Yvonne Meusburger

Yvonne Meusburger

Meusburger at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships
Country (sports)	Austria
Residence	Schwarzach, Austria
Born	3 October 1983 Dornbirn, Austria
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro	1999
Retired	2015
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$1,384,838
Singles
Career record	439–316
Career titles	1 WTA, 15 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 37 (31 March 2014)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	3R (2014)
French Open	2R (2010, 2014)
Wimbledon	2R (2007, 2014)
US Open	2R (2008, 2010)
Doubles
Career record	104–103
Career titles	0 WTA, 9 ITF
Highest ranking	104 (30 August 2010)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	1R (2008)
French Open	1R (2014)
Wimbledon	1R (2014)
US Open	1R (2007, 2013)

Yvonne Meusburger (born 3 October 1983) is an Austrian retired professional tennis player.

Meusburger won one singles title on the WTA tour, as well as fifteen singles and nine doubles titles on the ITF circuit in her career. On 31 March 2014, she reached her best singles ranking of world number 37. On 30 August 2010, she peaked at world number 104 in the doubles rankings.

Playing for Austria at the Fed Cup, Meusburger had a win-loss record of 8-21.

Tennis career

Meusburger made the second round of the 2010 Australian Open, French Open, and US Open. She lost to Russian Maria Kirilenko on all three occasions.

In June 2013, Meusburger entered the qualifying tournament of the Wimbledon Championships, defeating Nicole Gibbs, Tamarine Tanasugarn, and Sesil Karatantcheva for a spot in the main draw. She was drawn against fourth seed Agnieszka Radwańska and was knocked out in straight sets. Despite the loss, it was Meusburger's first Grand Slam appearance in nearly three years. The following month, she advanced to the final of the Budapest Grand Prix in Hungary, beating three seeded players en route. However, she lost in the final to third seed Simona Halep in three sets. Meusburger consequently re-entered the top 100 and overtook Tamira Paszek to become Austria's top-ranked women's player.

In July 2013, she won her first WTA singles title in Bad Gastein, defeating Andrea Hlaváčková. This win, along with a successful end to the 2013 season, meant that, at the age of 30, Meusburger's ranking moved into the world's top 50 for the first time in her career.

Ranked 49 in the world, Meusburger reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career at the 2014 Australian Open. En route, she defeated Chanelle Scheepers and 33rd seed Bojana Jovanovski. In the third round, she was defeated by second seed Victoria Azarenka.

Logging quarterfinal appearances in Katowice and Marrakech, Meusburger entered the 2014 French Open with confidence, recording a three-set win over French wildcard Amandine Hesse in the first round. She would progress no further; however, as she was eliminated by 2010 finalist Samantha Stosur in their second round encounter.

Meusburger continued her resurgence at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships. Having defeated Vania King at the first hurdle, she advanced to the second round but was defeated there by Li Na.

Meusburger returned to defend her title at the 2014 Gastein Ladies and started off well when she defeated qualifier Tereza Smitková in a match lasting nearly three hours. However, she was unable to follow the win up and was beaten in the second round by Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa. It was Meusburger's least successful performance ever in Bad Gastein, as she had reached the quarterfinals or better of the tournament since its debut in 2007.

Meusburger played her last professional match at the 2014 US Open, announcing her retirement following a first-round loss to Karolína Plíšková of the Czech Republic.

In December 2014, Meusburger announced that she would come out of retirement to play one more tournament—the 2015 Australian Open—telling the Austria Press Agency that she wanted to end her career at the tournament because it was the first Grand Slam she contested was the 2006 Australian Open.^[1]

Meusburger played her final career match against 29th seed Australian Casey Dellacqua at the following 2015 Australian Open. She lost 4-6, 0-6.

Playing style

Meusburger is fit and an excellent mover, often outlasting her opponents during matches. She uses her compact groundstrokes to consistently hit flat groundstrokes and positions the ball well. Her weak serve has been a major hindrance throughout her career, especially against top players, whom are able to attack her serve and place her in a defensive position. However, Meusburger is an excellent returner, winning the most points for first-serve returns during the 2013 season; she was also in the top 10 for second-serve returns and return games won. Meusburger has enjoyed her greatest success on clay courts, having reached three WTA finals on this particular surface.

WTA career finals

Singles: 3 (1-2)

Winner — Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) WTA Tour Championships (0–0) Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0) Premier (0–0) International (1–2)

Titles by Surface Hard (0–0) Grass (0–0) Clay (1–2) Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1.	29 July 2007	Gastein Ladies, Bad Gastein, Austria	Clay	Francesca Schiavone	1-6, 4-6
Runner-up	2.	14 July 2013	Budapest Grand Prix, Budapest, Hungary	Clay	Simona Halep	3–6, 7–6^(9–7), 1–6
Winner	1.	21 July 2013	Gastein Ladies, Bad Gastein, Austria	Clay	Andrea Hlaváčková	7–5, 6–2

Singles performance timeline

Tournament	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	Q1	1R	Q2	Q2	1R	2R	A	Q3	A	3R	1R	3–6
French Open	1R	Q1	1R	1R	1R	2R	Q2	Q2	Q3	2R	A	2–6
Wimbledon	Q2	Q1	2R	1R	Q2	1R	Q2	Q2	1R	2R	A	2–5
US Open	Q2	Q1	1R	2R	1R	2R	Q1	Q2	1R	1R	A	2–6
Win–Loss	0–1	0–1	1–3	2–4	0–3	3–4	0–0	0–0	0–2	4-4	0-1	10-22

Doubles performance timeline

Tournament	2007	2008	2013	2014	W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open		1R		1R	0–2
French Open				1R	0–1
Wimbledon				1R	0–1
US Open	1R		1R		0–2
Win–Loss	0–1	0–1	0–1	0–1	0–4

References

1. "Yvonne Meusburger: Proper farewell". ESPN. Associated Press. Retrieved 8 December 2014.

External links

• Yvonne Meusburger at the Women's Tennis Association
• Yvonne Meusburger at the International Tennis Federation