Samantha Smith (tennis)

Samantha Smith (born 27 November 1971) is an English former professional tennis player, who was the British ladies' No. 1 from 1996 to 1999. She now commentates on the game, predominantly for the BBC, ITV, Sky Sports, BT Sport and Eurosport,[1] as well as in Australia on the Australian Open which she has been a part of for 11 years with the Seven Network and as of 2019 the Nine Network.[2]

Samantha Smith

Country (sports)	United Kingdom
Residence	Loughton, Essex, England
Born	(1971-11-27) 27 November 1971 Epping, Essex
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Plays	Right-handed
Prize money	$351,902
Singles
Career record	199–160
Career titles	3 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 55 (22 February 1999)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	2R (1999)
French Open	1R (1991, 1999)
Wimbledon	4R (1998)
US Open	2R (1997)
Doubles
Career record	54–75
Career titles	5 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 126 (25 June 1990)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	1R (1998)
Wimbledon	1R (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	10–5

Early life

Smith was born in Essex and was educated at Bancroft's School. She took three years out of tennis to attend the University of Exeter where she attained an upper second class Honours degree in history.[1]

Tennis career

Smith competed on the WTA Tour from 1990 to 1992 and from 1995 to 2000. Her highest achievement was in reaching the fourth round at the Wimbledon Championships in 1998, when she beat Anne-Gaëlle Sidot, Mariana Díaz Oliva and former champion Conchita Martínez before losing to eventual runner up Nathalie Tauziat. In so doing she picked up an ankle injury that required her to have two operations and spend four months in plaster; this effectively ended her career. She peaked at No. 55 in the WTA rankings before the injury curtailed her climb up the rankings.[1]

At the Australian Open, she competed in the first round of the women's doubles competition in 1992 (with Ilana Berger), and reached the second round in 1999.[1]
At the French Open at Roland Garros, she competed in the first round in 1991 and 1999.[1]

At Wimbledon, she competed eight times and reached the fourth round in 1998.[1]
At the US Open, she competed in the first round in 1998 and reached the second round in 1997.
At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics she reached the second round.

Smith won a silver medal in the mixed doubles at the 1995 Universiade (World University Games) in Fukuoka, Japan, partnering Paul Robinson. She also reached the quarterfinals in the singles.[1]

She won the ITF tournaments at Nottingham in 1995 (singles and doubles) and Frinton-on-Sea in 2000. She represented Britain in the Fed Cup and European Cup in 1991 and from 1996 to 1999. She was unbeaten in her five singles matches in the 1997 Fed Cup.[1]

ITF finals

Singles (3–4)

$100,000 tournaments

$75,000 tournaments

$50,000 tournaments

$25,000 tournaments

$10,000 tournaments

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	24 April 1989	Sutton, United Kingdom	Clay	Kimiko Date	2–6, 1–6
Runner-up	2.	2 September 1991	Arzachena, Italy	Hard	Katia Piccolini	2–6, 7–6, 4–6
Runner-up	3.	4 November 1991	Manchester, United Kingdom	Carpet (i)	Amanda Grunfeld	6–4, 4–6, 2–6
Winner	1.	2 October 1995	Nottingham, United Kingdom	Hard (i)	Abigail Tordoff	6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	4.	10 February 1996	Sunderland, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Raluca Sandu	6–4, 5–7, 4–6
Winner	2.	8 February 1999	Rockford, United States	Hard (i)	Miroslava Vavrinec	6–4, 6–4
Winner	3.	23 July 2000	Frinton-on-Sea, United Kingdom	Grass	Helen Crook	6–3, 6–0

Doubles (5–2)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	13 August 1990	Brasília, Brazil	Clay	Sofie Albinus	Luciana Tella Andrea Vieira	7–6^(7–2), 4–6, 6–3
Winner	2.	11 February 1991	Key Biscayne, United States	Hard	Penny Barg	Rene Simpson Hellas ter Riet	7–5, 6–2
Winner	3.	25 September 1995	Telford, United Kingdom	Hard (i)	Jane Wood	Kaye Hand Anna-Karin Svensson	4–6, 7–6^(8–6), 6–3
Runner-up	1.	2 October 1995	Nottingham, United Kingdom	Hard (i)	Jane Wood	Sofia Finér Annica Lindstedt	6–7^(7–9), 5–7
Winner	4.	2 August 1998	Salt Lake City, United States	Hard	Mariaan de Swardt	Liezel Horn Karin Kschwendt	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	2.	25 October 1998	Welwyn, United Kingdom	Carpet (i)	Louise Pleming	Laurence Courtois Tina Križan	6–7, 4–6
Winner	5.	21 February 1999	Midland, United States	Hard (i)	Liezel Horn	Kirstin Freye Sonya Jeyaseelan	7–6^(8–6), 0–6, 7–5

References

1. Sam Smith Archived 2009-06-11 at the Wayback Machine Biography and Image, Celebrity Tennis
2. Knox, David (30 December 2014). "Summer of Tennis: guide". TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 February 2015.

External links

• Samantha Smith at the Women's Tennis Association
• Samantha Smith at the International Tennis Federation
• Samantha Smith at the Fed Cup