MATCH NOTES VARVARA GRACHEVA (RUS #101) Vs
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MATCH NOTES PRAGUE - CZECH REPUBLIC | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2020 | $225,500 | INTERNATIONAL VARVARA GRACHEVA (RUS #101) vs. [2] PETRA MARTIC (CRO #14) Head to Head: First meeting VARVARA GRACHEVA PETRA MARTIC 101 WTA RANKING 14 183 PORSCHE RACE TO SHENZHEN LEADERBOARD 26 02-08-2000 (20) DATE OF BIRTH (AGE) 19-01-1991 (29) $45,494 YTD PRIZE MONEY $302,480 $155,797 CAREER PRIZE MONEY $5,128,866 0 / 0 SINGLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER) 0 / 1 0 / 0 DOUBLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER) 0 / 0 0-0 PRAGUE W-L (MD) * 0-0 0-0 / 2-3 YTD / CAREER W-L (MD) * 8-6 / 133-127 0-0 / 1-2 YTD / CAREER 3-SET W-L (MD) * 2-3 / 56-35 0-0 / 0-2 YTD / CAREER TIE-BREAK W-L (MD) * 3-2 / 32-30 0-0 / 0-1 YTD / CAREER CLAY W-L (MD) * 3-1 / 47-37 0-0 / 0-1 YTD / CAREER Left Hander W-L (MD) * 0-1 / 8-11 0-0 / 0-0 YTD / CAREER TOP 5 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-0 / 2-14 0-0 / 0-0 YTD / CAREER TOP 10 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-0 / 4-28 0-0 / 0-0 YTD / CAREER TOP 20 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-1 / 15-46 * Updated entering 2020 Prague 1r GRACHEVA: • Making debut at Prague Open this week – the fourth WTA main draw appearance of her career • Faces No.14 Martic in 1r; highest-ranked opponent faced prior to today was No.31 Hsieh at 2019 Washington DC (l. 7-5 4-6 7-6(6)), while best win was over No.51 Tomljanovic at 2019 Moscow • Previous WTA main draw appearances all came last year: 2r showings at Washington DC and Moscow, and a 1r exit at Lausanne • Playing here one spot off career-high ranking of No.100 (achieved March 2, 2020) • Last week fell in qualifying at Palermo (l. Trevisan). Also contested qualifying this year at Shenzhen, Australian Open, St. Petersburg and Doha • Ended 2019 at No.105, nearly 300 places up from her 2018 finish after a campaign in which she posted a 70-26 win-loss record, lifting five titles on the ITF Circuit, including at $60K Valencia and $60K Saint-Malo • Recorded first WTA victory during 2r run at 2019 Washington DC (as qualifier, d. Blinkova, l. Hsieh). Made debut on WTA Tour as a qualifier at Lausanne, losing in 1r to X.Han and Grand Slam qualifying debut at US Open Insights Follow WTA on Twitter: www.twitter.com/WTA Facebook: www.facebook.com/WTA YouTube: www.youtube.com/WTA from • During 2018 season, won second ITF Circuit title of career at $15k/Antalya-TUR and reached three other QFs at this level • Fell 1r on WTA debut (main draw and qualifying) at 2019 Lausanne (as qualifier, l. X.Han) • On ITF Circuit, winner of seven singles titles • Played first professional events of career on ITF Circuit in Egypt in 2016 • Mother is a tennis coach at a sports centre in Zhukovsky, Moscow and introduced her to tennis • Trains with Jean-Rene Lisnard at his Academy in Cannes; also often travels with Eric Dimaggio MARTIC: • Making debut at Prague Open this week • Currently ranked at a career-high No.14 (first achieved January 13, 2020) • Faces No.1 Gracheva in 1r today; solitary loss to a player ranked outside Top 100 in 2020 was against No.134 Wang Xiyu at Hua Hin • Coming off SF run last week at Palermo (l. Kontaveit); has now won 18 of her past 22 matches on clay and made QF or better result in all six clay tournaments contested since 2018 Bucharest • During her break from tennis this year, the Croatian spent time honing her cooking skills (read more about Martic’s time away on wtatennis.com) • Prior to hiatus in March, best result of 2020 was SF run in Dubai (l. Rybakina), other results were 2r finishes at Auckland (l. Cornet) and Australian Open (l. Goerges), and 1r exits at Hua Hin (l. Wang Xiyu) and Doha (l. Strycova) • Posted best season finish of career in 2019, at her then-career-high ranking of No.15 (first achieved October 21, 2019). Lifted maiden career WTA title at Istanbul (d. Vondrousova in F) • Advanced to first Grand Slam QF of career at 2019 Roland Garros (l. eventual runner-up Vondrousova); upset No.2 seed and No.2-ranked Ka.Pliskova in 3r to register fourth Top 10 win of career (and best by ranking) • Also in 2019, enjoyed R16 runs at both Wimbledon (l. Svitolina) and US Open (l. eventual R-Up S.Williams) • Finished R-Up at Zhengzhou before qualifying for the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai for the first time (fell at RR stage) • In 2018, finished R-Up at Bucharest (l. Sevastova), posted QF showing at Indian Wells and made R16 at Australian Open • In 2017, notched first Top 20 win in nearly five years over No.13 Keys at Roland Garros • In April 2017 played her first event after 10 months out with a back injury, coming through qualifying to win $25k ITF/Santa Margherita Di Pula-ITA • Made Top 100 debut on September 14, 2009 (after US Open; rose from No.137 to No.89) and enjoyed a Top 50 season in 2011, finishing at No.49 • Member of Croatian Fed Cup Team 2008-2010, 2012, 2014 • Fell 1r on WTA main draw debut as a WC at 2007 Miami • Made professional debut on ITF Circuit in Croatia in 2005 • Coached by Martijn Bok MATCH NOTES PRAGUE - CZECH REPUBLIC | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2020 | $225,500 | INTERNATIONAL [1] SIMONA HALEP (ROU #2) vs. POLONA HERCOG (SLO #46) Head to Head: SIMONA HALEP leads 2-1 2019 EASTBOURNE GRASS O R16 SIMONA HALEP 6-1 4-6 6-3 109 mins 2019 MIAMI HARD O R3 SIMONA HALEP 5-7 7-6(1) 6-2 170 mins 2009 ITF/SOFIA CLAY O R1 POLONA HERCOG 7-6(3) 1-6 6-2 N/A SIMONA HALEP POLONA HERCOG 2 WTA RANKING 46 4 PORSCHE RACE TO SHENZHEN LEADERBOARD 166 27-09-1991 (28) DATE OF BIRTH (AGE) 20-01-1991 (29) $1,443,834 YTD PRIZE MONEY $105,430 $36,551,855 CAREER PRIZE MONEY $3,683,196 1 / 20 SINGLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER) 0 / 3 0 / 1 DOUBLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER) 0 / 2 0-0 PRAGUE W-L (MD) * 1-1 10-2 / 380-170 YTD / CAREER W-L (MD) * 1-3 / 155-194 3-0 / 113-57 YTD / CAREER 3-SET W-L (MD) * 0-0 / 46-66 3-1 / 50-56 YTD / CAREER TIE-BREAK W-L (MD) * 0-1 / 33-51 0-0 / 120-45 YTD / CAREER CLAY W-L (MD) * 0-1 / 86-63 0-0 / 35-15 YTD / CAREER Left Hander W-L (MD) * 0-0 / 14-22 0-0 / 12-29 YTD / CAREER TOP 5 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-1 / 0-13 0-0 / 39-49 YTD / CAREER TOP 10 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-1 / 1-30 3-1 / 102-76 YTD / CAREER TOP 20 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-1 / 9-48 * Updated entering 2020 Prague 1r "-Q" Qualifying match Rnd Result Duration PRAGUE Tournament History POLONA HERCOG 2015 R16 L - KATERINA SINIAKOVA (CZE #76) 6-1 6-4 Insights Follow WTA on Twitter: www.twitter.com/WTA Facebook: www.facebook.com/WTA YouTube: www.youtube.com/WTA from HALEP: Playing Prague Open for the first time; last appearance on Czech soil was during 2019’s Fed Cup World Group quarterfinal, where she won singles rubbers against Siniakova and Ka.Pliskova to inspire Romania to a 3-2 victory No.1 seed this week; the top seed has prevailed once in Prague, during the inaugural staging in 2015 when Ka.Pliskova claimed the title Faces No.46 Hercog in 1r; in terms of ranking, a loss today would be her worst in a completed match since being upset by No.116 Townsend at 2019 US Open (also retired w/back injury vs. No.50 Rybakina at 2019 Wuhan) Used tennis’s hiatus in 2020 to recover from a foot injury that had ruled her out of Indian Wells in March and spend time with her family (read more in her exclusive WTA Insider interview on wtatennis.com) Owns an excellent record on clay, winning seven titles on the surface; only two active players have won more – S.Williams (13) and V.Williams (nine) Including this week, has been ranked inside the Top 10 for 342 consecutive weeks – the 10th longest streak in WTA history In her final event before the tour’s shutdown in March, lifted her 20th career title, drawing her level with Azarenka in fifth place on the list of active title winners (behind S.Williams, V.Williams, Clijsters and Kvitova); win over Jabeur en route to title was her 500th (including ITF Circuit and qualifying) Began 2020 season by reaching QF at Adelaide (l. Sabalenka) and SF at Australian Open (l. Muguruza) Ended 2019 ranked No.4 for sixth consecutive year in the Top 5; campaign highlighted by winning second career Grand Slam title at Wimbledon (d. S.Williams in F) Last season, also finished R-Up at Madrid (l. Bertens) and QF at Roland Garros (as defending champion, l. Anisimova) and Toronto (ret. vs. Bouzova w/Achilles pain) Ended 2018 as World No.1 for the second time in her career, with season highlighted by maiden Grand Slam title at Roland Garros (d. Stephens in F). Also won titles that year at Shenzhen (d.