Anna Chakvetadze

2001–2006: Early career and entering Top 50

2007: Breakthrough year, World No. 5

Chakvetadze started the year by winning the Tier IV Moorilla Hobart International in Australia, her third WTA tournament title. She defeated fellow Russian Vasilisa Bardina in the final.^[5] At the Australian Open, where she was seeded twelfth, she defeated eight-seeded Patty Schnyder in the fourth round before losing in the quarterfinals to top-seeded Maria Sharapova 6–7(5), 5–7.

In February, Chakvetadze reached the quarterfinals of the Open Gaz de France in Paris, where she lost to Amélie Mauresmo 6–7(5), 5–7. She then competed at the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp, where she lost in the semifinals to Mauresmo 3–6, 6–3, 2–6. On February 19, she made her top 10 debut on the WTA rankings, at world No. 10. At the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, she lost in the fourth round to Shahar Pe'er 4–6, 6–7. She then reached the semifinals of the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, where she was defeated by world No. 1 Justine Henin 6–2, 6–3.

Chakvetadze then played four tournaments in Europe on red clay courts. Chakvetadze lost in the quarterfinals of the Tier II J&S Cup in Warsaw to Jelena Janković, the second round of the Tier I Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, and the second round of the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. At the French Open, Chakvetadze lost to second-seeded Sharapova in the quarterfinals.

Chakvetadze at Wimbledon 2007

Chakvetadze won her second title of the year, and first grass court title, in 's-Hertogenbosch, with wins over Daniela Hantuchová and Janković. At Wimbledon, however, she was defeated in the third round by 31st-seeded Michaëlla Krajicek in three sets.

Chakvetadze then played five tournaments during the North American summer hard court season. At the Tier III Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati, Chakvetadze was the top-seed and won the title, defeating Akiko Morigami in the final. She won her second consecutive tournament the following week at the Bank of the West Classic in Palo Alto, the first tournament of the US Open Series. She defeated Sania Mirza in the final. That was her ninth consecutive match victory and resulted in her ranking rising to world No. 6. At the Acura Classic tournament in San Diego, her 12-match winning streak ended when she lost in the semifinals to top seeded Sharapova for the third time this year 3–6, 2–6 after Chakvetadze had defeated reigning Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the quarterfinals 6–7(5), 7–6(3), 6–2. Two weeks later at the Tier I Rogers Cup in Toronto, Chakvetadze retired from her second round match after losing the first set to Virginie Razzano. At the US Open, she was the sixth seed and reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–3, 1–6, 1–6. This result caused her ranking to rise to a career high of world No. 5.

Chakvetadze was the defending champion at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, but lost her second round match to Dinara Safina 6–7, 2–6. She became the sixth player in 2007 to qualify for the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships. She reached the semifinals of that tournament by winning two of her three-round robin matches, defeating Serena Williams and Janković before losing to Henin 1–6, 6–7(4). She then lost her semifinal match with Sharapova 2–6, 2–6.

2008: Continued success

Chakvetadze played five tournaments during the North American summer hard court season. She was the second seeded player and defending champion at the Tier II Bank of the West Classic on the campus of Stanford University in California. She lost, however, to Bartoli in the quarterfinals 3–6, 4–6. The following week, she lost in the third round of the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles to Sybille Bammer. Seeded sixth at the Tier I Rogers Cup in Montreal, Chakvetadze lost in the third round to tenth-seeded Bartoli 6–4, 5–7, 6–7(4). She then lost in the final of the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven to Caroline Wozniacki. Chakvetadze was seeded tenth at the Australian Open, she lost in the third round to Maria Kirilenko 7–6(6), 1–6, 2–6. She then helped defending champion Russia win its first round tie against Israel in the Fed Cup by defeating Tzipora Obziler 6–4, 6–2.

Chakvetadze was the top-seed at the Tier II Open Gaz de France in Paris. She defeated Amélie Mauresmo in the quarterfinals, Marion Bartoli in the semifinals, and Ágnes Szávay in the final to win her seventh career singles title. She is now 7–0 in tournament finals. At the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open, Chakvetadze lost in the third round to Sabine Lisicki. At the French Open, 6th-seeded Chakvetadze lost in the second round to Kaia Kanepi 4–6, 6–7(2).

Chakvetadze was seeded 8th at Wimbledon. She defeated Stéphanie Dubois in the first round 2–6, 6–1, 8–6 after she saved two match points at 5–3 and an additional match point at 5–4 in the third set. Chakvetadze won her second and third round matches in straight sets but lost in the fourth round to eighteenth-seeded Nicole Vaidišová 6–4, 6–7(0), 3–6. At the US Open she lost in the first round to Ekaterina Makarova.

2009: Out of Top 50

Chakvetadze at the 2009 Rome Masters

Chakvetadze was seeded 17th at the Australian Open where she lost in the second round to Jelena Dokić 4–6, 7–6(4), 3–6. She also lost the opening round of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships to Ayumi Morita.

At the Rome Masters, Chakvetadze lost a close three setter to Venus Williams in the third round. At the Madrid Masters, she defeated Virginia Ruano-Pascual in the first round. She then defeated Samantha Stosur in the second round, coming back from 1–4 down in the third set. She fell to Alona Bondarenko in the third round. Chakvetadze, who was seeded 26th at the French Open, suffered a first-round loss to Mariana Duque Marino in three sets 6–3, 4–6, 4–6, thus continuing her disastrous run.

In the grass court season, Chakvetadze was able to raise her game in the first round in Eastbourne, where she defeated a third seeded Jelena Janković 6–7(5), 6–3, 6–2. She lost to Marion Bartoli in the second round.

Chakvetadze was seeded 32nd at Wimbledon. She lost to Sabine Lisicki in the first round 6–4, 6–7, 2–6, meaning she was out of the top 50 for the first time in quite a while.

Chakvetadze began her 2009 US Open Series campaign at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, where she was unseeded. She was defeated in the first round by Maria Kirilenko 4–6, 7–5, 6–7. The following week, at the LA Women's Tennis Championships, she won her first two matches, against Virginie Razzano and Alisa Kleybanova, but then lost convincingly to Agnieszka Radwańska 3–6, 2–6 in the third round.

Having won the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in 2007, Chakvetadze went into the 2009 tournament unseeded, and suffered another early round loss to 9th seed Victoria Azarenka in straight sets.

At the Rogers Cup in Toronto she lost again in the first round, to Sybille Bammer 6–3, 4–6, 1–6, after leading 6–3, 4–1. Her next tournament was the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament, in New Haven, where she had been a finalist in 2008. She reached her first quarter-final of the year, defeating Nadia Petrova and Sybille Bammer all in three sets. She then lost to her good friend Elena Vesnina 1–6, 5–7.

Chakvetadze entered the US Open as an unseeded player for the first time since 2005. She defeated Yurika Sema 4–6, 6–1, 6–2, but then fell in the second round to compatriot Vera Zvonareva 6–3, 1–6, 1–6. At her home tournament in Moscow Kremlin Cup she again lost in the first round, to Alona Bondarenko 4–6, 3–6. She ended 2009 at No. 69, her lowest in five years.

2010: Return to form and injuries

Chakvetadze started the year with a first round loss at the ASB Classic in Auckland to wildcard Kimiko Date-Krumm, 6–1, 6–2. At the Australian Open, she was defeated in the first round by 12th-seed Flavia Pennetta, 6–3, 3–6, 6–2. At the PTT Pattaya Open, Chakvetadze lost to Tamarine Tanasugarn in the quarterfinals.

In March, Chakvetadze competed at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where she retired with an ankle injury in the second round whilst trailing at 6–2, 5–3 to Agnieszka Radwańska. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Chakvetadze had a first round loss to Kimiko Date-Krumm 7–5, 3–6, 6–4. Her next tournament was Polsat Warsaw Open where she fell in the qualifying round to Bojana Jovanovski 7–5 7–6(4). At the French Open, she was two points away from winning the match in straight sets, before losing in the first round to Angelique Kerber 5–7 7–6 6–4.

During the grass court season, in the Aegon Classic she advanced to the third round, where she lost 6–4, 5–7, 1–6 to qualifier Alison Riske. At the Aegon International, Chakvetadze reached the second round of qualifying, where she lost 5–7, 6–4, 2–6 to Jarmila Groth of Australia. In the first round of Wimbledon, Chakvetadze faced defending champion Serena Williams in the second round and lost 6–0, 6–1.

In the GDF Suez Grand Prix, Chakvetadze fell to second seed Alexandra Dulgheru 6–7(5), 6–1, 2–6 and at the ECM Prague Open she fell to Ksenia Pervak in the first round. At the Banka Koper Slovenia Open in Portorož, Chakvetadze defeated Johanna Larsson 6–1, 6–2 in her first final in two years and to win her eighth WTA Tour title. In the Portorož doubles final, Chakvetadze and Marina Erakovic, lost to Kondratieva–Uhlířová after the super tie-break – 4–6, 6–2 and [7–10]. Chakvetadze then entered the e-Boks Danish Open in Copenhagen. She lost in the semifinal 1–6, 6–2, 4–6 to top seed Caroline Wozniacki.

Next, Chakvetadze entered the EmblemHealth Bronx Open to prepare for the US Open. She defeated Sofia Arvidsson 4–6, 6–2, 6–2 in the final to win the second title of the year. At the US Open suffered a loss to Urszula Radwańska in the first round.

Chakvetadze then entered the Tashkent Open, where she retired in the third round against Evgeniya Rodina due to a viral illness. At the China Open she fell in the final qualifying round to Kateryna Bondarenko. At the Generali Ladies Linz Chakvetadze lost to Sybille Bammer. At the Kremlin Cup, Chakvetadze lost in the quarterfinal to Vera Dushevina 3–6, 6–7. She ended 2010 ranked 56. She won one singles title and reached two doubles finals.

2011: Illness and injuries

Chakvetadze started the year with a first round loss at the Brisbane International to compatriot Ksenia Pervak 2-6, 2-6. She again lost in the first round at the Moorilla Hobart International, this time to 7th seed Sara Errani 6-7(5), 3-6. In the Australian Open Chakvetadze lost in straight sets to Petra Kvitová in the second round.

16 February 2011, night time, at the Dubai Tennis Championships she collapsed due to a viral illness^[6][7] and could not complete the second round match against 1st seed Caroline Wozniacki after having defeated Daniela Hantuchová 6–1, 6–3 in the first round. She lost the first set 1–6 and collapsed at 5–3 up when she had a set point. It was later confirmed that Chakvetadze collapsed due to a GI illness that she had been suffering from since before the tournament. As a result, she did not play the Qatar Ladies Open. At the BNP Paribas Open, she retired against face 24th seed, Maria Kirilenko in the second round down 6–2, 1–3. She then missed the Sony Ericsson Open due to illness.

Chakvetadze returned to competition at Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. In the first round, she fainted again at 6–1, 5–7, 4–4 against Zuzana Kučová, and retired. Because of these problems, she did not play the French Open. After a few weeks of hospital testing, Chakvetadze made her return at the UNICEF Open, where she lost to Lourdes Domínguez Lino 4–6, 1–6. Chakvetadze lost to Maria Sharapova 2–6, 1–6 in the first round of the Wimbledon Championships.^[8] Chakvetadze announced that she will not participate in the US Open because of ankle injury.^[9] Chakvetadze ended her year with six wins and eights losses, and ranked outside the top 200.

2012: Continued downfall, out of Top 500

Chakvetadze started the year at the Moorilla Hobart International where she made it to the quarterfinals, but retired with a leg muscle cramp to 6th seed Shahar Pe'er. In the first round of the Australian Open, Chakvetadze lost to Jelena Dokic, 2–6, 1–6.

Chakvetadze took a break from the sport for several months before returning to competition in the e-Boks Open. As a qualifier, she lost in round one to Pauline Parmentier. She also qualified for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, but was beaten by Alizé Cornet.

She failed to qualify for the Mutua Madrid Open; but managed it at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, losing to Sloane Stephens in the first round. At Brussels Open, she lost in the first round to Yanina Wickmayer.

Chakvetadze returned from injury at the Citi Open, but lost to Melinda Czink in the opening round. Then, after a string of good wins, Chakvetadze finished runner-up to Romina Oprandi at the Bronx Open.

2013: Retirement

Chakvetadze announced her retirement from professional tennis on September 11, 2013 due to ongoing back problems. Since retiring, Anna has been a tennis commentator for Eurosport.

Home invasion and robbery

On 18 December 2007, Chakvetadze's home was robbed. She was tied by six invaders who also beat her father, Djambuli. The six men left with over $306,000 worth of goods and cash.^[10] Chakvetadze was the target of the robbery, as the men demanded a Rolex watch she had recently won in an exhibition and told her as they left, "Keep playing. We'll come again."^[11] Seven suspects were arrested three months later.^[12]

Political career

In December 2011, Anna stood for election in the Russian State Duma with the Right Cause party, but they were not elected.

Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	2006	Moscow	Hard (i)	Nadia Petrova	6–4, 6–4

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	2007	San Diego	Hard	Victoria Azarenka	Cara Black Liezel Huber	5–7, 4–6

Singles: 9 (8 titles, 1 runner-up)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in final	Score in final
Winner	1.	25 September 2006	Guangzhou International Women's Open, China	Hard	Anabel Medina Garrigues	6–3, 6–4
Winner	2.	15 October 2006	Kremlin Cup, Russia	Carpet	Nadia Petrova	6–4, 6–4
Winner	3.	12 January 2007	Hobart International, Australia	Hard	Vasilisa Bardina	6–3, 7–6(7–3)
Winner	4.	17 June 2007	Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, the Netherlands	Grass	Jelena Janković	7–6(7–2), 3–6, 6–3
Winner	5.	22 July 2007	Cincinnati Masters, United States	Hard	Akiko Morigami	6–1, 6–3
Winner	6.	29 July 2007	Stanford Classic, United States	Hard	Sania Mirza	6–3, 6–2
Winner	7.	10 February 2008	Open GDF Suez, France	Hard (i)	Ágnes Szávay	6–3, 2–6, 6–2
Runner-up	1.	23 August 2008	Connecticut Open, United States	Hard	Caroline Wozniacki	6–3, 4–6, 1–6
Winner	8.	25 July 2010	Slovenia Open, Slovenia	Hard	Johanna Larsson	6–1, 6–2

Doubles: 6 (6 runners-up)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponent in final	Score in final
Runner-up	1.	24 September 2006	China Open, China	Hard	Elena Vesnina	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	2–6, 4–6
Runner-up	2.	29 July 2007	Stanford Classic, United States	Hard	Victoria Azarenka	Sania Mirza Shahar Pe'er	4–6, 6–7(5–7)
Runner-up	3.	5 August 2007	Southern California Open, United States	Hard	Victoria Azarenka	Cara Black Liezel Huber	5–7, 4–6
Runner-up	4.	14 February 2010	Thailand Open, Thailand	Hard	Ksenia Pervak	Marina Erakovic Tamarine Tanasugarn	5–7, 1–6
Runner-up	5.	24 July 2010	Slovenia Open, Slovenia	Hard	Marina Erakovic	Maria Kondratieva Vladimíra Uhlířová	4–6, 6–2, [7–10]
Runner-up	6.	15 September 2012	Tashkent Open, Uzbekistan	Hard	Vesna Dolonc	Paula Kania Polina Pekhova	2–6, ret.