Quick Facts
Leo
Biography
Hülya Esen, Хюлия Велиева (born 7 August 1989) is a Turkish born professional tennis player. Esen won six ITF doubles titles and reached career-high WTA rankings of 504 in singles (on 9 July 2012) and No. 406 in doubles (on 11 November 2013). She was the number-one-player in the Bulgarian women's tennis rankings for seven consecutive years.
Personal life
Her parents are of Turkish origin from Kardzhali, Bulgaria, and her ancestors came from Konya. Her mother Nebahat is from Ardino, and has been her coach, managing her and her sister’s Lütfiye careers.
Career
Esen made her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the 2008 Gastein Ladies in the doubles event, partnering Stefanie Haidner. She also played in the doubles event of the 2010 İstanbul Cup, partnering Derya Turhan.
Together with her sister Lütfiye, they were 12 times women's doubles champions of Bulgaria. Hülya is in total 17 times champion of Bulgaria, in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. She is the first and was the only triple champion of Bulgaria (till 2021), that have won all singles, doubles and mixed doubles competitions in one championship.
She played her last match on the ITF Circuit in October 2018.
ITF Circuit finals
Singles: 2 (2 runner–ups)
| Finals by surface |
|---|
| Legend |
| $10,000 tournaments |
| Finals by surface |
| Hard (0–2) |
| $10,000 tournaments |
| Hard (0–2) |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | May 2011 | ITF Gaziantep, Turkey | 10,000 | Hard | Melis Sezer | 2–6, 1–6 | |
| Loss | Apr 2012 | ITF Antalya, Turkey | 10,000 | Hard | Nicole Melichar | 4–6, 3–6 |
Doubles: 18 (6 titles, 12 runner–ups)
| Finals by surface |
|---|
| Legend |
| $25,000 tournaments |
| $10,000 tournaments |
| Finals by surface |
| Hard (2–3) |
| Clay (4–9) |
| $25,000 tournaments |
| $10,000 tournaments |
| Hard (2–3) |
| Clay (4–9) |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | Sep 2007 | ITF Palić, Serbia | 10,000 | Clay | Lütfiye Esen | Martina Babáková Davinia Lobbinger | 2–6, 3–6 | |
| Win | May 2008 | ITF Adana, Turkey | 10,000 | Clay | Lütfiye Esen | Julia Efremova Diana Isaeva | 5–7, 6–1, [10–4] | |
| Loss | Oct 2009 | ITF Dobrich, Bulgaria | 10,000 | Clay | Lütfiye Esen | Diana Marcu Simona Matei | 5–7, 6–4, [5–10] | |
| Loss | Oct 2010 | ITF Dobrich, Bulgaria | 10,000 | Clay | Lütfiye Esen | Camelia Hristea Ionela-Andreea Iova | 0–6, 6–2, [6–10] | |
| Win | Sep 2011 | ITF Antalya, Turkey | 10,000 | Hard | Lütfiye Esen | Magali de Lattre Christina Shakovets | 7–5, 7–5 | |
| Loss | Sep 2011 | ITF Adana, Turkey | 10,000 | Hard | Lütfiye Esen | Nikola Fraňková Hsu Chieh-yu | 6–7, 4–6 | |
| Win | Oct 2011 | ITF Antalya, Turkey | 10,000 | Clay | Lütfiye Esen | Khristina Kazimova Francesca Stephenson | 6–4, 6–2 | |
| Win | Dec 2011 | ITF Antalya, Turkey | 10,000 | Clay | Lütfiye Esen | Laura Ioana Paar Raluca Elena Platon | 6–0, 1–6, [10–7] | |
| Loss | Feb 2012 | ITF Antalya, Turkey | 10,000 | Clay | Seda Arantekin | Diana Enache Daniëlle Harmsen | 6–7, 1–6 | |
| Win | Apr 2012 | ITF Antalya, Turkey | 10,000 | Hard | Lütfiye Esen | Lu Jiaxiang Lu Jiajing | 1–6, 6–4, [10–8] | |
| Win | Jun 2012 | ITF Niš, Serbia | 10,000 | Clay | Lütfiye Esen | Lina Gjorcheska Maria Mokh | 3–6, 7–6, [10–6] | |
| Loss | Jul 2012 | ITF Prokuplje, Serbia | 10,000 | Clay | Lütfiye Esen | Lina Gjorcheska Dalia Zafirova | 3–6, 2–6 | |
| Loss | Nov 2012 | ITF Antalya, Turkey | 10,000 | Clay | Lütfiye Esen | Diana Buzean Daniëlle Harmsen | 6–4, 1–6, [3–10] | |
| Loss | Nov 2012 | ITF Antalya, Turkey | 10,000 | Clay | Lütfiye Esen | Laura Ioana Andrei Raluca Elena Platon | 4–6, 6–3, [7–10] | |
| Loss | Jul 2013 | ITF Izmir, Turkey | 10,000 | Hard | Lütfiye Esen | Başak Eraydın Zuzana Zlochová | 1–6, 3–6 | |
| Loss | Aug 2013 | ITF Izmir, Turkey | 10,000 | Hard | Lütfiye Esen | Anett Kontaveit Polina Leykina | 4–6, 5–7 | |
| Loss | Jul 2014 | ITF Prokuplje, Serbia | 10,000 | Clay | Lütfiye Esen | Lina Gjorcheska Alexandra Nancarrow | 2–6, 4–6 | |
| Loss | Jul 2016 | ITF Prokuplje, Serbia | 10,000 | Clay | Lütfiye Esen | Veronika Miroshnichenko Valeriya Zeleva | 5–7, 1–6 |
ITF Junior Circuit finals
Singles: 3 (3 runner–ups)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Grade | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | May 2005 | Plovdiv, Bulgaria | G5 | Clay | Anna Maskaljun | 2–6, 7–5, 1–6 | |
| Loss | May 2005 | Istanbul, Turkey | G5 | Hard | Nikki Prosser | 1–6, 6–7 | |
| Loss | Aug 2005 | Skopje, Macedonia | G5 | Clay | Lütfiye Esen | 2–6, 0–2 ret. |
Doubles: 4 (4 titles)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Grade | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | May 2004 | Istanbul, Turkey | G5 | Hard | Gözde Ünkaya | Ina Sireţeanu Gabriela Stepa | 6–4, 6–0 | |
| Win | Sep 2004 | Sofia, Bulgaria | G5 | Clay | Lütfiye Esen | Ioana-Alexandra Bara Nicoleta-Ana Maria Bara | 6–0, 6–4 | |
| Win | May 2005 | Istanbul, Turkey | G5 | Hard | Lütfiye Esen | Eylül Benli Valeria Savinykh | 7–6, 4–6, 6–4 | |
| Win | Aug 2005 | Skopje, Macedonia | G5 | Clay | Lütfiye Esen | Nives Pavlovic Nevena Selaković | 6–4, 6–1 |