Nicole Bradtke
Encyclopedia
Nicole Bradtke (born 22 September 1969, in Melbourne
) is a retired professional tennis
player from Australia.
Bradtke won three singles and nine doubles on the WTA Tour
in her career. She reached the semifinals of the 1988 French Open
, and won a bronze medal in doubles at the 1992 Summer Olympics
, partnering Rachel McQuillan
. In mixed doubles, she reached four Grand Slam finals, winning two of those partnering Mark Woodforde
. Bradtke reached career-high rankings of No. 24 in singles and No. 11 in doubles. She retired from professional tennis in 1997 after a shoulder injury.
with Darren Cahill
.
Bradtke burst into prominence in 1988, when she made the semifinals of the French Open
as a relative unknown. She beat two seeded players, Claudia Kohde-Kilsch
and Sylvia Hanika
, as well as Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
(who had earlier beaten Chris Evert
) before losing to Natasha Zvereva
, despite holding two match points.
In early 1989, she reached the top 30, but failed to fulfill her early promise and quickly settled into the lower top 100 range, despite making further fourth rounds at the 1989 Australian Open
and the 1990 French Open
and winning her first title at home in Brisbane in 1992. However, she went on to greater success in mixed doubles, winning both the 1992 Australian Open
and the 1992 US Open with her partner, Mark Woodforde
; and women's doubles, earning a bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics
.
She enjoyed a minor resurgence in singles in 1993, winning her second tour title in Kuala Lumpur and reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open
. She also earned her biggest career victory during that year, shockingly beating World No. 1 Steffi Graf
in a Fed Cup tie. Bradtke later helped Australia to reach the final, where they lost to the Spanish team.
After playing only eight events in 1994, she dropped out of the top 100, before recovering in 1995, earning another big victory over Gabriela Sabatini
at the tournament in Berlin and returning to the top 40 in the world.
She later retired after the 1997 Australian Open
.
, a former Australian professional basketball player, since 1994. Together they have two boys, Austin (born 2000) and Jensen (born 2004), and run an indoor sports centre in Melbourne. Currently she serves as a coach for the Australian Fed Cup team, as well as undertaking private coaching. She has worked with fellow Australians Samantha Stosur
and Alicia Molik
. In 2007, she joined the National High Performance Academy team.
Her sister, Natasha, is married to Todd Woodbridge
, making him her brother-in-law.
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
) is a retired professional tennis
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 from Australia.
Bradtke won three singles and nine doubles on the WTA Tour
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...
in her career. She reached the semifinals of the 1988 French Open
1988 French Open
List of the 1988 French Open champions:-Men's singles: Mats Wilander def. Henri Leconte, 7–5, 6–2, 6–1*It was Wilander's 6th career Grand Slam title, and his 3rd French Open title.-Women's singles: Steffi Graf def...
, and won a bronze medal in doubles at the 1992 Summer Olympics
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
, partnering Rachel McQuillan
Rachel McQuillan
Rachel McQuillan is a retired professional tennis player from Australia. She won 5 WTA Tour doubles titles, as well as 14 singles and 21 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. She reached the mixed doubles semifinals at the 1995 and 1998 French Opens and at the 1996 US Open, each time...
. In mixed doubles, she reached four Grand Slam finals, winning two of those partnering Mark Woodforde
Mark Woodforde
Mark Woodforde is a former professional tennis player from Australia. He is best known as one half of "The Woodies", a doubles partnership with Todd Woodbridge....
. Bradtke reached career-high rankings of No. 24 in singles and No. 11 in doubles. She retired from professional tennis in 1997 after a shoulder injury.
Professional career
Bradtke started playing tennis at the age of seven. She played her first professional match in 1985 and made her debut at the Australian Open later that year. She found early success in mixed doubles, finishing runner-up at the 1987 Wimbledon Championships1987 Wimbledon Championships
The 1987 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on :grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon in London in England...
with Darren Cahill
Darren Cahill
Darren Cahill is a tennis coach and former professional tennis player from Australia.Nicknamed "Killer", Cahill turned professional in 1984...
.
Bradtke burst into prominence in 1988, when she made the semifinals of the French Open
1988 French Open
List of the 1988 French Open champions:-Men's singles: Mats Wilander def. Henri Leconte, 7–5, 6–2, 6–1*It was Wilander's 6th career Grand Slam title, and his 3rd French Open title.-Women's singles: Steffi Graf def...
as a relative unknown. She beat two seeded players, Claudia Kohde-Kilsch
Claudia Kohde-Kilsch
Claudia Kohde-Kilsch is a former German tennis player. During her career, she won two women's doubles Grand Slam titles. She also won 10 singles titles and 26 doubles titles.-Career:...
and Sylvia Hanika
Sylvia Hanika
Sylvia Hanika is a former professional tennis player from Germany. She is best remembered for finishing runner-up at the French Open in 1981, and for winning the Avon Championships in 1982. She was ranked as high as No. 5 in the world and played left-handed.-Career:Hanika turned professional in 1977...
, as well as Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Aránzazu 'Arantxa' Isabel Maria Sánchez Vicario is a Spanish former professional tennis player...
(who had earlier beaten Chris Evert
Chris Evert
Christine Marie "Chris" Evert is a former world number 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships, including a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open. She was the year-ending World No...
) before losing to Natasha Zvereva
Natasha Zvereva
Natalya "Natasha" Zvereva, or Zverava is a former tennis player from Belarus. Zvereva was the first major athlete in the Soviet Union to demand publicly that she should be able to keep her tournament earnings...
, despite holding two match points.
In early 1989, she reached the top 30, but failed to fulfill her early promise and quickly settled into the lower top 100 range, despite making further fourth rounds at the 1989 Australian Open
1989 Australian Open
The 1989 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at Flinders Park in Melbourne in Victoria in Australia. It was the 77th edition of the Australian Open and was held from 16 through 29 January 1989.-Men's Singles:...
and the 1990 French Open
1990 French Open
List of the 1990 French Open Champions.-Men's singles: Andrés Gómez def. Andre Agassi, 6–3, 2–6, 6–4, 6–4*It was Gómez's 3rd title of the year, and his 20th overall. It was his 1st career Grand Slam title....
and winning her first title at home in Brisbane in 1992. However, she went on to greater success in mixed doubles, winning both the 1992 Australian Open
1992 Australian Open
The 1992 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at Flinders Park in Melbourne in Victoria in Australia. It was the 80th edition of the Australian Open and was held from 13 through 26 January 1992.-Men's Singles:...
and the 1992 US Open with her partner, Mark Woodforde
Mark Woodforde
Mark Woodforde is a former professional tennis player from Australia. He is best known as one half of "The Woodies", a doubles partnership with Todd Woodbridge....
; and women's doubles, earning a bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
.
She enjoyed a minor resurgence in singles in 1993, winning her second tour title in Kuala Lumpur and reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open
1993 Australian Open
The 1993 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at Flinders Park in Melbourne in Victoria in Australia. It was the 81st edition of the Australian Open and was held from 18 through 31 January 1993.-Men's Singles:...
. She also earned her biggest career victory during that year, shockingly beating World No. 1 Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf is a former World No. 1 German tennis player.In total, Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
in a Fed Cup tie. Bradtke later helped Australia to reach the final, where they lost to the Spanish team.
After playing only eight events in 1994, she dropped out of the top 100, before recovering in 1995, earning another big victory over Gabriela Sabatini
Gabriela Sabatini
Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini is a former professional Argentine tennis player. She was one of the leading players on the women's circuit in the late-1980s and early-1990s...
at the tournament in Berlin and returning to the top 40 in the world.
She later retired after the 1997 Australian Open
1997 Australian Open
The 1997 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at Melbourne Park in Melbourne in Victoria in Australia. It was the 85th edition of the Australian Open and was held from 13 through 26 January 1997.-Men's Singles:...
.
Personal
She is married to Mark BradtkeMark Bradtke
Mark Robert Bradtke is a retired Australian professional basketball player who played mainly in Australia's National Basketball League but also had a single stint in the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1996-97...
, a former Australian professional basketball player, since 1994. Together they have two boys, Austin (born 2000) and Jensen (born 2004), and run an indoor sports centre in Melbourne. Currently she serves as a coach for the Australian Fed Cup team, as well as undertaking private coaching. She has worked with fellow Australians Samantha Stosur
Samantha Stosur
Samantha "Sam" Jane Stosur is an Australian professional tennis player. She won the 2011 US Open singles title and was a finalist at the 2010 French Open. Stosur is ranked World No. 6 and her career high in singles is World No. 4, achieved on 21 February 2011. She is a former world No...
and Alicia Molik
Alicia Molik
Alicia Molik is a Australian professional female tennis player. She reached a career high singles rank of number 8 and also won a bronze medal for Australia at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Molik also reached a career high doubles ranking of number 6, and won two grand slam doubles titles, at the...
. In 2007, she joined the National High Performance Academy team.
Her sister, Natasha, is married to Todd Woodbridge
Todd Woodbridge
Todd Andrew Woodbridge is an Australian former tennis player. He was born in Sydney and turned professional in 1988. He is best known for his successful Doubles partnerships with Mark Woodforde and later Jonas Björkman...
, making him her brother-in-law.
Mixed doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents in the final | Score in the final |
| Runner-up | 1987 | Wimbledon | Grass |  Darren CahillDarren Cahill Darren Cahill is a tennis coach and former professional tennis player from Australia.Nicknamed "Killer", Cahill turned professional in 1984... |
 Jo DurieJo Durie Jo Durie is a former world number 5 professional tennis player from the United Kingdom. During her career, she won two Grand Slam titles, both in the mixed doubles.-Singles career:... Jeremy Bates |
7–6(10), 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 1990 1990 French Open List of the 1990 French Open Champions.-Men's singles: Andrés Gómez def. Andre Agassi, 6–3, 2–6, 6–4, 6–4*It was Gómez's 3rd title of the year, and his 20th overall. It was his 1st career Grand Slam title.... |
French Open | Clay |  Danie VisserDanie Visser Danie Visser is a former professional tennis player from South Africa. A doubles specialist, he won 3 Grand Slam men's doubles titles . Visser reached the World No. 1 doubles ranking in 1990.Visser won the first of 17 career doubles titles in 1985 at Bristol... |
 Arantxa Sánchez VicarioArantxa Sánchez Vicario Aránzazu 'Arantxa' Isabel Maria Sánchez Vicario is a Spanish former professional tennis player...  Jorge LozanoJorge Lozano Jorge Lozano is a retired professional tennis player from Mexico. On August 22, 1988, he reached his highest doubles ranking of World Number 4. His highest singles ranking was World Number 51. During his career, he won two mixed doubles titles at the French Open: in 1990 with Arantxa Sánchez, and... |
7–6(5), 7–6(8) |
| Winner | 1992 1992 Australian Open The 1992 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at Flinders Park in Melbourne in Victoria in Australia. It was the 80th edition of the Australian Open and was held from 13 through 26 January 1992.-Men's Singles:... |
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... |
Hard | Mark Woodforde Mark Woodforde Mark Woodforde is a former professional tennis player from Australia. He is best known as one half of "The Woodies", a doubles partnership with Todd Woodbridge.... |
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Aránzazu 'Arantxa' Isabel Maria Sánchez Vicario is a Spanish former professional tennis player... Todd WoodbridgeTodd Woodbridge Todd Andrew Woodbridge is an Australian former tennis player. He was born in Sydney and turned professional in 1988. He is best known for his successful Doubles partnerships with Mark Woodforde and later Jonas Björkman... |
6–3, 4–6, 11–9 |
| Winner | 1992 | US Open | Hard | Mark Woodforde Mark Woodforde Mark Woodforde is a former professional tennis player from Australia. He is best known as one half of "The Woodies", a doubles partnership with Todd Woodbridge.... |
 Helena SukováHelena Suková Helena Suková is a former professional tennis player from Czechia. During her career, she won 14 Grand Slam titles, 9 of them in women's doubles and 5 of them in mixed doubles...  Tom NijssenTom Nijssen Tom Nijssen is a former professional tennis player from the Netherlands.A doubles specialist, he won two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles with Manon Bollegraf, the French Open in 1989 and the U.S. Open in 1991. They were runner-up at the Wimbledon mixed doubles tournament in 1993. In 1992 Nijssen... |
4–6, 6–3, 6–3 |
Singles (3)
| Legend |
|---|
| WTA Championship (0) |
| Grand Slam (0) |
| Tier I (0) |
| Tier II (0) |
| Tier III (0) |
| Tier IV (3) |
| Tier V (0) |
Doubles (9)
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