Abigail Spears
Abigail Michal Spears (born July 12, 1981)[1] is a professional tennis player from the United States.
Spears at the 2009 US Open | |
Country (sports) | |
---|---|
Residence | Colorado Springs, Colorado |
Born | San Diego, California | July 12, 1981
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) |
Turned pro | October 2000 |
Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
Coach | Larry Willens |
Prize money | $2,994,112 |
Singles | |
Career record | 285–262 (52.1%) |
Career titles | 8 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 66 (June 6, 2005) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | 3R (2005) |
French Open | 1R (2005) |
Wimbledon | 1R (2005) |
US Open | 1R (2004, 2005) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 555–411 (57.5%) |
Career titles | 21 WTA, 21 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 10 (March 2, 2015) |
Current ranking | No. 37 (February 3, 2020) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | SF (2014) |
French Open | 3R (2004) |
Wimbledon | SF (2015, 2016, 2018) |
US Open | QF (2008) |
Mixed doubles | |
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |
Australian Open | W (2017) |
French Open | QF (2018) |
Wimbledon | QF (2018) |
US Open | F (2013, 2014) |
Last updated on: February 3, 2020. |
Biography
2000–2011
Spears turned professional in 2000.[2] She reached the third round at the 2005 Australian Open,[3] and the first round at the 2005 French Open, 2005 Wimbledon tournament (where she also reached the third round in the doubles tournament with Lisa McShea) and the 2005 US Open.[4][5] She reached the third round at the 2008 Wimbledon doubles tournament with Raquel Kops-Jones, and the duo bettered that result by reaching the quarterfinals at the 2008 US Open.
Spears also qualified in singles for the US Open twice.[6] She achieved a singles ranking of world No. 66 on June 6, 2005. Her highest doubles ranking was world No. 11 on June 24, 2013. Spears has not won a WTA singles title, but as of the end of December 2018, she has won 21 WTA doubles titles.[2] She participated in the US Open doubles draw eleven times between 1998 and 2010.[6]
2012
Spears and compatriot Raquel Kops-Jones were one of the most successful doubles team of the 2012 season, winning four titles at Carlsbad, Seoul, Tokyo and Osaka. The pair also reached two other finals and also the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.
2017: Grand Slam breakthrough
2017 was expected to be Spears' farewell year on tour.[7] At the Australian Open, she partnered with Juan Sebastián Cabal to win the mixed-doubles tournament. In the final, they defeated the second seeded team of Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig 6–2, 6–4. The American-Colombian duo recovered from a 1–4 deficit in the second set to reel off five straight games to clinch the title. It was a revenge match for Spears, having lost to Mirza the last time Spears made it to a Grand Slam final, losing 9–11 in the super tiebreak to Mirza and Bruno Soares at the 2014 US Open. Spears has continued to play on tour and has not retired.
Significant finals
Grand Slam finals
Mixed Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 2013 | US Open | Hard | 6–7(5–7), 3–6 | ||
Runner-up | 2014 | US Open | Hard | 1–6, 6–2, [9–11] | ||
Winner | 2017 | Australian Open | Hard | 6–2, 6–4 |
Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 finals
Doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 2012 | Doha | Hard | 3–6, 1–6 | ||
Winner | 2012 | Tokyo | Hard | 6–1, 6–4 | ||
Winner | 2014 | Cincinnati | Hard | 6–1, 2–0 ret. |
WTA career finals
Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)
Winner — Legend |
---|
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) |
Tour Championships (0–0) |
Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0) |
Tier II / Premier (0–0) |
Tier III, IV & V / International (0–1) |
Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 1. | November 7, 2004 | Bell Challenge, Quebec City, Canada | Hard | 5–7, 6–3, 2–6 |
Doubles: 31 (21 titles, 10 runner-ups)
Winner — Legend |
---|
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) |
Tour Championships (0–0) |
Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (2–1) |
Tier II / Premier (8–5) |
Tier III, IV & V / International (11–4) |
Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Win | 1. | January 5, 2003 | Auckland Open, New Zealand | Hard | 6–2, 2–6, 6–0 | ||
Win | 2. | August 15, 2004 | Odlum Brown Vancouver Open, Canada | Hard | 6–3, 6–3 | ||
Loss | 1. | February 19, 2005 | Cellular South Cup, United States | Hard | 3–6, 4–6 | ||
Win | 3. | July 24, 2005 | Western & Southern Women's Open, United States | Hard | 3–6, 6–2, 6–4 | ||
Win | 4. | May 10, 2009 | Estoril Open, Portugal | Clay | 2–6, 6–3, [10–5] | ||
Loss | 2. | June 14, 2009 | Aegon Classic, Birmingham, Great Britain | Grass | 1–6, 4–6 | ||
Win | 5. | September 27, 2009 | Hansol Korea Open, Seoul, South Korea | Hard | 6–3, 6–4 | ||
Loss | 3. | October 18, 2009 | HP Open, Osaka, Japan | Hard | 2–6, 4–6 | ||
Loss | 4. | August 7, 2011 | Mercury Insurance Open, San Diego, United States | Hard | 0–6, 2–6 | ||
Win | 6. | September 18, 2011 | Bell Challenge, Quebec City | Hard | 6–0, 3–6, [10–6] | ||
Loss | 5. | January 7, 2012 | Brisbane International, Australia | Hard | 6–7(2–7), 6–7(2–7) | ||
Loss | 6. | February 19, 2012 | Qatar Ladies Open, Doha | Hard | 3–6, 1–6 | ||
Win | 7. | July 23, 2012 | Mercury Insurance Open, Carlsbad, United States | Hard | 6–2, 6–4 | ||
Win | 8. | September 23, 2012 | Hansol Korea Open, Seoul | Hard | 2–6, 6–2, [10–8] | ||
Win | 9. | September 29, 2012 | Toray Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo, Japan | Hard | 6–1, 6–4 | ||
Win | 10. | October 14, 2012 | HP Open, Osaka | Hard | 6–1, 6–4 | ||
Win | 11. | July 29, 2013 | Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, United States | Hard | 6–2, 7–6(7–4) | ||
Win | 12. | August 5, 2013 | Southern California Open, Carlsbad, United States | Hard | 6–4, 6–1 | ||
Loss | 7. | September 22, 2013 | KDB Korea Open, Seoul | Hard | 5–7, 3–6 | ||
Loss | 8. | February 22, 2014 | Dubai Tennis Championships, United Arab Emirates | Hard | 2–6, 7–5, [8–10] | ||
Win | 13. | June 15, 2014 | Aegon Classic, Birmingham | Grass | 7–6(7–1), 6–1 | ||
Win | 14. | August 18, 2014 | Cincinnati Masters, United States | Hard | 6–1, 2–0 ret. | ||
Loss | 9. | January 16, 2015 | Apia International Sydney, Australia | Hard | 3–6, 3–6 | ||
Win | 15. | February 28, 2015 | Qatar Total Open, Doha | Hard | 6–4, 6–4 | ||
Win | 16. | June 14, 2015 | Aegon Nottingham Open, Great Britain | Grass | 3–6, 6–3, [11–9] | ||
Win | 17. | October 18, 2015 | Generali Ladies Linz, Austria | Hard | 6–3, 7–5 | ||
Win | 18. | July 23, 2016 | Bank of the West Classic, Stanford | Hard | 6–3, 6–4 | ||
Win | 19. | February 18, 2017 | Qatar Total Open, Doha | Hard | 6–3, 7–6(9–7) | ||
Loss | 10. | April 30, 2017 | Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart, Germany | Clay (i) | 4–6, 4–6 | ||
Win | 20. | August 6, 2017 | Bank of the West Classic, Stanford | Hard | 6–2, 6–3 | ||
Win | 21. | June 17, 2018 | Nottingham Open, Great Britain | Grass | 6–3, 7–6(7–5) |
Grand Slam performance timelines
Singles
Tournament | 2004 | 2005 | SR | W–L | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam tournaments | |||||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | 3R | 0 / 1 | 2–1 | |||||||||||
French Open | A | 1R | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | |||||||||||
Wimbledon | A | 1R | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | |||||||||||
US Open | 1R | 1R | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | |||||||||||
Win-Loss | 0–1 | 2–4 | 0 / 5 | 2–5 |
Doubles
Tournament | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | SR | W–L | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | A | A | A | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | A | 2R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 2R | SF | QF | 2R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 0 / 16 | 15–16 | |||||
French Open | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 3R | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 0 / 14 | 9–14 | |||||
Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | A | 3R | 1R | 1R | 2R | QF | 3R | 3R | SF | SF | 1R | SF | 3R | 0 / 17 | 26–17 | |||||
US Open | 1R | 1R | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 0 / 21 | 11–21 | |||||
Win-Loss | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 2–3 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 5–2 | 1–4 | 0–4 | 3–4 | 6–4 | 4–4 | 7–4 | 9–4 | 6–4 | 1–4 | 5–4 | 6–4 | 0 / 68 | 61–68 | |||||
WTA Premier Mandatory tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indian Wells | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | QF | 1R | 1R | 2R | 0 / 14 | 8–14 | |||||
Miami | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | Q2 | A | A | A | QF | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | SF | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | QF | 0 / 11 | 8–11 | |||||
Madrid | Not Held | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | QF | QF | 2R | 1R | 1R | QF | 1R | 0 / 11 | 7–11 | |||||||||||||||
Beijing | Not Held | Not Tier I | A | A | QF | QF | QF | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | QF | 1R | 0 / 9 | 10–9 |
References
- "Abigail Spears: Profile". University of California, Los Angeles. Archived from the original on June 9, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
- "Abigail Spears: Info". Women's Tennis Association. Archived from the original on December 7, 2010. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
- Dillman, Lisa (January 21, 2005). "Nerves Have Been Her Toughest Opponent". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
- "Abigail Spears: Stats". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
- "Wimbledon 2005 Ladies' Doubles Championship" (PDF). Women's Tennis Association. p. 3. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
- "Women's Bios: Abigail Spears". US Open. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
- "Spears, Cabal win mixed doubles, continue 30s theme in Oz". USA Today. Melbourne. The Associated Press. January 29, 2017. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
Spears was striving to win her first Grand Slam title in her farewell year. She plans to retire at the end of this season after a career in which she was twice runner-up in mixed doubles finals with Mexican Santiago Gonzalez at the U.S. Open in 2013 and 2014.