Sybille Bammer

Sybille Bammer (born 27 April 1980) is a former professional female tennis player from Austria. Her career high ranking is No. 19, achieved on 17 December 2007.

Sybille Bammer

Bammer at the 2009 US Open
Country (sports)	Austria
Residence	Linz, Austria
Born	(1980-04-27) 27 April 1980 Linz, Austria
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro	1997
Retired	2011
Plays	Left-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$1,732,746
Singles
Career record	338–300
Career titles	2 WTA, 9 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 19 (17 December 2007)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	3R (2006)
French Open	4R (2007)
Wimbledon	3R (2006)
US Open	QF (2008)
Doubles
Career record	31–88
Career titles	0 WTA (1 ITF)
Highest ranking	No. 236 (15 January 2007)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	1R (2006, 2007, 2008)
French Open	2R (2006)
Wimbledon	1R (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
US Open	1R (2006, 2007, 2008)
Last updated on: 17 August 2009.

She was one of three mothers on the WTA Tour (Kim Clijsters and Rossana de los Ríos are the others), having taken time off at age 21 to have her daughter Tina before returning to the tour. When she won the 2007 Pattaya Women's Open, it was the first time in eighteen years that a mother won on tour, after Laura Arraya in 1989.[1] Her daughter, Tina, was a frequent regular in the crowd. Bammer said of her daughter, "She is always telling other people to be quiet because mommy is concentrating."[2] She is notable for her 2-0 head-to-head against Serena Williams, one of the few players to have a winning record against the American.[3]

Tennis career

Born on 27 April 1980 in Linz, Austria, Bammer made her WTA Tour main draw debut as a wildcard in 2000 at the Klagenfurt event. She lost to German player Andrea Glass at this event. She failed to qualify for Wimbledon, US Open and her home tournament in Linz.

During 2001 she took a break from tennis to give birth to her daughter, Tina. Her boyfriend Christophe Gsthwendtner took a break from his engineering career to take care of Tina.[4] Given that she was still to break into the top 200 at the time, this was a courageous decision for the young couple. It wasn't until two years later that she would break into the top 150.[5]

Upon her post-pregnancy comeback in 2002 she cruised to win her first career singles title at the $10k event in Grenoble. She won another two in the same year at Mostar and Innsbruck, both $25k events on the ITF Tour. During 2003, she picked up another four $25k singles titles. She also made her debut for Austria in their Fed Cup team.

In 2005, Bammer made her career breakthrough, soaring into the top 100 in the rankings, including making her Grand Slam main draw debut at the US Open, where she fell in the first round to Martina Suchá as a qualifier. At the Tier III event in Kolkatta, Bammer reached her first-ever WTA Tour quarterfinal event, and then reached her second at the Tier II event in Linz as a wildcard, defeating Virginie Razzano and Vera Dushevina. She was the first Austrian since Barbara Schett in 2000 to make it to the quarterfinals there. After her impressive run in Linz, she reached a new career high of No.77.

At the start of 2006, she achiever her best-ever Grand Slam performance in only her second-ever Grand Slam main draw, making the third round. Two weeks later, she reached her first career Tour semifinal at Pattaya City, falling to the eventual champion, Shahar Pe'er. She reached the third round in Indian Wells before losing to 19th seed Martina Hingis, and the second round in Charleston, losing to top seed Justine Henin-Hardenne. During the Fed Cup, she fell 0–3 in Austria's 5–0 defeat to Spain.

She made her top-50 debut at No.42 following a third-round appearance at Berlin, losing to No.6 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. In her first Wimbledon main draw showing, she reached the third round, notching her best career win thus far over Nathalie Dechy, then ranked No.23. This was followed by a poor US hardcourt season, falling in the first round at four events and reaching the second round in three, including the US Open. She then reached her third career quarterfinal in Bangkok, once again beating Nathalie Dechy before falling to Tamarine Tanasugarn, the eventual runner-up. She finished the season ranked No.53, her best year-ending ranking thus far.

2007

After losing in the first round of Gold Coast to eventual runner-up Martina Hingis 6–0, 6–2, the following week at Hobart, a Tier IV event, she raised several eyebrows by issuing a quarter-final defeat to then eight-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, who was playing her first tournament since the US Open. With this victory, she became one of the very small number of players that have a winning head-to-head record over Williams. She lost easily in the semifinals to Vasilisa Bardina 3–6, 1–6. She then lost 4–6, 5–7 in the first round of the Australian Open to Anna Chakvetadze after leading 5–2 in the second set.

In February 2007 she finally won her first WTA Tour title ten years after turning pro, beating Vasilisa Bardina in the first round to avenge her semifinal loss to her at Hobart, Anastassia Rodionova, Martina Suchá, Peng Shuai and topping it off with a victory over Gisela Dulko in the final, saving three match points en route to victory.[6][7]

At Indian Wells, she became the No.33 seed after Elena Dementieva withdrew. She made the most of her luck, stunning everyone by making the semifinals of the Tier I event, her first-ever semifinal at this level. In the fourth round, she stunned No. 10 seed Ana Ivanovic, and beat No.13 seed Tatiana Golovin in the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, her fairytale came to an end in the semifinals losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova, the second seed, with a result of 7–6, 4–6, 1–6. Due to this amazing run, she rose to a new career high of No.30.

She lost early in Miami to tricky French left-hander Émilie Loit, and then moved onto the green clay of Amelia Island. She had another brilliant run here, beating Daniela Hantuchová in the quarterfinals but then lost to the eventual runner-up Nadia Petrova in the semifinals. This meant that she reached another career high, moving up to No.26 in the world. She reached the third round of Charleston, losing to surprise quarterfinalist Michaëlla Krajicek, but nevertheless made her top 25 debut at No. 25.

She played for Austria in the Fed Cup against Australia at the end of April. She ended with a 2–0 record after winning both of her singles matches against Samantha Stosur and Alicia Molik as Austria won 4–1. Her first tournament of May was the German Open, where she lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round. She then went to the second round of the Rome Masters, losing to Hantuchová 6–1, 6–2.

At the time of the French Open, she was ranked 25 in the world and entered the tournament as the 20th Seed. She beat Roberta Vinci (6–4, 6–4), Olga Savchuk (6–0, 6–3) and 16th Seed Li Na (6–4, 6–3) to record her best performance at a Grand Slam to date. Unfortunately, she was defeated by top seed, world number one, and eventual champion Justine Henin 6–2, 6–4 in the French open fourth round. Nonetheless, it capped a breakthrough Grand Slam for Sybille, and resulted in a new career high of No. 22 in the world for her.

In her first grass court tournament (the International Women's Open in Eastbourne, England), she won through to the 3rd round, only to be beaten in 3 tight sets by Nadia Petrova. At the third Grand Slam of the year at Wimbledon, Bammer lost in the second round to Laura Granville 6–1, 6–4.

Since her daughter was starting school in Austria in September 2007, Bammer decided to plan her season so that she would never be away from home for more than a month at any one time.[2]

In the Stanford Classic, she was defeated in three sets by unseeded Sania Mirza in the semifinals.

In the final staging of the Acura Classic, she made it to round 2 before losing to Ai Sugiyama. Nevertheless, she made her top 20 debut at No. 20 afterwards.

At the 2007 US Open, Bammer made it all the way to the 4th round, equaling her best Grand Slam performance to date. Along the way she defeated 2004 finalist Elena Dementieva handily 6–1, 6–2, before losing to Jelena Janković in three tight sets 4–6, 6–4, 1–6.

Bammer finished 2007 at No. 19 in the world and as the highest ranked Austrian woman.

2008

Bammer started 2008 by competing in the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts in the Gold Coast. She was the seventh seed but lost to eventual champion Li Na in a close match, 6–4, 4–6, 6–4. She then got her first win over Nadia Petrova in the first round of the Medibank International in Sydney in straight sets, 7–5, 6–3, before losing to Katarina Srebotnik.

Sybille was the 19th seed at the Australian Open. She defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn 6–7, 6–4, 6–2 in the first round, before losing easily to Su-Wei Hsieh 6–2, 6–0. She lost in the first round of Antwerp to Yaroslava Shvedova.

At the Qatar Total Open, Bammer made her first ever Tier I quarterfinal and scored the biggest win of her career over world number two Svetlana Kuznetsova. It was also her first ever top ten win. Her run was ended by eventual runner-up Vera Zvonareva 2–6, 6–2, 6–0. She followed it up by reaching the second round in Dubai, losing to Francesca Schiavone.

At the Bangalore Open, she lost in the second round to Anastasia Rodionova 7–6⁽⁵⁾, 6–2, after holding a 5–2 lead in the first set.

Bammer reached the quarterfinals at the Beijing Olympics, where she lost in three sets to ninth seed Vera Zvonareva 6–3, 3–6, 6–3.

At the US Open, Bammer was seeded 29th. She defeated No. 12 Marion Bartoli, 7–6, 0–6, 6–4 in the 4th round. She struggled with unforced errors in a loss to No. 2 Jelena Janković in the quarterfinals.

2009

Was seeded at the Australian Open but lost 1st Round.

At French Open Was 28th seed. d Nathalie Dechy 1st Round 3–6, 6–4, 6–1 then lost 2nd Round to M Czink 6–4, 3–6, 8–10. Partnering L Kubot of Poland, they won 2 matches and made it through to the Quarterfinals of the Mixed Doubles.

At Wimbledon was 29th Seed but lost 1st Round to Melanie Oudin 6–7, 0–6.

At Cincinnati defeat No.13 seed A.Radwańska 6–0, 7–5 and No.2 seed S.Williams en route 7–5, 6–4, falling to No.5 seed and eventual champion Janković; now 2–0 lifetime against S.Williams;

At the US Open was 28th seed and lost 1st round to Maria Martinez Sanchez 2–6, 6–4, 1–6.

2010

Reached 2nd round at the Australian Open – lost to V. Williams 6–2, 7–5 Reached semi-final at Kuala Lumpur lost to No.1 seed Elena Dementieva.

2011

Bammer retired in 2011, after playing her last professional tournament, the 2011 Gastein Ladies.

WTA Tour Finals

Singles (2-0)

Legend: Before 2009	Legend: Starting in 2009
Grand Slam (0)
WTA Championships (0)
Tier I (0)	Premier Mandatory (0)
Tier II (0)	Premier 5 (0)
Tier III (0)	Premier (0)
Tier IV & V (1)	International (1)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	11 February 2007	Pattaya City, Thailand	Hard	Gisela Dulko	7–5, 3–6, 7–5
Winner	2.	19 July 2009	Prague, Czech Republic	Clay	Francesca Schiavone	7–6^(4), 6–2

ITF Tour Finals

$50,000 tournaments

$25,000 tournaments

$10,000 tournaments

Singles (9–4)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	4 October 1998	Caracas, Venazuela	Hard	Nataly Cahana	1–6, 6–3, 3–6
Runner-up	2.	17 October 1999	Brisbane, Australia	Hard	Yi Jing-Qian	4–6, 1–6
Winner	1.	27 January 2002	Grenoble, France	Hard	Virginie Pichet	6–4, 6–4
Winner	2.	2 June 2002	Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina	Clay	Zuzana Kučová	2–6, 6–4, 7–5
Winner	3.	18 August 2002	Innsbruck, Austria	Clay	Barbora Strýcová	6–2, 6–3
Runner-up	3.	5 October 2003	Porto, Portugal	Clay	Séverine Beltrame	2–6, 3–6
Winner	4.	12 October 2003	Jersey, Great Britain	Hard	Sofia Arvidsson	7–6^(1), 6–2
Winner	5.	19 October 2003	Cardiff, Great Britain	Hard	Irina Bulykina	6–0, 6–2
Winner	6.	2 November 2003	Nottingham, Great Britain	Hard	Kirsten Flipkens	6–4, 3–6, 6–2
Winner	7.	21 December 2003	Valašské Meziříčí, Czech Republic	Hard	Lucie Šafářová	6–4, 6–1
Runner-up	4.	10 October 2004	Glasgow, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Margit Rüütel	6–3, 1–6, 5–7
Winner	8.	26 June 2005	Fontanafredda, Italy	Clay	Alice Canepa	7–6^(3), 6–2
Winner	9.	21 August 2005	Bronx, United States	Hard	Camille Pin	3–6, 6–4, 6–4

Doubles (1–1)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	5 May 2002	Warsaw, Poland	Clay (i)	Isabella Mitterlehner	Iveta Gerlová Christiane Hoppmann	4–6, 2–6
Winner	1.	5 October 2003	Oporto, Portugal	Clay	Laura Dell'Angelo	Iveta Gerlová Marie-Ève Pelletier	6–3, 7–5

Grand Slam performance timetable

Tournament	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	W–L
Australian Open	A	3R	1R	2R	1R	2R	1R	4–6
French Open	A	1R	4R	1R	2R	2R	1R	5–6
Wimbledon	A	3R	2R	2R	1R	1R	1R	4–6
US Open	1R	2R	4R	QF	1R	2R	A	9–6
Win–Loss	0–1	5–4	7–4	6–4	1–4	3–4	0–3	22–24

References

2. Bammer Thrives on Motherhood: BBC Sport 25 June 2007
3. http://www.stevegtennis.com/head-to-head/women/Serena_Williams/Sybille_Bammer/
4. Araton, Harvey (30 August 2009). "Success in Singles for a Doubles Team". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
5. http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/040807/spf_9123505.shtml
6. Bammer takes title with epic win
7. Austria's Bammer wins her first WTA Tournament

External links

• Sybille Bammer at the Women's Tennis Association
• Sybille Bammer at the International Tennis Federation
• Sybille Bammer at the Fed Cup