Barbara Schett

Barbara Schett Eagle (German pronunciation: [ˈbaɐ̯baʁa ˈʃɛt]; born 10 March 1976) is an Austrian former professional tennis player, who reached her highest singles ranking of world No. 7 in September 1999. Between 1993 and 2004 she played in 48 matches for the Austria Fed Cup team, winning 30. She also represented Austria at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in singles and doubles, reaching the quarterfinals of the singles event. She retired after the 2005 Australian Open and now works for Eurosport as a commentator and presenter.

Barbara Schett

Full name	Barbara Schett Eagle
Country (sports)	Austria
Born	(1976-03-10) 10 March 1976 Innsbruck, Austria
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro	1992
Retired	2005
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$3,109,510
Singles
Career record	349–279
Career titles	3 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 7 (13 September 1999)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	4R (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000)
French Open	4R (2000, 2001)
Wimbledon	4R (1999)
US Open	QF (1999)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	QF (1999)
Olympic Games	QF (2000)
Doubles
Career record	214–179
Career titles	10 WTA, 0 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 8 (15 January 2001)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	SF (2000)
French Open	QF (1998, 2000, 2001, 2003)
Wimbledon	4R (2000, 2002, 2004)
US Open	SF (1999, 2004)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games	1R (2000)
Mixed doubles
Career record	21–16
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open	F (2001)
French Open	2R (2002, 2003)
Wimbledon	SF (2000)
US Open	QF (2000)

Tennis career

1991–1995

Barbara Schett made her debut at the WTA Tour as a wildcard entrant for the tournament in Kitzbühel. She played mostly at the ITF Circuit, and won the ITF tournament in Zaragoza in 1992. In 1993, Schett broke into the top 200, and reached the quarterfinals at Kitzbühel and Montpellier. In Kitzbühel, Schett defeated world No. 17 Katerina Maleeva in the third round, and lost in the quarterfinals to Judith Wiesner.

In 1994, Schett played her first Grand Slam tournament, qualifying at the Australian Open. She fell in the second round of qualifications.[1] Schett reached her first semifinal at the WTA Tour at the Generali Ladies Linz, losing to Sabine Appelmans. She made her grand slam debut at the French Open, but was defeated in the first round. On 4 April 1994, Schett broke into the top 100 at No. 99.[1] The following year, she reached the semifinal of the Internazionali Femminili di Palermo and the quarterfinal of the ECM Prague Open, and also made her Fed Cup debut for Austria versus the United States.

1996

Having started the season playing at the ASB Classic in Auckland, and the Medibank International in Sydney, Schett reached the fourth round at the Australian Open, losing to German player Anke Huber. In the third round, she defeated Helena Suková.

The year's singles highlights of Schett include the quarterfinal of the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, her first title at the Internazionali Femminili di Palermo (victory over Sabine Hack), the first Tier I semifinal at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, and the defeat over world No. 8 Magdalena Maleeva at the Bausch & Lomb Championships. That was her first victory over the top-10 player. She also played for Austria in the Fed Cup versus Germany, losing her singles match to Steffi Graf.[1] Schett also reached the semifinals of the Mutua Madrileña (with Patty Schnyder), the Palermo title (with Janette Husárová) and the final of the Tier I Kremlin Cup (with Silvia Farina Elia, losing to the second seeds Natalia Medvedeva and Larisa Neiland). This was the first year that Schett finished as a top 50 player, at the No. 38.[1]

1997

She started the season with the loss at the first round of ASB Classic in Auckland, and then lost at the Hobart International, also in the first round. She reached the third round of the Australian Open, losing to the fourth seed and eventual winner Martina Hingis. Schett then made the chain of three consecutive first-round losses, at the Open Gaz de France (Paris), in Hanover and at the Pacific Life Open (Indian Wells).

She then reached the fourth round of Miami Masters (lost to Iva Majoli in three sets, 2–6, 6–4, 2–6) and the third round in Hilton Head (lost to Martina Hingis with 3–6, 3–6). Schett reached the second round of Bausch & Lomb Championships (lost in the second round to Jana Novotná), the quarterfinals in Hamburg (lost to Ruxandra Dragomir), the second round of the Italian Open (lost to Monica Seles) and the second round of the German Open (lost to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario). Playing with Silvia Farina Elia, Schett reached the semifinals of the women's doubles tournament in Paris, and the quarterfinals of Hanover and Rome (Rome with Patty Schnyder). At the second Grand Slam tournament of the season, the French Open, Schett retired from her first-round match. Her next tournament was at Wimbledon where she lost in the second round to Magdalena Grzybowska (6–4, 3–6, 2–6).

Schett then reached her first consecutive final at Palermo, but lost to the second seed Sandrine Testud; also won the doubles title with Silvia Farina Elia. She then lost in the first round of J&S Cup in Warsaw to Virginia Ruano Pascual. Schett won her second tournament at the WTA Austria tournament in her native Austria, in Maria Lankowitz. She defeated Henrieta Nagyová in the final. She then made the chain of four consecutive second round losses, at the Atlanta tournament (lost to Sarah Pitkowski), US Open (lost to Kimberly Po), in Leipzig (lost to Iva Majoli) and in Filderstadt (lost to Anna Kournikova).

Schett finished the 1997 season at the Zurich Open. She retired from her match of the first round, played against Ai Sugiyama.

1998

Schett lost in the first round of ASB Classic to Julie Halard-Decugis; then reached the quarterfinal of Moorilla Hobart International (lost to Patty Schnyder). She also reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, but was defeated by Conchita Martínez in straight sets, 6–3, 6–3. After losses in early phases of the tournaments (Open Gaz de France, Hanover, Indian Wells, Miami, Hilton Head and Amelia Island), Schett reached the semifinal in Hamburg; she lost to the first seed Martina Hingis. In Hamburg, she also captured the doubles title with Patty Schnyder.

Schett lost in the second round of both the Italian Open and the German Open, but then reached the semifinals of Mutua Madrileña (lost to Dominique van Roost). She lost to Adriana Gerši in the first round of French Open, and then to Venus Williams in the second round of Wimbledon Championships. Schett reached the quarterfinal of WTA Austria, losing to Emmanuelle Gagliardi. She then reached her fourth consecutive final at the Internazionali Femminili di Palermo, but was defeated by Patty Schnyder. In Boston, she played her second consecutive final, but lost to Mariaan de Swardt. After the first round losses at the Du Maurier Open and Pilot Pen Tennis New Heaven, she lost to Amanda Coetzer in the third round of US Open.

Schett lost in the first round of Filderstadt to Anna Kournikova in three sets, 6–1, 4–6, 6–7⁽⁵⁾. She then lost to Nathalie Tauziat in the quarterfinal the Zurich Open and to Monica Seles in the second round of the Kremlin Cup. She then lost in the second round of both Fortis Championships Luxembourg (lost to Ai Sugiyama) and Leipzig (lost to Anke Huber).

1999–2005

1999 – Schett's first top-10 finish, winning $725,865 (career-best) and scoring 47 Tour singles wins (equal fourth on Tour for season). Defeated world No. 9 Conchita Martínez and No. 4 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario en route to Sydney semifinal (lost to No. 2 Hingis 6–7 third set). Reached her first Tier I final at Moscow, and Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open. Broke into the top 10 at a career-high No. 7 following US Open (13 September) and reached the semifinals at Auckland and Hamburg. Also qualified for the WTA Tour Championships and Grand Slam Cup.

2000 – Won her third career singles title at Klagenfurt. Recorded victories over No. 5 seed Amanda Coetzer and No. 3 Nathalie Tauziat en route to Zurich semifinal. Reached six more quarterfinals, but also struggled with nagging injuries. She withdrew from Paris & Hanover in February with a stomach muscle injury, retired at Hamburg & withdrew from Strasbourg in May with a sinus infection and retired at Linz with an infected right toe.

2001 – Semifinalist at Doha (l. to Hingis) and quarterfinalist at Vienna and Moscow. First victory over a world No. 2 in six meetings, against Venus Williams at the French Open. Won the Sydney doubles title (with Kournikova), reaching a career-high No. 8 doubles ranking afterwards (15 January) then went on to the Australian Open as mixed doubles runner-up (with Eagle).

2002 – Seventh consecutive top-50 finish, reaching five quarterfinals, including the Canadian Open (with world No. 15 Rubin and No. 7 Clijsters, marking fourth time in her career she defeated two top-20 players in one tournament). Also won the Hamburg doubles (with Hingis). Otherwise, she obtained an invite from Hong Kong Tennis Patrons' Association to play The Hong Kong Ladies Challenge.

2003 – Apart from reaching the Madrid semifinal (first in more than two years), Gold Coast quarterfinal and Roland Garros 3rd round, she did not win consecutive matches all season. In doubles she won Paris (indoors, with Schnyder) and reached the Hobart final (with Wartusch). At the French Open, she suffered a 6–0, 6–0 defeat to defending champion Serena Williams.[2]

2004 – As world No. 77 at Indian Wells, defeated world No. 13, Paola Suárez 6–3, 6–4 (first top-20 win in nearly 18 months) en route to the 4th round but lost to No. 20, C. Martinez. Quarterfinalist at Estoril and s'Hertogenbosch but failed to qualify at three Tour events. In doubles, she won titles at Paris [Indoors] (defended with Schnyder), Budapest (with Mandula) and Stockholm – her tenth career doubles title (with Molik). Also a finalist at Hobart (with Callens), and semi-finalist at 's-Hertogenbosch, Los Angeles, US Open (all with Schnyder) and Linz (with Wartusch). Member of the Austrian Fed Cup team that upset US team 4–1 in the quarterfinals to reach second semifinal in three years (second upset over the US in as many years. She handed Martina Navratilova her first Fed Cup loss after 30 singles/doubles victories dating back to 1975). Schett announced plans in October to retire following the 2005 Australian Open.

2005 – Played final professional event at Australian Open, picking up last victory with defeat of wildcard Welford in the first round. Fell to No. 26 seed Daniela Hantuchová, 4–6, 0–6 in the second round in her last professional singles match.

Career achievements

Barbara Schett won a total of 13 WTA tournaments, three in the singles category and ten in the doubles. She has also won one ITF tournament. In 1999 she qualified for the season ending WTA Tour Championships reaching the quarterfinals and was named TENNIS Magazine's Most Improved Player.

Personal life

Schett is married to former Australian tennis player Joshua Eagle.[3] On 28 April 2009, Schett gave birth to a son.

WTA career finals

Singles: 6 (3 titles, 3 runners-up)

Legend (pre 2009) Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) WTA Tour Finals (0–0) Olympic Games (0–0) Grand Slam Cup (0–0) Tier I (0–1) Tier II (0–0) Tier III, IV & V (3–2) Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score Win 1–0 Jul 1996 Palermo International, Italy Tier IV Clay Sabine Hack 6–3, 6–3 Win 2–0 Aug 1997 Austrian Open, Austria Tier IV Clay Henrieta Nagyová 3–6, 6–2, 6–3 Loss 2–1 Jul 1998 Palermo International, Italy Tier IV Clay Patty Schnyder 1–6, 7–5, 2–6 Loss 2–2 Aug 1998 Boston Cup, United States Tier III Hard Mariaan de Swardt 6–3, 6–7, 5–7 Loss 2–3 Oct 1999 Kremlin Cup, Moscow Tier I Carpet (i) Nathalie Tauziat 6–2, 4–6, 1–6 Win 3–3 Jul 2000 Austrian Open, Austria Tier III Clay Patty Schnyder 5–7, 6–4, 6–4 WTA doubles wins (10) Legend (pre 2009) Grand Slam tournaments (2–1) WTA Tour Championships (0–1) Tier I (1–2) Tier II (5–3) Tier III, IV & V (3–2) Finals by Surface Hard (7–5) Grass (1–2) Clay (2–1) Carpet (1–1) Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponent Score Win Jul 1996 Palermo International, Italy Tier IV Clay Janette Husárová Florencia Labat Barbara Rittner 6–1, 6–2 Win Jul 1997 Palermo International, Italy Tier IV Clay Silvia Farina Elia Florencia Labat Mercedes Paz 2–6, 6–1, 6–4 Win May 1998 WTA Hamburg, Germany Tier II Clay Patty Schnyder Martina Hingis Jana Novotná 7–6, 3–6, 6–3 Win Jan 1999 Auckland Open, New Zealand Tier IVb Hard Silvia Farina Elia Seda Noorlander Marlene Weingärtner 6–2, 7–6 Win Jan 2001 Sydney International, Australia Tier II Hard Anna Kournikova Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs 6–2, 7–5 Win May 2002 WTA Hamburg, Germany Tier II Clay Martina Hingis Daniela Hantuchová Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario 6–1, 6–1 Win Feb 2003 Open Gaz de France, France Tier II Carpet (i) Patty Schnyder Marion Bartoli Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro 2–6, 6–2, 7–6 Win Feb 2004 Open Gaz de France, France Tier II Carpet (i) Patty Schnyder Silvia Farina Elia Francesca Schiavone 6–3, 6–2 Win May 2004 Budapest Grand Prix, Hungary Tier V Clay Petra Mandula Virág Németh Ágnes Szávay 6–3, 6–2 Win Aug 2004 Nordea Nordic Light Open, Sweden Tier IV Hard Alicia Molik Emmanuelle Gagliardi Anna-Lena Grönefeld 6–3, 6–3 ITF Circuit finals $100,000 tournaments $75,000 tournaments $50,000 tournaments $25,000 tournaments $10,000 tournaments Singles: 2 (1–1) Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score Winner 1. 22 March 1992 Zaragoza, Spain Clay Eva Jiménez 6–4, 6–4 Runner-up 1. 3 August 1992 Paderborn, Germany Clay Svenja Truelsen 4–6, 6–3, 6–7^(7–9) Singles performance timeline Key W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A NH (W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed) Tournament 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 SR W–L W% Australian Open A A A Q2 1R 4R 3R 4R 4R 4R 3R 3R 1R 2R 2R 0 / 11 20–11 65% French Open A A A 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 3R 4R 4R 2R 3R 1R A 0 / 11 11–11 50% Wimbledon A A A 1R A 2R 2R 2R 4R 1R 3R 2R 2R 1R A 0 / 10 10–10 50% US Open A A A 1R 1R 2R 2R 3R QF 2R 4R 2R 2R 1R A 0 / 11 14–11 56% Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–3 0–3 5–4 4–4 6–4 12–4 7–4 10–4 5–4 4–4 1–4 1–1 0 / 43 55–43 56% Tier I Tournaments Tokyo Tier II A A A A A A A A A 2R A A A 0 / 1 1–1 50% Indian Wells Tier II 1R 2R 1R 4R 4R 3R 1R 4R A 0 / 8 9–8 53% Miami A A A A 3R 2R 3R 2R QF 2R 2R 3R 1R 1R A 0 / 10 9–10 47% Charleston A A A A A A 3R 1R 3R 2R A A 1R A A 0 / 5 4–5 44% Berlin A A A A A 1R 2R 2R QF A 2R 2R 2R 2R A 0 / 8 9–8 53% Rome A A A A A 3R 2R 2R A A 1R 2R 2R 1R A 0 / 7 6–7 46% San Diego Tier III Tier II 2R A 0 / 1 1–1 50% Montreal / Toronto A A A A A 1R A 1R QF 1R 3R QF 1R A A 0 / 7 8–7 53% Moscow T V Not Held Tier III A 2R F QF QF Q1 A A A 0 / 4 8–4 67% Zürich Tier II Q1 A A 2R 1R QF 2R SF 2R A A A A 0 / 6 8–6 57% Year-end Rank 758 233 136 100 83 38 38 23 8 23 21 40 79 88 N/A Head-to-head vs. top-10 ranked players Player Record W% Hardcourt Clay Grass Carpet Number 1 ranked players Amélie Mauresmo 1–0 100% 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 / Jelena Janković 1–1 50% 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 3–4 42.9% 2–2 0–2 0–0 1–0 Jennifer Capriati 2–4 33.3% 1–2 0–1 0–0 1–1 Kim Clijsters 1–2 33.3% 1–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 Justine Henin 1–3 25% 0–2 0–1 0–0 1–0 Venus Williams 1–4 20% 0–2 1–0 0–1 0–1 / Steffi Graf 0–3 0% 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–1 Serena Williams 0–3 0% 0–1 0–2 0–0 0–0 // Monica Seles 0–6 0% 0–2 0–2 0–0 0–2 Lindsay Davenport 0–7 0% 0–4 0–0 0–1 0–2 Martina Hingis 0–11 0% 0–7 0–4 0–0 0–0 Number 2 ranked players Conchita Martínez 2–4 33.3% 2–2 0–1 0–1 0–0 Anastasia Myskina 1–3 25% 0–1 0–1 0–0 1–1 / Jana Novotná 1–4 20% 0–0 1–2 0–0 0–2 Vera Zvonareva 0–2 0% 0–2 0–0 0–0 0–0 Number 3 ranked players Nathalie Tauziat 4–5 44.4% 2–0 2–1 0–0 0–4 Elena Dementieva 1–2 33.3% 1–2 0–0 0–0 0–0 Amanda Coetzer 2–5 28.6% 2–4 0–1 0–0 0–0 Mary Pierce 0–2 0% 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 Number 4 ranked players / Helena Suková 2–0 100% 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 Magdalena Maleeva 1–0 100% 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 Francesca Schiavone 1–0 100% 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 / Anke Huber 2–6 25% 0–2 1–1 0–0 1–3 / Iva Majoli 1–4 20% 0–2 1–1 0–0 0–1 Mary Joe Fernández 0–1 0% 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 Kimiko Date-Krumm 0–2 0% 0–2 0–0 0–0 0–0 / Jelena Dokić 0–2 0% 0–0 0–1 0–1 0–0 Number 5 ranked players / Natasha Zvereva 2–0 100% 2–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 Anna Chakvetadze 0–1 0% 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 Daniela Hantuchová 0–7 0% 0–5 0–1 0–0 0–1 Number 6 ranked players Katerina Maleeva 2–0 100% 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 Chanda Rubin 5–4 55.6% 3–3 2–1 0–0 0–0 Flavia Pennetta 1–1 50% 0–0 0–1 1–0 0–0 Number 7 ranked players Patty Schnyder 4–5 44.4% 1–1 1–4 0–0 2–0 Julie Halard-Decugis 1–2 33.3% 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–1 Marion Bartoli 0–1 0% 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 Irina Spîrlea 0–2 0% 0–0 0–2 0–0 0–0 Number 8 ranked players Alicia Molik 3–2 60% 2–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 Anna Kournikova 1–5 16.7% 1–4 0–1 0–0 0–0 Ai Sugiyama 0–3 0% 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–2 Number 9 ranked players Lori McNeil 1–1 50% 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 Paola Suárez 2–3 40% 2–0 0–3 0–0 0–0 Dominique Monami 1–3 25% 0–1 0–1 0–0 1–1 Sandrine Testud 0–3 0% 0–0 0–2 0–0 0–1 Number 10 ranked players / Karina Habšudová 3–2 60% 1–1 1–1 0–0 1–0 Barbara Paulus 0–3 0% 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–1 Total 54–138 28.1% 29–64 (31.2%) 14–44 (24.1%) 1–4 (20.0%) 11–25 (30.6%) References Sony Ericsson WTA Tour: Barbara Schett (AUT) – Career Highlights BBC SPORT | Tennis | French Open 2003 | Serena whitewashes Schett Baby Boom: Tennis Players Become Parents Archived 20 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine Tennis.com, 30 December 2008 External links Barbara Schett at the Women's Tennis Association Barbara Schett at the International Tennis Federation Barbara Schett at the Fed Cup Official website