Karolina Šprem

Karolina Šprem Baghdatis (born 25 October 1984) is a retired professional tennis player from Croatia. She won eleven titles (ten singles) all at the ITF level. Her highest ranking is world No. 17, achieved in October 2004.

Karolina Šprem
Šprem at the 2010 NSW Medibank Tennis Open.
Country (sports) Croatia
ResidenceVaraždin, Croatia
Born (1984-10-25) 25 October 1984
Varaždin, Croatia
Height1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Turned proJuly 2001
Retired2011
PlaysRight-handed (double-handed backhand)
Prize money$1,298,606
Singles
Career record266–170
Career titles10 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 17 (11 October 2004)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open4R (2005)
French Open3R (2006)
WimbledonQF (2004)
US Open1R (2003,2004,2005,2006)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games3R (2004)
Doubles
Career record14–16
Career titles1 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 182 (8 May 2006)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open2R (2006)
Wimbledon1R (2005)
Team competitions
Fed Cup9–7

Personal life

Karolina was born to Gabro and Božena Šprem in Varaždin, Croatia. She was introduced to tennis by her father at nine years of age. She turned professional in July 2001.

Šprem represented Croatia at the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens. She reached the third round in singles and the second round in doubles (with Jelena Kostanić).

On 14 July 2012, Šprem married ATP player Marcos Baghdatis at Trakošćan Castle in Croatia.[1] At Wimbledon, as a spectator for Baghdatis' match on centre court against Andy Murray, Šprem confirmed that she and Baghdatis were expecting their first child. Karolina gave birth to a girl, named Zahara, on 20 October 2012.[2]

Professional career

2003–2006

Šprem displayed stunning results at the beginning of the 2003 season. Playing on the ITF Circuit, she had a record 29-match winning streak from January to March, which earned her four titles at Grenoble, Southampton, Redbridge and Castellon.

Later in the year, she went on to reach two WTA-level finals in Strasbourg and Vienna. She also reached the semifinals of the WTA Tour event in Helsinki, and won the ITF event in Poitiers.

Šprem's career highlight came at Wimbledon 2004, where she was a quarterfinalist. She defeated the then-two-time champion, four-time finalist and world no. 8 Venus Williams en route. Her run was ended by Lindsay Davenport. The umpire of her match against Venus had awarded her an extra point in the second set tiebreak by mistake.[3][4]

After Wimbledon, Karolina struggled to find her good form she had, losing early in many tournaments. She began training with Borna Bikić.

She rebounded at the Australian Open 2005, where she had a run to the fourth round. In September 2005, at the WTA event in Kolkata, India, she reached the final after a string of good wins. However, she lost the final to Anastasia Myskina.

2007–2009
Sprem at the 2008 US Open

In late 2007, Šprem announced a permanent split from Bikic and returned to her old coach Ricardo Sanchez. She had to cope with a serious elbow injury, which needed surgery.[5] She was out of the tour for 10 months.

In April 2008, she returned to the pro tour, winning in Amelia Island over Ai Sugiyama and top-10 player Daniela Hantuchová, before falling to Lindsay Davenport in the third round.

In July, Šprem made the semifinals of a Tier III event in Budapest.

In 2009, Karolina won three big ITF titles in Biberach, Torhout, and Mestre.

2010–2011

In 2010, she scored one of her biggest wins in years when she defeated 25th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues at the Australian Open.

During the Australian hard-court season in 2011, Karolina suffered a left-wrist injury, which forced her to stop competing. She tried playing in April at the tournament in Estoril, Portugal, but was unable to finish her first qualifying match against Heather Watson. This confirmed that the injury was very serious. She has been out of the tour since, and is still recovering.[6]

WTA career finals

Singles: 3 (3 runners-up)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. 24 May 2003 Internationaux de Strasbourg, France Clay Silvia Farina Elia 3–6, 6–4, 4–6
Runner-up 2. 14 June 2003 Austrian Open, Vienna, Austria Clay Paola Suárez 6–7(0–7), 6–2, 4–6
Runner-up 3. 25 September 2005 Sunfeast Open, Kolkata, India Hard (i) Anastasia Myskina 2–6, 2–6

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 14 (10–4)
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner–up 1. 2 September 2001 Mostar Clay Adriana Basarić 4–6, 3–6
Winner 1. 27 January 2002 Courmayeur Hard (i) Stefanie Weis 4–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–4
Winner 2. 17 February 2002 Bergamo Hard (i) Rita Degli Esposti 6–1, 6–2
Runner–up 2. 31 March 2002 Rome–Parioli Clay Dinara Safina 7–6(7–3), 2–6, 3–6
Runner–up 3. 23 June 2002 Gorizia Clay Ainhoa Goñi Blanco 6–7(4–7), 1–6
Runner–up 4. 11 August 2002 Rimini Clay Laurence Andretto 5–7, 4–6
Winner 3. 26 January 2003 Grenoble Hard (i) Sophie Lefèvre 7–5, 7–5
Winner 4. 16 February 2003 Southampton Hard (i) Magdalena Zděnovcová 6–1, 3–0 ret.
Winner 5. 23 February 2003 Redbridge Hard (i) Olga Barabanschikova 6–3, 6–2
Winner 6. 23 March 2003 Castellón Clay Ľudmila Cervanová 6–3, 6–3
Winner 7. 2 November 2003 Poitiers Hard (i) Roberta Vinci 6–4, 7–5
Winner 8. 1 March 2009 Biberach Hard (i) Kirsten Flipkens 6–1, 6–2
Winner 9. 11 April 2009 Torhout Hard (i) Viktoriya Kutuzova 6–1, 6–4
Winner 10. 11 April 2009 Mestre Hard Yvonne Meusburger 2–6, 6–2, 6–4

Doubles (1–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1. 24 November 2002 Zagreb Hard (i) Mervana Jugić-Salkić Jelena Kostanić
Matea Mezak		 6–2, 6–4

Grand Slam singles performance timeline
Tournament200320042005200620072008200920102011
Australian Open A 1R 4R 2R 1R A 1R 2R 1R
French Open A 1R 2R 3R A 1R 1R 1R A
Wimbledon 2R QF 1R 3R A A 1R 2R A
US Open 1R 1R 1R 1R A LQ LQ 1R A

References
  1. "Baghdatis and Sprem make it a true mixed-doubles marriage". Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  2. "Karolina Šprem rodila djevojčicu Zaharu. Ime je odabrao otac, ciparski tenisač Marcos Baghdatis".
  3. "Tennis: Williams Loses Count and Match", The New York Times, 25 June 2004, p. D1
  4. Wimbledon officials to review umpire error – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
  5. http://arhiv.slobodnadalmacija.hr/20070719/sport03.asp
  6. 'Karolina & Marcos: It all started in Sydney' WTA (Retrieved 19 September 2012)
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