Nicole Vaidisova

Nicole Vaidisova (born April 23, 1989 in Nürnberg, West Germany) is a Czech female tennis player.

Vaidisova is a star in women's tennis who has been playing since she was six years old. She is a student of Nick Bollettieri and trains at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Her serve is considered her biggest weapon. As of June 25, 2007, Vaidisova is ranked #10 in the WTA rankings. On August 9, 2006, she moved up in the rankings to #9, becoming the 12th-youngest player in Tour history to crack the Top 10, at 17 years, 3 months, and 2 weeks of age. She achieved her career-high ranking of No. 7 on May 14, 2007.

Vaidisova is the face of Reebok and has been featured in their "I Am What I Am" and "Run Easy" campaigns. She also endorses Citizen Watch Co., Ltd and its Eco-Drive design. An avid reader, Vaidisova is part of the "Get Caught Reading Campaign" to encourage people to read more. Nicole has taken part in other philanthropic causes; such as becoming an Ambassador for PlayPumps International, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing clean drinking water to African children.

Career

Vaidisova debuted strongly in the 2003 season by reaching three consecutive finals: won $10K ITF/Plzen-CZE, her only event in 2003, without dropping a set.

2004

In 2004, she finished the season as a top 100 player. As a qualifier at only her third Tour main draw at inaugural Vancouver, Vaidisova became the sixth-youngest singles champion in Tour history at 15 years, three months, 23 days of age, and the lowest-ranked player (No. 180) and second qualifier (of three) to win a title in 2004. She won her second title of the year at Tashkent, defeating Virginie Razzano in the final. On October 18, she made her Top 100 début at No. 74, becoming the youngest player in the top 100 at the time.

Later in the season, she reached the quarterfinals at the Japanese Open in Tokyo, defeating No. 29 Tatiana Golovin in three sets en route for her career-best win, before losing to Klara Koukalova. Vaidisova made her Grand Slam debut at the US Open losing to defending champion and World No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne 6-1, 6-4 in the first round. She won ITF/Columbus, OH-USA at the start of the season and reached her then career-high No. 72 singles ranking on November 1.

Despite being only 14-years-old, she finished the year with two WTA titles and a win-loss record of 31-8.

2005

In early January, she reached her first quarterfinal of the season in Hobart, defeating on her way Tatiana Perebiynis and Dinara Safina before losing to Iveta Benesova. Vaidisova picked up her first Grand Slam singles victory in her Australian Open début by reaching the third round with victories against Maria Vento-Kabchi and Jelena Kostanić, falling to top seed Lindsay Davenport. Following the tournament, she jumped in the ranking from No. 70 to No. 57.

In April, at the Family Circle Cup, she made her top 50 début at No.47 and reached her first career Tier I quarterfinals at Charleston, saving two match points in first round victory against qualifier Shahar Pe'er. She then posted her first top 10 victory over defending French Open champion Anastasia Myskina before also defeating Shinobu Asagoe in three sets. Vaidisova then fell to Patty Schnyder in the quarterfinals, making her top 40 début at No. 34 on April 18.

In May, Vaidisova reached her first Tier III final in Istanbul, losing to top seed Venus Williams in the championship match. She made her debut at Roland Garros, defeating Lucie safarova in the first round before falling in No. 22 seed Francesca Schiavone in the next round.

In August, she reached the quarterfinals at Toronto, defeating on her way lucky loser Shenay Perry, Nathalie Dechy and Hana Šromová before losing to Justine Henin-Hardenne. Her ranking continued to improve, jumping from No. 32 to No. 27 on August 22.

In September, at the 2005 US Open, she reached the fourth round for the first time at a Grand Slam event, defeating Květa Peschke, Zheng Jie and qualifier Ivana Lisjak before losing to Nadia Petrova.

Her ranking improved following the US Open, going from No. 28 to a career-high No. 23 on September 12. She captured her first title of 2005 (and third of career) at Seoul, defeating top seed Jelena Janković in the final without dropping a set during the week. She moved to career-best No. 21 at the start of October.

In that month, she captured her second straight Tour singles title as at Tokyo (Japan Open), winning when Tatiana Golovin retired while trailing 7-6(4) 3-2 due to a left achilles tendonitis in the final. On October 10, she made her top 20 début at No. 18 and extended her winning streak to 15 matches by winning her third consecutive Tour singles title and fifth of her career; she beat Conchita Martínez and Gisela Dulko en route to final, then overcame a 4-2 third-set deficit to defeat Nadia Petrova for the first time, 6-1 6-7(5) 7-5, in the final.

With the Seoul, Tokyo and Bangkok titles, Nicole Vaidisova became the first player since Lindsay Davenport in 2004 to win three titles in three weeks, and also became the sixth woman to win five Tour singles titles before her 17th birthday (after Tracy Austin, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis). On October 17, she improved her ranking from No. 18 to No. 17, another career-high.

2006

Vaidisova captured her 6th WTA title at the Tier III event in Strasbourg. In June, Vaidisova made a semifinal run at the French Open, her best Grand Slam performance to date. She defeated World No. 1 and home favourite Amélie Mauresmo 6-7, 6-1, 6-2 in the fourth round and Venus Williams 6-7, 6-1, 6-3 in the quarterfinal. However, Vaidisova lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in a tight 7-5, 6-7, 2-6; it has been noted Vaidisova was only two points away from victory several times. At the Wimbledon Championships, Vaidisova got to the fourth round before losing to Li Na. She has now advanced to the Round of Sixteen or better in each of the four Grand Slam tournaments.

In July, Vaidisova went 2-0 during Czech Republic's 3-2 Fed Cup World Group Play-offs loss to France. She reached the semifinal on her debut in Stanford, losing 7-5, 6-2 to Kim Clijsters. Vaidisova reached her career-first Tier I semifinal in San Diego, losing to Clijsters again. After her success in San Diego, Vaidisova moved from No. 12 to No. 9, her career top 10 début, becoming the 12th-youngest player in Tour history to crack the Top 10, at 17 years, 3 months, and 2 weeks of age.

At the US Open, she made it to the third round, but lost to Jelena Jankovic, who later made it to the semifinal. In Beijing, she lost in the second round to Ai Sugiyama after a first round bye.

Vaidisova defeated Amelie Mauresmo for the second time at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, after rallying from 1-6, 2-5 down and three match points, in their quarterfinal match. But Vaidisova lost to Nadia Petrova for a third time in their four meetings in the semifinal afterwards.

Nicole finished the year ranked #10, the first time she has ended the year in the top 10.

2007

Vaidisova reached the semifinals of the Tier II Medibank International in Sydney, Australia. She beat Daniela Hantuchova, Yuliana Fedak and Ana Ivanovic (for the first time), before falling to Jelena Janković 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

At the Australian Open in Melbourne, Vaidisova reached her second Slam semifinal, defeating Jill Craybas, Milagros Sequera, Katarina Srebotnik, Elena Dementieva,and Lucie safarova en route. She was defeated in the semifinal by the eventual champion, Serena Williams, 7-6, 6-4.

At the Tier II Open Gaz de France, she was the 5th seeded. She lost in round 16 to Lucie Šafářová, 6-4, 6-2. In March, she had a successful run at Indian Wells, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova at the quarterfinal in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

At the 2007 French Open, Vaidisova, seeded 6th, was defeated in the quarters by #4 seed Jelena Jankovic, 6-3,7-5.

In her first grass tournament of the season, the International Women's Open in Eastbourne, England, Vaidisova lost in the quarterfinals to world number 1 Justine Henin, 6-2, 6-2 in just under one hour. At the Wimbledon Championships, Vaidisova lost to Ana Ivanović 4-6, 6-2, 5-7 in the quarterfinals, after failing to convert three match points. She had earlier dismissed the reigning champion and fourth seed Amélie Mauresmo in the fourth round.

Vaidisova has not played since Wimbledon due to glandular fever and signed up for several tournaments before withdrawing. She returned at the U.S. Open, where she lost to Shahar Pe'er in an epic third round match, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(5).

Her next event was the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, where she was the #8 seed. She had defeated Russians Yaroslava Shvedova and Elena Vesnina in straight sets before losing to #4 seed Serena Williams in the quarters with a score of 6-4, 7-6(7).

Next week at Zurich, Vaidisova reached the semis defeating Katarina Srebotnik, world No.3 Jelena Janković and Alona Bondarenko all in straight sets. In semis, she faced world No. 1 Justine Henin and, despite coming back from 3-5 down in the third set, Vaidisova ended up losing 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Personal

Vaidisova is coached by her stepfather, Alex Kodat, and is working with Physiotherapist, David Hogarth. She was introduced to tennis by her mother, Riana. She has two younger brothers, Oliver and Toby. She follows the NHL and enjoys reading, watching movies, yoga, and bike riding. She likes pop music and is a fan of Madonna. She lists New York City is her favourite city because of its constant activity. Vaidisova speaks Czech, English, German, and is studying French.

WTA Tour titles (6)

Legend
Grand Slam (0)
WTA Championships (0)
Tier I (0)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (3)
Tier IV-V (3)

Singles (6)
1. August 15, 2004 - Vancouver, Canada - Hard - Laura Granville - 2-6 6-4 6-2*
2. October 17, 2004 - Tashkent, Uzbekistan - Hard - Virginie Razzano - 5-7 6-3 6-2
3. October 2, 2005 - Seoul, Korea - Hard - Jelena Jankovic - 7-5 6-3
4. October 9, 2005 - Tokyo, Japan - Hard - Tatiana Golovin - 7-64 3-2 ret.
5. October 16, 2005 - Bangkok, Thailand - Hard - Nadia Petrova - 6-1 6-75 7-5
6. 27 May 2006 - Strasbourg, France - Clay - Peng Shuai - 7-67 6-3

* won the event as a qualifier.