100 player Emmanuelle Gagliardi
, which the Russian eventually lost 6–7(6) 6–4 4–6.
Back in Moscow again in late August, buoyed by her recent successes to World No. 208, she reached another $25,000 semi-final, defeating Kristina Antoniychuk
of the Ukraine
4–6 6–3 6–3 in the quarter-finals before losing to fellow-Russian upstart Anastasia Pivovarova
3–6 3–6.
In the next two weeks, she entered two further $50,000 tournaments. In the first, at Moscow, she lost a close three-set match in the first round 6–7(3) 7–6(4) 4–6 to compatriot Anastasia Poltoratskaya
, whom she had easily beaten in the first round of the $25,000 tournament the previous week. Then at Mestre
, Italy, she reached her career-first $50,000 final with back-to-back defeats of World No. 202 Jenifer Widjaja of Brazil (6–0 0–6 6–3), World No. 191 Ivana Lisjak
of Croatia (6–4 6–0), and Czech players World No. 144 Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová (6–2 6–2) and World No. 119 Renata Voráčová
(6–4 6–1). But she was denied the title by World No. 150 Rossana de los Ríos
of Paraguay
, who took the final 6–4 3–6 6–1.
This performance lifted Kleybanova to a ranking of 195th, just below her personal best set in the summer of 2006, in time for entering her first $100,000 ITF draw at Bordeaux
, France the very week after. Here, she scored successive three-sets defeats over French World No. 86 Pauline Parmentier
(6–7(2) 6–2 6–4) and Spanish former Top-100 star, now World No. 141, Laura Pous Tió
, 2–6 6–0 6–4. But she lost in the quarter-finals to World No. 68 Alizé Cornet
of France, 5–7 4–6.
Playing her fifth straight tournament in five weeks at Lecce
, Italy in the middle of September, world-ranked a career-best 184th, the young Russian captured the sixth $25,000 ITF title of her career. Having lost the first set of her first round tie against Czech player Andrea Hlaváčková
in Round One, she then reeled off ten straight sets for the loss of only seventeen more games to claim the tournament, beating formerly Top-50-ranked Spaniard Marta Marrero
in the final 6–1 6–0.
Arriving back in Moscow for the annual WTA Tier I event held there in October, world-ranked 163rd, she was defeated in the first round of the qualifying draw by Ukrainian World No. 130 Tatiana Perebiynis
.
A week later, she found herself back at Lawrenceville
, Georgia
for a $50,000 event, and knocked out American World No. 92 Ashley Harkleroad
7–6(4) 2–6 6–3 in the first round, but was defeated in the second by a much lower-ranked American wildcard Alexa Glatch
, 6–7(5), 2–6.
In the last full week of October, still in Georgia
, at Augusta
, she virtually breezed through a $25,000 draw for the loss of just seventeen games, eight of them taken from her by just one of her five opponents, Argentine Clarisa Fernández
, in the quarter-finals. Notable among her squarely vanquished opponents was American World No. 244 Madison Brengle
, whom she beat 6–0 6–2 in Round Two. It was the seventh $25,000 ITF title Kleybanova had won in her short career, and the third of that year.
Elevated to a new career-best world ranking of 153rd in time for her direct entry into a $75,000 draw at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
in early November, the Russian scored victories over World No. 180 Sunitha Rao
of India (6–2 6–1) and World No. 112 Aleksandra Wozniak
of Canada (7–6(3) 1–6 6–2) to reach the quarter-finals, but then lost a topsy-turvy three-setter to her 92nd-ranked compatriot Olga Poutchkova
, 6–0 1–6 4–6.
A week later at La Quinta, California
, she reached the quarter-finals of a $50,000 ITF event, beating American World No. 151 Abigail Spears
7–6(4) 6–2 in Round Two before losing to another American player, World No. 176 Raquel Kops-Jones
, 4–6 1–6, in the quarter-finals.
Kleybanova did not play in December, but ended the year world-ranked down just a few places from her recently set career best at 156th, and with a strong 41–13 win-loss record to her credit. Although she had scored many of her main draw match wins at the ITF $25,000 level which she had already conquered several times back in 2005, she had also broken new ground at higher levels of competition in the second half of the year.
, Australia in late December 2007. She qualified for the main draw of a WTA event for just the second time in her career so far, some seventeen months after reaching the Tier IV main draw at Budapest
in July 2006. Her vanquished opponents were World No. 97 Tatiana Perebiynis
, whom she defeated 7–5 6–2 in the first round of qualifying, World No. 121 Yuan Meng
of China, whom she beat 6–3 5–7 6–2 in the second, and former Top-50 Chinese star Zheng Jie
, whom she ousted 6–2 4–6 6–1 in the qualifying round. But in the first round of the main draw she faced Swiss World No. 16 Patty Schnyder
, and lost to her 1–6 3–6.
In mid-January, she followed this up by entering qualifying for the Australian Open
, and came through relatively comfortably to the first Grand Slam main draw of her still-young career with straight-sets wins over Canadian World No. 166 Marie-Ève Pelletier
, Czech World No. 116 Iveta Benešová
, and French World no. 136 Olivia Sanchez
. In the first round of the main draw, she defeated Chinese World No. 45 Peng Shuai
7–5 4–6 9–7. But in Round Two she had to face World No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze
, and lost to her 3–6 4–6.
Nonetheless, in reaching the second round of a Grand Slam as a qualifier, Kleybanova had earned 91 ranking points, sufficient to raise her World Ranking to a new personal best of 112th.
The next tournament for which she entered herself was another high-level WTA event, the Tier II fixture at Paris in early February. She won the first two rounds of qualifying, defeating her compatriot World No. 127 Galina Voskoboeva
6–4 6–4 in the first and a Belgian outsider in the second, but then lost to Czech World No. 70 Klára Zakopalová in the qualifying round. She emerged from this experience ranked just six places higher at World No. 106.
The following week, undeterred, she attempted to qualify for another Tier II WTA tournament at Antwerp, Belgium, and this time succeeded, after defeating World No. 206 Ekaterina Dzehalevich
6–3 7–6(4) in the second round of the qualifying draw, and Swedish World No. 67 Sofia Arvidsson
4–6 7–5 6–3 in the qualifying round. In the first round of the main draw, she stunned World No. 18 Ágnes Szávay
of Hungary 6–2 6–3; and in the second she edged out World No. 38 Kateryna Bondarenko
of the Ukraine
in an extremely close match, 7–5 3–6 7–5, to reach her career-first WTA-level quarter-final, where she met World No. 1 Justine Henin for the first time. Although the Russian teenager lost 4–6 3–6, she was assured of taking home enough ranking points from this event to reach into the World Top 100 for the first time in her career; and in practice she landed at World No. 82.
In late February she entered the qualifying draw for the Tier II event at Dubai
and defeated World No. 60 Timea Bacsinszky
of Switzerland 6–3 6–3 in the first round before losing a very close three-set battle in the second round of qualifying to rising World No. 123 Monica Niculescu
of Romania despite winning more games than her opponent in the overall match, 6–7 6–2 5–7.
In early March, her ranking having slipped just a couple of places to No. 84, she entered qualifying for the Tier I tournament at Indian Wells
, having failed by only one place to attain direct entry, but unexpectedly fell at the first hurdle in three sets to Japanese World No. 186 Rika Fujiwara
, 6–3 1–6 5–7.
Towards the end of the month, she persevered in attempting to gain entry to events of Tier I calibre at Miami, and this time succeeded, scoring back-to-back comfortable straight-sets victories over Hungarian World No. 127 Gréta Arn
and resurgent former Top 50 star Mashona Washington
of the USA, for the collective loss of just nine games in two matches. In the main draw, she defeated World No. 44 Olga Govortsova
of Belarus
(6–3 6–7(6) 6–2) then unexpectedly one-sidedly thrashed World No. 15 Nicole Vaidišová
of the Czech Republic to reach the third round, where she lost to on-form World No. 20 Vera Zvonareva
of Russia 1–6 4–6. The sixty-five ranking points accrued from this performance lifted her world ranking to a new career high of No. 70.
At Wimbledon in June, Kleybanova played in three events: Ladies' Singles, Ladies' Doubles (with Dominika Cibulková
of Slovakia), and Mixed Doubles (with Sonchat Ratiwatana
of Thailand). In Ladies' Singles, she made it to the fourth round, her best career Grand Slam tournament result, losing 6–3, 6–4 to the reigning Wimbledon champion and number seven seed Venus Williams
. On the way, she defeated unseeded Tzipora Obziler
of Israel 6–4, 6–0 in the first round, beat number ten seed Daniela Hantuchová
of Slovakia in the second round, and overcame unseeded Ai Sugiyama
of Japan 6–4, 6–4 in the third round. She retired in the first round of Ladies' Doubles and lost in the first round of Mixed Doubles.
Kleybanova defeated Sofia Arvidsson
in the first round of the Australian Open 7–5, 7–5. Kleybanova then defeated Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro
in the second round 6–1, 3–6, 6–2. Kleybanova defeated the number 5 seed Ana Ivanović
7–5, 6–7(5), 6–2 to advance to the 4th round. Kleybanova was later defeated by the Australian Wild Card Jelena Dokić
5–7, 7–5, 6–8.
Kleybanova lost in the second round of Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships to Ana Ivanović, whom she previously beaten at the Australian Open
.
Kleybanova scored her biggest career win at the Madrid Masters
where she defeated World No. 3 Venus Williams
in the second round. She lost to World No. 11 Caroline Wozniacki
in the third round 2–6, 2–6.
Kleybanova was seeded 27th at the Wimbledon Championships. She lost to qualifier Regina Kulikova
in the second round.
In the 2009 US Open Series, Kleybanova went into the LA Women's Tennis Championships being unseeded in the singles. She won her first round match against Alla Kudryatseva 6–1, 6–3, but then lost in the 2nd round to Anna Chakvetadze
6–3, 3–6, 6–1.
The following week in the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open, Kleybanova went into the tournament being unseeded again. She won her first round match in straight sets against Aravane Rezaï
, but then lost to 7th seed Vera Zvonareva
6–4, 1–6, 7–5. Alisa's current singles ranking is No. 37.
In the Rogers Cup Alisa upset 5th seed Jelena Janković
in the quarterfinal 6–7, 7–6, 6–2 and lost to Maria Sharapova
in 2–6, 6–4, 4–6 in semifinal.
In the 2009 US Open
Alisa reached the semi-finals of the women's doubles with Ekaterina Makarova
where they were knocked out by the Williams sisters in three sets.
At the Hansol Korea Open, Kleybanova defeated Katarina Srebotnik
in the first round 6–2, 6–3. In the second round she fell to eventual champion Kimiko Date Krumm 4–6, 7–6(4), 6–3.
Unseeded at the Toray Pan Pacific Open
, Kleybanova defeated Ayumi Morita
in the first round 6–1, 6–4 and then defeated 6th seed Vera Zvonareva
3–6, 6–4, 6–2. In the third round she was defeated by Maria Sharapova
2–6, 6–2, 6–2.
At the 2009 China Open
, Kleybanova made it to the second round by defeating Yanina Wickmayer
5–7, 6–3, 6–3 but was defeated by Marion Bartoli
6–2, 6–3.
Kleybanova entered her final tournament of the season in Moscow and made the semi-finals, defeating Magdaléna Rybáriková
6–1, 6–2, Evgeniya Rodina
6–1, 6–2 and 2nd seed Jelena Janković
6–4, 6–3. In the semi-finals she was defeated by Olga Govortsova
6–2, 6–1.
Alisa Kleybanova ended the year with a win-loss record of 32–24.
at the Brisbane International
in the first round where Alisa was the 5th seed. She then fell to World No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova
in the first round of the Medibank International, falling 5-7 in the third set..
Kleybanova was seeded 27th at the 2010 Australian Open
. She lost a hard fought three setter to Justine Henin in the third round, despite having been near match point numerous times.
At the 2010 Fed Cup
, Kleybanova represented Russia along with Svetlana Kuznetsova
. Kleybanova fell in three sets to Jelena Janković
in her first match, but blew past Ana Ivanović
in her second match. Kleybanova and Kuznetsova then defeated Ivanović and Janković in doubles to help Russia advance.
At the Open GDF Suez in Paris, Kleybanova fell to World No. 12 Flavia Pennetta
.
At the 2010 Malaysian Open, Kleybanova won her first WTA singles title, defeating World No. 7 Elena Dementieva
6-3, 6-2 in the final.
Kleybanova's good form continued into the 2010 BNP Paribas Open
where she was seeded 23rd. She, like all seeds, received a bye into the second round where she then defeated qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova
6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1. In the third round she overcame another tight three-setter, defeating former World No.1, 2009 US Open Champion and No. 14 seed Kim Clijsters
6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4). In the fourth round she came back from a set down and had to work hard to defeat an in-form Carla Suárez Navarro
(who took out the top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova
in the second round) 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-4. Kleybanova played Jelena Janković
in the quarter-final.This time,Jelena celebrated,winning 6-4, 6-4
3-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the first round in the 2011 Brisbane International
but fared better at doubles, winning with Russian compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
for her 4th WTA doubles title.
She went off on a better note at the 2011 Medibank International Sydney
by upsetting #5 seed Francesca Schiavone
in three sets 6(5)-7, 6-1, 6-2 and prevailing over María José Martínez Sánchez
6-2, 6-4. After defeating Dominika Cibulková
3-6, 7-5, 2-6, she would lose to #3 seed Kim Clijsters
6-4, 3-6, 6(1)-7.
At the 2011 BNP Paribas Open
, Kleybanova went on to reach the fourth round where she lost to World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki
in three sets 6-2, 3-6, 1-6.
She had to withdraw from the 2011 French Open
due to illness and was thus replaced by Anastasia Pivovarova
. However, she remained seeded, because she withdrew late from the tournament.
On July 14, it was revealed that Alisa had been diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin's Lymphoma
. This provides an explanation to her withdrawals from tournaments in Roland Garros and Wimbledon. She is currently undergoing treatment in Italy, her last tournament being played in Rome.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/tennis/07/15/tennis.russia.kleybanova.cancer/index.html?hpt=hp_p1
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player. Her highest WTA world ranking to date is No. 20, achieved on February 21, 2010. Kleybanova has won two WTA
Women's Tennis Association
The Women's Tennis Association , founded in 1973 by Billie Jean King, is the principal organizing body of Women's Professional Tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women. Its counterpart organization in the men's professional game is the Association of...
singles titles.
Career
Kleybanova made her senior tennis début in 2003 aged fourteen, and won the first ITF tournament she entered.To date her career-best achievements have been reaching the fourth round at two Grand Slams at Wimbledon
2008 Wimbledon Championships
The 2008 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 122nd edition of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand Slam event of the year...
and Australian Open
2009 Australian Open
The 2009 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 97th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 19 January through 1 February 2009. The 2009 men's...
as a direct entrant, two WTA Tour Tier II quarter-finals (Antwerp, 2008; Eastbourne
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
, 2008) as a qualifier. Additionally, she has reached one Tier I third round (Miami, 2008) as a qualifier, and one Tier IV quarter-final (Fes
Fes
Fes or Fez is the second largest city of Morocco, after Casablanca, with a population of approximately 1 million . It is the capital of the Fès-Boulemane region....
, 2008) as a direct entrant. At other WTA Tour events, she has yet to progress beyond the second round of the main draw; but her WTA career is still young, and she has battled successfully through qualifying to enter one Grand Slam and several further WTA main draws aside from her five notable main draw successes described above.
At the higher levels of the ITF
International Tennis Federation
The International Tennis Federation is the governing body of world tennis, made up of 205 national tennis associations.It was established as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by 12 national associations meeting at a conference in Paris, France on 1 March 1913...
circuit, she has reached one $100,000 quarter-final, two $75,000 quarter-finals, one $50,000 final and one $50,000 semi-final. In addition, at the lower levels, she has won seven $25,000 titles and one $10,000 title outright, and has reached two further $25,000 finals and another three $25,000 semifinals.
She has also experienced success in the juniors; she won the 2003 Wimbledon Championships
2003 Wimbledon Championships
List of the 2003 Wimbledon Champions:-Men's Singles: Roger Federer def. Mark Philippoussis, 7–6, 6–2, 7–6*It was Federer's 5th title of the year, and his 9th overall. It was his 1st career Grand Slam title. He became the first Swiss male player to win a Grand Slam singles...
girls' doubles with Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza is a professional Indian tennis player. She began her tennis career in 2003 and is well known for her powerful forehand ground strokes. She is the first ever Indian to break into the top 30 WTA rankings...
, aged 13. Three years later, she won the same competition with fellow rising Russian star Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Anastasia Sergeyevna Pavlyuchenkova is a Russian professional tennis player and a multiple junior Grand Slam champion. Her career-high rank of World No. 13 was achieved on 4 July 2011. From July 2007 to September 2009 she was coached at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France...
. She also won the girls' doubles at the 2005 US Open with Czech Nikola Franková.
Many critics have cited that Kleybanova's style of play is the modern day version of American Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Ann Davenport is a former World No. 1 American professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine ranked her as the 29th-best player of the preceding forty years...
.
2003–2004
In August 2003, aged just fourteen years and one month, Kleybanova entered qualifying for her first ITF $10,000 event at Mollerusa, Spain, and came through all three qualifying rounds into the main draw without dropping a set, then proceeded to progress through to the final and win the title at her very first attempt, having ceded just one set in the whole tournament in her second-round match.In the two weeks following she was awarded special entry into the main draws of two further $10,000 tournaments held in Spain, at Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and Lleida
Lleida
Lleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida, as well as the largest city in the province and it had 137,387 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raimat and Sucs. The metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants...
, and reached the final of the first and the quarter-final of the second.
These three tournaments were the only ones she played all year, but her results were sufficient to place her on the ranking computer at World No. 623 by the year's end.
She next played at Tampa
Tâmpa
Tâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
in January 2004, where for the second time in her short career she came through three straight rounds of qualifying without dropping a set; and in the main event she reached the quarter-finals before losing to World No. 223 American Kelly McCain 1–6 3–6.
Audaciously wildcarded into the main draw of a Tier I WTA event at Indian Wells
Indian Wells Masters
The Indian Wells Masters is an annual tennis tournament held in Indian Wells, California....
in March, an extreme upward move from the $10,000 ITF tournaments to which she had hitherto been confined, she defeated World No. 58 Jelena Kostanić
Jelena Kostanic
Jelena Kostanić Tošić is a retired professional female tennis player from Croatia. On July 26, 2004 she reached her career-high singles ranking: World No. 32...
of Croatia in three sets in the first round, 2–6 6–0 7–5, but lost to Israeli World No. 19 Anna Smashnova
Anna Smashnova
Anna Smashnova is a former professional tennis player from Israel. She retired from professional tennis after Wimbledon 2007.Smashnova, who has been noted as having a great last name for a tennis player, reached her career-high singles ranking of World # 15 in 2003. She was in 13 finals, and won...
in the second, 4–6 0–6.
In April, awarded discretionary junior entry into the main draw of her first $25,000 ITF fixture at Jackson, Massachusetts, she won through to the final, defeating Chinese World No. 155 Peng Shuai
Peng Shuai
Peng Shuai is a Chinese professional female tennis player. She won a gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games, defeating Akgul Amanmuradova in the final...
6–4 7–5 in the quarter-finals, but then lost at the last hurdle to her ascending Russian compatriot, then World No. 201 Evgenia Linetskaya
Evgenia Linetskaya
Evgenia Simonovna Linetskaya is a Russian-born Israeli 5' 9" right-handed professional tennis player.Through May 2009, her career high in singles was # 35 on July 4, 2005.-Early success:...
, 6–4 2–6 4–6.
Kleybanova was propelled upwards to World No. 316 following these performances although she had still only played six tournaments on the tour in her career. However, despite this early promise, she did not win another match in four further tournaments entered that year, losing on two straight tiebreaks in the first round of qualifying for the Tier V event at Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary in late April to Spaniard Paula Garcia, returning in September for a $50,000 contest at Biella
Biella
Biella is a town and comune in the northern Italian region of Piemonte, the capital of the province of the same name, with some 45,800 inhabitants as of 2009. It is located about 80 km northeast of Turin and about 80 km west-northwest of Milan.It lies in the foothills of the Alps,...
, Italy where she was awarded junior entry into the first round of the main draw but lost to a little-known Austrian, and subsequently losing in the first rounds of two $25,000 tournaments held at Oporto, Portugal the following week and then in November at Raanana, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, where she was beaten 1–6 4–6 by emerging Israeli talent World No. 193 Shahar Pe'er
Shahar Pe'er
Shahar Pe'er is an Israeli professional tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is World No. 11, which she achieved on January 31, 2011 ....
.
Having failed to defend her ranking points picked up in the tournaments she played in the latter half of 2003, she found her ranking sliding to World No. 364 by the end of 2004.
2005
In March, the Russian teenager was favoured with a wildcard into the main draw at Indian WellsIndian Wells Masters
The Indian Wells Masters is an annual tennis tournament held in Indian Wells, California....
for the second year running, but this time she lost in the first round to World No. 95 Anne Kremer
Anne Kremer
Anne Kremer is a professional female tennis player from Luxembourg. Her highest WTA Ranking has been World No...
of Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, 4–6 4–6.
Her ranking having plunged to 520th following her failure to defend her points picked up at Indian Wells a year earlier, she was wildcarded into the qualifying draw instead of the main draw for the Tier I event at Miami
Miami Masters
The Miami Masters is an annual tennis tournament for men and women held in Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida. It is an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the men's tour and a Premier Mandatory event on the women's tour and is played on hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park...
, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
that immediately followed, and at first defeated World No. 91 Séverine Beltrame (nowadays known as Séverine Brémond
Séverine Bremond
Séverine Beltrame is a professional female tennis player from France and the last active player of the notorious "generation 1979" which provided elite tennis players Amélie Mauresmo, Nathalie Dechy, Anne-Gaëlle Sidot and Emilie Loit.-Matches:In 2005, Beltrame was selected by the team leader...
), but then lost in the second round of qualifying to German Julia Schruff
Julia Schruff
Julia Schruff is a professional German tennis player.Her career high WTA-ranking was attained on 17 April 2006, when she reached No. 52. Her highest doubles ranking was reached on 2 October 2006, when she reached No...
, 1–6 3–6.
By the time she next competed in July, she had lost nearly all her ranking points and plummeted to World No. 730. This was sufficient to gain her entry to the qualifying draw for a $25,000 tournament held at Felixstowe
Felixstowe
Felixstowe is a seaside town on the North Sea coast of Suffolk, England. The town gives its name to the nearby Port of Felixstowe, which is the largest container port in the United Kingdom and is owned by Hutchinson Ports UK...
, Great Britain; and she successfully came through qualifying, but lost in the second round of the main draw to World No. 228 Jarmila Gajdošová
Jarmila Gajdošová
Jarmila Gajdošová , known as Jarmila Groth from 2009 to 2011, is an Australian tennis player...
of Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
.
In August, ranked 618th, she entered qualifying for two successive $25,000 events in China – the first at Wuxi
Wuxi
Wuxi is an old city in Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China. Split in half by Lake Tai, Wuxi borders Changzhou to the west and Suzhou to the east. The northern half looks across to Taizhou across the Yangtze River, while the southern half also borders the province of Zhejiang to the south...
, where she qualified but lost in the second round of the main draw to World No. 325 Miho Saeki
Miho Saeki
is a Japanese tennis player, winner of professional tournaments in doubles and singles, and a representative of Japan for the Federation Cup.-Career:...
of Japan; and the second at Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
, where in the first round of qualifying she had to withdraw with the score level at one set all against a little-known Chinese player.
Travelling to Moscow at the end of the month, ranked 530th, she entered qualifying for a further $25,000 event there, and enjoyed not only by far her most successful performance of the year to date but also the best of her career, as she came through three rounds of qualifying and then won the entire tournament. Her vanquished opponents included Galyna Kosyk of the Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, whom she defeated 4–6 7–5 6–0 in the second round of qualifying, Italians Giulia Gabba, Sara Errani
Sara Errani
Sara Errani , nicknamed "Poco Gigante", is a professional female tennis player from Italy. On February 23, 2009, she reached a new career high of No. 31 on the Tour rankings...
and Karin Knapp
Karin Knapp
Karin Knapp is an Italian female tennis player. She was ranked World No. 35 on 25 February 2008.-Career:...
, all of whom she defeated in straight sets, Margalita Chakhnashvili
Margalita Chakhnashvili
Margalita Chakhnashvili is a professional Georgian tennis player, who is, as of July 24, 2007, the top-ranked female Georgian tennis player. In her career, she has never won a singles nor doubles title on the WTA Tour, but has won 8 singles titles and 3 doubles titles on the ITF circuit...
of Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, whom she beat 0–6 6–4 6–2 in the semi-finals, and fellow-Russian Vasilisa Bardina
Vasilisa Bardina
Vasilisa Alekseyevna Bardina is a Russian professional tennis player.As of August 10, 2007, her highest ranking was World Number 48, achieved in early 2007...
, whom she ousted in the final 6–2 6–2.
Wildcarded into the qualifying draw for the annual Tier I WTA fixture at Moscow in early October, her ranking having leapt back up to World No. 384, Kleybanova double-bagelled American former Top 40 star Alexandra Stevenson
Alexandra Stevenson
Alexandra Winfield Stevenson is a professional tennis player. She made her professional debut in 1999 at Wimbledon, two weeks following graduation from La Jolla Country Day School. At the Wimbledon Championships, Stevenson became the first woman qualifier in the Tennis Open Era to reach the...
in the first round of qualifying, but then lost a close three-set match to Bulgarian World No. 41 Sesil Karatantcheva
Sesil Karatantcheva
Sesil Karatantcheva is a Bulgarian-born Kazakhstani tennis player. Karatantcheva played for Bulgaria until February 2, 2009, when she changed nationality. She will play for Kazakhstan until at least 2012....
in the second, 6–1 1–6 3–6.
As a direct entrant to a $25,000 ITF event at Makinohara
Makinohara, Shizuoka
is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 48,745 and a density of 436 persons per km². The total area was 111.68 km².-Geography:...
, Japan the following week, she battled past Japanese World No. 192 Seiko Okamoto
Seiko Okamoto
Seiko Okamoto is a Japanese professional tennis player.Okamoto took part in the 2006 Bangalore Open but lost in the first round of singles qualifying and the first round of doubles alongside Ryoko Fuda. She has won numerous ITF titles...
7–5 4–6 7–3 in the first round and World No. 349 Ayumi Morita
Ayumi Morita
is a Japanese female tennis player. She reached her career-high ranking of 42nd in the world on June 6, 2011 and is currently the highest ranked Japanese player in the world at World No. 46, the seventh overall in Asia. At Junior level, she reached a career high ranking of No. 3.Morita is known for...
6–2 3–6 6–4 in the semi-finals, but otherwise did not drop a set in claiming her second career $25,000 title.
This result elevated her world ranking to a personal-best World No. 294 by the time of her entry into her next $25,000 draw at Sutama
Sutama, Yamanashi
was a town located in Kitakoma District, Yamanashi, Japan.On November 1, 2004 Sutama was merged with the towns of Hakushū, Nagasaka and Takane, and the villages of Akeno, Mukawa and Ōizumi, all from Kitakoma District, to form the new city of Hokuto....
, Japan early in November. On this occasion, she won the whole tournament without losing a single set, defeating Japanese World No. 199 Shiho Hisamatsu
Shiho Hisamatsu
Shiho Hisamatsu is a Japanese women's tennis player.Hisamatsu turned professional in 2004 at the U.S. Open Qualifying round. Her highest WTA singles ranking record is 143rd, which she achieved on November 6, 2006.-Record:-External links:...
6–3 7–5 in the final to take her third $25,000 title and fourth career ITF tournament victory.
In December, now world-ranked 243rd, she tried her hand at qualifying for a $50,000 tournament at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, but was defeated in three sets in the qualifying round by a lower-ranked player from Taipei. However, she entered the main draw as a lucky loser, and knocked out Japanese World No. 110 Saori Obata
Saori Obata
Saori Obata is a female former Japanese tennis player. She turned professional in April 1996, and on February 9, 2004, she achieved her career-high singles ranking of 39, and on the same day she reached her career-high doubles ranking of 98....
in the first round, 6–3 7–6(4), before losing to World No. 225 Tiffany Dabek of the USA in Round Two, 5–7 4–6.
The year ended for her with a win-loss record of 28–8 and a world ranking of 244th.
2006
The Russian sixteen-year-old began 2006 by attempting to qualify for the WTA Tier IV Pattaya Open, ThailandThailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, but lost in the first round of the qualifying draw to American World No. 125 Bethanie Mattek
Bethanie Mattek
Bethanie Lynn Mattek-Sands is an American professional tennis player who competes on the WTA Tour. She lives in Miami, Florida, but trains in Phoenix, Arizona...
.
Then in April, having skipped Indian Wells, she was awarded a wildcard into the main draw at Miami
Miami Masters
The Miami Masters is an annual tennis tournament for men and women held in Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida. It is an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the men's tour and a Premier Mandatory event on the women's tour and is played on hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park...
, but was defeated in the first round by French World No. 47 Virginie Razzano
Virginie Razzano
Virginie Razzano , is a French professional tennis player and the current French No. 4. Razzano, who was born in Dijon, has won two WTA singles titles, both in 2007 in Guangzhou and Tokyo. Razzano reached her career high ranking of World No. 16 on September 14, 2009. As of May 2011, she is ranked...
, 5–7 4–6.
In May, she retreated again to the ITF $25,000 level in Italy, playing back-to-back tournaments at Caserta
Caserta
Caserta is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial and industrial comune and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Campanian Subapennine mountain range...
and Campobasso
Campobasso
-Main sights:The main attraction of Campobasso is the Castello Monforte, built in 1450 by the local ruler Nicola II Monforte, over Lombard or Norman ruins. The castle has Guelph merlons and stands on a commanding point, where traces of ancient settlements have been found...
. She reached the final in the first of these, recording four straight sets wins including victories over Sanja Ančić
Sanja Ancic
Sanja Ančić is a Croatian professional tennis player born in Split to Stipe and Nilda Ančić. Ančić plays right-handed, has a two-handed backhand and is the sister of professional tennis players Ivica and Mario Ančić....
of Croatia in the quarter-finals and World No. 241 Alizé Cornet
Alizé Cornet
Alizé Cornet is a French professional tennis player and the current French number three . She was born in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, and has a career-high ranking of No. 11, achieved on 16 February 2009; as of 4 July 2011 she is ranked World No. 69...
of France in the semifinals. But at the last hurdle she lost to World No. 270 Mandy Minella
Mandy Minella
Mandy Minella is a professional Luxembourgian tennis player. Her highest singles ranking to date is World Number 125 on July 25, 2011, and World Number 250 for doubles on July 17, 2006...
of Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, 2–6 4–6. Then the following week at Campobasso
Campobasso
-Main sights:The main attraction of Campobasso is the Castello Monforte, built in 1450 by the local ruler Nicola II Monforte, over Lombard or Norman ruins. The castle has Guelph merlons and stands on a commanding point, where traces of ancient settlements have been found...
, she gained her revenge over Minella by defeating her in the final 2–6 6–3 6–3 to pick up the fourth $25,000 title of her career, having earlier again put out Ančić in the semi-finals.
On the strength of these two tournaments, she entered the World Top 200 for the first time in her career.
In late July, world-ranked 198th, she attempted to qualify for the Tier IV WTA event at Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary, and for the first time in her career succeeded in qualifying for a WTA main draw, after defeating Spanish World No. 117 María José Martínez Sánchez
María José Martínez Sánchez
María José Martínez Sánchez is a Spanish professional tennis player. In singles, she has won five WTA singles titles, the 2009 Copa Sony Ericsson Colsanitas, the 2009 Swedish Open, the Premier 5 event, 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, the 2011 Gastein Ladies and the 2011 Hansol Korea Open. She...
in the qualifying round. But Spanish World No. 107 Laura Pous Tió
Laura Pous Tio
Laura Pous Tio is a professional female tennis player from Spain. She won the gold medal at the 2005 Mediterranean Games by defeating compatriot Nuria Llagostera Vives. Pous Tio reached her career high of No. 73 on the WTA tour in July 2011.-Grand Slam Singles performance timeline:-External links:...
defeated her 6–3 6–4 in the first round proper.
A month later, ranked 193rd, she attempted again to qualify for a $50,000 event at Bronx, New York, but was defeated in straight sets by a slightly lower-ranked opponent, Natalie Grandin
Natalie Grandin
Natalie Grandin is a professional tennis player from South Africa. Grandin has yet to compete outside of the qualifying rounds of a Grand Slam singles event. She is known for her variety of play, and volleying ability....
, in the first round of the qualifying draw.
She followed up this disappointment by attempting to qualify for a Grand Slam main draw for the first time at the US Open at the end of August, and progressed to the qualifying round with wins over Thai World No. 115 Tamarine Tanasugarn
Tamarine Tanasugarn
Tamarine Tanasugarn is a professional Thai tennis player. She was born in Los Angeles, United States, and turned professional in 1994. She has been in the top 20 in both singles and doubles....
(6–3 6–1) and Japan's World No. 224 Shiho Hisamatsu (5–7 6–3 6–3), then lost to German World No. 130 Sandra Kloesel, 3–6 3–6.
Returning to Moscow in early October, she tried again to qualify for the annual WTA Tier I event there, but this time lost in the second round of qualifying to her compatriot World No. 84 Vasilisa Bardina
Vasilisa Bardina
Vasilisa Alekseyevna Bardina is a Russian professional tennis player.As of August 10, 2007, her highest ranking was World Number 48, achieved in early 2007...
, 4–6 5–7.
She next played in early November, where, as a direct entrant into the first round of a $75,000 ITF tournament at Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, she had reached 4–6 7–6 1–1 against American World No. 44 Shenay Perry
Shenay Perry
Shenay Perry is an American professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA singles ranking is 40, which she reached on August 28, 2006...
before her opponent retired. But in the second round, she lost in straight sets to Canadian World No. 130 Stéphanie Dubois
Stéphanie Dubois
Stéphanie Dubois is a Canadian professional tennis player. She turned professional in 2004 and she achieved a career-best ranking of No. 95 in the world on May 26, 2008.-2004–present:...
, 5–7 4–6.
Her ranking having slipped to World No. 262 by the middle of the month following her failure to defend her $25,000 tournament victories a year previously, she nonetheless gained direct entry into a $50,000 event at Lawrenceville
Lawrenceville, Georgia
Lawrenceville is a city in and the county seat of Gwinnett County, Georgia, in the United States. The Census Bureau estimates the 2008 population at 29,258...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, and easily surpassed her previous career-best record at this level of tournament by reaching the semi-finals with back-to-back straight sets victories over Americans World No. 129 Ahsha Rolle
Ahsha Rolle
Ahsha Rolle is a professional American tennis player. She was born on March 21, 1985 in Miami Shores, Florida. She began playing tennis when she was nine years old.-2007:...
and World No. 104 Bethanie Mattek
Bethanie Mattek
Bethanie Lynn Mattek-Sands is an American professional tennis player who competes on the WTA Tour. She lives in Miami, Florida, but trains in Phoenix, Arizona...
and Argentine World No. 115 Clarisa Fernández
Clarisa Fernandez
Clarisa Fernández is a retired Argentine tennis player who is best known for her semi-final appearance at the 2002 French Open, the first Argentine since Sabatini in 1992 to reach that stage. Fernández was ranked 87th in the world at the time of her shocking result...
. But it was to be an American star of the future, Julie Ditty
Julie Ditty
Julie Ditty is an American professional tennis player. Ditty did not have her true WTA breakthrough until 2007, when she reached the semifinals of the Bell Challenge, a result that took her into the top 100 for the first time in her career on November 5, 2007, at No. 91...
, then ranked only 297th, who would oust her 6–1 6–2 in the semi-finals.
At the end of November, ranked 238th, Kleybanova entered another $50,000 draw at San Diego, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and beat Ireland's Kelly Liggan
Kelly Liggan
Kelly Liggan is an Irish professional tennis player.Liggan resides in Malaga, Spain, but plays tennis for Ireland...
6–2 6–2 in the first round before losing to upcoming compatriot Ekaterina Afinogenova 3–6 3–6 in the second.
She did not play in December, and ended the year ranked World No. 262. Although this was down 18 places from the start of the year, the marginal loss was primarily a consequence of her choosing to focus on higher-level challenges at the expense of her previous year's points attained at $25,000 events; and the useful experience she had gained in the process would serve as an effective springboard into higher echelons of the WTA World rankings in future years. Her win-loss record for the year was 20–10.
2007
Starting the 2007 season relatively late at a $25,000 ITF event at MinskMinsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
in early March, world-ranked 239th, Kleybanova could only reach the quarter-finals before losing in three sets to British World No. 222 Amanda Keen, 7–5 4–6 2–6, having had to struggle through two three-sets victories over lower-ranked players Lina Stančiūtė
Lina Stanciute
Lina Stančiūtė is a Lithuanian professional tennis player, who achieved her highest ranking on September 28, 2009 .-External links:...
of Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and fellow-Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Anastasia Sergeyevna Pavlyuchenkova is a Russian professional tennis player and a multiple junior Grand Slam champion. Her career-high rank of World No. 13 was achieved on 4 July 2011. From July 2007 to September 2009 she was coached at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France...
to reach even that far.
At Moscow at the end of March, she entered another $25,000 tournament, and this time reached the semi-finals without dropping a set after her quarter-final opponent World No. 232 Nika Ožegović
Nika Ožegovic
Nika Ožegović is a professional tennis player from Croatia. In her career she won eight ITF tournaments, five in singles and three in doubles. Her career high on WTA rankings is No. 131, on July 9, 2007 in singles; and No. 193, on October 9, 2006 in doubles.-Singles finals 11 :-Doubles finals 4...
of Croatia retired at 1–4 down to the Russian teenager. But in the semi-finals she was defeated by another young Russian, World No. 199 Evgeniya Rodina
Evgeniya Rodina
Evgeniya Sergeyevna Rodina is a Russian professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of #74 on February 28, 2011.-Career summary:Rodina has made strong progress up through the world rankings to reach a career high of World No...
, 4–6 6–7(4).
In Moscow again two months later, she reached her second successive $25,000 semi-final, this time losing to a compatriot, World No. 224 Ekaterina Makarova
Ekaterina Makarova
Ekaterina Valeryevna Makarova is a professional Russian tennis player. She achieved her career high ranking of number 29 on June 6, 2011.-Career:...
5–7 4–6.
By the middle of July, Kleybanova's WTA world-ranking had slipped to 273rd. Deciding nonetheless to continue at the $25,000 level into the early summer, she reached a quarter-final at Rome in mid-July before losing in straight sets to a lower-ranked Austrian called Patricia Mayr.
But the following week, still in Italy at Monteroni d'Arbia
Monteroni d'Arbia
Monteroni d'Arbia is a comune in the Province of Siena in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 60 km south of Florence and about 13 km southeast of Siena in the area known as the Crete Senesi. It takes its names from the Arbia torrent, a tributary of the Ombrone River.-Main...
, she won her fifth career $25,000 title and first of the year, after defeating World No. 195 Darya Kustova
Darya Kustova
Darya Kustova is a professional Belarusian tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 117, which she reached on January 18, 2010. Her career high in doubles was 66, set at July 7, 2008.-External links:...
of Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
2–6 6–2 6–4 in the semi-finals, and Estonian World No. 223 Margit Rüütel
Margit Rüütel
Margit Rüütel is an Estonian tennis player. On 21 April 2008, she achieved her career-high WTA singles ranking of World No. 162. She has ranked as high as 192 in doubles as well, achieving the rank on 9 April 2007.- External links :...
6–1 7–5 in the final.
A week later, she decided to step up to the $75,000 level for the first time that year, and gained direct entry to an event of that calibre at Rimini
Rimini
Rimini is a medium-sized city of 142,579 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa...
, Italy. Having battled past both her first two opponents by the identical scoreline of 6–3 2–6 6–2, including Ukrainian World No. 174 Mariya Koryttseva
Mariya Koryttseva
Mariya Koryttseva is a Ukrainian female tennis player. Her career high ranking is No. 50 in the world, which she achieved on August 18, 2008....
in Round One, to reach her career-first $75,000 main draw quarter-final, she then found herself engaged in a very close battle with Swiss World No. 133 and former Top 100 player Emmanuelle Gagliardi
Emmanuelle Gagliardi
Emmanuelle Gagliardi is a professional Swiss tennis player.Her coach is Marco Tarelli and she prefers to play on hardcourts.As of 2 March 2008, Gagliardi is still searching for her first WTA Tour singles title....
, which the Russian eventually lost 6–7(6) 6–4 4–6.
Back in Moscow again in late August, buoyed by her recent successes to World No. 208, she reached another $25,000 semi-final, defeating Kristina Antoniychuk
Kristina Antoniychuk
Kristina Antoniychuk, is a professional Ukrainian tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 172, which she reached on February 22, 2010...
of the Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
4–6 6–3 6–3 in the quarter-finals before losing to fellow-Russian upstart Anastasia Pivovarova
Anastasia Pivovarova
Anastasia Olegovna Pivovarova is a professional tennis player from Russia.Pivovarova was born in Moscow, Russia and is a right-handed player. She reached a career high of 115 in July 2010. During a successful junior career Pivovarova was ranked as high as number 2.- Biography :Anastasia Pivovarova...
3–6 3–6.
In the next two weeks, she entered two further $50,000 tournaments. In the first, at Moscow, she lost a close three-set match in the first round 6–7(3) 7–6(4) 4–6 to compatriot Anastasia Poltoratskaya
Anastasia Poltoratskaya
Anastasia Viktorevna Poltoratskaya is a Russian tennis player. Currently ranked World No. 525 in singles and No...
, whom she had easily beaten in the first round of the $25,000 tournament the previous week. Then at Mestre
Mestre
Mestre is a city part of the comune of Venice, in Veneto, northern Italy.The city is connected to Venice by a large rail and road bridge, called Ponte della Libertà ....
, Italy, she reached her career-first $50,000 final with back-to-back defeats of World No. 202 Jenifer Widjaja of Brazil (6–0 0–6 6–3), World No. 191 Ivana Lisjak
Ivana Lisjak
Ivana Lisjak is a female tennis player from Croatia. Her current WTA ranking is No. 266 . She began playing tennis at the age of three when her sister introduced her to the sport at their tennis club....
of Croatia (6–4 6–0), and Czech players World No. 144 Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová (6–2 6–2) and World No. 119 Renata Voráčová
Renata Vorácová
Renata Voráčová is a professional female tennis player from the Czech Republic. Her career high singles ranking is No...
(6–4 6–1). But she was denied the title by World No. 150 Rossana de los Ríos
Rossana de los Rios
Rossana de los Ríos born September 16, 1975 is a professional tennis player from Paraguay. As of June 14, 2010, she is ranked World No. 92 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour...
of Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, who took the final 6–4 3–6 6–1.
This performance lifted Kleybanova to a ranking of 195th, just below her personal best set in the summer of 2006, in time for entering her first $100,000 ITF draw at Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, France the very week after. Here, she scored successive three-sets defeats over French World No. 86 Pauline Parmentier
Pauline Parmentier
Pauline Parmentier is a professional tennis player from France. Her career high was #40, achieved on 21 July 2008 and her highest ranking in doubles was World Number 146 on 15 June 2009.-Background:...
(6–7(2) 6–2 6–4) and Spanish former Top-100 star, now World No. 141, Laura Pous Tió
Laura Pous Tio
Laura Pous Tio is a professional female tennis player from Spain. She won the gold medal at the 2005 Mediterranean Games by defeating compatriot Nuria Llagostera Vives. Pous Tio reached her career high of No. 73 on the WTA tour in July 2011.-Grand Slam Singles performance timeline:-External links:...
, 2–6 6–0 6–4. But she lost in the quarter-finals to World No. 68 Alizé Cornet
Alizé Cornet
Alizé Cornet is a French professional tennis player and the current French number three . She was born in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, and has a career-high ranking of No. 11, achieved on 16 February 2009; as of 4 July 2011 she is ranked World No. 69...
of France, 5–7 4–6.
Playing her fifth straight tournament in five weeks at Lecce
Lecce
Lecce is a historic city of 95,200 inhabitants in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Lecce, the second province in the region by population, as well as one of the most important cities of Puglia...
, Italy in the middle of September, world-ranked a career-best 184th, the young Russian captured the sixth $25,000 ITF title of her career. Having lost the first set of her first round tie against Czech player Andrea Hlaváčková
Andrea Hlavácková
Andrea Hlaváčková is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. Her highest singles ranking is World No.87, which she reached on 31 January 2011, and her highest doubles ranking is World No.17, reached on 15 August 2011...
in Round One, she then reeled off ten straight sets for the loss of only seventeen more games to claim the tournament, beating formerly Top-50-ranked Spaniard Marta Marrero
Marta Marrero
Marta Marrero Marrero is a former professional Spanish tennis player. She reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, won two WTA doubles titles, and also won a total of 12 ITF singles and doubles titles. Her highest singles rank on the WTA Tour was World Number 47, which she reached in 2004...
in the final 6–1 6–0.
Arriving back in Moscow for the annual WTA Tier I event held there in October, world-ranked 163rd, she was defeated in the first round of the qualifying draw by Ukrainian World No. 130 Tatiana Perebiynis
Tatiana Perebiynis
Tetyana Yurevna Perebiynis , born on December 15, 1982 is a Top 100 female professional tennis player born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, where she lives. She is an only child. She reached the Wimbledon junior girls' singles final in 2000, and won the Wimbledon juniors doubles final that year...
.
A week later, she found herself back at Lawrenceville
Lawrenceville, Georgia
Lawrenceville is a city in and the county seat of Gwinnett County, Georgia, in the United States. The Census Bureau estimates the 2008 population at 29,258...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
for a $50,000 event, and knocked out American World No. 92 Ashley Harkleroad
Ashley Harkleroad
Ashley Harkleroad , is an American tennis player. Born in Rossville, Georgia, Harkleroad reached a career-high ranking of No. 39 on June 9, 2003. Her career prize money to date is $1,022,094...
7–6(4) 2–6 6–3 in the first round, but was defeated in the second by a much lower-ranked American wildcard Alexa Glatch
Alexa Glatch
-Junior career:She started playing tennis at the age of five. As a junior player, she won the prestigious Easter Bowl title in the Girls 14s and Girls 18s divisions and the Orange Bowl in the Girls 16s division in 2004. She achieved a World Junior Ranking of #5 in 2005, advancing to the 2005 US...
, 6–7(5), 2–6.
In the last full week of October, still in Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, at Augusta
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...
, she virtually breezed through a $25,000 draw for the loss of just seventeen games, eight of them taken from her by just one of her five opponents, Argentine Clarisa Fernández
Clarisa Fernandez
Clarisa Fernández is a retired Argentine tennis player who is best known for her semi-final appearance at the 2002 French Open, the first Argentine since Sabatini in 1992 to reach that stage. Fernández was ranked 87th in the world at the time of her shocking result...
, in the quarter-finals. Notable among her squarely vanquished opponents was American World No. 244 Madison Brengle
Madison Brengle
Madison Brengle is an American professional tennis player.-Background:Brengle has won two ITF singles and three ITF doubles titles in her career, and has achieved a ranking on the women's WTA Tour of World Number 152 on April 18, 2011...
, whom she beat 6–0 6–2 in Round Two. It was the seventh $25,000 ITF title Kleybanova had won in her short career, and the third of that year.
Elevated to a new career-best world ranking of 153rd in time for her direct entry into a $75,000 draw at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in early November, the Russian scored victories over World No. 180 Sunitha Rao
Sunitha Rao
Sunitha Manohar Rao is a former American professional tennis player of Indian background. She was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. Rao has 8 career titles on the ITF Women's Circuit and has reached many finals in singles.-Early life:...
of India (6–2 6–1) and World No. 112 Aleksandra Wozniak
Aleksandra Wozniak
Aleksandra Wozniak is a Canadian professional tennis player. She turned professional in November 2005. Wozniak achieved a career-best ranking of no. 21 on June 22, 2009, making her the fourth-highest ranked Canadian singles player of all time. She has won one WTA and eight ITF tournaments...
of Canada (7–6(3) 1–6 6–2) to reach the quarter-finals, but then lost a topsy-turvy three-setter to her 92nd-ranked compatriot Olga Poutchkova
Olga Poutchkova
Olga Alekseyevna Puchkova is a Russian professional tennis player and model. As a junior she played for Belarus, and is sometimes listed as Belarusian as a professional....
, 6–0 1–6 4–6.
A week later at La Quinta, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, she reached the quarter-finals of a $50,000 ITF event, beating American World No. 151 Abigail Spears
Abigail Spears
Abigail Michal Spears is an American professional tennis player.Spears turned professional in 2000. Spears has reached the third round at the 2005 Australian Open, and the first round at the 2005 French Open, 2005 Wimbledon tournament and the 2005 U.S. Open...
7–6(4) 6–2 in Round Two before losing to another American player, World No. 176 Raquel Kops-Jones
Raquel Kops-Jones
Raquel Kops-Jones is a professional tennis player from the United States of America. She made her debut in professional competition in 2000, aged 17, at an ITF tournament in Boca Raton....
, 4–6 1–6, in the quarter-finals.
Kleybanova did not play in December, but ended the year world-ranked down just a few places from her recently set career best at 156th, and with a strong 41–13 win-loss record to her credit. Although she had scored many of her main draw match wins at the ITF $25,000 level which she had already conquered several times back in 2005, she had also broken new ground at higher levels of competition in the second half of the year.
2008
Kleybanova began the 2008 season early by entering qualifying for the WTA Tier III tournament at Gold CoastGold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
, Australia in late December 2007. She qualified for the main draw of a WTA event for just the second time in her career so far, some seventeen months after reaching the Tier IV main draw at Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
in July 2006. Her vanquished opponents were World No. 97 Tatiana Perebiynis
Tatiana Perebiynis
Tetyana Yurevna Perebiynis , born on December 15, 1982 is a Top 100 female professional tennis player born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, where she lives. She is an only child. She reached the Wimbledon junior girls' singles final in 2000, and won the Wimbledon juniors doubles final that year...
, whom she defeated 7–5 6–2 in the first round of qualifying, World No. 121 Yuan Meng
Yuan Meng
Yuan Meng is a Chinese female professional tennis player. She is China's fifth-highest ranked women's singles player after Zheng Jie, Li Na, Peng Shuai, and Yan Zi. Yuan has won four ITF singles titles and one ITF doubles title....
of China, whom she beat 6–3 5–7 6–2 in the second, and former Top-50 Chinese star Zheng Jie
Zheng Jie
Zheng Jie is a Chinese professional tennis player. Her career high ranking is World No. 15 which she achieved on May 18, 2009. As of August 15, 2011, Zheng is ranked World No. 65 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles....
, whom she ousted 6–2 4–6 6–1 in the qualifying round. But in the first round of the main draw she faced Swiss World No. 16 Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder is a retired Swiss professional tennis player. She played on the WTA tour from 1993 to 2011 and is a former World No. 7. She defeated several World No...
, and lost to her 1–6 3–6.
In mid-January, she followed this up by entering qualifying for the Australian Open
2008 Australian Open
The 2008 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 96th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 through 27 January 2008.After twenty years of playing on...
, and came through relatively comfortably to the first Grand Slam main draw of her still-young career with straight-sets wins over Canadian World No. 166 Marie-Ève Pelletier
Marie-Ève Pelletier
Marie-Ève Pelletier is a Canadian professional tennis player. She reached a career high ranking of 106 in singles on June 20, 2005 and a career high of 54 in doubles on April 12, 2010 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.-1998–present:...
, Czech World No. 116 Iveta Benešová
Iveta Benešová
Iveta Benešová is a professional tennis player. She began playing tennis at age of 7 and turned professional in 1998 in Prague. She has won two WTA Tour events and one Grand Slam in mixed doubles partnering with Jürgen Melzer at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships.-2006–2008:In the 2006 Australian...
, and French World no. 136 Olivia Sanchez
Olivia Sanchez
Olivia Sanchez is a professional tennis player from France. She received a wildcard into the main draw of the 2007 French Open, but lost in 6–3, 4–6, 3–6, to Shenay Perry in the first round. As of June 9, 2008, Sanchez reached her highest singles ranking of World Number 90 on June 9, 2008, and is...
. In the first round of the main draw, she defeated Chinese World No. 45 Peng Shuai
Peng Shuai
Peng Shuai is a Chinese professional female tennis player. She won a gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games, defeating Akgul Amanmuradova in the final...
7–5 4–6 9–7. But in Round Two she had to face World No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze
Anna Chakvetadze
Anna Djambulilovna Chakvetadze is a Russian professional tennis player . On September 10, 2007, she reached her career-high professional singles ranking of World No. 5. She has won eight WTA Singles Titles and appeared in the 2007 US Open semifinals. As of July 4, 2011, Chakvetadze is ranked World...
, and lost to her 3–6 4–6.
Nonetheless, in reaching the second round of a Grand Slam as a qualifier, Kleybanova had earned 91 ranking points, sufficient to raise her World Ranking to a new personal best of 112th.
The next tournament for which she entered herself was another high-level WTA event, the Tier II fixture at Paris in early February. She won the first two rounds of qualifying, defeating her compatriot World No. 127 Galina Voskoboeva
Galina Voskoboeva
Galina Olegovna Voskoboeva is a professional Russian-born Kazakhstani tennis player. She reached her career-high singles rank of World No. 56 on October 10, 2011. Her career high in doubles is 31st, set at January 29, 2007.-Early life:...
6–4 6–4 in the first and a Belgian outsider in the second, but then lost to Czech World No. 70 Klára Zakopalová in the qualifying round. She emerged from this experience ranked just six places higher at World No. 106.
The following week, undeterred, she attempted to qualify for another Tier II WTA tournament at Antwerp, Belgium, and this time succeeded, after defeating World No. 206 Ekaterina Dzehalevich
Ekaterina Dzehalevich
Ekaterina Dzehalevich is a professional Belarusian tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 134th, which she reached on October 6, 2008. Her career high in doubles is 64th, which she reached on September 29, 2008. She has won four ITF and Satellite titles during her career...
6–3 7–6(4) in the second round of the qualifying draw, and Swedish World No. 67 Sofia Arvidsson
Sofia Arvidsson
Lena Sofia Alexandra Arvidsson is a Swedish tennis player. As of May 9, 2011, she is ranked World No. 77. Her highest career ranking is World No. 29.-Biography:...
4–6 7–5 6–3 in the qualifying round. In the first round of the main draw, she stunned World No. 18 Ágnes Szávay
Ágnes Szávay
Ágnes Szávay is a professional tennis player from Hungary. She is the country's highest ranked tennis player. She was the WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2007. She achieved her career high ranking of World No. 13 on April 14, 2008.- Background :...
of Hungary 6–2 6–3; and in the second she edged out World No. 38 Kateryna Bondarenko
Kateryna Bondarenko
Kateryna Volodymyrivna Bondarenko is a professional female tennis player from Ukraine and a doubles champion at Australian Open 2008.The younger sister of professional tennis players Valeria and Alona Bondarenko, she was born in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. She was...
of the Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
in an extremely close match, 7–5 3–6 7–5, to reach her career-first WTA-level quarter-final, where she met World No. 1 Justine Henin for the first time. Although the Russian teenager lost 4–6 3–6, she was assured of taking home enough ranking points from this event to reach into the World Top 100 for the first time in her career; and in practice she landed at World No. 82.
In late February she entered the qualifying draw for the Tier II event at Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
and defeated World No. 60 Timea Bacsinszky
Timea Bacsinszky
Timea Bacsinszky is a professional female tennis player residing in Belmont-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland. She joined the WTA Tour in 2004 and was ranked World No. 37 on 7 June 2010....
of Switzerland 6–3 6–3 in the first round before losing a very close three-set battle in the second round of qualifying to rising World No. 123 Monica Niculescu
Monica Niculescu
Monica Niculescu is a Romanian tennis player. As of October 24, 2011 she is ranked No. 29 at the WTA Tour Singles Ranking. Her highest WTA ranking is currently her present ranking in singles, reached on 24 Oct 2011, and No. 24 in doubles, reached on June 7, 2010.Niculescu was born in Slatina,...
of Romania despite winning more games than her opponent in the overall match, 6–7 6–2 5–7.
In early March, her ranking having slipped just a couple of places to No. 84, she entered qualifying for the Tier I tournament at Indian Wells
Indian Wells, California
Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, in the Coachella Valley , in between Palm Desert and La Quinta. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,958....
, having failed by only one place to attain direct entry, but unexpectedly fell at the first hurdle in three sets to Japanese World No. 186 Rika Fujiwara
Rika Fujiwara
Rika Fujiwara is a Japanese professional tennis player. Her best-ever ranking is, singles No. 84 , doubles No. 13...
, 6–3 1–6 5–7.
Towards the end of the month, she persevered in attempting to gain entry to events of Tier I calibre at Miami, and this time succeeded, scoring back-to-back comfortable straight-sets victories over Hungarian World No. 127 Gréta Arn
Gréta Arn
Gréta Arn is a professional tennis player from Hungary, and the current Hungarian No. 1. Arn turned professional in 1997....
and resurgent former Top 50 star Mashona Washington
Mashona Washington
Mashona Washington is a professional tennis player from the United States.Mashona's career high singles ranking is no. 50 which she reached on November 8, 2004, and her career high doubles ranking is no...
of the USA, for the collective loss of just nine games in two matches. In the main draw, she defeated World No. 44 Olga Govortsova
Olga Govortsova
Olga Govortsova is a professional Belarusian tennis player. As of May 10, 2010 her highest singles ranking on the WTA is World Number 35, which she achieved on June 23, 2008.-Career:...
of Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
(6–3 6–7(6) 6–2) then unexpectedly one-sidedly thrashed World No. 15 Nicole Vaidišová
Nicole Vaidišová
Nicole Vaidišová is a retired Czech tennis player.Vaidišová was an Australian Open and French Open semifinalist and also reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Vaidišová started playing tennis when she was six years old, enrolling to train at Nick Bollettieri's tennis academy in Bradenton,...
of the Czech Republic to reach the third round, where she lost to on-form World No. 20 Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000. Her career high is World No. 2 by the WTA, and she is currently ranked as the World No. 7. Zvonarёva has won twelve WTA Tour singles titles and reached the...
of Russia 1–6 4–6. The sixty-five ranking points accrued from this performance lifted her world ranking to a new career high of No. 70.
At Wimbledon in June, Kleybanova played in three events: Ladies' Singles, Ladies' Doubles (with Dominika Cibulková
Dominika Cibulková
Dominika Cibulková is a Slovak professional tennis player. She is also a former World Junior No. 3, achieving that ranking in May 2005. Her career-high ranking of World No. 12 was achieved on 6 July 2009...
of Slovakia), and Mixed Doubles (with Sonchat Ratiwatana
Sonchat Ratiwatana
Sonchat Ratiwatana is a professional tennis player from Thailand. In 2007, Sonchat and his twin brother Sanchai Ratiwatana won their first ATP doubles title in Bangkok in their home country...
of Thailand). In Ladies' Singles, she made it to the fourth round, her best career Grand Slam tournament result, losing 6–3, 6–4 to the reigning Wimbledon champion and number seven seed Venus Williams
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...
. On the way, she defeated unseeded Tzipora Obziler
Tzipora Obziler
Tzipora Obziler is a former professional right-handed tennis player.She reached her career-high singles world ranking of #75 in on July 8, 2007, and doubles ranking of #149 on April 10, 2000....
of Israel 6–4, 6–0 in the first round, beat number ten seed Daniela Hantuchová
Daniela Hantuchová
Daniela Hantuchová is a Slovak professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first Tier I tournament and ended the year in the top 10.She is currently coached by Larri Passos...
of Slovakia in the second round, and overcame unseeded Ai Sugiyama
Ai Sugiyama
is a retired Japanese professional tennis player. She reached No. 1 in women's doubles on the WTA Tour. Her career-high singles ranking was No. 8, achieved on February 9, 2004. She turned professional in 1992...
of Japan 6–4, 6–4 in the third round. She retired in the first round of Ladies' Doubles and lost in the first round of Mixed Doubles.
2009
Sofia Arvidsson
Lena Sofia Alexandra Arvidsson is a Swedish tennis player. As of May 9, 2011, she is ranked World No. 77. Her highest career ranking is World No. 29.-Biography:...
in the first round of the Australian Open 7–5, 7–5. Kleybanova then defeated Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro
Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro
Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro is a former French female professional tennis player.Her highest singles ranking was #61, achieved on October 5, 2003...
in the second round 6–1, 3–6, 6–2. Kleybanova defeated the number 5 seed Ana Ivanović
Ana Ivanovic
Ana Ivanović is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of November 7, 2011, she is ranked 22th on the WTA rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open...
7–5, 6–7(5), 6–2 to advance to the 4th round. Kleybanova was later defeated by the Australian Wild Card Jelena Dokić
Jelena Dokic
Jelena Dokić is an Australian female professional tennis player.During the height of her career, she played for Serbia and Montenegro and reached a career-high ranking of World No. 4 on 19 August 2002. After several family-related difficulties , she slowly slipped down the rankings in 2006...
5–7, 7–5, 6–8.
Kleybanova lost in the second round of Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships to Ana Ivanović, whom she previously beaten at the Australian Open
Australian Open
The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
.
Kleybanova scored her biggest career win at the Madrid Masters
Madrid Masters
There are two sporting events named the Madrid Masters:*Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open — a men's and women's tennis tournament*Madrid Masters...
where she defeated World No. 3 Venus Williams
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...
in the second round. She lost to World No. 11 Caroline Wozniacki
Caroline Wozniacki
Caroline Wozniacki is a Danish professional tennis player. She is the current world no. 1 on the WTA Tour. As of 7 November 2011, she has held this position for 56 weeks...
in the third round 2–6, 2–6.
Kleybanova was seeded 27th at the Wimbledon Championships. She lost to qualifier Regina Kulikova
Regina Kulikova
Regina Kulikova is a professional Russian tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 65th, which she reached on May 3, 2010. Her career high in doubles is 417th, which she reached on September 28, 2009...
in the second round.
In the 2009 US Open Series, Kleybanova went into the LA Women's Tennis Championships being unseeded in the singles. She won her first round match against Alla Kudryatseva 6–1, 6–3, but then lost in the 2nd round to Anna Chakvetadze
Anna Chakvetadze
Anna Djambulilovna Chakvetadze is a Russian professional tennis player . On September 10, 2007, she reached her career-high professional singles ranking of World No. 5. She has won eight WTA Singles Titles and appeared in the 2007 US Open semifinals. As of July 4, 2011, Chakvetadze is ranked World...
6–3, 3–6, 6–1.
The following week in the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open, Kleybanova went into the tournament being unseeded again. She won her first round match in straight sets against Aravane Rezaï
Aravane Rezaï
Aravane Rezaï is an Iranian-French tennis player born in Saint-Étienne, France to Iranian parents. She is the current French No. 5 in women's tennis. Rezaï took up tennis after a childhood stint as her older brother's ball girl...
, but then lost to 7th seed Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000. Her career high is World No. 2 by the WTA, and she is currently ranked as the World No. 7. Zvonarёva has won twelve WTA Tour singles titles and reached the...
6–4, 1–6, 7–5. Alisa's current singles ranking is No. 37.
In the Rogers Cup Alisa upset 5th seed Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...
in the quarterfinal 6–7, 7–6, 6–2 and lost to Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ,. is a Russian professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. A US resident since 1994, Sharapova has won 24 WTA singles titles, including three Grand Slam singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open...
in 2–6, 6–4, 4–6 in semifinal.
In the 2009 US Open
2009 US Open (tennis)
The 2009 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 31 to September 14, 2009 in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, New York City, United States. Originally, it was scheduled to end with the mens' singles final match on Sunday,...
Alisa reached the semi-finals of the women's doubles with Ekaterina Makarova
Ekaterina Makarova
Ekaterina Valeryevna Makarova is a professional Russian tennis player. She achieved her career high ranking of number 29 on June 6, 2011.-Career:...
where they were knocked out by the Williams sisters in three sets.
At the Hansol Korea Open, Kleybanova defeated Katarina Srebotnik
Katarina Srebotnik
Katarina Srebotnik is a Slovenian professional tennis player. Srebotnik is right-handed, 1.80 m, weighs 65 kg and lives in Dubai. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 20 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour on August 7, 2006.Srebotnik won 4 singles titles on the WTA-tour and was a steady top 30...
in the first round 6–2, 6–3. In the second round she fell to eventual champion Kimiko Date Krumm 4–6, 7–6(4), 6–3.
Unseeded at the Toray Pan Pacific Open
Toray Pan Pacific Open
The is a WTA Tour affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1984 on in Tokyo, Japan. It is classified on the WTA Tour as a Tier I tournament since 1993. The event has traditionally been played on indoor carpet at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, but the 2008 event...
, Kleybanova defeated Ayumi Morita
Ayumi Morita
is a Japanese female tennis player. She reached her career-high ranking of 42nd in the world on June 6, 2011 and is currently the highest ranked Japanese player in the world at World No. 46, the seventh overall in Asia. At Junior level, she reached a career high ranking of No. 3.Morita is known for...
in the first round 6–1, 6–4 and then defeated 6th seed Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000. Her career high is World No. 2 by the WTA, and she is currently ranked as the World No. 7. Zvonarёva has won twelve WTA Tour singles titles and reached the...
3–6, 6–4, 6–2. In the third round she was defeated by Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ,. is a Russian professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. A US resident since 1994, Sharapova has won 24 WTA singles titles, including three Grand Slam singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open...
2–6, 6–2, 6–2.
At the 2009 China Open
2009 China Open (tennis)
The 2009 China Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 11th edition of the China Open, and was part of the ATP 500 Series of the 2009 ATP Tour, and of the Premier Series of the 2009 WTA Tour...
, Kleybanova made it to the second round by defeating Yanina Wickmayer
Yanina Wickmayer
Yanina Wickmayer is a Belgian professional tennis player who is currently ranked world no. 22 and is the second-highest ranked female Belgian tennis player. She reached her career-high ranking of world no. 12 on 19 April 2010...
5–7, 6–3, 6–3 but was defeated by Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli is a French professional tennis player and the current French no. 1. She has won seven Women's Tennis Association singles titles and three doubles titles. She was also a runner-up at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships....
6–2, 6–3.
Kleybanova entered her final tournament of the season in Moscow and made the semi-finals, defeating Magdaléna Rybáriková
Magdaléna Rybáriková
Magdaléna Rybáriková is a Slovak professional tennis player. On June 22, 2009, she achieved her career-high WTA singles ranking of 40th.-Biography:...
6–1, 6–2, Evgeniya Rodina
Evgeniya Rodina
Evgeniya Sergeyevna Rodina is a Russian professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of #74 on February 28, 2011.-Career summary:Rodina has made strong progress up through the world rankings to reach a career high of World No...
6–1, 6–2 and 2nd seed Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...
6–4, 6–3. In the semi-finals she was defeated by Olga Govortsova
Olga Govortsova
Olga Govortsova is a professional Belarusian tennis player. As of May 10, 2010 her highest singles ranking on the WTA is World Number 35, which she achieved on June 23, 2008.-Career:...
6–2, 6–1.
Alisa Kleybanova ended the year with a win-loss record of 32–24.
2010
Kleybanova started off the year falling in three sets to Anastasia PavlyuchenkovaAnastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Anastasia Sergeyevna Pavlyuchenkova is a Russian professional tennis player and a multiple junior Grand Slam champion. Her career-high rank of World No. 13 was achieved on 4 July 2011. From July 2007 to September 2009 she was coached at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France...
at the Brisbane International
Brisbane International
The Brisbane International is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour and of the WTA Premier tournaments of the Women's Tennis Association Tour...
in the first round where Alisa was the 5th seed. She then fell to World No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova ; born June 27, 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player and as of October 10, 2011 ranked No. 21 in the WTA singles and No. 90 in the doubles ranking. Kuznetsova has appeared in four singles Grand Slam finals, winning two, and has also appeared in six doubles...
in the first round of the Medibank International, falling 5-7 in the third set..
Kleybanova was seeded 27th at the 2010 Australian Open
2010 Australian Open
The 2010 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 18 to 31 January. It was the 98th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year....
. She lost a hard fought three setter to Justine Henin in the third round, despite having been near match point numerous times.
At the 2010 Fed Cup
2010 Fed Cup
The 2010 Fed Cup was the 48th edition of the tournament between national teams in women's tennis. The final took place on 6–7 November in San Diego, United States. Italy successfully defended their title, in a rematch of the 2009 final against the United States...
, Kleybanova represented Russia along with Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova ; born June 27, 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player and as of October 10, 2011 ranked No. 21 in the WTA singles and No. 90 in the doubles ranking. Kuznetsova has appeared in four singles Grand Slam finals, winning two, and has also appeared in six doubles...
. Kleybanova fell in three sets to Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...
in her first match, but blew past Ana Ivanović
Ana Ivanovic
Ana Ivanović is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of November 7, 2011, she is ranked 22th on the WTA rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open...
in her second match. Kleybanova and Kuznetsova then defeated Ivanović and Janković in doubles to help Russia advance.
At the Open GDF Suez in Paris, Kleybanova fell to World No. 12 Flavia Pennetta
Flavia Pennetta
Flavia Pennetta is an Italian professional tennis player. She became Italy's first top 10 female singles player on 17 August 2009 and also the first ever Italian Tennis player to be ranked No.1 in Doubles on 28 February 2011. As of 10 October 2011, Pennetta is ranked World No. 18 in singles and...
.
At the 2010 Malaysian Open, Kleybanova won her first WTA singles title, defeating World No. 7 Elena Dementieva
Elena Dementieva
Elena Viatcheslavovna Dementieva is a retired Russian professional tennis player. Dementieva is most notable for winning the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She won 16 WTA singles titles and reached the finals of the 2004 French Open and 2004 US Open. Dementieva achieved a...
6-3, 6-2 in the final.
Kleybanova's good form continued into the 2010 BNP Paribas Open
2010 BNP Paribas Open
The 2010 BNP Paribas Open was a tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in March 2010. It was the 36th edition of the event, known this year as the BNP Paribas Open, and is classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2010 ATP World Tour and a Premier Mandatory event on...
where she was seeded 23rd. She, like all seeds, received a bye into the second round where she then defeated qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova
Tsvetana Pironkova
Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova is a female Bulgarian tennis player. She was born and lives in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Pironkova is right-handed and plays with a two-handed backhand....
6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1. In the third round she overcame another tight three-setter, defeating former World No.1, 2009 US Open Champion and No. 14 seed Kim Clijsters
Kim Clijsters
Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters is a Belgian professional tennis player. As of 7 November 2011, Clijsters is ranked No. 13 in singles. Clijsters is a former World No. 1 in both singles and doubles....
6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4). In the fourth round she came back from a set down and had to work hard to defeat an in-form Carla Suárez Navarro
Carla Suarez Navarro
Carla Suárez Navarro is a Spanish tennis player. She began playing for Spain in the 2008 Fed Cup. On May 18, 2009, she reached her career high ranking at World No. 22.-2008:...
(who took out the top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova ; born June 27, 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player and as of October 10, 2011 ranked No. 21 in the WTA singles and No. 90 in the doubles ranking. Kuznetsova has appeared in four singles Grand Slam finals, winning two, and has also appeared in six doubles...
in the second round) 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-4. Kleybanova played Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...
in the quarter-final.This time,Jelena celebrated,winning 6-4, 6-4
2011
Alisa Kleybanova's 2011 tour started off on a bad note as she lost to wildcard Sally PeersSally Peers
Sally Peers is an Australian professional tennis player. She plays right-handed, with a double-handed backhand. Her career high WTA singles ranking is world no. 153, which she reached on 20 September 2010 & her career high doubles ranking is world no. 89 which she reached on 8 November 2010, while...
3-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the first round in the 2011 Brisbane International
2011 Brisbane International
The 2011 Brisbane International was a joint ATP and WTA tennis tournament, played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 3rd edition of the tournament and took place at the Queensland Tennis Centre in Tennyson, Brisbane. It was held from 2 to 9 January...
but fared better at doubles, winning with Russian compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Anastasia Sergeyevna Pavlyuchenkova is a Russian professional tennis player and a multiple junior Grand Slam champion. Her career-high rank of World No. 13 was achieved on 4 July 2011. From July 2007 to September 2009 she was coached at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France...
for her 4th WTA doubles title.
She went off on a better note at the 2011 Medibank International Sydney
2011 Medibank International Sydney
The 2011 Medibank International Sydney was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 119th edition of the Medibank International Sydney, and part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2011 ATP World Tour, and of the WTA Premier tournaments of the 2011 WTA Tour...
by upsetting #5 seed Francesca Schiavone
Francesca Schiavone
Francesca Schiavone is an Italian tennis player who turned professional in 1998. She won the 2010 French Open singles title, becoming the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam event in singles. She was also runner-up at the 2011 French Open. As of 24 October 2011, Schiavone's ranking is World...
in three sets 6(5)-7, 6-1, 6-2 and prevailing over María José Martínez Sánchez
María José Martínez Sánchez
María José Martínez Sánchez is a Spanish professional tennis player. In singles, she has won five WTA singles titles, the 2009 Copa Sony Ericsson Colsanitas, the 2009 Swedish Open, the Premier 5 event, 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, the 2011 Gastein Ladies and the 2011 Hansol Korea Open. She...
6-2, 6-4. After defeating Dominika Cibulková
Dominika Cibulková
Dominika Cibulková is a Slovak professional tennis player. She is also a former World Junior No. 3, achieving that ranking in May 2005. Her career-high ranking of World No. 12 was achieved on 6 July 2009...
3-6, 7-5, 2-6, she would lose to #3 seed Kim Clijsters
Kim Clijsters
Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters is a Belgian professional tennis player. As of 7 November 2011, Clijsters is ranked No. 13 in singles. Clijsters is a former World No. 1 in both singles and doubles....
6-4, 3-6, 6(1)-7.
At the 2011 BNP Paribas Open
2011 BNP Paribas Open
The 2011 BNP Paribas Open was a tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in March 2011. It was the 36th edition of the event, known as the BNP Paribas Open, and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2011 ATP World Tour and a Premier Mandatory event on the 2011...
, Kleybanova went on to reach the fourth round where she lost to World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki
Caroline Wozniacki
Caroline Wozniacki is a Danish professional tennis player. She is the current world no. 1 on the WTA Tour. As of 7 November 2011, she has held this position for 56 weeks...
in three sets 6-2, 3-6, 1-6.
She had to withdraw from the 2011 French Open
2011 French Open
The 2011 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 110th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year...
due to illness and was thus replaced by Anastasia Pivovarova
Anastasia Pivovarova
Anastasia Olegovna Pivovarova is a professional tennis player from Russia.Pivovarova was born in Moscow, Russia and is a right-handed player. She reached a career high of 115 in July 2010. During a successful junior career Pivovarova was ranked as high as number 2.- Biography :Anastasia Pivovarova...
. However, she remained seeded, because she withdrew late from the tournament.
On July 14, it was revealed that Alisa had been diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Hodgkin's lymphoma
Hodgkin's lymphoma, previously known as Hodgkin's disease, is a type of lymphoma, which is a cancer originating from white blood cells called lymphocytes...
. This provides an explanation to her withdrawals from tournaments in Roland Garros and Wimbledon. She is currently undergoing treatment in Italy, her last tournament being played in Rome.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/tennis/07/15/tennis.russia.kleybanova.cancer/index.html?hpt=hp_p1