Monica Niculescu

Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 28 in February 2012, and has three singles titles to her credit on the WTA Tour since she turned pro in May 2002, the last one coming at the end of 2016, at the BGL Luxembourg Open. Although she was a steady top 30 player for several years and enjoyed relative success in singles, she is also a doubles specialist, where she achieved a career-high ranking of No. 11 in April 2018, after partnering with Grand Slam winner and Olympic medalist Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková at Indian Wells. Her biggest doubles result up to date is reaching her first Grand Slam doubles final at Wimbledon in 2017, alongside Chan Hao-ching. She was also runner-up at three Premier Mandatory events: the 2015 Wuhan Open, with fellow Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu, the 2016 Rogers Cup, with former world No. 1 Simona Halep, and the 2017 Cincinnati Open, partnering former world No. 1 in doubles, Hsieh Su-wei.

Monica Niculescu

Niculescu at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships
Country (sports)	Romania
Residence	Bucharest, Romania
Born	(1987-09-25) 25 September 1987 Slatina, Romania
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Turned pro	May 2002
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach	Călin Stelian Ciorbagiu
Prize money	US$ 6,091,168
Singles
Career record	515–353 (59.3%)
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	No. 28 (27 February 2012)
Current ranking	No. 136 (16 March 2020)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	3R (2011, 2012, 2014)
French Open	2R (2014)
Wimbledon	4R (2015)
US Open	4R (2011)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	2R (2016)
Doubles
Career record	446–260 (63.2%)
Career titles	9
Highest ranking	No. 11 (2 April 2018)
Current ranking	No. 61 (16 March 2020)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	SF (2018)
French Open	QF (2010)
Wimbledon	F (2017)
US Open	3R (2009, 2010, 2016, 2017)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	SF (2019), 31–21 (59.6%)
Last updated on: 3 February 2020.

She is popular among spectators and other players alike for her unconventional style of play, employing an extreme grip as well as two hands for both her forehand and backhand. She is also best known for her trademark forehand-slice, her winning deamenour and her exceptional shot-making abilities at the net. Niculescu currently holds the Open Era record of highest first serve percentage in a year (91%-in 2011, tied with Sara Errani).[1]

Niculescu has defeated many top-ten opponents throughout her career, having 25 wins against top-ten opponents to date.[1]

Niculescu was born in Slatina, Romania, but moved to Bucharest when she was four. She is currently coached by Călin Stelian Ciorbagiu.[1]

Tennis career

2002–2005: Junior years

As a junior, Niculescu had the remarkable gift to win quite easily every final she reached. Thus, before reaching the age of 18, she won eleven ITF singles finals, losing only one set:

• in Bucharest (Aug 2002), 6–1, 7–6 against Tsvetana Pironkova
• in Cavtat (Apr 2003) 6–4, 6–1 against Darija Jurak
• in Timişoara (Aug 2003) 6–2, 6–3 against Veronika Rizhik
• in Albufeira (Feb 2004) 6–1, 3–6, 6–0 against Irina Kotkina
• in Portimão (Feb 2004) 6–4, 7–6 against Nadja Pavić
• in Bucharest (May 2004) 6–2, 6–2 against Simona Matei
• in Iași (Aug 2004) 7–6, 6–0 against Raluca Olaru
• in Cairo (Mar 2005) 6–4, 6–2 against Galina Fokina
• in Ain Alsoukhna (Mar 2005) 6–3, 6–4 against Magdaléna Rybáriková
• in Antalya (May 2005) 6–2, 6–2 against Ekaterina Dzehalevich
• and in Coimbra (Aug 2005) 6–3, 6–1 against Aravane Rezaï.

She also won eight out of 14 ITF finals played in doubles as a junior, in most of them partnered by her older sister, Gabriela Niculescu. She played finals in girls' doubles in Roland Garros (2004, paired with Mădălina Gojnea) and twice in Wimbledon (2004 and 2005, paired with Marina Erakovic).

By the end of 2005, now already a senior player, she was No. 271 in the WTA rankings and No. 4 in Romania.

2006–2008: Constant progress as a senior, top 50

Niculescu made her WTA debut in 2006 Istanbul, where she won to then junior Sabine Lisicki but could not pass the third qualification round. In 2007, she continued to play many ITF tournaments, and she also played in qualifications in all four Grand Slam and three other WTA tournaments, but only in Dubai she reached the main draw. Still, winning several ITF tournaments and gathering many small points, she finished the year 2007 in top 200.

In 2008, she reached the quarterfinals in Tashkent, and in all four Grand Slam tournaments she reached the first round, with round two reached in Wimbledon. Gathering points constantly on WTA Tour, and also including some smaller successes in ITF tournaments, Niculescu was ranked 48th in the world, and second in Romania, at the end of 2008.

2009: Setback and out of top 100

Niculescu opened the season at the Brisbane International, where she lost to Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round in three sets.[1] She also lost in the first round of the Moorilla Hobart International to Alona Bondarenko. At the 2009 Australian Open, Niculescu beat Katie O'Brien in the first round, 6–4, 6–4, before losing to Sara Errani in the second, 2–6, 3–6. Alongside Sorana Cîrstea, Niculescu was the 14th seed in women's doubles; they lost to Nathalie Dechy and Mara Santangelo in the second round, 3–6, 3–6.

In the other three Grand Slam events, she did not go past round one of the main draw. Her best results of the year were quarterfinals in Tashkent and Strasbourg.

At the Open GDF Suez held in Paris, Niculescu defeated Timea Bacsinszky in the first round, before losing to eventual champion Amélie Mauresmo in the second. She then took part in the Dubai Tennis Championships. She beat Peng Shuai in the first round in three sets, 3–6, 7–5, 6–2, and then lost to world No. 3, Jelena Janković, 3–6, 2–6. Niculescu also partnered Elena Vesnina in doubles, and the two reached the quarterfinals in women's doubles; they lost to Anabel Medina Garrigues and Francesca Schiavone. Niculescu had two consecutive first-round losses, at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (fell to Anna-Lena Grönefeld) and Sony Ericsson Open in Miami (fell to Tamira Paszek). Partnering Alisa Kleybanova, she reached the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open, where they lost to Maria Kirilenko and Flavia Pennetta. At the Sony Ericsson Open she partnered Kleybanova again, but they lost to second seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual.

Niculescu withdrew from the Andalucía Tennis Experience and Barcelona Ladies Open due to a forearm injury.[1]

At the end of the year, she had slipped out of top 100.

2010: Comeback to top 100, first WTA semifinal

Monica Niculescu at the 2010 US Open

In 2010, Monica started the season in Auckland, coming from qualifying. In the first round, she lost to fifth seed Virginie Razzano, 5–7, 4–6. In doubles, she partnered Ioana Raluca Olaru, and they defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues and Carla Suárez Navarro, 7–5, 7–5. In the second round, they lost to Cara Black and Liezel Huber, 3–6, 2–6.

At the Australian Open, she lost in the first round to Jelena Janković, 4–6, 0–6. In doubles, she partnered Chan Yung-jan and defeated Monique Adamczak and Nicole Kriz, 6–3, 6–1. The pair defeated Alla Kudryavtseva and Ekaterina Makarova in the second round, 6–4, 6–4. In the third round, they lost to sixth seeds Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs, 5–7, 3–6.

Niculescu then played an ITF tournament in Midland, but lost in the first round to Eleni Daniilidou 4–6, 2–6.

In Memphis, she lost in the first round qualifying to Valérie Tétreault. In doubles, she reached the semifinals along with Riza Zalameda, losing to Vania King and Michaëlla Krajicek, 1–6, 4–6.

At Indian Wells, she lost in qualifying to Tamarine Tanasugarn. In doubles, together with Michaëlla Krajicek, she lost in first round to Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Yan Zi, 6–7, 2–6.

In Marbella failed to qualify in singles, but in doubles she partnered Sophie Lefèvre. They defeated Kristina Barrois and Ioana Raluca Olaru in the first round, 6–3, 4–6, [10–7]. However, in the second round, they lost to Virginia Ruano Pascual and Meghann Shaughnessy, 2–6, 4–6.

She made again her best in Tashkent, where she reached her first WTA semifinals but lost to Elena Vesnina.

Although in the first half of the year she was struggling between ranks 100 and 150, by the middle of the year she reached top 100 again and ended the year as No. 82 in the world, and No. 2 in Romania.

2011: Consistent game, advance to top 30

At the Australian Open, Niculescu defeated Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets, 6–0, 6–3. Facing off against the 32nd seed, Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, Niculescu cruised through the match winning 6–4, 6–1. In the third round, she lost to the 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, 0–6, 6–7.

Niculescu defeated Patricia Mayr-Achleitner in the first round and compatriot Alexandra Dulgheru in the second round, 6–3, 6–0, to advance to the third round of the US Open. In defeating Lucie Šafářová, 6–0, 6–1, Niculescu advanced to the fourth round of a Grand Slam singles competition for the first time in her career, where she lost 4–6, 3–6 to unseeded Angelique Kerber.

At the Tier-1 China Open, she shocked the world with a dominating victory over fourth seed Li Na, 6–4, 6–0 in the first round and advanced to the semifinals, where she lost to eventual runner-up, Andrea Petkovic.

She advanced to her first WTA final at the International tournament in Luxembourg, losing to Victoria Azarenka, 2–6, 2–6. En route to the final, she spent many hours on court with a 6–7, 7–5, 7–6 first-round victory over Karin Knapp, a second-round 7–6, 3–6, 6–1 win over Anabel Medina Garrigues, and a 7–5, 4–6, 6–3 win in three hours over 2010 finalist Anne Keothavong in the semifinals.

The end of the year found her as No. 30 in the world and No. 1 in Romania.

2012: Career high, small setback, still top 60

At the Australian Open, Niculescu made it to the third round by defeating Alizé Cornet and Pauline Parmentier, but she was defeated by then–world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki, 2–6, 2–6.

She reached quarterfinals in Doha, where she lost to Samantha Stosur.

Her best result was again the final in Luxembourg, lost to Venus Williams.

Although in February Niculescu had reached rank No. 28, her career high so far, the inconsistent results during the season made her go down to world No. 58 by the end of the year.

2013: Steady position, first WTA title

Aside two WTA semifinals in Shenzhen and Monterrey, Niculescu won her first singles WTA title in Florianópolis.

She played in round one of all the Grand Slam events, but lost the games constantly.

Yet, winning enough games and points in WTA tournaments, she kept her top-60 position, finishing the season as No. 59 in the WTA rankings.

2014: Second WTA title, top 50 again

In all, Niculescu had an improving season, reaching round three at Australian Open, round two at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, quarterfinals in Shenzhen, Hobart and Florianópolis, and semifinals in Bucharest. The best result was her winning the tournament in Guangzhou, as her second WTA title.

Thus, she entered top 50 again by the end of the year.

2015: Tough matches, steady game

Much of early 2015 was particularly difficult for Niculescu, as she often faced difficult draws. For instance she drew world No. 1 Serena Williams twice in a row in the second round of Indian Wells and Miami. While she managed to test Williams with a 5–7, 5–7 score, she was not able to win a set against her in either match. She also suffered first-round losses at Shenzhen, Hobart, the Australian Open, Dubai, Prague, and the French Open.[1]

Niculescu won the Marseille clay 100K tournament in June. Shortly thereafter, she defeated first-seeded Agnieszka Radwańska 5–7, 6–4, 6–0 at the Nottingham grass tournament to earn a place in the final where she lost to teenager Ana Konjuh 6–1, 4–6, 2–6. All five matches she played went to three sets. She then lost in the first round at Birmingham to the 10th seed, Barbora Strýcová.[1]

Niculescu earned a spot in the fourth round at the Wimbledon Championships for the first time, defeating Monica Puig 5–7, 6–3, 6–1, Jana Čepelová 6–3, 6–3, and Kristýna Plíšková 6–3, 7–5. This is the second time she has made it past the third round at a major. Despite winning the first set of her fourth-round match 6-1 and having a positive head-to-head record against the player, she was defeated by 15th-seeded Timea Bacsinszky, who took the next two sets.[2]

2016: Doubles success

Niculescu reached a career-high ranking of 16 in doubles in July. She partnered with Sania Mirza to win in New Haven.[3]

2017: Wimbledon doubles final and first WTA 125 series crown

She started her season at Shenzhen Open with a victory, defeating Zhang Kailin, but she lost her second match to Wang Qiang.

Niculescu also played at Hobart International, where she made it to the final and lost to Elise Mertens, 3–6, 1–6.

At the Australian Open, she lost to Anna Blinkova in the first round. Then, Niculescu played doubles with Abigail Spears, but they lost in the first round to Andrea Petkovic and Mirjana Lučić-Baroni. She won the WTA 125 Series Open at Limoges on 12 November.

2020

Playing style

Nicolescu plays right-handed, with powerful topspin backhand and unpredictable forehand slice. She has great volleying ability and great footwork.

Personal life

Her mother, Cristiana Silvia Niculescu is a pharmaceutical sales representative; her father Mihai Niculescu is an engineer.[1] Niculescu has an older sister, Gabriela, who was a professional tennis player too and attended University of Idaho, after transferring from USC after her junior year.[1]

Monica Niculescu cited Martina Hingis and Andre Agassi as her tennis idols.[1]

Performance timelines

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

A

P

Z#

PO

G

F-S

SF-B

NMS

NH

(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (P) postponed; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.

Singles

Current through the suspension of the 2020 WTA Tour.

Tournament	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	SR	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam tournaments[4]
Australian Open	A	A	1R	2R	1R	3R	3R	1R	3R	1R	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	0 / 13	8–13	38%
French Open	A	A	1R	1R	Q3	1R	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	1R	A	A		0 / 9	1–9	10%
Wimbledon	A	A	2R	1R	2R	2R	1R	1R	1R	4R	2R	1R	1R	2R	NH	0 / 12	8–12	40%
US Open	A	A	1R	1R	1R	4R	1R	1R	2R	2R	3R	3R	1R	1R		0 / 12	9–12	43%
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	1–4	1–4	1–3	6–4	2–4	0–4	4−4	4−4	4−4	2–4	0–3	1–3	0–1	0 / 46	26–46	36%
National representation
Summer Olympics	Not Held		A	Not Held			A	Not Held			2R	Not Held				0 / 0	1–0	100%
Premier Mandatory tournaments
Indian Wells Open	A	A	A	1R	Q1	2R	2R	2R	2R	2R	3R	2R	1R	Q1	NH	0 / 9	6–9	40%
Miami Open	A	A	A	1R	A	2R	2R	1R	1R	2R	4R	1R	3R	3R	NH	0 / 10	8–10	44%
Madrid Open	Not Held			1R	A	1R	1R	Q1	1R	Q2	1R	1R	A	A	NH	0 / 6	0–6	0%
China Open	Not Tier I			A	Q1	SF	2R	2R	1R	1R	Q2	2R	Q1	Q1	NH	0 / 6	7–6	54%
Premier 5 tournaments
Dubai / Qatar Open	Not Tier I		2R	2R	A	Q2	QF	2R	3R	1R	3R	A	3R	Q2	A	0 / 8	12–8	60%
Italian Open	A	A	2R	1R	A	A	1R	1R	Q2	Q2	1R	1R	A	A		0 / 6	1–6	14%
Canadian Open	A	A	2R	1R	1R	Q2	A	A	A	A	2R	A	1R	A	NH	0 / 5	2–5	29%
Cincinnati Open	Not Tier I			A	2R	1R	A	2R	Q2	Q1	Q1	Q1	Q1	A		0 / 3	2–3	40%
Pan Pacific / Wuhan Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	2R	A	1R	1R	A	NH	0 / 4	1–4	20%
Career statistics[5]
Tournaments	0	1	15	22	9	15	23	22	20	21	20	19	15	11	1	Career total: 214
Titles	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	Career total: 3
Finals	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	0	0	0	Career total: 8
Overall Win–Loss	0–0	0–1	8–15	10–22	6–9	21–15	15–23	22–21	22–19	20–21	26–20	11–20	9–14	8–10	0–1	3 / 214	178–211	46%
Year-end ranking	222	179	47	101	83	30	58	60	47	39	39	100	78	116		$6,091,168

Doubles

Updated up to end of 2019

Tournament	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	W-L
Grand Slam tournaments[4]
Australian Open	A	A	A	2R	3R	2R	QF	3R	2R	2R	1R	1R	SF	3R		17–11
French Open	A	A	2R	3R	QF	3R	2R	3R	2R	1R	A	A	A	A		12–8
Wimbledon	A	A	2R	3R	2R	2R	2R	1R	2R	2R	1R	F	3R	3R	NH	17–12
US Open	A	A	2R	3R	3R	1R	1R	1R	2R	2R	3R	3R	2R	1R		12–12
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	3–3	7–4	8–4	4–4	5–4	4–4	4–4	3–4	2–3	7–3	7–3	4–3		58–43
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	Not Held		A	Not Held			A	Not Held			1R	Not Held				0–1
Premier Mandatory tournaments
Indian Wells Open	A	A	A	QF	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	2R	2R	1R	QF	2R	NH	8–11
Miami Open	A	A	A	1R	2R	2R	SF	1R	2R	QF	SF	1R	1R	QF	NH	13–11
Madrid Open	Not Held			2R	A	1R	2R	A	2R	1R	1R	2R	A	A	NH	4–7
China Open	Not Tier I			A	A	1R	1R	A	A	1R	2R	2R	2R	1R	NH	3–7
Premier-5 tournaments
Dubai Championships	Not Premier 5			QF	A	2R	Not Premier 5			QF	NP5	A	NP5	1R	NP5	5–4
Qatar Open	A	A	QF	Not Held		NP5	1R	A	A	NP5	2R	NP5	A	NP5		3–3
Italian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	QF	2R	2R	SF	1R	A	A		7–6
Cincinnati Open	A	A	1R	SF	QF	1R	A	1R	1R	1R	QF	F	1R	A	NH	11–10
Canadian Open	A	A	1R	1R	SF	2R	A	A	A	A	F	2R	1R	A		9–6
Pan Pacific Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	Not Premier 5							0–1
Wuhan Open	Not Held								1R	F	A	A	2R	A	NH	4–2
Career statistics
Year-end ranking	159	131	35	30	30	50	27	70	38	33	19	23	48	47

Significant finals

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2017	Wimbledon	Grass	Chan Hao-ching	Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina	0–6, 0–6

Premier-Mandatory/Premier-5 finals

Doubles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2015	Wuhan Open	Hard	Irina-Camelia Begu	Martina Hingis Sania Mirza	2−6, 3−6
Loss	2016	Canadian Open	Hard	Simona Halep	Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina	3–6, 6–7^(5–7)
Loss	2017	Cincinnati Open	Hard	Hsieh Su-wei	Chan Yung-jan Martina Hingis	6–4, 4–6, [7–10]

WTA career finals

Singles: 8 (3 titles, 5 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
Tour Championships (0–0)
Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0)
Premier (0–0)
International (3–5)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Oct 2011	Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg	International	Hard (i)	Victoria Azarenka	2–6, 2–6
Loss	0–2	Oct 2012	Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg	International	Hard (i)	Venus Williams	2–6, 3–6
Win	1–2	Mar 2013	Brasil Tennis Cup, Brasil	International	Hard	Olga Puchkova	6–2, 4–6, 6–4
Win	2–2	Sep 2014	Guangzhou Open, China	International	Hard	Alizé Cornet	6–4, 6–0
Loss	2–3	Jun 2015	Nottingham Open, United Kingdom	International	Grass	Ana Konjuh	6–1, 4–6, 2–6
Loss	2–4	Sep 2016	Korea Open, South Korea	International	Hard	Lara Arruabarrena	0–6, 6–2, 0–6
Win	3–4	Oct 2016	Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg	International	Hard (i)	Petra Kvitová	6–4, 6–0
Loss	3–5	Jan 2017	Hobart International, Australia	International	Hard	Elise Mertens	3–6, 1–6

Doubles: 27 (9 titles, 18 runner-ups)

Legend (pre/post 2009)
Grand Slam tournaments (0–1)
Tour Championships (0–0)
Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–3)
Tier II / Premier (1–4)
Tier III, IV & V / International (8–10)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Aug 2008	Connecticut Open, United States	Tier II	Hard	Sorana Cîrstea	Květa Peschke Lisa Raymond	6–4, 5–7, [7–10]
Win	1–1	Jul 2009	Hungarian Ladies Open, Hungary	International	Clay	Alisa Kleybanova	Alona Bondarenko Kateryna Bondarenko	6–4, 7–6^(7–5)
Loss	1–2	Aug 2009	Bank of the West Classic, United States	Premier	Hard	Chan Yung-jan	Serena Williams Venus Williams	1–6, 4–6
Loss	1–3	Jan 2010	Hobart International, Australia	International	Hard	Chan Yung-jan	Květa Peschke Chuang Chia-jung	6–3, 3–6, [7–10]
Loss	1–4	Jul 2010	Prague Open, Czech Republic	International	Clay	Ágnes Szávay	Timea Bacsinszky Tathiana Garbin	5–7, 6–7^(4–7)
Loss	1–5	Jul 2011	Baku Cup, Azerbaijan	International	Hard	Galina Voskoboeva	Mariya Koryttseva Tatiana Poutchek	3–6, 6–2, [8–10]
Win	2–5	Jan 2012	Hobart International, Australia	International	Hard	Irina-Camelia Begu	Chuang Chia-jung Marina Erakovic	6–7^(4–7), 7–6^(7–4), [10–5]
Loss	2–6	Sep 2012	Guangzhou Open, China	International	Hard	Jarmila Gajdošová	Tamarine Tanasugarn Zhang Shuai	6–2, 2–6, [8–10]
Loss	2–7	Oct 2012	Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg	International	Hard (i)	Irina-Camelia Begu	Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká	3–6, 4–6
Loss	2–8	Jun 2013	Eastbourne International, United Kingdom	Premier	Grass	Klára Koukalová	Nadia Petrova Katarina Srebotnik	3-6, 3-6
Win	3–8	Jan 2014	Shenzhen Open, China	International	Hard	Klára Koukalová	Lyudmyla Kichenok Nadiia Kichenok	6–3, 6–4
Win	4–8	Jan 2014	Hobart International, Australia (2)	International	Hard	Klára Koukalová	Lisa Raymond Zhang Shuai	6–2, 6–7^(5–7), [10–8]
Loss	4–9	Apr 2014	Katowice Open, Poland	International	Hard (i)	Klára Koukalová	Yuliya Beygelzimer Olga Savchuk	4–6, 7–5, [7–10]
Loss	4–10	Jan 2015	Hobart International, Australia	International	Hard	Vitalia Diatchenko	Kiki Bertens Johanna Larsson	5–7, 3–6
Loss	4–11	Oct 2015	Wuhan Open, China	Premier 5	Hard	Irina-Camelia Begu	Martina Hingis Sania Mirza	2−6, 3−6
Loss	4–12	Oct 2015	Kremlin Cup, Russia	Premier	Hard (i)	Irina-Camelia Begu	Daria Kasatkina Elena Vesnina	3–6, 7–6^(9–7), [5–10]
Win	5–12	Jan 2016	Shenzhen Open, China (2)	International	Hard	Vania King	Xu Yifan Zheng Saisai	6−1, 6−4
Win	6–12	Jul 2016	Citi Open, United States	International	Hard	Yanina Wickmayer	Shuko Aoyama Risa Ozaki	6–4, 6–3
Loss	6–13	Jul 2016	Rogers Cup, Canada	Premier 5	Hard	Simona Halep	Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina	3–6, 6–7^(5–7)
Win	7–13	Aug 2016	Connecticut Open, United States	Premier	Hard	Sania Mirza	Kateryna Bondarenko Chuang Chia-jung	7–5, 6–4
Loss	7–14	Oct 2016	Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg	International	Hard (i)	Patricia Maria Țig	Kiki Bertens Johanna Larsson	6–4, 5–7, [9–11]
Win	8–14	Apr 2017	Ladies Open Biel Bienne, Switzerland	International	Hard (i)	Hsieh Su-wei	Timea Bacsinszky Martina Hingis	5–7, 6–3, [10–7]
Loss	8–15	Jul 2017	Wimbledon, United Kingdom	Grand Slam	Grass	Chan Hao-ching	Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina	0–6, 0–6
Loss	8–16	Aug 2017	Cincinnati Open, United States	Premier 5	Hard	Hsieh Su-wei	Chan Yung-jan Martina Hingis	6–4, 4–6, [7–10]
Win	9–16	Feb 2019	Hua Hin Championships, Thailand	International	Hard	Irina-Camelia Begu	Anna Blinkova Wang Yafan	2–6, 6–1, [12–10]
Loss	9–17	Aug 2019	Bronx Open, United States	International	Hard	Margarita Gasparyan	Darija Jurak María José Martínez Sánchez	5–7, 6–2, [7–10]
Loss	9–18	Aug 2020	Prague Open, Czech Republic	International	Hard	Raluca Olaru	Lucie Hradecká Kristýna Plíšková	2–6, 2–6

WTA 125K series finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Nov 2017	WTA Limoges, France	Hard (i)	Antonia Lottner	6–4, 6–2

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 24 (19 titles, 5 runner–ups)

Legend $100,000 tournaments $75,000 tournaments $50,000 tournaments $25,000 tournaments $15,000 tournaments $10,000 tournaments

Finals by surface Hard (9–2) Clay (9–3) Grass (1–0) Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Aug 2002	ITF Bucharest, Romania	10,000	Clay	Tsvetana Pironkova	6–1, 7–6^(7–4)
Win	2–0	Apr 2003	ITF Cavtat, Croatia	10,000	Clay	Darija Jurak	6–4, 6–1
Win	3–0	Aug 2003	ITF Timișoara, Romania	10,000	Clay	Veronica Rizhik	6–2, 6–3
Win	4–0	Feb 2004	ITF Albufeira, Portugal	10,000	Hard	Irina Kotkina	6–1, 3–6, 6–0
Win	5–0	Feb 2004	ITF Portimao, Portugal	10,000	Hard	Nadja Pavic	6–4, 7–6^(7–4)
Win	6–0	May 2004	ITF Bucharest, Romania	10,000	Clay	Simona Matei	6–2, 6–2
Win	7–0	Aug 2004	ITF Iași, Romania	10,000	Clay	Raluca Olaru	7–6^(7–5), 6–0
Win	8–0	Mar 2005	ITF Cairo, Egypt	10,000	Clay	Galina Fokina	6–4, 6–2
Win	9–0	Mar 2005	ITF Ain Sokhna, Egypt	10,000	Clay	Magdaléna Rybáriková	6–3, 6–4
Win	10–0	May 2005	ITF Antalya, Turkey	25,000	Clay	Ekaterina Dzehalevich	6–2, 6–2
Win	11–0	Aug 2005	ITF Coimbra, Portugal	25,000	Hard	Aravane Rezaï	6–3, 6–1
Loss	11–1	Jul 2006	ITF Stuttgart, Germany	25,000	Clay	Yevgenia Savranska	6-7^(4–7), 5–7
Loss	11–2	Jul 2006	ITF Darmstadt, Germany	25,000	Clay	Magda Mihalache	0–6, 1–6
Loss	11–3	Aug 2006	ITF Coimbra, Portugal	25,000	Hard	Kelly Liggan	0–6, 6-7^(7–9)
Win	12–3	Sep 2007	ITF Granada, Spain	25,000	Hard	María José Martínez Sánchez	6–3, 6–4
Win	13–3	Oct 2007	ITF Istanbul, Turkey	25,000	Hard (i)	Oxana Lyubtsova	6–2, 6–0
Win	14–3	Nov 2007	ITF Port Pirie, Australia	25,000	Hard	Hwang I-hsuan	6–1, 6–2
Win	15–3	Nov 2007	ITF Mount Gambier, Australia	25,000	Hard	Lee Ye-ra	6–3, 6–1
Loss	15–4	Nov 2008	ITF Kraków, Poland	100,000	Hard (i)	Anne Keothavong	6–7^(4–7), 6–4, 3–6
Loss	15–5	Jul 2010	ITF Pétange, Luxembourg	100,000	Clay	Mathilde Johansson	3–6, 3–6
Win	16–5	Nov 2012	ITF Nantes, France	50,000	Hard (i)	Yulia Putintseva	6–2, 6–3
Win	17–5	Jun 2015	ITF Marseille, France	100,000	Clay	Pauline Parmentier	6–2, 7–5
Win	18–5	Nov 2015	ITF Poitiers, France	100,000	Hard (i)	Pauline Parmentier	7–5, 6–2
Win	19–5	Jun 2019	ITF Ilkley, United Kingdom	100,000	Grass	Tímea Babos	6–2, 4–6, 6–3

Doubles: 37 (21 titles, 16 runner–ups)

Legend $100,000 tournaments $75,000 tournaments $50,000 tournaments $25,000 tournaments $10,000 tournaments

Finals by surface Hard (4–3) Clay (17–13) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Aug 2002	ITF Bucharest, Romania	10,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Radoslava Topalova Virginia Trifonova	4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win	1–1	Aug 2002	ITF Bucharest, Romania	10,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Iveta Gerlová Nina Nittinger	6–2, 6–2
Loss	1–2	Mar 2003	ITF Makarska, Croatia	10,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Stefanie Haidner Daniela Klemenschits	6–3, 6–7^(7–9), 4–6
Win	2–2	Mar 2003	ITF Makarska, Croatia	10,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Darija Jurak Maria Jedlicková	6–2, 6–2
Loss	2–3	Apr 2003	ITF Dubrovnik, Croatia	10,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Mervana Jugić-Salkić Darija Jurak	2–6, 6–4, 2–6
Loss	2–4	Aug 2003	ITF Bucharest, Romania	10,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Anna Bastrikova Elena Vesnina	4–6, 4–6
Loss	2–5	Aug 2003	ITF Timișoara, Romania	10,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Julia Ács Vasilisa Davydova	4–6, 3–6
Win	3–5	May 2004	ITF Bucharest, Romania	10,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Lenore Lazaroiu Andra Savu	6–4, 6–2
Win	4–5	Jul 2004	ITF Bucharest, Romania	10,000	Clay	Mădălina Gojnea	Liana Ungur Iris Ichim	6–4, 6–1
Win	5–5	Aug 2004	ITF Târgu Mureș, Romania	10,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Simona Matei Barbara Pócza	7–5, 6–1
Win	6–5	Aug 2004	ITF Iași, Romania	10,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Nadine Schlotterer Eva Valková	7–5, 6–1
Win	7–5	Mar 2005	ITF Cairo, Egypt	10,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Hanna Andreyeva Valeria Bondarenko	6–2, 6–3
Win	8–5	Mar 2005	ITF Ain Sokhna, Egypt	10,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Laura-Ramona Husaru Sarah Raab	6–1, 6–1
Loss	8–6	Apr 2005	ITF Civitavecchia, Italy	25,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Lucie Hradecká Sandra Záhlavová	4–6, 3–6
Win	9–6	May 2005	ITF Antalya, Turkey	10,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Irina Buryachok Olga Panova	6–3, 6–4
Win	10–6	May 2005	ITF Antalya, Turkey	25,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Renata Kucerková Kathrin Woerle	6–7, 6–0, 6–0
Loss	10–7	Oct 2005	ITF Sevilla, Spain	25,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Sara Errani María José Martínez Sánchez	2–6, 6–7^(5–7)
Loss	10–8	Apr 2006	ITF Athens, Greece	25,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Olga Brózda Margit Rüütel	6–2, 4–6, 2–6
Win	11–8	May 2006	ITF Bucharest, Romania	10,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Sorana Cîrstea Diana Buzean	6–3, 6–0
Win	12–8	Jun 2006	ITF Bucharest, Romania	10,000	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Raluca Ciulei Neda Kozic	6–2, 6–1
Win	13–8	Jul 2006	ITF Stuttgart, Germany	25,000	Clay	Renata Voráčová	Eva Fislová Stanislava Hrozenská	6–2, 6–7^(4–7), 7–5
Win	14–8	Jul 2006	ITF Darmstadt, Germany	25,000	Clay	Yevgenia Savranska	Daniela Klemenschits Sandra Klemenschits	1–6, 6–0, 6–1
Win	15–8	Sep 2006	ITF Mestre, Italy	50,000	Clay	Renata Voráčová	Margalita Chakhnashvili Tatjana Maria	6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Win	16–8	Apr 2007	ITF Putignano, Italy	25,000	Hard	Andreja Klepač	Jessica Kirkland Carmen Klaschka	6–2, 7–5
Loss	16–9	Jul 2006	ITF Jounieh, Lebanon	75,000	Clay	Madalina Gojnea	Tatiana Poutchek Anastasiya Yakimova	7–5, 6–0
Win	17–9	Jul 2007	ITF Darmstadt, Germany	25,000	Clay	Ekaterina Dzehalevich	Hilary Barte Tatjana Priachin	6–4, 7–5
Loss	17–10	Jul 2007	ITF Bucharest, Romania	25,000	Clay	Ekaterina Dzehalevich	Sorana Cîrstea Ágnes Szatmári	6–0, 4–6, ret.
Loss	17–11	Sep 2007	ITF Madrid, Spain	25,000	Clay	Yevgenia Savranska	María José Martínez Sánchez Arantxa Parra Santonja	6–1, 6–7^(4–7)
Loss	17–12	Jul 2007	ITF Granada, Spain	25,000	Clay	Alexandra Dulgheru	Marta Marrero María José Martínez Sánchez	4–6, 1–6
Win	18–12	Nov 2007	ITF Mount Gambier, Australia	25,000	Hard	Antonia Matic	Sophie Ferguson Trudi Musgrave	5–7, 6–3, [10–8]
Win	19–12	Dec 2007	ITF Dubai, United Arab Emirates	75,000	Hard	Marina Erakovic	Yuliana Fedak Anna Lapushchenkova	7–6^(7–1), 6–4
Loss	19–13	Oct 2008	ITF Poitiers, France	100,000	Hard (i)	Akgul Amanmuradova	Petra Cetkovská Lucie Šafářová	4–6, 4–6
Loss	19–14	Oct 2008	ITF Bratislava, Slovakia	100,000	Hard (i)	Akgul Amanmuradova	Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká	6–7^(1–7), 1–6
Loss	19–15	Jul 2010	ITF Biarritz, France	100,000	Clay	Lourdes Domínguez Lino	Sharon Fichman Julia Görges	5–7, 4–6
Win	20–15	Jul 2010	ITF Pétange, Luxembourg	100,000	Clay	Sharon Fichman	Sophie Lefèvre Laura Thorpe	6–4, 6–2
Loss	20–16	Oct 2013	ITF Poitiers, France	100,000	Hard (i)	Christina McHale	Lucie Hradecká Michaëlla Krajicek	6–7^(5–7), 6–2
Win	21–16	Nov 2015	ITF Poitiers, France	100,000	Hard (i)	Andreea Mitu	Stéphanie Foretz Amandine Hesse	6–7^(5–7), 7–6^(7–2), [10–8]

WTA Tour career earnings

Year	Grand Slam singles titles	WTA singles titles	Total singles titles	Earnings ($)	Money list rank
2003	0	0	0	6,343	493
2004	0	0	0	9,073	433
2005	0	0	0	?	?
2006	0	0	0	?	?
2007	0	0	0	?	?
2008	0	0	0	249,035	67
2009	0	0	0	315,414	67
2010	0	0	0	251,188	77
2011	0	0	0	549,493	38
2012	0	0	0	450,393	45
2013	0	1	1	406,372	62
2014	0	1	1	582,694	44
2015	0	0	0	667,180	?
2016*	0	0	0	335,909	37
Career*	0	2	2	3,480,360	97

*as of 23 May 2016

Head-to-head record against top-ten players

Niculescu's win-loss record against certain players who have been ranked world No. 10 or higher is as follows:

Player	Record	Win %	Hard	Clay	Grass	Last Match
No. 1 ranked players
Maria Sharapova	1–0	100%	1–0	0–0	0–0	Won (4–6, 6–4, 6–3) at Doha 2018
Victoria Azarenka	0–5	0%	0–4	0–1	0–0	Loss (1–6, 4–6) at 2013 Australian Open
Angelique Kerber	1–3	25%	1–3	0–0	0–0	Loss (6–0, 1–6, 2-6) at 2013 Linz
Kim Clijsters	0–1	0%	0–0	0–0	0–1	Loss (5–7, 5–7) at 2011 's-Hertogenbosch
Ana Ivanovic	0–2	0%	0–1	0–1	0–0	Loss (5–7, 3–6) at 2012 Linz
Jelena Janković	2–5	29%	2–4	0–1	0–0	Win (3-6, 6–4, 7–5) at 2016 Doha
Amélie Mauresmo	0–1	0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (1–6, 2–6) at 2009 Paris
Serena Williams	0–2	0%	0–2	0–0	0–0	Loss (4–6, 1–6) at 2015 Miami
Venus Williams	0–1	0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (2–6, 3–6) at 2012 Luxembourg
Caroline Wozniacki	0–6	0%	0–6	0–0	0–0	Loss (3–6, 1–6) at 2013 Luxembourg
No. 2 ranked players
Simona Halep	0–2	0%	0–0	0–2	0–0	Loss (2–6, 6–4, 1–6) at 2014 Bucharest
Petra Kvitová	1–2	33%	1–0	0–1	0–1	Loss (6–2, 6–7^(5–7), 2-6) at 2016 Stuttgart
Na Li	1–1	50%	1–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (5–7, 6–4, 4–6 ) at 2012 Shenzhen
Agnieszka Radwańska	1–4	20%	0–4	0–0	1–0	Loss (1–6, 5–7) at 2016 Montréal
Vera Zvonareva	1–1	50%	1–1	0–0	0–0	Win (7–5, 3–2 ret.) at 2012 Doha
No. 3 ranked players
No. 4 ranked players
Kimiko Date-Krumm	1–1	50%	1–1	0–0	0–0	Win (6–2, 2–1 ret.) at 2013 Monterrey
Francesca Schiavone	0–4	0%	0–3	0–1	0–0	Loss (3–6, 5–7) at 2012 Stuttgart
Samantha Stosur	0–7	0%	0–7	0–0	0–0	Loss (3–6, 2–6) at 2015 Beijing
No. 5 ranked players
Anna Chakvetadze	1–1	50%	1–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (0–6, 4–6) at 2012 Hobart
Sara Errani	1–4	20%	1–2	0–2	0–0	Loss (7–5, 1–6, 2-6) at 2015 Bucharest
Daniela Hantuchová	1–0	100%	1–0	0–0	0–0	Win (6–1, 6–3) at 2012 Luxembourg
Lucie Šafářová	2–0	100%	2–0	0–0	0–0	Win (6–2, 6–0) at 2012 Beijing
No. 6 ranked players
Flavia Pennetta	0–3	0%	0–2	0–0	0–1	Loss (1–6, 4–6) at 2015 US Open
Carla Suárez Navarro	0–5	0%	0–4	0–1	0–0	Loss (7–5, 3-6, 4–6) at 2015 Wuhan
No. 7 ranked players
Marion Bartoli	0–1	0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (6-2, 3–6, 2–6) at 2011 Indian Wells
Karolína Plíšková	2–1	67%	2–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (4-6, 6–4, 3–6) at 2016 Fed Cup
Patty Schnyder	0–1	0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (1-6, 5–7) at 2008 Montréal
Roberta Vinci	0–1	0%	0–0	0–0	0–1	Loss (3–6, 7–6^(7–4), 0-6) at 2012 's-Hertogenbosch
No. 8 ranked players
Ekaterina Makarova	1–4	20%	0–3	1–1	0–0	Loss (7–5, 6-7^(3–7), 3-6) at 2014 Indian Wells
Alicia Molik	0–1	0%	0–0	0–1	0–0	Loss (6-4, 6-7^(5–7), 0-6) at 2010 Barcelona
No. 9 ranked players
Timea Bacsinszky	4–3	57%	2–0	2–1	0–2	Loss (6-4, 2-6, 1-6) at 2016 Wimbledon
Madison Keys	1–0	100%	1–0	0–0	0–0	Win (6–1, 2–6, 7-6^(8–6)) at 2013 Washington
Andrea Petkovic	2–3	40%	0–2	2–1	0–0	Loss (6-0, 6-7^(1–7), 3-6) at 2016 Fed Cup
No. 10 ranked players
Dominika Cibulková	0–1	0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (4–6, 3-6) at 2008 Los Angeles
Maria Kirilenko	2–2	50%	2–2	0–0	0–0	Loss (3-6, 0-6) at 2012 Dubai
Total	25–79	24.04%	19–59	5–14	1–6	–

Top-10 wins per season

Season	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	Total
Wins	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	4

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Round	Score
2011
1.	Li Na	No. 5	China Open, China	Hard	1st round	6–4, 6–0
2012
2.	Vera Zvonareva	No. 8	Qatar Open, Qatar	Hard	2nd round	7–5, 3–2 ret.
2016
3.	Petra Kvitová	No. 9	Fed Cup, Cluj-Napoca, Romania	Hard (i)	RR	6–3, 6–4
2017
4.	Johanna Konta	No. 7	China Open, China	Hard	1st round	6–1, 6–2

References

1. Monica Niculescu stats at the WTA Tour's official website.
2. Wimbledon Draw Ladies Singles 2015 Wimbledon Draw.
3. WTATennis Mirza & Niculescu Claim New Haven Crown
4. "Grand Slam performances - Singles & Doubles".
5. "Player & Career Overview".

External links

• Monica Niculescu at the Women's Tennis Association
• Monica Niculescu at the International Tennis Federation
• Monica Niculescu at the Fed Cup
• Monica Niculescu Blog (inactive since 2009)