Iveta Benešová

Iveta Benešová (Czech pronunciation: [ˈɪvɛta ˈbɛnɛʃovaː]) (formerly Melzer, Czech: Melzerová; born 1 February 1983) is a Czech former tennis player. She began playing tennis at age of seven and turned professional in 1998. She won two WTA Tour singles and 14 doubles tournaments, and one Grand Slam title in mixed doubles, partnering with Jürgen Melzer at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. On 14 September 2012, she married Melzer and adopted his family name (until 2015). She announced her retirement from professional tennis on 13 August 2014.

Iveta Benešová
Benešová at the 2011 Australian Open
Country (sports) Czech Republic
ResidenceMost
Born (1983-02-01) 1 February 1983
Most, Czechoslovakia
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro1998
Retired2014
PlaysLeft-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$3,329,488
Singles
Career record378–332
Career titles2 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 25 (6 April 2009)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open4R (2011, 2012)
French Open3R (2008, 2009)
Wimbledon2R (2007, 2009, 2011)
US Open2R (2004, 2008, 2010)
Doubles
Career record269–224
Career titles14 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 17 (31 January 2011)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open3R (2008, 2011)
French Open3R (2005, 2006, 2010)
Wimbledon3R (2010)
US OpenQF (2011)
Mixed doubles
Career titles1
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian OpenSF (2009)
French OpenQF (2011)
WimbledonW (2011)
US Open2R (2009), 1R (2012)
Team competitions
Fed Cup11–12

Career

2005–2008

Benešová was the first player to be beaten by Ana Ivanovic in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, at the 2005 Australian Open.[1]

At the 2006 Australian Open, for the first time, she reached the third round of a Grand Slam championship by beating fifth seed Mary Pierce. She lost in the next round to former world No. 1 Martina Hingis.[2]

Entering as a qualifier in the 2008 French Open, she reached the third round, beating 15th seed and compatriate Nicole Vaidišová in the first round, but lost to Petra Cetkovská.

2009
Benešová at the 2009 French Open

Benešová started the year by playing the first edition of the Brisbane International. She lost in the first round to qualifier Sesil Karatantcheva. A week later, Benešová lost in the final of the tournament in Hobart to fellow-Czech Petra Kvitová. At the Australian Open, she lost in the second round to eventual semifinalist and fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva.

Immediately after Australian, Benešová played in front of her home crowd in the Fed Cup tie against Spain. Despite losing her singles rubber to Nuria Llagostera Vives, the Czech team advanced to the semifinals after winning the tie 4–1.

At the Open GdF Suez in Paris, she lost in the first round to world No. 1 Serena Williams. Benešová then reached the semifinals of the tournament in Acapulco, a clay-court event. In the quarterfinals, she beat Mathilde Johansson before losing in the semifinals to defending champion Flavia Pennetta.

On 6 April 2009, Benešová achieved her career-high singles ranking of world No. 25.

Seeded 6th at the first edition of the Monterrey Open, she beat fellow Czech Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová in the quarterfinals before losing in the semifinals to unseeded Li Na.

Benešová fell to Ana Ivanovic in the third round of the French Open.

At Wimbledon, she beat Britain's Katie O'Brien, before falling to Jelena Janković in the second round.

2010

In singles, she defeated Romanian Simona Halep in the final of Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem to win her first WTA Tour trophy since 2004.

In doubles, she has won three titles. Along with Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, she grabbed the titles in Paris as their opponents Cara Black and Liezel Huber withdrew and Monterrey defeating Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Vania King. Partnering with Anabel Medina Garrigues, Benešová won Fes, making her winning both singles and doubles in the tournament.

Benešová at the 2008 French Open

2011

Benešová reached the fourth round of the Australian Open,[3] but was defeated by second seed Vera Zvonareva.[4]

Along with Záhlavová-Strýcová she won four titles in doubles.

At the Wimbledon Championships, she won the mixed doubles title with partner and later husband Jürgen Melzer.[5][6]

2012

Benešová once again reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, being defeated by eventual champion Victoria Azarenka in straight sets. On 29 April 2012 she won her last title at the Stuttgart doubles, again with Záhlavová-Strýcová.

She paused from playing tournaments until February 2014, mainly due to shoulder problems.

2014

In her first tournament as Iveta Melzer, she and her partner Petra Cetkovská reached the final of the Acapulco doubles which they lost in the third set.

At the French Open she played the mixed doubles with her husband Jürgen, they lost in the first round against top seeded Alexander Peya and Abigail Spears. It was their last Grand Slam mixed appearance together, at the Wimbledon mixed doubles Jürgen Melzer partnered Anabel Medina Garrigues.

Iveta Melzer ended her career on 15 August 2014, as shoulder problems prevented her from playing her best tennis.

Personal life

On 14 September 2012, Benešová married Austrian tennis player Jürgen Melzer in Austria at Laxenburg Castle. The relationship ended in 2015 and Iveta changed her name back to Benešová.[7][8]

Grand Slam finals

Mixed doubles: 1 title
Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 2011 Wimbledon Championships Grass Jürgen Melzer Mahesh Bhupathi
Elena Vesnina		 6–3, 6–2

WTA career finals

Singles: 8 (2 titles, 6 runner-ups)
Legend
Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0)
Tier II / Premier (0–0)
Tier III, IV & V / International (2–6)
Outcome No. Date Championship Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. 18 October 2002 WTA Bratislava Hard (i) Maja Matevžič 0–6, 1–6
Winner 1. 7 March 2004 Abierto Mexicano TELCEL, Acapulco Clay Flavia Pennetta 7–6(7–5), 6–4
Runner-up 2. 20 April 2004 Portugal Open, Estoril Clay Émilie Loit 5–7, 6–7(1–7)
Runner-up 3. 28 August 2004 Forest Hills, Queens Hard Elena Likhovtseva 3–6, 2–6
Runner-up 4. 16 January 2006 Moorilla Hobart International Hard Michaëlla Krajicek 1–6, 2–6
Runner-up 5. 20 May 2008 Portugal Open, Estoril Clay Maria Kirilenko 4–6, 2–6
Runner-up 6. 16 January 2009 Moorilla Hobart International Hard Petra Kvitová 5–7, 1–6
Winner 2. 1 May 2010 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem, Fes Clay Simona Halep 6–4, 6–2

Doubles: 26 (14 titles, 12 runner-ups)
Legend
Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (1–3)
Tier II / Premier (5–2)
Tier III, IV & V / International (8–7)
Outcome No. Date Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. 18 July 2004 Bank of the West Classic, Stanford Hard Claudine Schaul Eleni Daniilidou
Nicole Pratt		 2–6, 4–6
Winner 1. 13 February 2005 Open Gaz de France, Paris Carpet (i) Květa Peschke Anabel Medina Garrigues
Dinara Safina		 6–2, 2–6, 6–2
Runner-up 2. 24 April 2005 Family Circle Cup, Charleston Clay (green) Květa Peschke Conchita Martínez
Virginia Ruano Pascual		 1–6, 4–6
Runner-up 3. 18 June 2005 Ordina Open,
's-Hertogenbosch		 Grass Nuria Llagostera Vives Anabel Medina Garrigues
Dinara Safina		 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(11–9)
Runner-up 4. 15 October 2006 Kremlin Cup, Moscow Carpet (i) Galina Voskoboeva Francesca Schiavone
Květa Peschke		 4–6, 7–6(7–4), 1–6
Runner-up 5. 6 January 2007 Gold Coast, Queensland Hard Galina Voskoboeva Dinara Safina
Katarina Srebotnik		 3–6, 4–6
Winner 2. 30 September 2007 Fortis Championships Luxembourg, Luxembourg City Hard (i) Janette Husárová Victoria Azarenka
Shahar Pe'er		 6–4, 6–2
Winner 3. 23 February 2008 Copa Colsanitas, Bogotá Clay Bethanie Mattek Jelena Kostanić Tošić
Martina Müller		 6–3, 6–3
Runner-up 6. 1 March 2008 Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco Clay Petra Cetkovská Nuria Llagostera Vives
María José Martínez Sánchez		 2–6, 4–6
Runner-up 7. 18 May 2008 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Rome Clay Janette Husárová Chuang Chia-jung
Chan Yung-jan		 6–7(5–7), 3–6
Winner 4. 3 August 2008 Nordea Nordic Light Open, Stockholm Hard Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Petra Cetkovská
Lucie Šafářová		 7–5, 6–4
Runner-up 8. 2 March 2009 Monterrey Open Hard Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Mara Santangelo
Nathalie Dechy		 3–6, 4–6
Runner-up 9. 13 July 2009 ECM Prague Open Clay Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Kateryna Bondarenko
Alona Bondarenko		 1–6, 2–6
Runner-up 10. 29 August 2009 Pilot Pen Tennis, New Haven Hard Lucie Hradecká Nuria Llagostera Vives
María José Martínez Sánchez		 2–6, 6–7
Winner 5. 25 October 2009 BGL Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg City Hard (i) Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Vladimíra Uhlířová
Renata Voráčová		 6–1, 0–6, [10–7]
Winner 6. 14 February 2010 Open Gaz de France, Paris Hard (i) Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Cara Black
Liezel Huber		 w/o
Winner 7. 7 March 2010 Monterrey Open Hard Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Anna-Lena Grönefeld
Vania King		 3–6, 6–4, [10–8]
Winner 8. 1 May 2010 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem, Fes Clay Anabel Medina Garrigues Lucie Hradecká
Renata Voráčová		 6–3, 6–1
Winner 9. 2 October 2010 Toray Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo Hard Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Shahar Pe'er
Peng Shuai		 6–4, 4–6, [10–8]
Runner-up 11. 24 October 2010 BGL Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg City Hard (i) Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Timea Bacsinszky
Tathiana Garbin		 4–6, 4–6
Winner 10. 14 January 2011 Medibank International Sydney Hard Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Květa Peschke
Katarina Srebotnik		 4–6, 6–4, [10–7]
Winner 11. 6 March 2011 Monterrey Open Hard Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Anna-Lena Grönefeld
Vania King		 6–7(8–10), 6–2, [10–6]
Winner 12. 1 May 2011 Barcelona Ladies Open Clay Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Natalie Grandin
Vladimíra Uhlířová		 5–7, 6–4, [11–9]
Winner 13. 25 October 2011 BGL Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg City Hard (i) Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Lucie Hradecká
Ekaterina Makarova		 7–5, 6–3
Winner 14. 29 April 2012 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart Clay (i) Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Julia Görges
Anna-Lena Grönefeld		 6–4, 7–5
Runner-up 12. 2 March 2014 Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco Hard Petra Cetkovská Kristina Mladenovic
Galina Voskoboeva		 3–6, 6–2, [5–10]

ITF finals

Singles (4-1)
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. 13 May 2001 Prešov, Slovakia Clay Michala Bzduseková 3–6, 6–2, 6–2
Winner 2. 22 October 2001 Opole, Poland Carpet (i) Eva Fislová 6–1, 6–3
Winner 3. 2 February 2004 Urtijëi, Italy Carpet (i) Virág Németh 6–3, 6–1
Winner 4. 30 March 2008 Latina, Italy Clay Sesil Karatantcheva 6–0, 6–2
Runner-up 5. 6 April 2008 Torhout, Belgium Hard (i) Elena Baltacha 7–6(5), 1–6, 4–6

Doubles (4–4)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1. 31 July 2000 Toruń, Poland Clay Lenka Novotná Gabriela Chmelinová
Jana Macurová		 6–1, 6–4
Runner-up 2. 11 December 2000 Mallorca, Spain Clay Lenka Novotná Olga Vymetálková
Gabriela Chmelinová		 3–5, 4–2, 4–0, 1–4, 2–4
Winner 3. 25 March 2001 Rome, Italy Clay Zuzana Kučová Claudia Ivone
Roberta Vinci		 4–6, 6–4, 6–4
Winner 4. 20 May 2001 Szczecin, Poland Clay Martina Babáková Anastassia Belova
Darya Kustova		 6–4, 7–6(4)
Runner-up 5. 28 April 2002 Cagnes-sur-Mer, France Clay Caroline Dhenin Dally Randriantefy
Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro		 2–6, 4–6
Runner-up 6. 14 September 2003 Bordeaux, France Clay Olga Vymetálková Maret Ani
Libuše Průšová		 3–6, 4–6
Runner-up 7. 8 December 2003 Ostrava, Czech Republic Carpet (i) Michaela Paštiková Libuše Průšová
Barbora Strýcová		 2–6, 4–6
Winner 8. 15 December 2003 Valašské Meziříčí, Czech Republic Hard (i) Michaela Paštiková Maret Ani
Libuše Průšová		 w/o

Singles performance timeline
Tournament20022003200420052006200720082009201020112012W–L
Australian Open LQ 1R LQ 1R 3R 2R LQ 2R 2R 4R 4R 11–8
French Open 2R 1R 1R 2R 2R 1R 3R 3R 1R 1R 1R 7–11
Wimbledon 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R 3–11
US Open 1R 1R 2R1 1R 1R 1R 2R2 1R 2R 1R 1R 3–11
Win–Loss 1–3 0–4 1–3 1–4 3–4 2–4 3–3 4–4 2–4 4–4 3–4 24–41
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics NH 1R Not Held 2R Not Held - 1–2
Premier Mandatory tournaments
Indian Wells 2R 3R 3R 2R 2R 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R 9–11
Key Biscayne 1R A 1R 2R 2R A QF 1R 3R 3R 10–8
Madrid Not Held Not Tier 1 1R 1R 2R 1R 1–4
Beijing Not Play 1R A 1R A 0–2
Premier 5 tournaments
Dubai Not Held & Tier I 1R 1R 2R 1–3
Rome 2R 1–1
Cincinnati Not Held & Tier I 1R 3R LQ 2–2
Montreal / Toronto 1R LQ 0–1
Tokyo LQ QF LQ QF 1R A 6–3
Year-end ranking 81 140 36 54 60 119 43 39 60 54 81

Grand Slam doubles performance timeline
Tournament200420052006200720082009201020112012W–L
Australian Open 1R 1R 1R 1R 3R 2R 2R 3R 2R 7–9
French Open 1R 3R 3R 1R 1R 2R 3R 1R 1R 7–9
Wimbledon 1R 1R 2R 1R 2R 3R 3R 3R 2R 9–9
US Open 2R 1R 1R 2R 2R 2R 3R QF 2R 10–9
Win–Loss 1–4 2–4 3–4 1–4 4–4 5–4 7–4 7–4 3–4 33–36

References
  1. "Ten years of Djokovic and Ivanovic at the Grand Slams". The Roar. 17 January 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  2. "Venus Oz Open jinx continues, mixed luck for Indians". The Statesman. 23 January 2009.
  3. "Australian Open 2011: Home hopes crushed as Sam Stosur exits". The Guardian. 22 January 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  4. "Australian Open 2011: Kim Clijsters tested but reaches quarter-finals". The Guardian. 24 January 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  5. "Melzer-Benesova win Wimbledon mixed doubles title". The Sacramento Bee. 3 July 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  6. "Straight win in mixed doubles". The Mercury. 5 July 2011. p. 44.
  7. "Jürgen Melzers Ehe ist gescheitert". www.news.at. News Networld. 10 June 2015.
  8. "Open Letter". Iveta Benesova. 15 July 2015. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015.
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