Branka Pupovac
 Action shot of Pupovac during a match at the 2000 Summer Paralympics | |||||||||||
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3 February 1972 Wollongong, New South Wales | ||||||||||
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Branka Pupovac (born 3 February 1972) is a Paralympic wheelchair tennis competitor from Australia.
Personal
Pupovac was born on 3 March 1972 in Wollongong, New South Wales.[1] She is from Sydney, New South Wales and attended the University of Wollongong where she earned a Bachelor of Commerce. In 2000, she was studying to become a counsellor.[2] Pupovac is an incomplete paraplegic, as a result of an accident while riding on the back of a friend's motorcycle when she was twenty. Her friend crossed a set of double lines in an effort to overtake a car. She was wearing a helmet at the time, but still had significant damage done to her neck and spinal cord.[2]
Pupovac, alongside Karni Liddell, Hamish MacDonald and Charmaine Dalli, was one of eighteen Australian Paralympians photographed by Emma Hack for a nude calendar.[3] The photograph of her in the calendar features her topless and covered in brown and gold body paint.[3]
Tennis
Pupovac first competed internationally in wheelchair tennis in 1996.[1] In 1996, she was chosen as a member of the Australian Paralympic's Wheelchair tennis Development Squad.[2] She was later chosen to be a member of Australia's World Team Cup.[2] At the 1997 U.S. Open of Wheelchair Tennis, Branka was swept in straight sets by Chantal Vandierendonck during the first round. Vandierendonck beat her 6–2, and 6–1.[4] In 1998, she was ranked 14th in the world for women's singles and doubles tennis.[2] While preparing for the 2000 Summer Paralympics, she would train up to six days a week.[2] In 1998, she made the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.[1] The same year, at the US Open, she won the consolation draw.[1] In 1998, she also made the finals of the British Open consolation draw.[1] In August 1999, she had her highest single's international ranking when she was ranked ninth in the world.[1] In 2000, her competitive sport participation was sponsored by the Motor Accidents Authority in New South Wales.[5] In 2000, she finished second at the Australian Open and French Open in the consolidation draw.[1] She was a 1998 and 2000 Motor Accidents Authority Paralympian.[6] She won a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Games in the Women's Doubles event,[7] with Daniela Di Toro as her partner.[8] In October 2000, she had her highest doubles international ranking when she was ranked 12th.[1] She competed in her final international competition in 2004, at the World Team Cup in New Zealand.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Branka Pupovac". Melbourne, Victoria: Tennis Australia. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Branka Pupovac". New South Wales, Australia: Motor Accidents Authority. 1998. Archived from the original on 8 October 1999. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- 1 2 Marks, Kathy (12 August 2000). "Calendar shows the naked truth about disabled athletes". The Independent. London, England. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- ↑ "Top Players Advance in Wheelchair Tennis". Los Angeles Times (Orange County ed.). Los Angeles, California. 15 October 1997. Sports; PART-C; Sports Desk, page 7.
- ↑ "Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games Success". Parliament of New South Wales. 1 November 2000. Archived from the original on 22 May 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- ↑ "Team MAA 2000". New South Wales, Australia: Motor Accidents Authority. 2000. Archived from the original on 8 October 1999. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- ↑ "Athlete Search Results". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
- ↑ "Daniela Di Toro". Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 12 November 2011.