Kristína Kučová
Quick Facts
Biography
Kristína Kučová (born 23 May 1990 in Bratislava) is a Slovak tennis player.
Kučová has won ten singles and five doubles on the ITF tour in her career. On 1 August 2016, she reached her best singles ranking of world number 77. On 5 October 2009, she peaked at world number 168 in the doubles rankings.
Kučová was an accomplished junior player, having won the Girls' Singles title at the 2007 US Open and reaching a combined career-high junior ranking of world number 3 on 10 September 2009.
Playing for Slovakia at the Fed Cup, she has a win-loss record of 1-4.
Kučová's elder sister Zuzana is also a tennis player, having retired from the professional tour in 2013.
Tennis career
Juniors
At the 2007 US Open – Girls' Singles, the unseeded Kučová took the title, defeating thirteenth seed Julia Glushko in the third round, top seed and defending champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals, and number two seed Urszula Radwańska in the final. In addition to this, Kučová reached the 2007 Wimbledon Championships and 2007 French Open girls' doubles quarterfinals. Both times, Kučová was seeded seventh, however, she reached the French Open quarterfinals with compatriot Klaudia Boczová, losing to eventual champions and third seeds Ksenia Milevskaya and Urszula Radwańska. She reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals along with compatriot Lenka Juríková. The seventh-seeded Slovak pair lost to eventual runners-up Misaki Doi and Kurumi Nara.
2014
She started off the year in the qualifying for Sydney where she lost to Misaki Doi 6-4 6-3, then she lost in the first round of qualifying for the Australian Open to Paula Kania 4-6 7-5 6-2. She lost in qualifying for Doha to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 7-5 6-4 and also in Dubai where she lost to Flavia Pennetta 3-6 6-1 6-4. She managed to qualify for Katowice and then beat Monica Niculescu 6-1 6-1 in the first round before losing to Alize Cornet 6-3 4-6 6-3. She lost in qualifying for the French Open to the wildcard Irina Ramialison 6-1 6-0 and in qualifying for Wimbledon to Maryna Zanevska 6-4 4-6 6-3.
She reached her first WTA Semifinal at Bucharest by beating Anna Schmiedlova 6-3 6-3, Cristina Dinu 6-2 6-3 and Danka Kovinic 6-4 1-6 6-3 then she lost to Roberta Vinci 6-1 6-3 in the semifinals. She won a $50,000 in Sobota/Rokietnica in Poland by beating Sesil Karatantcheva 1-6 7-5 6-3. She won a $25,000 event in Fleurus, Belgium by beating Evgeniya Rodina 6-3 6-4 in the final. She lost in the second round of qualifying in Linz to Anna-Lena Friedsam 7-5 6-0 and in the first round of qualifying for Limoges to Katarzyna Piter 6-2 6-4.
2016:Breakthrough and into the Top 100
Kučová failed to qualify to the Australian Open. She lost in the final qualifying round to Wang Yafan, despite having a match point in the second set.
After defeating Stefanie Vögele and Hsieh Su-wei, Kučová reached the quarterfinals in Kuala Lumpur, where she lost to the second seed Elina Svitolina despite winning the first set 6–1.
She qualified for the main draw of the 2016 Rogers Cup by defeating Erin Routliffe and Christina McHale. She upset Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium in the first round, who had won the singles and doubles titles in Washington the week prior. In the second round she caused a bigger upset by defeating the No. 8 seed Carla Suarez Navarro , setting up a third round clash with Canadian Eugenie Bouchard. Kučová won the match in three sets to reach her first WTA Premier level quarterfinal, where she beat 15th seed Johanna Konta in straight sets. She was eventually eliminated in the semifinals by 10th seed Madison Keys. Following the tournament she broke into the world's top 100 in the rankings for the first time in her career.
ITF finals
Singles: 21 (10–11)
$100,000 tournaments |
$75,000 tournaments |
$50,000 tournaments |
$25,000 tournaments |
$15,000 tournaments |
$10,000 tournaments |
Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
Runner–up | 1. | 20 April 2007 | Hvar, Croatia | Clay | Karolina Jovanović | 1–6 4–6 |
Winner | 2. | 14 May 2007 | Michalovce, Slovakia | Clay | Katarzyna Piter | 2–6 6–3 6–4 |
Runner–up | 3. | 25 May 2008 | Galați, Romania | Clay | Valentina Sulpizio | 2–6 6–7(2) |
Runner–up | 4. | 10 August 2008 | Hechingen, Germany | Clay | Maša Zec Peškirič | 6–3 6–7(1) 3–6 |
Runner–up | 5. | 7 September 2008 | Maribor, Slovenia | Clay | Maša Zec Peškirič | 2–6 6–7(6) |
Runner–up | 6. | 29 March 2009 | La Palma, Spain | Hard | Anastasija Sevastova | 6–4 1–6 1–6 |
Runner–up | 7. | 5 June 2009 | Pozoblanco, Spain | Hard | Angelique Kerber | 3–6 4–6 |
Runner–up | 8. | 6 June 2010 | Brno, Czech Republic | Clay | Zuzana Ondrášková | 3–6 6–4 2–6 |
Runner–up | 9. | 26 September 2010 | Bucharest, Romania | Clay | Mădălina Gojnea | 4–6 4–6 |
Winner | 10. | 18 June 2012 | Alkmaar, Netherlands | Clay | Janina Toljan | 6–3 6–4 |
Winner | 11. | 8 July 2012 | Denain, France | Clay | Michaela Hončová | 6–2 1–6 6–2 |
Runner–up | 12. | 30 June 2013 | Zlín, Czech Republic | Clay | Melanie Klaffner | 3–6 2–6 |
Winner | 13. | 28 July 2013 | Les Contamines, France | Hard | Clothilde de Bernardi | 7–5 6–7(3) 6–3 |
Winner | 14. | 18 August 2013 | Craiova, Romania | Clay | Alberta Brianti | 7–5 3–6 6–4 |
Runner–up | 15. | 15 September 2013 | Sofia, Bulgaria | Clay | Patricia Mayr-Achleitner | 2–6 6–1 3–6 |
Runner–up | 16. | 26 October 2013 | Herzliya, Israel | Hard | Yuliya Beygelzimer | 3–6 6–4 2–5 ret. |
Winner | 17. | 27 July 2014 | Sobota, Poland | Clay | Sesil Karatantcheva | 1–6, 7–5, 6–3 |
Winner | 18. | 31 August 2014 | Fleurus, Belgium | Clay | Evgeniya Rodina | 6–3, 6–4 |
Winner | 19. | 28 February 2015 | Beinasco, Italy | Clay (i) | Barbora Krejčíková | 6–4, 7–6(7–3) |
Winner | 20. | 5 July 2015 | Toruń, Poland | Clay | Giulia Gatto-Monticone | 4–6, 6–1, 6–4 |
Winner | 21. | 26 September 2015 | Bucha, Ukraine | Clay | Alexandra Cadanțu | 4–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–0 |
Doubles (5–2)
$100,000 tournaments |
$75,000 tournaments |
$50,000 tournaments |
$25,000 tournaments |
$15,000 tournaments |
$10,000 tournaments |
Outcome | No | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents in the final | Score |
Winner | 1. | 17 March 2007 | Cairo, Egypt | Clay | Zuzana Kučová | Melissa Berry Michelle Gerards | 6–7 (3) 6–4 6–3 |
Winner | 2. | 20 May 2007 | Michalovce, Slovakia | Clay | Klaudia Boczová | Olga Brózda Justyna Jegiołka | 7–5 4–6 6–3 |
Runner-up | 3. | 11 May 2008 | Jounieh, Lebanon | Clay | Stefanie Vögele | Nina Bratchikova Veronika Kapshay | 5–7, 6–3, [6–10] |
Winner | 4. | 25 May 2008 | Galați, Romania | Clay | Valentina Sulpizio | Alexandra Cadanțu Antonia Xenia Tout | 6–0 6–2 |
Runner-up | 5. | 3 May 2009 | Johannesburg, South Africa | Hard | Anastasija Sevastova | Naomi Cavaday Lesia Tsurenko | 2–6 6–2 [9–11] |
Winner | 6. | 14 June 2009 | Zlín, Czech Republic | Clay | Zuzana Kučová | Nikola Fraňková Carmen Klaschka | 6–3 6–4 |
Winner | 7. | 20 September 2015 | Saint-Malo, France | Clay | Anastasija Sevastova | Maria Marfutina Natalia Vikhlyantseva | 6–7(1–7), 6–3, [10–5] |
Fed Cup participation
Singles (1–2)
Edition | Stage | Date | Location | Against | Surface | Opponent | W/L | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2008 Fed Cup | World Group II Play-offs | 27 April 2008 | Bratislava, Slovakia | Uzbekistan | Clay (i) | Vlada Ekshibarova | W | 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 |
2010 Fed Cup | World Group II | 7 April 2010 | Bratislava, Slovakia | China | Hard (i) | Han Xinyun | L | 1-6, 1-6 |
2014 Fed Cup | World Group Play-offs | 19 April 2014 | Quebec City, Canada | Canada | Hard (i) | Eugenie Bouchard | L | 6-7(0-7), 6-2, 1-6 |
Doubles (0–2)
Edition | Stage | Date | Location | Against | Surface | Partner | Opponents | W/L | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010 Fed Cup | World Group Play-offs | 28 April 2006 | Bratislava, Slovakia | China | Hard (i) | Dominika Cibulková | Lu Jingjing Zhang Shuai | L | 3-2, ret. |
2015 Fed Cup | World Group II | 8 February 2015 | Apeldoorn, Netherlands | Netherlands | Clay (i) | Kristína Schmiedlová | Richèl Hogenkamp Michaëlla Krajicek | L | 5-7, 1-6 |
Junior Grand Slam finals
Girls' Singles
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 2007 | US Open | Hard | Urszula Radwańska | 6–3, 1–6, 7–6(7–4) |
Top 10 wins
# | Player | Rank | Event | Surface | Round | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | ||||||
1. | Carla Suárez Navarro | No. 9 | Rogers Cup, Canada | Hard | 2nd Round | 3–6, 6–4, 6–4 |