Anna-Lena Grönefeld

Anna-Lena Grönefeld (also spelled Groenefeld, born 4 June 1985) is a German retired tennis player. Competing as a professional from 2003 until 2019, she won one singles title and 17 doubles titles on the WTA Tour. She also won two Grand Slam titles in mixed doubles.[1]

Anna-Lena Grönefeld
Grönefeld at the 2014 Mutua Madrid Open
Country (sports) Germany
ResidenceHanover, Germany
Born (1985-06-04) 4 June 1985
Nordhorn, West Germany
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Turned proApril 2003
RetiredDecember 2019
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$4,662,620
Singles
Career record287–205 (58.3%)
Career titles1 WTA, 12 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 14 (17 April 2006)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open3R (2005)
French OpenQF (2006)
Wimbledon1R (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010)
US Open4R (2008)
Doubles
Career record451–318 (58.6%)
Career titles17 WTA, 1 WTA 125K, 6 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 7 (6 March 2006)
Current rankingNo. 11 (23 December 2019)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian OpenSF (2006, 2015)
French OpenQF (2009)
WimbledonSF (2005, 2013, 2017)
US OpenSF (2005, 2015)
Mixed doubles
Career titles2
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian OpenQF (2006, 2019)
French OpenW (2014)
WimbledonW (2009)
US OpenSF (2010, 2016)
Team competitions
Fed CupF (2014), record 20–18

Career

Groenefeld, 2016

2002–2006: Breakthrough

In 2002, she was the singles champion of both the Belgium and Frankfurt International Championships and a finalist at the Orange Bowl. In June 2003, she captured the prestigious French Open junior title, becoming the first player from Germany since 1957 to accomplish this feat. In July 2003, she continued her superb form and won the Apple and Eve Newsday Long Island Classic, held in Woodbury, New York. She was also an accomplished doubles player in juniors winning the French Open title and reaching the finals at Wimbledon. As a result of her tennis success in 2003, Grönefeld had achieved the junior world ranking of No. 1 in singles and doubles. She launched her professional career debut under the direction of the USA Academy and Rafael Font de Mora.

Grönefeld made her professional breakthrough in 2005, rising 54 places throughout the year. She reached the third round of the Australian Open, French Open and the US Open and played three finals in WTA Tour events throughout the season, including at the Tier II event in Beijing, although failing to win any of them. She also rose into the top 10 in the world in doubles, cementing her position as one of the most promising young doubles players on the tour at the time.

In 2006, she represented Germany along with Nicolas Kiefer at the Hopman Cup. She went on to win her first title at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco and completed a career best showing at Roland Garros, by reaching the quarterfinals, where she lost to Justine Henin. Her ranking peaked at 14, and remained in the top 20 for much of the year, despite a significant drop in results in the latter half of the season, as the German failed to progress beyond the quarterfinals of most tournaments. She split with Font de Mora in September 2006 and began to work with Dirk Dier.

2007: Loss of form

Her run of bad form continued into 2007, and as of 19 June, Grönefeld had been eliminated in the first round of her last five tournaments. Grönefeld blamed her run of bad form on the situation with Font de Mora, suggesting that he was giving her opponents tactics on how to beat her. She also had a substantial weight gain over the past several months.[2] Her ranking subsequently dipped below the top 100 for the first time since 2004. On 20 August 2007, Grönefeld announced that she would be taking a break from the tour, coming back in 2008.

In August 2007, it was revealed that Font de Mora was planning to sue Grönefeld for lack of discipline during their partnership, stating: "She had to adhere to a standard of performance, a standard of training and a standard of diet. She absolutely let herself go and sabotaged her marketability and her performance on the court. You work for years and invest all this money into developing contracts and developing endorsements and then she just gets around the wrong people and does the wrong things and her performance affects everything."[3] He also denied her allegations that he interfered with her matches.

2008–2009: Comeback

Grönefeld made her official comeback on 3 May 2008, at the $75,000 ITF event in Zagreb, Croatia. She was seeded 4th in the qualifying draw, winning three consecutive matches to reach the main draw. She then won the Smart Card Open Monet+ in Zlín, Czech Republic, for the first title of her comeback. Grönefeld went on to win another two ITF title over the following fortnight: a $10,000 event in Alkmaar, Netherlands, and a $25,000 event at Périgueux, France.

Grönefeld took advantage of her feed-up wildcard into the Tier IV Gaz de France Grand Prix (a result of winning the $75,000 Zlín ITF event), reaching the quarterfinals with an upset win over Lucie Šafářová. She then played in Bad Gastein, where she was defeated in three tight sets in the second round by Pauline Parmentier.

Her good form allowed Grönefeld to win another $50,000 ITF event in Rimini at the beginning of August. She also reached the final of a $50,000 event in The Bronx, where she lost to Elena Bovina.

After winning her three qualification rounds, Grönefeld played at the 2008 US Open, and reached the fourth round of the main draw, only losing to Dinara Safina. Prior to her loss to Safina, Grönefeld had won six matches in a row without losing a single set, the highlights being her victory over Daniela Hantuchová in the first round and over Alizé Cornet in the third round, both top 20 players at the time.

After losing against Austrian runner-up Tamira Paszek in the first round in Bali, Grönefeld received a wildcard for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart but lost in the first round against Venus Williams. With her doubles partner, Patty Schnyder, Grönefeld, however, won the doubles competition against the top seeds Květa Peschke and Rennae Stubbs.

After winning the first two matches at the qualification for the Zurich Open, Grönefeld lost her third match against Petra Kvitová. With doubles partner Patty Schnyder she reached the finals.

Significant finals

Grand Slam finals

Mixed doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 2009 Wimbledon Grass Mark Knowles Leander Paes
Cara Black
7–5, 6–3
Win 2014 French Open Clay Jean-Julien Rojer Julia Görges
Nenad Zimonjić
4–6, 6–2, [10–7]
Loss 2016 Wimbledon Grass Robert Farah Henri Kontinen
Heather Watson
6–7(5–7), 4–6
Loss 2017 French Open Clay Robert Farah Gabriela Dabrowski
Rohan Bopanna
6–2, 2–6, [10–12]

Premier Mandatory / Premier 5 finals

Doubles: 10 (1 title, 9 runner-ups)

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 2005 Toronto Hard Martina Navratilova Conchita Martínez
Virginia Ruano Pascual
5–7, 6–3, 6–4
Loss 2006 San Diego Hard Meghann Shaughnessy Cara Black
Rennae Stubbs
2–6, 2–6
Loss 2006 Toronto Hard Cara Black Martina Navratilova
Nadia Petrova
1–6, 2–6
Loss 2012 Tokyo Hard Květa Peschke Raquel Kops-Jones
Abigail Spears
1–6, 4–6
Loss 2013 Toronto Hard Květa Peschke Jelena Janković
Katarina Srebotnik
7–5, 2–6, [6–10]
Loss 2013 Cincinnati Hard Květa Peschke Hsieh Su-wei
Peng Shuai
6–2, 3–6, [10–12]
Loss 2017 Toronto Hard Květa Peschke Ekaterina Makarova
Elena Vesnina
0–6, 4–6
Loss 2019 Rome Clay Demi Schuurs Victoria Azarenka
Ashleigh Barty
6–4, 0–6, [3–10]
Loss 2019 Toronto Hard Demi Schuurs Barbora Krejčíková
Kateřina Siniaková
5–7, 0–6
Loss 2019 Cincinnati Hard Demi Schuurs Lucie Hradecká
Andreja Klepač
4–6, 1–6

WTA career finals

Singles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
Tour Championships (0–0)
Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0)
Tier II / Premier (0–2)
Tier III, IV & V / International (1–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–3)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Feb 2005 Thailand Open, Pattaya City Tier IV Hard Conchita Martínez 3–6, 6–3, 3–6
Loss 0–2 Sep 2005 China Open, Beijing Tier II Hard Maria Kirilenko 3–6, 4–6
Loss 0–3 Oct 2005 Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg City Tier II Hard (i) Kim Clijsters 2–6, 4–6
Win 1–3 Mar 2006 Mexican Open, Acapulco Tier III Clay Flavia Pennetta 6–1, 4–6, 6–2

Doubles: 44 (17 titles, 27 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
Tour Championships (0–0)
Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (1–9)
Tier II / Premier (7–8)
Tier III, IV & V / International (9–10)
Finals by surface
Hard (11–22)
Clay (5–4)
Grass (0–1)
Carpet (1–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Aug 2004 Nordic Light Open,
Stockholm, Sweden
Tier IV Hard Emmanuelle Gagliardi Alicia Molik
Barbara Schett
3–6, 3–6
Loss 0–2 Aug 2004 Vancouver Open,
Canada
Tier V Hard Els Callens Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Abigail Spears
3–6, 3–6
Loss 0–3 Aug 2004 Cincinnati Masters,
United States
Tier III Hard Emmanuelle Gagliardi Marlene Weingärtner
Jill Craybas
5–7, 6–7(2–7)
Loss 0–4 Oct 2004 Filderstadt Open,
Germany
Tier II Hard (i) Julia Schruff Cara Black
Rennae Stubbs
3–6, 2–6
Win 1–4 Feb 2005 Thailand Open,
Pattaya City, Thailand
Tier IV Hard Marion Bartoli Marta Domachowska
Silvija Talaja
6–3, 6–2
Win 2–4 Aug 2005 Canadian Open,
Toronto, Canada
Tier I Hard Martina Navratilova Conchita Martínez
Virginia Ruano-Pascual
5–7, 6–3, 6–4
Win 3–4 Sep 2005 Bali International,
Indonesia
Tier III Hard Meghann Shaughnessy Yan Zi
Zheng Jie
6–3, 6–3
Win 4–4 Mar 2006 Mexican Open,
Acapulco, Mexico
Tier III Clay Meghann Shaughnessy Shinobu Asagoe
Émilie Loit
6–1, 6–3
Win 5–4 Jul 2006 Stanford Classic,
United States
Tier II Hard Shahar Pe'er Maria Elena Camerin
Gisela Dulko
6–1, 6–4
Loss 5–5 Aug 2006 Southern California Open,
San Diego, United States
Tier I Hard Meghann Shaughnessy Cara Black
Rennae Stubbs
2–6, 2–6
Loss 5–6 Aug 2006 Canadian Open,
Montreal, Canada
Tier I Hard Cara Black Martina Navratilova
Nadia Petrova
1–6, 2–6
Loss 5–7 Oct 2006 Luxembourg Open,
Luxembourg
Tier II Hard (i) Liezel Huber Květa Peschke
Francesca Schiavone
6–2, 4–6, 1–6
Win 6–7 Jan 2007 Sydney International,
Australia
Tier II Hard Meghann Shaughnessy Marion Bartoli
Meilen Tu
6–3, 3–6, 7–6(7–2)
Win 7–7 Oct 2008 Stuttgart Open,
Germany
Tier II Hard (i) Patty Schnyder Květa Peschke
Rennae Stubbs
6–2, 6–4
Loss 7–8 Oct 2008 Zurich Open,
Switzerland
Tier II Hard (i) Patty Schnyder Cara Black
Liezel Huber
1–6, 6–7(3–7)
Win 8–8 Nov 2008 Tournoi de Québec,
Canada
Tier III Carpet (i) Vania King Jill Craybas
Tamarine Tanasugarn
7–6(7–3), 6–4
Win 9–8 Jan 2009 Brisbane International,
Australia
International Hard Vania King Klaudia Jans
Alicja Rosolska
3–6, 7–5, [10–5]
Win 10–8 Oct 2009 Linz Open,
Austria
International Hard (i) Katarina Srebotnik Klaudia Jans
Alicja Rosolska
6–1, 6–4
Loss 10–9 Mar 2010 Monterrey Open,
Mexico
International Hard Vania King Iveta Benešová
Barbora Strýcová
6–3, 4–6, [8–10]
Win 11–9 Aug 2010 Danish Open,
Copenhagen, Denmark
International Hard (i) Julia Görges Vitalia Diatchenko
Tatiana Poutchek
6–4, 6–4
Loss 11–10 Mar 2011 Monterrey Open,
Mexico
International Hard Vania King Iveta Benešová
Barbora Strýcová
7–6(10–8), 2–6, [6–10]
Loss 11–11 Oct 2011 Linz Open,
Austria
International Hard (i) Julia Görges Marina Erakovic
Elena Vesnina
5–7, 1–6
Loss 11–12 Feb 2012 Open GDF Suez,
Paris, France
Premier Hard (i) Petra Martić Liezel Huber
Lisa Raymond
6–7(3–7), 1–6
Loss 11–13 Apr 2012 Stuttgart Open,
Germany
Premier Clay (i) Julia Görges Iveta Benešová
Barbora Strýcová
4–6, 5–7
Loss 11–14 Jun 2012 Gastein Ladies,
Bad Gastein, Austria
International Clay Petra Martić Jill Craybas
Julia Görges
7–6(7–4), 4–6, [9–11]
Loss 11–15 Sep 2012 Pan Pacific Open,
Tokyo, Japan
Premier 5 Hard Květa Peschke Raquel Kops-Jones
Abigail Spears
1–6, 4–6
Win 12–15 Oct 2012 Linz Open (2),
Austria
International Hard (i) Květa Peschke Julia Görges
Barbora Strýcová
6–3, 6–4
Loss 12–16 Jan 2013 Brisbane International,
Australia
Premier Hard Květa Peschke Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Sania Mirza
6–4, 4–6, [7–10]
Win 13–16 May 2013 Brussels Open,
Belgium
Premier Clay Květa Peschke Gabriela Dabrowski
Shahar Pe'er
6–0, 6–3
Loss 13–17 Jun 2013 Nuremberg Cup,
Germany
International Clay Květa Peschke Raluca Olaru
Valeria Solovyeva
6–2, 6–7(3–7), [9–11]
Loss 13–18 Aug 2013 Canadian Open,
Toronto, Canada
Premier 5 Hard Květa Peschke Jelena Janković
Katarina Srebotnik
7–5, 2–6, [6–10]
Loss 13–19 Aug 2013 Cincinnati Masters,
United States
Premier 5 Hard Květa Peschke Hsieh Su-wei
Peng Shuai
6–2, 3–6, [10–12]
Win 14–19 Feb 2014 Open GDF Suez,
Paris, France
Premier Hard (i) Květa Peschke Tímea Babos
Kristina Mladenovic
6–7(7–9), 6–4, [10–5]
Loss 14–20 Oct 2016 Linz Open,
Austria
International Hard (i) Květa Peschke Kiki Bertens
Johanna Larsson
6–4, 2–6, [7–10]
Win 15–20 May 2017 Prague Open,
Czech Republic
International Clay Květa Peschke Lucie Hradecka
Katerina Siniakova
6–4, 7–6(7–3)
Loss 15–21 Aug 2017 Canadian Open,
Toronto, Canada
Premier 5 Hard Květa Peschke Ekaterina Makarova
Elena Vesnina
0–6, 4–6
Win 16–21 Apr 2018 Stuttgart Open (2),
Germany
Premier Clay (i) Raquel Atawo Nicole Melichar
Květa Peschke
6–4, 6–7(5–7), [10–5]
Loss 16–22 Oct 2018 Linz Open,
Austria
International Hard (i) Raquel Atawo Kirsten Flipkens
Johanna Larsson
6–4, 4–6, [5–10]
Loss 16–23 Feb 2019 Qatar Ladies Open,
Doha, Qatar
Premier Hard Demi Schuurs Chan Hao-ching
Latisha Chan
1–6, 6–3, [6–10]
Win 17–23 Apr 2019 Charleston Open,
United States
Premier Clay Alicja Rosolska Irina Khromacheva
Veronika Kudermetova
7–6(9–7), 6–2
Loss 17–24 May 2019 Italian Open,
Rome, Italy
Premier 5 Clay Demi Schuurs Victoria Azarenka
Ashleigh Barty
6–4, 0–6, [3–10]
Loss 17–25 Jun 2019 Birmingham Classic,
United Kingdom
Premier Grass Demi Schuurs Hsieh Su-wei
Barbora Strýcová
4–6, 7–6(7–4), [8–10]
Loss 17–26 Aug 2019 Canadian Open,
Toronto, Canada
Premier 5 Hard Demi Schuurs Barbora Krejčíková
Kateřina Siniaková
5–7, 0–6
Loss 17–27 Aug 2019 Cincinnati Masters,
United States
Premier 5 Hard Demi Schuurs Lucie Hradecká
Andreja Klepač
4–6, 1–6

WTA 125K series finals

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

Result W–L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Mar 2016 San Antonio Open,
United States
Hard Nicole Melichar Klaudia Jans-Ignacik
Anastasia Rodionova
6–1, 6–3

Performance timelines

Singles

Tournament200320042005200620072008200920102011SRW–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A Q3 3R 2R 2R A 1R 1R Q2 0 / 5 4–5
French Open A 2R 3R QF 1R A 2R A A 0 / 5 8–5
Wimbledon A 1R 1R 1R 1R A 1R 1R Q1 0 / 6 0–6
US Open Q2 1R 3R 1R A 4R 1R Q2 Q1 0 / 5 5–5
Win–Loss 0–0 1–3 6–4 5–4 1–3 3–1 1–4 0–2 0–0 0 / 21 17–21
Career statistics
Titles / Finals 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 3 1 / 1 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 1 / 4
Year-end ranking 120 75 21 19 205 77 67 169 263

Doubles

Current through the 2019 WTA Finals.

Tournament20032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019SRW–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A 3R SF QF A QF 2R 3R 1R 2R 2R SF QF 3R 3R 1R 0 / 14 27–14
French Open A A 3R 2R 1R A QF A 2R 2R 2R 1R 2R 1R 1R 2R 2R 0 / 13 12–13
Wimbledon A A SF QF 2R A QF A 2R 3R SF QF 3R QF SF 2R QF 0 / 13 34–13
US Open A 2R SF 2R A 3R 3R 3R 2R 1R 3R 1R SF 1R 1R 3R 2R 0 / 15 22–15
Win–Loss 0–0 1–1 12–4 9–4 4–3 2–1 11–4 3–2 5–4 3–4 8–3 4–4 11–4 5–4 6–4 6–4 5–4 0 / 55 95–55
Year-end championship
WTA Finals Did not qualify QF DNQ SF 0 / 2 2–3
National representation
Summer Olympics NH A Not held A Not held 2R Not held 1R Not held 0 / 2 1–2
Fed Cup A 1R PO 1R PO 1R PO 1R PO 1R PO F A 1R A SF 1R 0 / 9 9–11
WTA Premier Mandatory tournaments
Indian Wells Open A A QF QF A A 1R A A 2R A 2R 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 0 / 10 7–10
Miami Open A A 1R 1R A A SF A A 2R 2R 2R 2R 1R 2R QF 1R 0 / 11 10–11
Madrid Open Not held 1R A A 2R 1R 2R 2R 1R QF 1R QF 0 / 9 7–9
China Open Tier II QF A A QF 1R 1R 2R 1R 2R 2R QF 0 / 9 9–9
WTA Premier 5 tournaments
Dubai / Qatar Open Tier II A A 1R A SF SF 2R QF 1R 2R 1R QF 0 / 9 12–9
Italian Open A A SF 2R 2R A A A A 1R 2R SF 2R 2R 2R SF F 0 / 11 18–11
Canadian Open A A W F A A 1R 1R A A F 1R 1R 2R F 1R F 1 / 11 21–10
Cincinnati Open NH Tier III 1R A A A F 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R F 0 / 8 8–8
Tokyo / Wuhan Open A A A A A A 1R A A F QF 2R 1R 1R QF 1R SF 0 / 9 9–9
Former WTA Tier I tournaments
Charleston Open A A 2R SF A A Not Premier 5 0 / 2 2–1
German Open 1R 1R 1R SF 2R A Not held 0 / 5 3–5
San Diego Open T II A 1R F A Not held / Not Premier 5 0 / 2 3–2
Kremlin Cup A A 1R QF A A Not Premier 5 0 / 2 1–1
Zurich Open A 1R A QF A T II Not held 0 / 2 1–2
Career statistics
20032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019Career
Tournaments 4 10 21 24 14 8 23 12 11 21 22 24 24 26 23 24 22 313
Titles 0 0 3 2 1 2 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 17
Finals 0 4 3 5 1 3 2 2 2 5 5 1 0 1 2 2 6 44
Overall Win–Loss* 1–4 19–10 37–16 39–20 13–13 14–6 24–20 15–10 15–11 31–19 36–20 21–22 23–23 24–26 29–22 23–23 36–22 400–287
Win % 20% 66% 70% 66% 50% 70% 55% 60% 58% 62% 64% 49% 50% 48% 59% 50% 62% 58.22%
Year-end ranking 264 47 11 11 52 56 25 56 53 18 15 36 22 28 21 26 11

* only WTA Tour and Olympics results

Mixed doubles

Tournament200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019SRW–L
Australian Open A QF 1R A 1R 2R A A A 2R 1R 2R 1R 1R QF 0 / 10 7–10
French Open 1R A A A SF A A 2R 2R W 2R 1R F SF 2R 1 / 10 19–9
Wimbledon 3R QF 1R A W A A 3R 3R A 2R F 2R 2R A 1 / 10 13–9
US Open 2R QF A A 2R SF A A 1R 1R A SF 1R 2R 1R 0 / 10 11–10
Win–Loss 2–3 5–3 0–2 0–0 9–3 4–2 0–0 2–2 2–3 6–2 1–3 8–4 4–4 4–4 3–3 2 / 40 50–38

Fed Cup statistics

2004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019Overall
Singles
Played 4 4 2 2 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18
Win 0 4 1 2 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11
Loss 4 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7
Doubles
Played 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 2 0 1 0 2 2 20
Win 0 1 1 1 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 9
Loss 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 2 0 1 0 1 2 11

References

  1. "Anna-Lena Groenefeld calls time on her career". WTA. 5 December 2019.
  2. "Groenefeld tormented by ex-coach". Tennis Reporters. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010.
  3. "Canadian in middle of coach's bitter feud". National Post. 17 August 2007. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
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