Jarmila Wolfe

Jarmila Wolfe[1][2] (née Gajdošová, formerly Groth; born 26 April 1987) is a Slovak-Australian former tennis player.

Jarmila Wolfe
Wolfe at the 2016 Citi Open
Country (sports) Slovakia (2005–2009)
 Australia (2009–2017)
ResidenceFort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
Born (1987-04-26) 26 April 1987
Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
Height174 cm (5 ft 8 12 in)
Turned proMay 2005
Retired11 January 2017
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$2,732,099
Official websiteOfficial website
Singles
Career record404–276
Career titles2 WTA, 14 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 25 (16 May 2011)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open2R (2015)
French Open4R (2010)
Wimbledon4R (2010)
US Open3R (2006)
Doubles
Career record186–148
Career titles1 WTA, 10 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 31 (27 August 2012)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian OpenQF (2014)
French OpenQF (2012)
Wimbledon3R (2006, 2015)
US Open3R (2011, 2014)
Mixed doubles
Career titles1
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian OpenW (2013)
French OpenSF (2011)
Wimbledon3R (2015)
US OpenQF (2011)
Team competitions
Fed Cup6–10

In her career, she won two singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as 14 singles and ten doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. She won her first WTA Tour title in 2006, emerging as the Nordea Nordic Light Open doubles champion, her first singles title came in 2010 at the Guangzhou International Open, and the following year she won the Hobart International. In May 2011, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 25. In August 2012, she peaked at No. 31 in the doubles rankings. Her greatest achievement came at the 2013 Australian Open, where she won the mixed-doubles title with countryman Matthew Ebden.

Personal life

Wolfe's father Ján Gajdoš is an engineer, as was her mother who died in September 2012; her older brother Ján Gajdoš Jr. was a professional skier. She married Australian tennis player Sam Groth in February 2009 and competed as Jarmila Groth from 2009 to 2011. When the couple divorced in 2011, Wolfe reverted to her birth name.[3] Following her marriage on 1 November 2015 to Adam Wolfe, from January 2016 on she was competing as Jarmila Wolfe.[4][5] In November 2017, Wolfe gave birth to their first child, Natalia Jarmila Wolfe.[6]

Junior career

Although she had already been playing in senior events for some years by the time, the highlights of her junior career came as she reached the semifinals at two junior Grand Slam tournaments. In the 2003 Wimbledon junior competition she lost in semifinal to the eventual winner Kirsten Flipkens. In the Australian Open junior competition, 2004, she reached semifinals in both singles and doubles (with Shahar Pe'er). Both times she lost to Nicole Vaidišová. Another success came in winning doubles at the Italian Open junior tournament in 2003 with Andrea Hlaváčková.[7]

Professional career

2001–2003

Wolfe began competing as Jarmila Gajdošová on the ITF Circuit just days after her 14th birthday in 2001, and that year entered three ITF tournaments, winning two matches and losing three. In 2002, she again entered only three tournaments, but this time won four matches and lost three.

Early in 2003, still aged 15, she stepped up her schedule, and that February she reached the semifinal of a $25k tournament at Redbridge, defeating Séverine Beltrame, Sandra Klösel, and Roberta Vinci before losing to Olga Barabanschikova. She won the next tournament she entered, her third of the year and only the ninth of her career. It was the $10k event at Rabat in March; and in the semifinal she defeated Ekaterina Bychkova. On the strength of this result, she found herself wildcarded into qualifying for her first WTA Tour event, a clay-court tournament at Budapest in April, and justified the wildcard by defeating all three of her opponents in the qualifying draw, including Melinda Czink, in straight sets, then Virginie Razzano in the second round of the main draw, before losing 4–6, 3–6 to Alicia Molik.

On her 16th birthday she entered qualifying for a $50k event on grass at Gifu, Japan. Again, she qualified defeating Aiko Nakamura in the qualifying round; and she reached the second round of the main draw before losing to another top Japanese player, Akiko Morigami. The next week, she came through three straight matches in qualifying at her third successive event, another Japanese $50k grass-court tournament at Fukuoka, defeating Sanda Mamić of Croatia in the qualifying round, before advancing to the quarterfinal of the main draw after a second-round victory over Zheng Jie, only to lose to Saori Obata.

At the US Open in August, she reached the final round of qualifying with upset of Anabel Medina Garrigues, but ultimately lost to Anikó Kapros of Hungary. Her season ended with two more losses in the later stages of qualifying draws at WTA events to higher ranked players. The 16-year-old Slovak ended the year ranked No. 197.[8]

2004–2005

In 2004, she suffered six successive losses between August and October. Earlier in the season she scored wins over Lilia Osterloh and Tzipora Obziler in qualifying for Memphis, Akiko Morigami and Tiffany Dabek at Fukuoka, Zuzana Ondrášková in Wimbledon qualifying, and Elena Baltacha in a $50k event at Lexington, while her performance in reaching the final of the $50k event at Fukuoka was her career-best in a tournament of its class. Her year-end ranking was world No. 217.

In February 2005, she qualified for the annual WTA Tour event at Hyderabad, and beat Li Ting in the first round of the main draw before losing to Anna-Lena Grönefeld of Germany. She did not play in March or April, but returned in May to win her first $25k event and her second career tournament on the clay of Catania, Italy beating Ivana Abramović of Croatia in the final. The following week, she reached the quarterfinal of another $50k event at Saint-Gaudens, France beating Argentine María Emilia Salerni and French player Pauline Parmentier to this end. She entered qualifying at the French Open, and defeated Shikha Uberoi but lost to Sofia Arvidsson in the second leg.

Over May and June, the 18-year-old suffered two consecutive losses in $25k tournaments to Chinese player Yuan Meng. She was able to win her second $25k tournament of the year and third career title on the grass courts of Felixstowe in July, beating Katie O'Brien of Great Britain in the semifinal and Alla Kudryavtseva in the final. The following week, she reached the semifinals of the $50k event at Vittel, France with wins over German Jana Kandarr and her countrywoman Sandra Klösel.

For the second successive summer, she experienced several consecutive early defeats. But in late September she defeated Alona Bondarenko, Kateryna Bondarenko, and María Emilia Salerni to qualify for the WTA event at Luxembourg, in the first round of which she defeated Katarina Srebotnik in two close sets before losing to Dinara Safina. She had improved her year-end ranking to No. 147.[9]

2006: Top 100 breakthrough and first WTA doubles titles

The 18-year-old Gajdošová came through the qualifying draw to gain entry to her first Grand Slam main draw at the Australian Open. She then lost a close three set first-round match to Martina Müller of Germany. But the ranking points accrued were sufficient to lift her to world No. 117 on 6 February 2006.

Staying in Australia for the rest of the month, she retreated temporarily to the ITF Circuit, winning two $25k tournaments in consecutive weeks, at Gosford and Sydney, the fourth and fifth ITF singles titles of her career. These two minor tournament victories resulted in her ranking rising to No. 106.

In mid-March, she followed up these two tournament victories by entering another $25k event at Canberra, and again came through as the victor, defeating world No. 178, Hanna Nooni, in the semifinals and Australian Monique Adamczak in the final.

The next week, she extended her winning streak to seventeen matches in reaching the quarterfinals of a $25k event in Melbourne, but then lost to Australian world No. 260 Sophie Ferguson, 1–6, 4–6. She had succeeded in breaking through into the WTA top 100 for the first time in her career.

In April, staying at the $25k tournament level that had recently brought her so much success, she reached another semifinal at Patras, Greece (losing in three sets to Estonian world No. 240, Margit Rüütel), but only reached the second-round at Bari, Italy before retiring when trailing upcoming French player Alizé Cornet 6–0, 4–1.

In early May she decided to return to the WTA Tour, entering qualifying for the Tier I Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin while ranked world No. 94. However, she lost in three sets in the second round of the qualifying draw to Ukrainian world No. 147, Julia Vakulenko, 6–3, 6–7, 3–6. The next week, she lost in the first round of qualifying for the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome to world No. 115, Victoria Azarenka, 3–6, 3–6.

At the end of the month, entering a Grand Slam tournament as a direct entrant for the first time at the French Open, as world No. 100, she defeated lower-ranked wildcard Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro in round one before losing in straight sets to world No. 9, Patty Schnyder, in round two.

The following week, in early June, she entered a $75k event at Prostějov in the Czech Republic and defeated two Czech players in succession, world No. 31, Lucie Šafářová, and world No. 239, Renata Voráčová (3–6, 6–2, 7–6), before losing in the quarterfinals to in-form Italian Romina Oprandi in straight sets, 3–6, 4–6.

Buoyed by her career-best ranking of world No. 86, she reached the second round of the Tier III tournament at Birmingham with a 6–3, 6–4 win over Yuan Meng before losing to Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama. She then came through three rounds of qualifying in straight sets at Eastbourne, a Tier II tournament, with wins over Stéphanie Foretz, Galina Voskoboeva and Samantha Stosur, but lost in the first round of the main draw to Russian former world No. 2, Anastasia Myskina. A week later, as a direct entrant at Wimbledon, she lost to Australian Nicole Pratt in the first round.

At the $50k event in Vittel, France she won the event, beating Frenchwoman Olivia Sanchez. Her ranking rose to No. 86. However, in the Tier IV tournament in Budapest the following week, she lost 6–7, 2–6 in the first round to fellow Slovak Martina Suchá.

As a direct entrant to the main draw of the US Open, she reached the third round with straight-sets victories over American hopeful Alexa Glatch and the Ukraine's Viktoriya Kutuzova before succumbing to Russian Dinara Safina 3–6, 0–6. As a result, her ranking leapt to No. 65.

Despite an uninspired finish to 2006, she finished the year ranked world No. 71.[10]

2007

She began the new season, still in Australia, at the end of December 2006, by narrowly failing to qualify for Gold Coast. Then in qualifying for Hobart in January, she fell at the first hurdle to Klára Zakopalová in straight sets. And as a direct entrant to the Australian Open, she lost in round one to Venezuelan Milagros Sequera, also in straight sets.

In February, she managed to pull together a string of back-to-back victories in a $75k tournament at Las Vegas, with wins over Kristina Barrois (in three sets), Ahsha Rolle (6–0, 6–2) and Tatiana Poutchek (6–4, 6–3), before bowing out to Akiko Morigami in the semifinals.

In March, as a direct entrant to the Tier I event at Indian Wells, ranked world No. 90, she lost in the first round to Caroline Wozniacki 3–6, 1–6. Then she came through qualifying for Miami with a straight-sets wins over Kristina Barrois and Luxembourg's Anne Kremer before losing a close two-set match in the first round of the main draw to Catalina Castaño of Colombia, 3–6, 5–7. And in the first round of the main draw of the Tier II fixture at Amelia Island, her ranking having slipped back to world No. 99, she was defeated by American Alexa Glatch, 6–4, 6–3.

In May, ranked No. 95, she reached the quarterfinals of the Tier IV fixture at Prague with straight-sets victories over Anastasia Rodionova and Sandra Klösel before losing to Marion Bartoli. At the end of the month, in the first round, she lost to Andrea Petkovic at the French Open.

In June at Wimbledon, she defeated Meghann Shaughnessy 6–2, 6–4 before losing to Jelena Janković in round two, 1–6, 1–6. She returned to action in mid-August in Canada, again ranked No. 105, and attempted to qualify for the Tier I Canadian Open, but lost to Flavia Pennetta. Her only other tournament that month was the US Open, where she again faced Jelena Janković, this time losing 2–6, 6–7.

The Slovak would play only four more tournaments that season, recording her sole victory in the first round of the Tier III event at Kolkata, India against Youlia Fedossova of France in mid-September. Her ranking was No. 142 by the end of the year.[11]

2008

Gajdošová received a wildcard into the main draw of the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts in Gold Coast, Australia where she lost in the first round to world No. 15 Dinara Safina, 6–4, 1–6, 2–6. She then lost in the second round of the qualifying competition for the Medibank International in Sydney to world No. 100 Jill Craybas 5–7, 2–6. Gajdošová then received a wildcard into the main draw of the Australian Open where she lost in the first round to then world No. 7, Serena Williams, 3–6, 3–6.

She then played two tournaments in the United States. She lost in the first round of the qualifying competition for the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells to world No. 101, Alla Kudryavtseva, 2–6, 0–6. She then lost in the first round of the ITF event in Redding, California to world No. 199, Margalita Chakhnashvili, 0–4 ret.

She then played three ITF Circuit tournaments in South Korea. In Incheon, she lost in the first round to world No. 374, Lee Jin-a 4–6, 7–5, 2–6. The following week, Gajdošová won the tournament in Gimcheon, defeating No. 295 Lu Jingjing in the final. She then lost in the second round of the tournament in Changwon to world No. 432, Zhang Ling, in two straight sets. As of 26 May 2008, her ranking had dropped to No. 195.[12]

2009: First Grand Slam appearance

Wolfe (then known as Groth) at 2009 Estoril Open

Gajdošová started the year at the Brisbane International losing in a tight second round to eventual champion Victoria Azarenka. In the Sydney International she again lost in the second round to eventual champion Elena Dementieva. At the Australian Open, Gajdošová lost a tight three-setter to Virginie Razzano making it her fourth straight first round loss at the first Grand Slam of the year. She then married Sam Groth, taking his name from February onwards.

At the 2009 Indian Wells tournament, she played in the qualifying winning her first match and losing her final qualifying match, resulting in a slight rise in the rankings. At Roland Garros, Groth defeated French wild card Kinnie Laisné 6–4, 6–3 and Mariana Duque Marino 6–2, 7–6. She then lost to fifth seed Jelena Janković in the third round, 1–6, 1–6.

At Wimbledon, in the first round, Groth defeated Lucie Šafářová 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, and then lost to second seed Serena Williams 2–6, 1–6. After solid performances at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon Groth received a career-high singles ranking of No. 57.

She was then out of action with an ankle injury until returning to the tour in 2010 as a fully fledged Australian player available for Fed Cup Team selection, after being granted Australian citizenship on 23 November 2009.

2010: Top 50 breakthrough and first singles WTA title

Starting 2010 with the task to re-enter the top 100 she started the year at Brisbane and Sydney falling in second round of qualifying. Then lost another tough three-set first round at Australia Open to Sofia Arvidsson, 2–6, 6–4, 4–6. Groth remained in Australia to gain ranking points and was very successful winning the $25k Sydney, finalist at the $25k Burnie and a quarterfinalist at the Midura ITF. She also had success in doubles with a semifinal and final showings at the Burnie and Mildura ITFs. She received a wildcard entry into the French Open and played Chan Yung-jan in the first round. Groth moved into the second-round winning 6–2, 6–3. She then played Kimiko Date-Krumm from Japan. She beat Date-Krumm who had knocked out Safina the round before, 6–0, 6–3. Groth then faced fellow Australian player Anastasia Rodionova. They played a long three-setter but Groth prevailed 6–3, 5–7, 6–2. In the fourth round, she lost to Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova 4–6, 3–6. Her French Open performance was her best in Grand Slam tournaments. After the French Open, she was ranked No. 88.

At Wimbledon, she progressed to the fourth round where she was beaten by Venus Williams, 6–4, 7–6. On 23 August, she reached a new career high ranking of 56 and became the second highest ranked Australian behind No. 6, Samantha Stosur.

At the US Open, she lost to Maria Sharapova 6–4, 3–6, 1–6 in the first round. In doubles partnering Klára Zakopalová, she defeated Angelique Kerber and Līga Dekmeijere.

After the US Open, Groth participated in the Guangzhou International Open as top seed. She made it to her first WTA Tour final defeating Edina Gallovits in the semifinals 6–0, 6–1 in 38 minutes. In the final, Groth defeated Alla Kudryavtseva 6–1, 6–4 to win her maiden title. Groth's ranking rose to a career high of 41 as a result of her performance.

Her next tournament was the Hansol Korea Open where she faced top seed Nadia Petrova in the first round. She lost 3–6, 2–6.[13]

2011: Career best ranking

Groth started off the year at the Brisbane International where she reached the quarterfinals by beating first seed Sam Stosur in the previous round. It was Groth's first win against a top-10 player. However, she lost to German Andrea Petkovic. She then competed at the Hobart International where she defeated Johanna Larsson, Tamira Paszek, fourth seed Roberta Vinci and Klára Zakopalová all in straight sets to reach the final. Groth defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the final to gain her second WTA title. In doubles, Groth and her partner Zakopalová won their first-round match in straight sets and then defeated fourth seeds Natalie Grandin and Vladimíra Uhlířová in the quarterfinals. They lost to Kateryna Bondarenko and Līga Dekmeijere in the semifinals. At the Australian Open she lost in the first round to 2009 US Open semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer in a close three-set match.

Wolfe at French Open 2011

Groth then became part of the Australia Fed Cup team for the first time. Despite Australia losing the tie, she managed to win against world No. 4, Francesca Schiavone, after dropping the first set. Groth then played at the Dubai Tennis Championships where she defeated Dominika Cibulková in the first round. However, she lost to 15th seed Alisa Kleybanova. She then took part in the Qatar Ladies Open where she had to qualify to reach the main draw. As top seed in qualifying, she defeated wild card player Selima Sfar in the first round, fellow Australian Jelena Dokić in the second round and sixth seed Timea Bacsinszky to qualify in the main draw. There, she faced Dominika Cibulková in the first round, where she lost 8–10 in the third set tiebreak. Groth's next tournament was the BMW Malaysian Open where she received a wild card into the main draw and was seeded fourth. She won her first match against qualifier Sun Shengnan and followed that up with a win against Misaki Doi. She then defeated the sixth seed Ayumi Morita in three close sets to advance to the semifinals where she met her doubles partner and ended up losing to fifth seed Šafářová in straight sets.

Groth was the 29th seed at the BNP Paribas Open and received a first-round bye. She was defeated in the second round by Sara Errani. At the Sony Ericsson Open, Groth was seeded No. 28 and had a first-round bye. In the second round, she defeated Yaroslava Shvedova. Groth was up by a set and break. She was defeated in the next round by world No. 3, Vera Zvonareva.

Groth next travelled to Melbourne to partake with Anastasia Rodionova in the Fed Cup World Group Play-offs. Although she won both of her singles matches against Olga Savchuk and Lesia Tsurenko, Rodionova lost both of her singles matches. As such, it came down to the doubles, where despite easily taking the first set 6–0, Groth and Rodionova ended up losing to Savchuk and Tsurenko. Australia, as a result, was relegated to the 2012 Fed Cup World Group II.

At the Estoril Open, Wolfe, who from that point changed her name to Gajdošová, was seeded second. She defeated Renata Voráčová and compatriot Casey Dellacqua to successfully defend her quarterfinal appearance. However, she advanced no further as she lost to Monica Niculescu. Gajdošová competed at the Madrid Open where she defeated Maria Kirilenko in the first round in a third set tiebreak. She then upset tenth seed Agnieszka Radwańska in three sets before losing to Lucie Šafářová.

Wolfe at the 2011 US Open

Her next tournament was the Italian Open, where she opened up by defeating wildcard Corinna Dentoni and followed that up with a win against Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Her next opponent was world No. 6 and fourth seed, Li Na, and she lost in straight sets. In doubles, Groth partnered with Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru as an alternative. Their run ended in the semifinals against Chinese pair Peng Shuai and Zheng Jie. However, their best victory was in the quarterfinals where they upset top seed and world No. 1 doubles players Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta in straight sets.

Gajdošová beat Virginie Razzano and Anabel Medina Garrigues in the French Open, where she was seeded 24th, but lost in three sets in the third round to Andrea Petkovic, the 15th seed. At the Wimbledon Championships, she defeated former top-20 player Alona Bondarenko. As the last Australian standing in the women's singles draw, she then beat Andrea Hlaváčková to reach the third round, but lost against world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki. She then went on a five-match losing streak: losing in first rounds at the Gastein Ladies Open, Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad, Canadian Open in Toronto, the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, and at the Texas Tennis Open. She broke her losing streak at the US Open; although hitting 57 unforced errors, she did hit 29 winners, and it was enough to defeat Iveta Benešová. In the second round she was defeated by Vania King.

Gajdošová's first tournament of the Asian swing was at the Guangzhou International Open where she was the defending champion. She reached the quarterfinals by defeating Han Xinyun and Mandy Minella. In the quarterfinal however, she lost to world No. 72, Magdaléna Rybáriková. Gajdosova then played in the Pan Pacific Open where in the first round she played world No. 55, Rebecca Marino, and won in three sets. She then played world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki, going down in three sets. The next week she played at the China Open where she defeated world No. 29, Medina Garrigues, but again lost to Wozniacki, this time in straight sets. Her last tournament of the year was at the HP Open where she lost in the second round. Gajdošová ended the year ranked world No. 33 in singles and No. 41 in doubles.[14]

2012: Wrist injury and loss of form

She started her year at the 2012 Hopman Cup partnering Lleyton Hewitt. In the first tie against Spain, Gajdošová put Australia up by beating Medina Garrigues in three sets. They eventually lost the tie by losing the deciding mixed doubles, 9–11 in the final set tiebreak despite leading 5–1. In the second tie against France, Gajdošová left the court in tears after losing to Marion Bartoli, 0–6, 0–6.[15] In the final tie against China, Gajdošová lost to Li Na, however Australia won the tie in the mixed doubles.[16] She then played at the Hobart International, where she was the defending champion. In the first round, she defeated Ayumi Morita in straight sets and then defeated Anastasia Rodionova in a very tough second-round match.[17] Although she started well against qualifier Mona Barthel, she lost in three sets to the eventual champion.[18]

At Roland Garros 2012

Gajdošová then played in the Australian Open, where she faced Maria Kirilenko. She was trying to get past the first round for the first time in seven attempts, but lost the match. Gajdošová left that disappointing result behind and headed to Fribourg, Switzerland to take on the Swiss in the Fed Cup. She competed in the second singles rubber, but had a loss to Stefanie Vögele, 6–0, 6–7, 6–8. She then played in the fourth rubber and confirmed a victory for Australia with a 6–3, 3–6, 8–6 win over Amra Sadiković.[19]

Gajdošová then competed at the Open GdF Suez, where she again lost her opening round in three sets to Monica Niculescu.[20] She then lost in the first round of the Qatar Total Open to Sorana Cîrstea.[21] She was the fourth seed at the Malaysian Open where she won her first round over Kathrin Wörle after losing the first set. She lost her second-round match against Eleni Daniilidou.[22]

At the BNP Paribas Open, she defeated American wildcard CoCo Vandeweghe.[23] In the second round she defeated Yanina Wickmayer after another first-set loss.[24] She lost in the third round to American Jamie Hampton. Gajdošová was down 2–5 in the second-set but came back to win it in a tie-break, but eventually lost the match.[25] At the Sony Ericsson Open, she was dealt a tough first-round match against four-time Grand Slam winner Kim Clijsters, who had not played since the Australian Open semifinal. Gajdošová started well and won the opening set before Clijsters came storming back to win with just the loss of one more game.[26]

Her next tournament was the Family Circle Cup, where she played Stefanie Vögele in the first round and lost in three sets.[27] Gajdošová then competed in the 2012 Fed Cup World Group Play-offs against Germany in Stuttgart, enjoying a return to good form where she beat top 20 player Julia Görges.[28] At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she partnered Anastasia Rodionova in the women's doubles.[29]

She finished the year as world No. 183.

2013

Gajdošová began her season at the Brisbane International as a wildcard. She came back from a set down to defeat world No. 16 Roberta Vinci in the first round and thus ended her nine-match losing streak from the previous season.[30] She lost in the second round to Lesia Tsurenko despite winning the first set.[31] After receiving a wildcard into the Hobart International, Gajdošová reached the quarterfinals for the third consecutive year after defeating Romina Oprandi and Olga Govortsova but lost to the eventual champion Elena Vesnina in straight sets.[32] At the Australian Open, Gajdošová failed to progress beyond the first round of the event for the eighth consecutive year, losing to 20th seed Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets. However, she won the mixed doubles title with compatriot Matthew Ebden and in doing so, won her first Grand Slam title and first mixed-doubles title. This win made Gajdošová and Ebden the third all Australian pairing to win the Australian Open mixed doubles title and the first since 2005 when Samantha Stosur and Scott Draper won that title.[33]

In April, Gajdošová was diagnosed with mononucleosis which left her out of the game for six months.[34] She made her comeback at the Nanjing Ladies Open where she advanced to the semifinal before losing to Ayumi Morita.[35] At the Wildcard Playoff for the Australian Open, Gajdošová opened with a straight sets win over Jelena Dokic. However, she lost in the quarterfinals against Tammi Patterson.[36][37] Gajdošová ended 2013 ranked No. 232 in the world.

2014: Comeback to top 100

At 2014 Toray Pan Pacific Open

Gajdošová received a wild card for the APIA International but lost in the opening round against Lauren Davis.[38] She was also awarded a wildcard for the Australian Open where she lost in the first round to Angelique Kerber.[39] In mixed doubles, teaming up again with Matthew Ebden, she reached the semifinals.

In June, Gajdošová won the Aegon Nottingham Challenge defeating Timea Bacsinszky 6–2, 6–2 in the singles final. This earned a wildcard into Wimbledon Championships and was her first title in over three years.[40] Gajdošová also won the doubles, pairing with Arina Rodionova.

2015: Returning form then fading

Gajdošová started her 2015 season at the Brisbane International which she entered as a wildcard entry. In the first round, she defeated Zhang Shuai to set up a second-round match against second seed and world No. 7, Ana Ivanovic, to whom she would later lose in straight sets.[41]

Gajdošová then played at the 2015 Apia International Sydney, defeating world No. 13, Andrea Petkovic, and No. 11, Dominika Cibulková, before losing to eventual champion Petra Kvitová in the quarterfinal, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6. She next played at the Australian Open, where she had never won a main-draw match, but she was able to break her duck there (on her tenth attempt) defeating Alexandra Dulgheru in straight sets to move into the second round where she then lost to world No. 3, Simona Halep, in straight sets.[42]

Gajdošová then played in the Fed Cup World Group where she defeated world No. 10, Angelique Kerber, in three sets. She then lost to Andrea Petkovic in another three set match. Jarmila then played at the PTT Thailand Open as the sixth seed where she lost to eventual finalist Ajla Tomljanović in the second round. Gajdošová then contested the Dubai Tennis Championships where she qualified for the main draw but lost in three sets to eventual semifinalist Garbiñe Muguruza. The following week she failed to qualify for the Qatar Total Open losing to Alexandra Dulgheru. Gajdošová then had a great run at the Malaysian Open where she was the fourth seed. She reached the semifinals before again losing to Dulgheru. Following this she played at BNP Paribas Open where she lost in the first round to Roberta Vinci.

Gajdošová started her clay-court season at the 2015 Fed Cup World Group Play-offs where she lost to lower ranked players Kiki Bertens and Arantxa Rus, and as a result, Australia was relegated to the Fed Cup World Group II in 2016. She then contested the Premier Mandatory Mutua Madrid Open where she lost to world No. 5, Caroline Wozniacki. The following week she played at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she defeated Elena Vesnina in a thrilling third set tiebreak which she won 16–14. She then retired against world No. 3, Maria Sharapova, after trailing 6–2, 3–1. She lost in the first round of the French Open to the lower ranked Amandine Hesse.[43]

Gajdošová then qualified at Nottingham before being defeated in the first round by Christina McHale. She lost in the first round at Birmingham to Johanna Konta before qualifying at Eastbourne, winning the first round against Lauren Davis before losing in the second round to Caroline Wozniacki.[44]

Gajdošová lost in the first round at Wimbledon to Sabine Lisicki, lost in the first round in Washington, D.C. to Naomi Broady and in the first round of the US Open to the eventual winner Flavia Pennetta.[45]

Gajdošová reached the second round in Tokyo, defeating qualifier Alexandra Panova before losing to Kateryna Bondarenko. She ended the year with a poor run of failures in qualifying and then losing in the first round in Hong Kong to Yaroslava Shvedova.[46]

In December Gajdošová competed for the Philippine Mavericks in the International Premier Tennis League losing to Agnieszka Radwańska and Kurumi Nara before defeating Kristina Mladenovic.[47]

2016

Under her married name, Wolfe partnered Lleyton Hewitt in the Australia Gold Team for the Hopman Cup in Perth in January.[48] In the tie against the United States, Wolfe defeated world No. 1, Serena Williams, albeit the American retired due to a knee injury.[49] She was beaten by Karolína Plíšková and Elina Svitolina in the respective ties against the Czech Republic and Ukraine.

At the Australian Open, Wolfe was forced to retire, a set and 2–4 down in the second, in her first-round match against Anastasija Sevastova after sustaining a back injury during the warm-up.[50]

2017

In January 2017, Wolfe announced her retirement from professional tennis.

Major finals

Mixed doubles: 1 (1 title)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 2013 Australian Open Hard Matthew Ebden Lucie Hradecká
František Čermák
6–3, 7–5

WTA career finals

Singles: 2 (2 titles)

Wolfe won two WTA singles titles, one doubles and one mixed-doubles title
Winner – Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0)
Premier (0–0)
International (2–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–0)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W-L Date Championship Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 19 September 2010 Guangzhou Open, China Hard Alla Kudryavtseva 6–1, 6–4
Win 2–0 15 January 2011 Hobart International, Australia Hard Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6–4, 6–3

Doubles: 6 (1 title, 5 runner-ups)

Winner – Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0)
Premier (0–1)
International (1–4)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–4)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (0–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W-L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 26 April 2006 Nordic Light Open, Stockholm, Sweden Hard Eva Birnerová Yan Zi
Zheng Jie
0–6, 6–4, 6–2
Loss 1–1 24 February 2007 Cellular South Cup, Memphis U.S. Hard Akiko Morigami Nicole Pratt
Bryanne Stewart
5–7, 6–4, [5–10]
Loss 1–2 17 July 2011 Gastein Ladies, Bad Gastein, Austria Clay Julia Görges Eva Birnerová
Lucie Hradecká
6–4, 2–6, [10–12]
Loss 1–3 16 July 2012 Bank of the West Classic, Stanford U.S. Hard Vania King Marina Erakovic
Heather Watson
5–7, 6–7(7–9)
Loss 1–4 22 September 2012 Guangzhou International Open, China Hard Monica Niculescu Tamarine Tanasugarn
Zhang Shuai
6–2, 2–6, [8–10]
Loss 1–5 16 January 2016 Hobart International, Australia Hard Kimberly Birrell Han Xinyun
Christina McHale
3–6, 0–6

ITF Circuit finals

$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles: 18 (14–4)

Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. February 2003 Rabat, Morocco Clay Astrid Waernes-Garcia 6–3, 6–0
Runner-up 1. 9 May 2004 Fukuoka, Japan Carpet Ana Ivanovic 2–6, 7–6(7–4), 6–7(4–7)
Winner 2. 7 May 2005 Catania, Italy Clay Ivana Abramović 6–3, 7–5
Winner 3. 10 July 2005 Felixstowe, England Grass Alla Kudryavtseva 7–5, 6–1
Winner 4. 19 February 2006 Sydney, Australia Hard Sophie Ferguson 6–4, 3–6, 7–6(7–3)
Winner 5. 26 February 2006 Gosford, Australia Hard Chan Yung-jan 6–3, 3–0 ret.
Winner 6. 19 March 2006 Canberra, Australia Clay Monique Adamczak 7–6(7–5), 6–2
Winner 7. 23 July 2006 Vittel, France Clay Olivia Sanchez 6–4, 6–0
Winner 8. 4 May 2008 Gimcheon, South Korea Hard Lu Jingjing 6–3, 6–2
Runner-up 2. 14 September 2008 Rockhampton, Australia Hard Monique Adamczak 6–4, 2–6, 6–7(4–7)
Winner 9. 21 September 2008 Kawana, Australia Hard Isabella Holland 7–5, 6–4
Winner 10. 12 October 2008 Traralgon, Australia Hard Melanie South 6–3, 3–6, 6–1
Winner 11. 26 October 2008 Taipei, Taiwan Carpet Corinna Dentoni 4–6, 6–4, 6–1
Runner-up 3. 2 November 2008 Tokyo, Japan Hard Ayumi Morita 2–6, 6–2, 3–6
Runner-up 4. 7 February 2010 Burnie, Australia Hard Arina Rodionova 1–6, 0–6
Winner 12. 7 March 2010 Sydney, Australia Hard Yurika Sema 6–3, 6–3
Winner 13. 15 June 2014 Nottingham, UK Grass Timea Bacsinszky 6–2, 6–2
Winner 14. 3 August 2014 ITF Vancouver, Canada Hard Lesia Tsurenko 3–6, 6–2, 7–6(7–3)

Doubles: 19 (10–9)

Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. 9 July 2005 Felixstowe, England Grass Alla Kudryavtseva Leanne Baker
Francesca Lubiani
1–6, 6–4, 2–3 ret.
Runner-up 2. 23 July 2005 Galatina, Italy Clay Tatiana Poutchek Casey Dellacqua
Lucia Gonzalez
4–6, 3–6
Winner 1. 16 April 2006 Patras, Greece Hard Christina Horiatopoulos Mervana Jugić-Salkić
Yana Levchenko
6–1, 6–4
Winner 2. 9 June 2006 Prostějov, Czech Republic Clay Akiko Morigami Līga Dekmeijere
Alicja Rosolska
6–3, 7–6(7–3)
Winner 3. 6 August 2006 Baden-Baden, Germany Clay Frederica Piedade Libuše Průšová
Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová
7–5, 4–6, 7–6(8–6)
Winner 4. 27 April 2008 Incheon, South Korea Hard Chan Chin-wei Chang Kyung-mi
Lee Jin-a
6–2, 6–0
Winner 5. 4 May 2008 Gimcheon, South Korea Hard Chan Chin-wei Cho Yoon-jeong
Kim Jin-hee
6–2, 6–0
Runner-up 3. 12 September 2008 Rockhampton, Australia Hard Michaela Johansson Remi Tezuka
Zhou Yimiao
6–7(2–7), 4–6
Runner-up 4. 10 October 2008 Traralgon, Australia Hard Jessica Moore Natalie Grandin
Robin Stephenson
4–6, 2–6
Runner-up 5. 10 October 2008 Mildura, Australia Grass Jade Hopper Casey Dellacqua
Jessica Moore
2–6, 6–7(3–7)
Runner-up 6. 27 March 2010 Jersey, England Hard Melanie South Maret Ani
Anna Smith
5–7, 4–6
Runner-up 7. 15 November 2010 Wellington, New Zealand Hard Jade Hopper Tímea Babos
Tammi Patterson
3–6, 2–6
Runner-up 8. 22 November 2010 Traralgon, Australia Hard Jade Hopper Tímea Babos
Melanie South
3–6, 2–6
Runner-up 9. 29 November 2010 Bendigo, Australia Hard Jade Hopper Tímea Babos
Melanie South
3–6, 2–6
Winner 6. 27 January 2014 Burnie, Australia Hard Storm Sanders Eri Hozumi
Miki Miyamura
6–4, 6–4
Winner 7. 28 April 2014 Gifu, Japan Hard Arina Rodionova Misaki Doi
Hsieh Shu-ying
6–3, 6–3
Winner 8. 12 May 2014 Kurume, Japan Grass Arina Rodionova Junri Namigata
Akiko Yonemura
6–4, 6–2
Winner 9. 15 June 2014 Nottingham, UK Grass Arina Rodionova Verónica Cepede Royg
Stephanie Vogt
7–6(7–0), 6–1
Winner 10. 9 April 2016 Jackson, United States Clay Sharon Fichman Yuki Kristina Chiang
Lauren Herring
6–2, 6–3

Singles performance timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A P Z# PO G F-S SF-B NMS NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (P) postponed; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
Tournament Slovakia Australia W–L
20032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A LQ LQ 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 1–11
French Open A LQ LQ 2R 1R 1R 3R 4R 3R 2R A Q2 1R 9–8
Wimbledon A LQ A 1R 2R LQ 2R 4R 3R 1R A 2R 1R 8–8
US Open LQ LQ LQ 3R 1R LQ 1R 1R 2R 1R A 1R 1R 3–8
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 3–4 1–4 0–2 3–4 6–4 5–4 1–4 0–1 1–3 1–4 0–1 21–35
Year-end championships
WTA Tour Championships A A A A A A A A A A 0–0
Tournament of Champions Not Held A A A A A A A 0–0
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics Not Held A Not Held A Not Held 0–0
Premier Mandatory tournaments
Indian Wells A LQ A A 1R LQ LQ A 2R 3R A A 1R Q1 2–4
Miami A A A A 1R A LQ A 3R 1R 1R A A A 1–3
Madrid Not Held A A 3R 1R A A 1R 2–3
Beijing Not Tier I A A 2R A A Q1 Q1 1–1
Premier 5 tournaments
Dubai Not Tier I A A 2R NP5 A 1R A 1–2
Doha Not Tier I A Not P5 1R A A Not P5 0–1
Rome A A A LQ A A A A 3R 2R A A 2R 4–3
Cincinnati NH Not Tier I LQ A 1R A A A Q1 0–1
Toronto / Montreal A A A A LQ A A 2R 1R A A A Q3 1–2
Tokyo A A A A A A A LQ 2R A A A Not P5 1–1
Wuhan Not Held 2R Q1 1–1
Overall Win–Loss 2–1 0–1 2–2 8–12 6–14 17–12 9–14 19–12 31–24 9–13 11–9 19–15 22–24 401–273
Win % 67% 0% 50% 30% 33% 59% 39% 61% 56% 41% 55% 56% 48% 59%
Year-end ranking 197 217 145 71 145 98 112 42 33 180 232 71 102

Grand Slam doubles performance timeline

Slovakia Australia
Championship2006200720082009201020112012201320142015W–L
Australian Open A 2R 1R 1R 1R 2R 3R 1R QF 2R 8–9
French Open A 3R A 1R A 2R QF A A 1R 6–5
Wimbledon 3R 2R A 1R A 2R A A A 3R 6–5
US Open 1R 2R A 1R 2R 3R A A 3R 1R 6–7
Win–Loss 2–2 5–4 0–1 0–4 1–2 5–4 5–2 0–1 5–2 3–4 26–26

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