Monica Niculescu

Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a professional Romanian tennis player. Her highest WTA ranking is no. 28 in singles, reached on February 27, 2012, and no. 16 in doubles, reached on 31 July 2016.
Niculescu was born in Slatina, Romania, but moved to Bucharest when she was four. She is currently coached by Călin Stelian Ciorbagiu.

2002–2005: Junior years

As a junior, Niculescu had the remarkable gift to win quite easily every final she reached. Thus, before reaching the age of 18, she won 11 ITF singles finals, losing only one set:

• in Bucharest (August 2002), 6-1,7-6 to Tsvetana Pironkova;
• in Cavtat (April 2003) 6-4,6-1 to Darija Jurak;
• in Timişoara (August 2003) 6-2,6-3 to Veronika Rizhik;
• in Albufeira (February 2004) 6-1,3-6,6-0 to Irina Kotkina;
• in Portimão (February 2004) 6-4,7-6 to Nadja Pavić;
• in Bucharest (May 2004) 6-2,6-2 to Simona Matei;
• in Iași (August 2004) 7-6,6-0 to Raluca Olaru;
• in Cairo (March 2005) 6-4,6-2 to Galina Fokina;
• in Ain El Soukhna (March 2005) 6-3,6-4 to Magdaléna Rybáriková;
• in Antalya (May 2005) 6-2,6-2 to Ekaterina Dzehalevich;
• and in Coimbra (August 2005) 6-3,6-1 against Aravane Rezaï.

She also won 8 out of 14 ITF finals played in doubles, as a junior, in most of them having as a partner her older sister Gabriela Niculescu. She played finals in girls'doubles in Roland Garros (2004, paired with Madalinea Gojnea) and twice in Wimbledon (2004 and 2005, paired with Marina Erakovic).

By the end of 2005, now already a senior player, she was no. 271 in the WTA rankings and no.4 in Romania.

2006–2008: Constant progress as a senior, Top 50

Niculescu made her WTA debut in 2006 Istanbul, where she won to then junior Sabine Lisicki but could not pass the 3rd qualification round. In 2007 she continued to play many ITF tournaments, and she also played in qualifications in all 4 Grand Slams and 3 other WTA tournaments, but only in Dubai she reached the main draw. Still, winning several ITF tournaments and gathering many small points, she finished the year 2007 in Top 200.

In 2008, she reached the quarterfinals in Tashkent, and in all 4 Grand Slams she reached the first round, with round 2 reached in Wimbledon. Gathering points constantly on WTA tour, and also including some smaller successes in ITF tournaments, Niculescu was ranked 48th in the World, and 2nd in Romania, at the end of 2008.

2009: Setback and out of Top 100

Niculescu opened the season at the Brisbane International, where she lost to Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round in three sets. She also lost in the first round of the Moorilla Hobart International to Alona Bondarenko. At the 2009 Australian Open, Niculescu beat Katie O'Brien in the first round, 6–4, 6–4, before losing to Sara Errani in the second, 2–6, 3–6. Alongside Sorana Cîrstea, Niculescu was the fourteenth seed in women's doubles; they lost to Nathalie Dechy and Mara Santangelo in the second round, 3–6, 3–6.

In the other 3 Grand Slams, she did not go past round 1 of the main draw. Her best results of the year were quarterfinals in Tashkent and Strasbourg.

At the Open GDF Suez held in Paris, Niculescu defeated Timea Bacsinszky in the first round, before losing to eventual champion Amélie Mauresmo in the second. She then took part in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. She beat Peng Shuai in the first round in three sets, 3–6, 7–5, 6–2, and then lost to world no. 3 Jelena Janković in the second, 3–6, 2–6. Niculescu also partnered Elena Vesnina in doubles, and the two reached the quarterfinals in women's doubles; they lost to Anabel Medina Garrigues and Francesca Schiavone. Niculescu had two consecutive first-round losses, at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California (fell to Anna-Lena Grönefeld) and Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida (fell to Tamira Paszek). Partnering Alisa Kleybanova, she reached the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open, where they lost to Maria Kirilenko and Flavia Pennetta. At the Sony Ericsson Open she partnered Kleybanova again, but they lost to second seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual.

Niculescu withdrew from the Andalucía Tennis Experience and Barcelona Ladies Open due to a forearm injury.

At the end of the year, she had slipped out of Top 100.

2010: Comeback to Top 100, first WTA semifinal

Monica Niculescu at the 2010 US Open

In 2010, Monica started the season in Auckland, coming from qualifying. In the first round, she lost to fifth seed 5 Virginie Razzano, 5–7, 4–6. In doubles, she partnered Ioana Raluca Olaru, and they defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues and Carla Suárez Navarro, 7–5, 7–5. In the second round, they lost to Cara Black and Liezel Huber, 3–6, 2–6.

At the Australian Open, she lost in the first round to Jelena Janković, 4–6, 0–6. In doubles, she partnered Chan Yung-jan and defeated Monique Adamczak and Nicole Kriz, 6–3, 6–1. The pair defeated Alla Kudryavtseva and Ekaterina Makarova in the second round, 6–4, 6–4. In the third round, the lost to sixth seeds Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs, 5–7, 3–6.

Niculescu then played an ITF tournament in Midland, but lost in the first round to Eleni Daniilidou 4–6, 2–6.

In Memphis, she lost in the first round qualifying to Valérie Tétreault. In doubles, she reached the semifinals along with Riza Zalameda, losing to Vania King and Michaëlla Krajicek, 1–6, 4–6.

At Indian Wells, she lost in qualifying to Tamarine Tanasugarn. In doubles, together with Michaëlla Krajicek, she lost in first round to Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Yan Zi, 6–7, 2–6.

In Marbella failed to qualify in singles, but in doubles she partnered Sophie Lefèvre. They defeated Kristina Barrois and Ioana Raluca Olaru in the first round, 6–3, 4–6, [10–7]. However, in the second round, they lost to Virginia Ruano Pascual and Meghann Shaughnessy, 2–6, 4–6.

She made again her best in Tashkent, where she reached her first WTA semifinals but lost to Elena Vesnina.

Although in the first half of the year she was struggling between ranks 100 and 150, by the middle of the year she reached Top 100 again and ended the year as No.82 in the world, and no.2 in Romania.

2011: Consistent game, advance to Top 30

At the 2011 Australian Open, Niculescu defeated Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets, 6–0, 6–3. Facing off against the 32nd seed, Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, Niculescu cruised through the match winning 6–4, 6–1. In the third round, she lost to the 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, 0–6, 6–7.

Niculescu defeated Patricia Mayr-Achleitner in the first round and compatriot Alexandra Dulgheru in the second round, 6–3, 6–0, to advance to the third round of the 2011 US Open. In defeating Lucie Šafářová, 6–0, 6–1, Niculescu advanced to the fourth round of a Grand Slam singles competition for the first time in her career, where she lost 4–6, 3–6 to unseeded Angelique Kerber.

At the Tier 1 China Open, she shocked the world with a dominating victory over fourth seed Li Na, 6–4, 6–0 in the first round and advanced to the semifinals, where she lost to eventual runner-up, Andrea Petkovic.

She advanced to her first WTA final at the International tournament in Luxembourg, losing to Victoria Azarenka, 2–6, 2–6. En route to the final, she spent many hours on court with a 6–7, 7–5, 7–6 first-round victory over Karin Knapp, a second-round 7–6, 3–6, 6–1 win over Anabel Medina Garrigues, and a 7–5, 4–6, 6–3 win in 3 hours over 2010 finalist Anne Keothavong in the semifinals.

The end of the year found her as No.30 in the World and No.1 in Romania.

2012: Career high, small setback, still top 60

At the Australian Open, Niculescu made it to the third round by defeating Alizé Cornet and Pauline Parmentier, but she was defeated by then–world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, 2–6, 2–6.

She reached quarterfinals in Doha, where she lost to Samantha Stosur.

Her best result was again the WTA final in Luxembourg, lost to Venus Williams.

Although in February Niculescu had reached rank No.28, her career high so far, the inconsistent results during the season made her go down to World No.58 by the end of the year.

2013: Steady position, first WTA title

Aside two WTA semifinals in Shenzhen and Monterrey, Niculescu won her first singles WTA title in Florianópolis.

She played in round 1 of all the Grand Slams, but lost the games constantly.

Yet, winning enough games and points in WTA tournaments, she kept her Top 60 position, finishing the season as No.59 in the WTA rankings.

2014: Second WTA title, Top 50 again

In all, Niculescu had an improving season, reaching round 3 at Australian Open, round 2 at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, quarterfinals in Shenzhen, Hobart and Florianópolis, and semifinals in Bucharest. The best result was her winning the WTA tournament in Guangzhou, as her second WTA title.

Thus she entered Top 50 again by the end of the year.

2015: Tough matches, steady game

Much of early 2015 was particularly difficult for Niculescu, as she often faced difficult draws. For instance she drew world #1 Serena Williams twice in a row in the second round of Indian Wells and Miami. While she managed to test Williams with a 5–7 5–7 score, she was not able to win a set against her in either match. She also suffered first round losses at Shenzen, Hobart, the Australian Open, Dubai, Prague, and the French Open.

Niculescu won the Marseille clay 100K ITF tournament in June. Shortly thereafter, she defeated first-seeded Agnieszka Radwańska 5–7, 6–4, 6–0 at the Aegon Open Nottingham WTA grass tournament to earn a place in the final where she lost to teenager Ana Konjuh 6–1 4–6 2–6. All five matches she played went to three sets. She then lost in the first round at Birmingham to the 10th seed Barbora Strýcová.

Niculescu earned a spot in the fourth round at the Wimbledon Championships for the first time, defeating Mónica Puig 5–7 6–3 6–1 (1st rd.), Jana Čepelová 6–3 6–3 (2nd rd.), and Kristýna Plíšková 6–3 7–5 (3rd rd.). This is the second time she has made it past the third round at a major. Despite winning the first set of her fourth-round match 6-1 and having a positive head-to-head record against the player, she was defeated by 15th-seeded Timea Bacsinszky, who took the next two sets at 7-5 and 6-2. Bacsinszky has seen a dramatic improvement of her results, having recently also made the semifinals at the French Open.

2016: Doubles success

Niculescu reached a career high ranking of 16 in doubles in July. She partnered with Sania Mirza to win in New Haven.

2017

Monica Niculescu started her season at Shenzhen Open with a victory, defeating Kai Lin Zhang, but she lost her second match to Wang Qiang.

Next week, Niculescu played at Hobart International where she made it to the final where she lost to Elise Mertens 3–6, 1–6.

At the Australian Open, Monica lost to Anna Blinkova in the first round. Then, Niculescu played doubles with Abigail Spears, but they lost in the first round to Andrea Petkovic and Mirjana Lučić-Baroni.

Her mother, Cristiana Silvia Niculescu is a pharmaceutical sales representative; her father Mihai Niculescu is an engineer. Niculescu has an older sister, Gabriela, who was a professional tennis player and attended University of Idaho, after transferring from USC after her junior year.

Monica Niculescu cited Martina Hingis and Andre Agassi as her tennis idols. She enjoys shopping, movies, reading, and spending time with her family. Niculescu listed her favourite movie as The Butterfly Effect with Ashton Kutcher.

Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 finals

Doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	2015	Wuhan	Hard	Irina-Camelia Begu	Martina Hingis Sania Mirza	2−6, 3−6
Runner-up	2016	Canada	Hard	Simona Halep	Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina	3–6, 6–7(5–7)

Singles: 8 (3 titles, 5 runners-up)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	23 October 2011	BGL Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Hard (i)	Victoria Azarenka	2–6, 2–6
Runner-up	2.	21 October 2012	BGL Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg (2)	Hard (i)	Venus Williams	2–6, 3–6
Winner	1.	2 March 2013	Brasil Tennis Cup, Florianópolis, Brazil	Hard	Olga Puchkova	6–2, 4–6, 6–4
Winner	2.	21 September 2014	Guangzhou International Women's Open, Guangzhou, China	Hard	Alizé Cornet	6–4, 6–0
Runner-up	3.	15 June 2015	Aegon Nottingham Open, Nottingham, Great Britain	Grass	Ana Konjuh	6–1, 4–6, 2–6
Runner-up	4.	25 September 2016	Korea Open, Seoul, South Korea	Hard	Lara Arruabarrena	0–6, 6–2, 0–6
Winner	3.	22 October 2016	BGL Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Hard (i)	Petra Kvitová	6–4, 6–0
Runner-up	5.	14 January 2017	Hobart International, Hobart, Australia	Hard	Elise Mertens	3–6, 1–6

Doubles: 21 (7 titles, 14 runners-up)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	17 August 2008	Pilot Pen Tennis, New Haven, United States	Hard	Sorana Cîrstea	Květa Peschke Lisa Raymond	6–4, 5–7, [7–10]
Winner	1.	12 July 2009	GDF Suez Grand Prix, Budapest, Hungary	Clay	Alisa Kleybanova	Alona Bondarenko Kateryna Bondarenko	6–4, 7–6(7–5)
Runner-up	2.	2 August 2009	Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, United States	Hard	Chan Yung-jan	Serena Williams Venus Williams	1–6, 4–6
Runner-up	3.	16 January 2010	Moorilla Hobart International, Hobart, Australia	Hard	Chan Yung-jan	Květa Peschke Chuang Chia-jung	6–3, 3–6, [7–10]
Runner-up	4.	18 July 2010	ECM Prague Open, Prague, Czech Republic	Clay	Ágnes Szávay	Timea Bacsinszky Tathiana Garbin	5–7, 6–7(4–7)
Runner-up	5.	23 July 2011	Baku Cup, Baku, Azerbaijan	Hard	Galina Voskoboeva	Mariya Koryttseva Tatiana Poutchek	3–6, 6–2, [8–10]
Winner	2.	14 January 2012	Moorilla Hobart International, Hobart, Australia	Hard	Irina-Camelia Begu	Chuang Chia-jung Marina Erakovic	6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–4), [10–5]
Runner-up	6.	22 September 2012	Guangzhou International Women's Open, Guangzhou, China	Hard	Jarmila Gajdošová	Tamarine Tanasugarn Zhang Shuai	6–2, 2–6, [8–10]
Runner-up	7.	21 October 2012	BGL Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Hard (i)	Irina-Camelia Begu	Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká	3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	8.	22 June 2013	Aegon International, Eastbourne, United Kingdom	Grass	Klára Koukalová	Nadia Petrova Katarina Srebotnik	3-6, 3-6
Winner	3.	4 January 2014	Shenzhen Open, Shenzhen, China	Hard	Klára Koukalová	Lyudmyla Kichenok Nadiia Kichenok	6–3, 6–4
Winner	4.	11 January 2014	Moorilla Hobart International, Hobart, Australia	Hard	Klára Koukalová	Lisa Raymond Zhang Shuai	6–2, 6–7(5–7), [10–8]
Runner-up	9.	13 April 2014	BNP Paribas Katowice Open, Katowice, Poland	Hard (i)	Klára Koukalová	Yuliya Beygelzimer Olga Savchuk	4–6, 7–5, [7–10]
Runner-up	10.	17 January 2015	Moorilla Hobart International, Hobart, Australia	Hard	Vitalia Diatchenko	Kiki Bertens Johanna Larsson	5–7, 3–6
Runner-up	11.	3 October 2015	Wuhan Open, Wuhan, China	Hard	Irina-Camelia Begu	Martina Hingis Sania Mirza	2−6, 3−6
Runner-up	12.	24 October 2015	Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia	Hard (i)	Irina-Camelia Begu	Daria Kasatkina Elena Vesnina	3–6, 7–6(9–7), [5–10]
Winner	5.	9 January 2016	Shenzhen Open, Shenzhen, China	Hard	Vania King	Xu Yifan Zheng Saisai	6−1, 6−4
Winner	6.	24 July 2016	Citi Open, Washington, D.C., United States	Hard	Yanina Wickmayer	Shuko Aoyama Risa Ozaki	6–4, 6–3
Runner-up	13.	31 July 2016	Rogers Cup, Montréal, Canada	Hard	Simona Halep	Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina	3–6, 6–7(5–7)
Winner	7.	27 August 2016	Connecticut Open, New Haven, United States	Hard	Sania Mirza	Kateryna Bondarenko Chuang Chia-jung	7–5, 6–4
Runner-up	14.	22 October 2016	Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Hard (i)	Patricia Maria Țig	Kiki Bertens Johanna Larsson	6–4, 5–7, [9–11]

Singles (18 titles, 5 runner–up)

Outcome	No.	Datexf	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	12 August 2002	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Tsvetana Pironkova	6–1, 7–6(7–4)
Winner	2.	9 April 2003	Cavtat, Croatia	Clay	Darija Jurak	6–4, 6–1
Winner	3.	25 August 2003	Timișoara, Romania	Clay	Veronica Rizhik	6–2, 6–3
Winner	4.	9 February 2004	Albufeira, Portugal	Hard	Irina Kotkina	6–1, 3–6, 6–0
Winner	5.	16 February 2004	Portimao, Portugal	Hard	Nadja Pavic	6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Winner	6.	17 May 2004	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Simona Matei	6–2, 6–2
Winner	7.	16 August 2004	Iași, Romania	Clay	Raluca Olaru	7–6(7–5), 6–0
Winner	8.	15 March 2005	Cairo, Egypt	Clay	Galina Fokina	6–4, 6–2
Winner	9.	21 March 2005	Ain Alsoukhna, Egypt	Clay	Magdaléna Rybáriková	6–3, 6–4
Winner	10.	9 May 2005	Antalya, Turkey	Clay	Ekaterina Dzehalevich	6–2, 6–2
Winner	11.	15 August 2005	Coimbra, Portugal	Hard	Aravane Rezaï	6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	1.	3 July 2006	Stuttgart, Germany	Clay	Yevgenia Savranska	6-7(4–7), 5–7
Runner-up	2.	17 July 2006	Darmstadt, Germany	Clay	Magda Mihalache	0–6, 1–6
Runner-up	3.	8 August 2006	Coimbra, Portugal	Hard	Kelly Liggan	0–6, 6-7(7–9)
Winner	12.	24 September 2007	Granada, Spain	Hard	María José Martínez Sánchez	6–3, 6–4
Winner	13.	22 October 2007	Istanbul, Turkey	Hard (i)	Oxana Lyubtsova	6–2, 6–0
Winner	14.	5 November 2007	Port Pirie, Australia	Hard	Hwang I-hsuan	6–1, 6–2
Winner	15.	19 November 2007	Mount Gambier, Australia	Hard	Ye-Ra Lee	6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	4.	3 November 2008	Krakow, Poland	Hard (i)	Anne Keothavong	6–7(4–7), 6–4, 3–6
Runner-up	5.	19 July 2010	Petange, Luxembourg	Clay	Mathilde Johansson	3–6, 3–6
Winner	16.	19 November 2012	Nantes, France	Hard (i)	Yulia Putintseva	6–2, 6–3
Winner	17.	1 June 2015	Marseille, France	Clay	Pauline Parmentier	6–2, 7–5
Winner	18.	26 October 2015	Poitiers, France	Hard (i)	Pauline Parmentier	7–5, 6–2

Doubles (21–16)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	12 August 2002	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Radoslava Topalova Virginia Trifonova	4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Winner	1.	26 August 2002	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Iveta Gerlova Nina Nittinger	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	2.	10 March 2003	Makarska, Croatia	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Stefanie Haidner Daniela Klemenschits	6–3, 6–7(7–9), 4–6
Winner	2.	31 March 2003	Makarska, Croatia	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Darija Jurak Maria Jedlickova	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	3.	14 April 2003	Dubrovnik, Croatia	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Mervana Jugic-Salkic Darija Jurak	2–6, 6–4, 2–6
Runner-up	4.	11 August 2003	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Anna Bastrikova Elena Vesnina	4–6, 4–6
Runner-up	5.	11 August 2003	Timișoara, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Julia Acs Vasilisa Davydova	4–6, 3–6
Winner	3.	17 May 2004	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Lenore Lazaroiu Andra Savu	6–4, 6–2
Winner	4.	13 July 2004	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Liana Ungur Iris Ichim	6–4, 6–1
Winner	5.	9 August 2004	Târgu Mureș, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Simona Matei Barbara Pocza	7–5, 6–1
Winner	6.	16 August 2004	Iași, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Nadine Schlotterer Eva Valkova	7–5, 6–1
Winner	7.	15 March 2005	Cairo, Egypt	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Hanna Andreyeva Valeria Bondarenko	6–2, 6–3
Winner	8.	15 March 2005	Ain El Soukhna, Egypt	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Laura-Ramona Husaru Sarah Raab	6–1, 6–1
Runner-up	6.	11 April 2005	Civitavecchia, Italy	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Lucie Hradecka Sandra Zahlavova	4–6, 3–6
Winner	9.	02 May 2005	Antalya, Turkey	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Irina Buryachok Olga Panova	6–3, 6–4
Winner	9.	9 May 2005	Antalya, Turkey	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Renata Kucerkova Kathrin Woerle-Scheller	6–7, 6–0, 6–0
Runner-up	7.	15 October 2005	Sevilla, Spain	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Sara Errani María José Martínez Sánchez	2–6, 6–7(5-7)
Runner-up	8.	3 April 2006	Athens, Greece	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Olga Brozda Margit Ruutel	6–2, 4–6, 2–6
Winner	10.	09 May 2006	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Sorana Cirstea Diana Buzean	6–3, 6–0
Winner	11.	20 June 2006	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Raluca Ciulei Neda Kozic	6–2, 6–1
Winner	12.	3 July 2006	Stuttgart, Germany	Clay	Renata Voráčová	Eva Fislova Stanislava Hrozenska	6–2, 6–7(4-7), 7–5
Winner	13.	17 July 2006	Darmstadt, Germany	Clay	Yevgenia Savranska	Daniela Klemenschits Sandra Klemenschits	1–6, 6–0, 6–1
Winner	14.	4 September 2006	Mestre, Italy	Clay	Renata Voráčová	Margalita Chakhnashvili-Ranzinger Tatjana Maria	6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Winner	14.	2 April 2007	Putignano, Italy	Hard	Andreja Klepač	Jessica Kirkland Carmen Klaschka	6–2, 7–5
Runners-up	9.	17 July 2006	Jounieh, Lebanon	Clay	Madalina Gojnea	Tatiana Poutchek Anastasiya Yakimova	7–5, 6–0
Winner	15.	10 July 2007	Darmstadt, Germany	Clay	Ekaterina Dzehalevich	Hilary Barte Tatjana Priachin	6–4, 7–5
Runners-up	10.	31 July 2007	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Ekaterina Dzehalevich	Sorana Cirstea Ágnes Szatmári	6–0, 4–6, w/o
Runners-up	11.	17 September 2007	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Yevgenia Savranska	María José Martínez Sánchez Arantxa Parra Santonja	6–1, 6–7(4–7)
Runners-up	12.	10 July 2007	Granada, Spain	Clay	Alexandra Dulgheru	Marta Marrero María José Martínez Sánchez	4–6, 1–6
Winner	16.	19 November 2007	Mount Gambier, Australia	Hard	Antonia Matic	Sophie Ferguson Trudi Musgrave	5–7, 6–3, [10-8]
Winner	17.	10 December 2007	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Hard	Marina Eraković	Yuliana Fedak Anna Lapushchenkova	7–6(7–1), 6–4
Runners-up	13.	20 October 2008	Poitiers, France	Hard (i)	Akgul Amanmuradova	Petra Cetkovská Lucie Šafářová	4–6, 4–6
Runners-up	14.	27 October 2008	Bratislava, Slovakia	Hard (i)	Akgul Amanmuradova	Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká	6–7(1–7), 1–6
Runners-up	15.	5 July 2010	Biarritz, France	Clay	Lourdes Domínguez Lino	Sharon Fichman Julia Görges	5–7, 4–6
Winner	18.	19 July 2010	Petange, Luxembourg	Clay	Sharon Fichman	Sophie Lefèvre Laura Thorpe	6–4, 6–2
Runners-up	16.	5 July 2013	Poitiers, France	Hard (i)	Christina McHale	Lucie Hradecká Michaëlla Krajicek	6–7(5–7), 6–2
Winner	19.	5 July 2013	Poitiers, France	Hard (i)	Cristina-Andreea Mitu	Stéphanie Foretz Amandine Hesse	6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–2), [10–8]

Updated up to 2016 French Open.

Updated up to 2016 Internazionali BNL d'Italia

*As of May 23, 2016

Niculescu's win-loss record against certain players who have been ranked World No. 10 or higher is as follows:

Player	Record	Win %	Hard	Clay	Grass	Last Match
Number 1 ranked players
Victoria Azarenka	0–5	0%	0–4	0–1	0–0	Loss (1–6, 4–6) at 2013 Australian Open
Kim Clijsters	0–1	0%	0–0	0–0	0–1	Loss (5–7, 5–7) at 2011 's-Hertogenbosch
Ana Ivanovic	0–2	0%	0–1	0–1	0–0	Loss (5–7, 3–6) at 2012 Linz
Jelena Janković	2–5	29%	2–4	0–1	0–0	Won (3-6, 6–4, 7-5) at 2016 Doha
Amélie Mauresmo	0–1	0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (1–6, 2–6) at 2009 Paris
Serena Williams	0–2	0%	0–2	0–0	0–0	Loss (4–6, 1–6) at 2015 Miami
Venus Williams	0–1	0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (2–6, 3–6) at 2012 Luxembourg
Caroline Wozniacki	0–6	0%	0–6	0–0	0–0	Loss (3–6, 1–6) at 2013 Luxembourg
Number 2 ranked players
Simona Halep	0–2	0%	0–0	0–2	0–0	Loss (2–6, 6–4, 1–6) at 2014 Bucharest
Angelique Kerber	1–3	25%	1–3	0–0	0–0	Loss (6–0, 1–6, 2-6) at 2013 Linz
Petra Kvitová	1–2	33%	1–0	0–1	0–1	Loss (6–2, 6–7(5–7), 2-6) at 2016 Stuttgart
Na Li	1–1	50%	1–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (5–7, 6–4, 4–6 ) at 2012 Shenzhen
Agnieszka Radwańska	1–4	20%	0–4	0–0	1–0	Loss (1–6, 5–7) at 2016 Montréal
Vera Zvonareva	1–1	50%	1–1	0–0	0–0	Won (7–5, 3–2 RET) at 2012 Doha
Number 3 ranked players
Number 4 ranked players
Kimiko Date-Krumm	1–1	50%	1–1	0–0	0–0	Won (6–2, 2–1 RET) at 2013 Monterrey
Francesca Schiavone	0–4	0%	0–3	0–1	0–0	Loss (3–6, 5–7) at 2012 Stuttgart
Samantha Stosur	0–7	0%	0–7	0–0	0–0	Loss (3–6, 2–6) at 2015 Beijing
Number 5 ranked players
Anna Chakvetadze	1–1	50%	1–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (0–6, 4–6) at 2012 Hobart
Sara Errani	1–4	20%	1–2	0–2	0–0	Loss (7–5, 1–6, 2-6) at 2015 Bucharest
Daniela Hantuchová	1–0	100%	1–0	0–0	0–0	Won (6–1, 6–3) at 2012 Luxembourg
Lucie Šafářová	2–0	100%	2–0	0–0	0–0	Won (6–2, 6–0) at 2012 Beijing
Number 6 ranked players
Flavia Pennetta	0–3	0%	0–2	0–0	0–1	Loss (1–6, 4–6) at 2015 US Open
Carla Suárez Navarro	0–5	0%	0–4	0–1	0–0	Loss (7-5, 3-6, 4–6) at 2015 Wuhan
Number 7 ranked players
Marion Bartoli	0–1	0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (6-2, 3–6, 2–6) at 2011 Indian Wells
Karolína Plíšková	2–1	67%	2–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (4-6, 6–4, 3–6) at 2016 Fed Cup
Patty Schnyder	0–1	0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (1-6, 5–7) at 2008 Montréal
Roberta Vinci	0–1	0%	0–0	0–0	0–1	Loss (3–6, 7–6(7–4), 0-6) at 2012 's-Hertogenbosch
Number 8 ranked players
Ekaterina Makarova	1–4	20%	0–3	1–1	0–0	Loss (7-5, 6-7(3–7), 3-6) at 2014 Indian Wells
Alicia Molik	0–1	0%	0–0	0–1	0–0	Loss (6-4, 6-7(5–7), 0-6) at 2010 Barcelona
Number 9 ranked players
Timea Bacsinszky	4–3	57%	2–0	2–1	0–2	Loss (6-4, 2-6, 1-6) at 2016 Wimbledon
Madison Keys	1–0	100%	1–0	0–0	0–0	Won (6–1, 2–6, 7-6(8–6)) at 2013 Washington
Andrea Petkovic	2–3	40%	0–2	2–1	0–0	Loss (6-0, 6-7(1–7), 3-6) at 2016 Fed Cup
Number 10 ranked players
Dominika Cibulková	0–1	0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (4–6, 3-6) at 2008 Los Angeles
Maria Kirilenko	2–2	50%	2–2	0–0	0–0	Loss (3-6, 0-6) at 2012 Dubai
Total	25–79	24.04%	19–59	5–14	1–6	–