Anna Fitzpatrick
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Anna Fitzpatrick (born 6 April 1989) is a British former professional
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...
player.


Personal life

Fitzpatrick attended St Thomas of Canterbury school in Sheffield,
St Mary's Roman Catholic High School, Chesterfield St Mary's Catholic High School is a Catholic, co-educational, secondary school with academy status in Upper Newbold, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, which specialises in the teaching of Maths and History. It received a School Achievements Award ...
and Woodhouse Grove School in
Apperley Bridge Apperley is a village in Gloucestershire, England, about southwest of Tewkesbury, south of Deerhurst and east of the River Severn. It is the largest settlement in Deerhurst civil parish. In 2020 it had an estimated population of 625. The p ...
,
City of Bradford The City of Bradford () is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough. It is named after its largest settlement, Bradford, but covers a large area which includes the towns and ...
. She has three older brothers named Chris, Peter and Michael, who were all keen tennis players themselves and very supportive of their sister. Growing up, she played tennis at Beauchief Tennis Club and at Graves Tennis Centre.


Playing style

Fitzpatrick liked to play aggressively, coming to the net as often as possible. When at the back of the court she was looking for opportunities to attack, and often tried to serve and volley to change the pace of the match. According to Fitzpatrick, her volley was ''"what erwhole game is built on"'' and her least favourite surface is
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay part ...
.


Career


Junior (2003–2007)

Fitzpatrick's first match on the junior ITF circuit came in July 2003 and her last in June 2007. During her four-year junior tennis career, she did not reach any tournament finals but reached the semi-finals of three tournaments, one of which was the 2007 Wimbledon girls' tournament where she lost to eventual champion,
Urszula Radwańska Urszula Radwańska (; born 7 December 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. Radwańska has won one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as seven singles and ten doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 8 October 2012, she reached ...
, 6–7(3), 3–6. She also lost in the quarterfinals of a total of five tournaments. Her win–loss record for singles competition was 25–26. As a junior doubles competitor, Fitzpatrick won one tournament (partnering Jade Curtis) and was a runner-up in another. She was also a semi-finalist four times and lost in the quarterfinals in nine tournaments. One of the tournaments in which Fitzpatrick became a quarterfinalist was in the 2007 Wimbledon girls' doubles tournament with Jade Curtis. She ended her junior career with a doubles win–loss record of 27–28. Her career-high combined singles and doubles ranking was world No. 180 (achieved 9 July 2007).


2004–2006

Fitzpatrick played her first professional match on the adult ITF Circuit in September 2004 when she attempted to qualify for the $10k event in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
. She lost in the second round of qualifying. Her only other tournament during 2004 was the $10k in Bolton where she also lost in round two of qualifying. She finished 2004 without a world ranking.
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...
saw Fitzpatrick play in a total of eleven ITF tournaments. She lost in round two in two tournaments, the first round in three and the qualifying stages a total of six times. Her very first year-end ranking was world No. 1102. In 2006, Fitzpatrick made very little progress on the ITF Circuit until August when she won her first ever ITF title in the $10k event in
Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward wit ...
without losing a set in the entire tournament. She beat fellow British teen, Anna Smith, in the final, 6–4, 6–3. She carried this momentum over into her next tournament (
Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county ...
$10k) where she reached the semi-finals and she also made a run into the final of her next tournament, the $10k in London. She was beaten by Nadja Roma, 3–6, 3–6, in the final. She finished the season with her ranking at world No. 676.


2007

In March 2007, Fitzpatrick reached the third ITF singles final of her career in
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
$10k where she lost to Gaëlle Widmer in straight sets, 4–6, 1–6. In April she became a quarterfinalist in the $10,000 event in
Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...
and one month later she lost in the quarterfinals of a $25k event in
Antalya Antalya () is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish city on the Mediterranean coast outside the Ae ...
as a qualifier. June saw Fitzpatrick make her debut on the
WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tou ...
when she was given a
wildcard Wild card most commonly refers to: * Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games * Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...
into the qualifying draw of the DFS Classic. She faced American,
Lilia Osterloh Lilia Osterloh (born April 7, 1978) is a retired tennis player from the United States. Osterloh started a professional career in August 1997. She reached her highest singles ranking in April 2001, when she became world No. 41 Her career-high dou ...
, in the first round and was unable to capitalise on her one set lead, eventually losing, 7–5, 3–6, 1–6. Fitzpatrick earned a wildcard into the qualifying event for Wimbledon one week later by winning two matches in the LTA Wildcard Play-offs. She managed to beat
Junri Namigata is a Japanese professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA singles ranking is 105, which she reached in February 2011. Her career-high doubles ranking is 101, achieved May 2015. Early life and amateur career Namigata was born in Koshigaya, ...
, a player ranked 278 places above her, in the first round of the qualifying tournament with a score of 7–5, 6–0. The No. 8 seed in the qualifying tournament, Mathilde Johansson, proved too much for Fitzpatrick in round two and Fitzpatrick lost, 1–6, 2–6. In July, she reached the semifinals of a $10k event in
Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...
(where she won the doubles tournament to give her the first doubles title of her career) and in September she reached the semifinals of another $10k event, this one in
Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
. She did not pass the second round in any other ITF tournaments that season and finished the year with a ranking of world No. 383.


2008

In April 2008, Fitzpatrick reached her first ITF quarterfinal of the year in
Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in Mexico. The city f ...
, a $10k tournament. Just two weeks later she reached her second of the year, this one in
Irapuato Irapuato is a Mexican city (and municipality) located at the foot of the Arandas Hill (in Spanish: ''Cerro de Arandas''), in the central region of the state of Guanajuato. It lies between the Silao River and the Guanajuato River, a tributary of ...
$25k. In June, the first of four consecutive wildcards allowed her direct entry into the main draw of the $50k event in
Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it h ...
where she lost to Georgie Stoop in round one. Her second wild card of June entered her into the main draw of the DFS Classic, a Tier III tournament. She was beaten by Melanie South, 4–6, 4–6, in round one. Wild card number three allowed her access into the qualifying draw of the International Women's Open where world No. 62,
Ekaterina Makarova Ekaterina Valeryevna Makarova ( rus, Екатери́на Вале́рьевна Мака́рова; ; born 7 June 1988) is a Russian former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles, and world No. 8 in singles. She ...
, beat her in straight sets, 6–7(4), 3–6. Her fourth of four consecutive wild cards gave her entry into the qualifying draw of Wimbledon where she was beaten by
Yuliana Fedak Yuliana Leonidivna Fedak ( uk, Юліана Леонідівна Федак; born 8 June 1983) is a retired Ukrainian tennis player. Fedak has a career high WTA singles ranking of 63, achieved on 18 September 2006. Fedak also has a career high W ...
from
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...
. In early August, Fitzpatrick injured her foot while playing in an ITF in Portugal. The injury turned out to be a stress fracture in her left foot and it put her out of action for the rest of the season and as a result, she ended the season ranked world No. 424.


2009

Fitzpatrick returned to the ITF Circuit in March 2009. In her very first tournament since injuring her foot, she partnered
Stefania Boffa Stefania Boffa (born 9 August 1988) is a former tennis player from Switzerland. She has a career-high singles ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", " ...
to win the title at the $10k tournament in Bath. She and Boffa again joined forced in their next tournament, the $25k in Jersey, where they reached the semifinals. She made her first real impact in singles in July when she reached a $10k quarterfinal before immediately going on to reach the final of another $10k. She beat the fourth, fifth and sixth seeds before losing to
Heather Watson Heather Miriam Watson (born 19 May 1992) is a British professional tennis player. A former British No. 1, Watson has won nine titles over her career, including the mixed-doubles title at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships partnering Henri ...
, 6–4, 4–6, 2–6, in the final. In August, Fitzpatrick played her final tournament of 2009 (a $10k in London) where she was beaten by compatriot,
Jocelyn Rae Jocelyn Rae (born 20 February 1991) is a British former tennis player. Rae has a career-high doubles ranking of 67 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), achieved on 22 February 2016. In her career, she won one singles title and 23 doubles ...
, in the semifinals. During this tournament, her foot injury worsened once again and forced her out until March/April 2010. As a result of this, Fitzpatrick's year-end singles ranking for 2009 was 761.


ITF Circuit finals


Singles (3–4)


Doubles (19–13)


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzpatrick, Anna 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Sheffield British female tennis players English people of Irish descent People educated at Woodhouse Grove School English female tennis players Tennis people from South Yorkshire 21st-century British women