Vania King

Vania King (born February 3, 1989) is a retired Taiwanese-American tennis player. A former top-10 doubles player, King won both the Wimbledon and US Open women's doubles titles in 2010 with partner Yaroslava Shvedova, with whom she also reached the final of the 2011 US Open. She won a total of 15 WTA doubles titles and reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 in the world. She also was a runner-up in the mixed-doubles final at the French Open in 2009, with Marcelo Melo.

Vania King (金久慈)
King at the 2018 French Open
Country (sports) United States
ResidenceBoynton Beach, Florida
Born (1989-02-03) February 3, 1989
Monterey Park, California
Height5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Turned proJuly 2006
Retired2020
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$4,547,269
Singles
Career record269–250 (51.8%)
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 50 (November 6, 2006)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open3R (2012)
French Open3R (2011)
Wimbledon2R (2006, 2009)
US Open3R (2009, 2011)
Doubles
Career record319–201 (61.3%)
Career titles15
Highest rankingNo. 3 (June 6, 2011)
Current rankingNo. 75 (August 10, 2020)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian OpenQF (2012, 2016)
French OpenSF (2011)
WimbledonW (2010)
US OpenW (2010)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour FinalsSF (2010, 2011)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open2R (2018)
French OpenF (2009)
Wimbledon2R (2007, 2014)
US OpenQF (2006)
Vania King
Chinese
Vania King at Cagnes-sur-Mer, 2013

In singles, King has been ranked as high as No. 50 in the world. Her biggest accomplishments included a WTA title at the 2006 Bangkok Open and two runner-up finishes at the 2013 Guangzhou International and 2016 Jianxi International. She also progressed as far as the third round in Grand Slam tournaments, doing so on four occasions (the 2009 US Open, the 2011 French Open, the 2011 US Open, and the 2012 Australian Open).

Personal life

King's parents moved to the United States from Taiwan in 1982.[1] She is the youngest of four children. Her brother Phillip was a two-time All-American at Duke University and two-time US junior champion. Vania is a graduate of Long Beach Poly High School in California.

Tennis career

2006–2009

In 2006, King won her only WTA singles title at the PTT Bangkok Open, a Tier III tournament. She defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn in the final. In November, she achieved her career-high singles ranking of world No. 50.

In 2009, she reached the mixed-doubles final at the French Open alongside Brazilian player Marcelo Melo, losing to top seeds Liezel Huber/Bob Bryan.

King lost in the second round of the 2009 Wimbledon Championships to No. 15, Flavia Pennetta. She played in the ladies' doubles with Anna-Lena Grönefeld, losing in the quarterfinals to eventual champions Venus and Serena Williams.

At the 2009 US Open, King was granted a wildcard and had her best singles Grand Slam performance. She was defeated in the third round by world No. 22 Daniela Hantuchová.

2010

King began the year ranked no. 80 in the world at the Brisbane International. She reached the second round of the singles tournament, losing to Andrea Petkovic. In doubles, she partnered with Anna-Lena Grönefeld and lost in the first round to Timea Bacsinszky and Tathiana Garbin. King and Grönefeld fared better at the Medibank International in Sydney, where they were seeded fourth. They lost in the semifinals to Garbin and Nadia Petrova. In the singles tournament, King failed to qualify, losing in the first round of the qualifying tournament to top seed Ágnes Szávay, who went on to defeat Jelena Janković in the first round of the tournament.

At the Australian Open, King lost in the second round to Roberta Vinci. In doubles, she partnered with Grönefeld again and entered the tournament seeded 14th. They lost in the second round to Svetlana Kuznetsova and Victoria Azarenka.

King's next major tournament was the Memphis international in mid-February. She entered the singles tournament seeded seventh and lost in the second round to Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden. In the doubles tournament, she and partner Michaëlla Krajicek were seeded third and won the tournament without dropping a set, defeating Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Shaughnessy in the final.

King then traveled to the Monterrey Open. In doubles, she reunited with Grönefeld and reached the finals as the top seed, falling to second-seeded Benešová/Záhlavová. In singles, she lost in the quarterfinals to second seed Daniela Hantuchová. At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, King lost in the second round to second seed Caroline Wozniacki. She did not enter the doubles tournament. King fared better in the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami later that month. She partnered with Julie Coin and reached the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament, before losing to third seeds Petrova and Samantha Stosur, who went on to become the runners-up.

King's next Premier event was the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, where she reunited with Krajicek and reached the final, before falling to top seeds Liezel Huber and Petrova. In singles, she lost to Petrova in the second round. At the Madrid Masters, King paired with Chuang Chia-jung for the first time for the doubles tournament. They defeated fourth seeds Huber and Anabel Medina Garrigues, before falling in the quarterfinals to Pe'er and Francesca Schiavone. In singles, King lost in the first round to Karolina Šprem. King then entered the Strasbourg International. In the doubles tournament, she partnered with Alizé Cornet and won the title after an injury to Lucie Hradecká forced top seeds Hradecká/Chuang to retire in the second round. King/Cornet defeated second seeds Rodionova/Kudryavtseva in the final for her 10th tour doubles title. In singles, King defeated second seed Elena Vesnina in the first round and reached the semifinals, before falling to Kristina Barrois.

At the French Open, she lost in the first round to Bethanie Mattek-Sands. She entered the mixed-doubles tournament with Christopher Kas, reaching the semifinals, before falling to Shvedova and Julian Knowle. In women's doubles with Krajicek, she reached the second round losing to fourth-seeded Petrova and Stosur.

At Wimbledon, King won the ladies' doubles title in straight sets with Yaroslava Shvedova. They defeated Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva in the final. At the US Open, King and Shvedova won their second Grand Slam doubles title, defeating the second-seeded pair Huber/Petrova in a rain-delayed final. At the Stanford Classic, Vania lost to Sorana Cîrstea.[2]

2011

King and Shvedova made the finals of the US Open, losing to Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond.

King made it to the finals of five other WTA tournaments in the course of the year, one in Monterrey with Grönefeld and in Rome, Cincinnati, Osaka, and Moscow with Shvedova. She and Shvedova won the events in Cincinnati in August and Moscow in October.

2012

King reached the third round of the Australian Open at the start of the year, losing to Ana Ivanovic. She had defeated Kateryna Bondarenko in the first round.

She reached the second round of the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad in July, losing to Marion Bartoli.[3]

In doubles, she reached the final in Stanford with Jarmila Gajdošová and in Carlsbad with Nadia Petrova, but lost to Marina Erakovic and Heather Watson in Stanford and to Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears in Carlsbad.

2013

In singles action, King lost in the Guangzhou final to Zhang Shuai. King lost in the second round of the French Open and in the first round of the other three Slans. In doubles that year, her best finish was a finals loss in Guangzhou.

2014

In doubles, King made the second round at the Australian Open partnering Galina Voskoboeva. They lost to the Czech/Dutch pair of Hradecká and Krajicek.

She partnered with Barbora Strýcová in Florianópolis, and they made it to the semifinals before being defeated by Medina Garrigues and Shvedova. She was eliminated in the first round in Indian Wells, and the second round in Miami, but made it to the final in Bogotá, partnering Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa.

Partnering Zheng Jie, she made a quarterfinal appearance in Madrid, losing to Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. Then followed a series of first-round losses, including Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

She had some success in the late summer, making the quarterfinals in Washington, D.C. partnering Taylor Townsend, and the third round at the US Open partnering Lisa Raymond.

In singles, she made the semifinals in Shenzhen, but had to concede a walkover. She made a first-round exit at the Australian Open at the hands of Carla Suárez Navarro. At the Pattaya Open, she was defeated by Elena Vesnina in the first round. A series of first-round defeats followed in Rio de Janeiro, Florianópolis, and Indian Wells.

She made the second round in Miami and Charleston, but it was not until April in Bogotá that she found some form and made it to the semifinals. She went down in the first round in both Roland Garros and Wimbledon, but she did make the quarterfinals in Washington D.C.

At the US Open, she defeated Francesca Schiavone in the first round, but lost to eventual champion Serena Williams in the second round.

2015

King missed the first three Slams of 2015 due to injury. She lost in the first round of singles and the second round of doubles there in Flushing. The highlight of her year came on hard courts in Waco, where King and Nicole Gibbs won in November, defeating Julia Glushko and Rebecca Peterson.

2016–2017

In 2017, King reunited with the doubles partner with whom she had had the most success, Yaroslava Shvedova. They made it to the semifinals in Sydney, where they lost to Sania Mirza and Barbora Strýcová.

At the Australian Open, King and Shvedova advanced to the third round, where they lost to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and Andrea Petkovic. They were stopped in the second round of Indian Wells by the Japanese-Chinese pair of Shuko Aoyama and Zhaoxuan Yang. In Miami, they went on to the quarterfinals, where they again lost to Mirza and Strýcová.

Performance timelines

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.

Singles

Tournament20052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018W–L
Australian Open LQ 1R 1R LQ 2R 2R 3R 1R 1R 2R 1R 5–9
French Open 1R 1R 2R LQ 1R 3R 2R 2R 1R LQ 1R 5–9
Wimbledon 2R 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ 2–9
US Open 2R 2R 1R 1R 3R 2R 3R 1R 1R 2R 1R 2R 2R 10–13
Win–Loss 1–1 2–3 0–4 1–4 3–2 2–4 5–4 3–4 1–4 1–4 0–1 2–2 0–1 1–2 22–40
Premier Mandatory tournaments
Indian Wells Open 3R 2R 2R 1R 2R 1R 3R 1R 1R 2R 1R 8–11
Miami Open 2R 2R 2R LQ 1R 1R 2R LQ 2R 2R 6–8
Madrid Open Not Held LQ LQ 2R 1R LQ 1–2
China Open Not Held Not Tier 1 2R 1R LQ 1–2
Premier 5 tournaments
Dubai Open Not Held 0–0
Italian Open 1R 1R 2R LQ 2R 2–4
Canadian Open 1R LQ 2R 1R LQ 1–3
Cincinnati Open Not Held Not Tier I 1R 1R 1R 2R 1–4
Pan Pacific Open Not Tier I LQ 3R 1R 2–2

Doubles

Tournament2003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018SRW–L
Australian Open A A A A 2R 1R 1R 2R 1R QF 1R 2R A QF 3R QF 0 / 11 14–11
French Open A A A 1R 1R 1R 3R 2R SF QF 3R 1R A 1R A 3R 0 / 11 14–11
Wimbledon A A A 1R 1R 3R QF W 2R 1R 3R 1R A 2R A 3R 1 / 11 17–10
US Open A A 1R 2R 3R 1R 3R W F 3R 2R 3R 2R 3R A 1R 1 / 13 24–12
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–3 3–4 2–4 7–4 14–2 10–4 8–4 5–4 3–4 1–1 6–4 2–1 7–4 2 / 46 69–44
Year-end championships
WTA Tour Championships A A A A A A A SF SF A A A A A A A 0 / 2 0–2
Premier Mandatory tournaments
Indian Wells Open A A A A QF 1R 1R A QF 2R 1R 1R A QF 2R QF 0 / 10 10–10
Miami Open A A A A 2R 1R 1R QF 1R SF 1R 2R A QF QF 2R 0 / 11 12–11
Madrid Open Not Held 2R QF SF 1R A QF A SF A A 0 / 6 11–6
China Open Not Tier I 1R SF SF 2R 2R A A 2R A 0 / 6 7–6
Premier 5 tournaments
Italian Open A A A A A A A A F 2R A 1R A 1R A QF 0 / 5 7–5
Canadian Open A A A A A 2R 1R 2R A A 1R A A A A 0 / 4 2–4
Cincinnati Open NH Not Tier I A 2R W A 2R A A QF A 1 / 4 8–3
Pan Pacific Open A A A A F W 1R 1R SF 1R A A A A A 1 / 6 9–5

Significant finals

Doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 2010 Wimbledon Grass Yaroslava Shvedova Elena Vesnina
Vera Zvonareva
7–6(8–6), 6–2
Win 2010 US Open Hard Yaroslava Shvedova Liezel Huber
Nadia Petrova
2–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Loss 2011 US Open (2) Hard Yaroslava Shvedova Liezel Huber
Lisa Raymond
6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(3–7)

Mixed doubles: 1 (runner-up)

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponent Score
Loss 2009 French Open Clay Marcelo Melo Bob Bryan
Liezel Huber
7–5, 6–7(5–7), [7–10]

Doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2007 Pan Pacific Open Hard Rennae Stubbs Lisa Raymond
Samantha Stosur
6–7(6–8), 6–3, 5–7
Win 2008 Pan Pacific Open Hard Nadia Petrova Lisa Raymond
Samantha Stosur
6–1, 6–4
Loss 2011 Italian Open Clay Yaroslava Shvedova Peng Shuai
Zheng Jie
2–6, 3–6
Win 2011 Cincinnati Open Hard Yaroslava Shvedova Natalie Grandin
Vladimíra Uhlířová
6–4, 3–6, [11–9]

WTA career finals

Singles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0)
Tier II / Premier (0–0)
Tier III, IV & V / International (1–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–2)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Oct 2006 Bangkok Open, Thailand Tier III Hard Tamarine Tanasugarn 2–6, 6–4, 6–4
Loss 1–1 Sep 2013 Guangzhou Open, China International Hard Zhang Shuai 6–7(1–7), 1–6
Loss 1–2 Aug 2016 Jiangxi Open, China International Hard Duan Yingying 6–1, 4–6, 2–6

Doubles: 33 (15 titles, 18 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (2–1)
Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (2–2)
Tier II / Premier (1–4)
Tier III, IV & V / International (10–11)
Finals by surface
Hard (12–13)
Grass (1–2)
Clay (2–3)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Oct 2006 Guangzhou Open, China Tier III Hard Jelena Kostanić Tošić Li Ting
Sun Tiantian
4–6, 6–2, 5–7
Win 1–1 Oct 2006 Japan Open Tier III Hard Jelena Kostanić Tošić Chan Yung-Jan
Chuang Chia-Jung
7–6(7–2), 5–7, 6–2
Win 2–1 Oct 2006 Bangkok Open, Thailand Tier III Hard Jelena Kostanić Tošić Mariana Díaz Oliva
Natalie Grandin
7–5, 2–6, 7–5
Loss 2–2 Feb 2007 Pan Pacific Open, Japan Tier I Hard Rennae Stubbs Lisa Raymond
Samantha Stosur
6–7(6–8), 6–3, 5–7
Win 3–2 May 2007 Rabat Grand Prix, Morocco Tier IV Clay Sania Mirza Andreea Ehritt-Vanc
Anastasia Rodionova
6–1, 6–2
Win 4–2 Sep 2007 Sunfeast Open, India Tier III Hard Alla Kudryavtseva Alberta Brianti
Mariya Koryttseva
6–1, 6–4
Loss 4–3 Oct 2007 Guangzhou Open, China Tier III Hard Sun Tiantian Peng Shuai
Yan Zi
3–6, 4–6
Loss 4–4 Oct 2007 Japan Open Tier III Hard Chuang Chia-jung Sun Tiantian
Yan Zi
6–1, 2–6 [6–10]
Loss 4–5 Feb 2008 Pattaya Open, Thailand Tier IV Hard Hsieh Su-wei Chan Yung-Jan
Chuang Chia-Jung
4–6, 3–6
Win 5–5 Sep 2008 Pan Pacific Open, Japan Tier I Hard Nadia Petrova Lisa Raymond
Samantha Stosur
6–1, 6–4
Win 6–5 Nov 2008 Tournoi de Québec, Canada Tier III Hard Anna-Lena Grönefeld Jill Craybas
Tamarine Tanasugarn
7–6(7–3), 6–4
Win 7–5 Jan 2009 Brisbane International, Australia International Hard Anna-Lena Grönefeld Klaudia Jans
Alicja Rosolska
3–6, 7–5, [10–5]
Win 8–5 Sep 2009 Tournoi de Québec, Canada (2) International Hard Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Sofia Arvidsson
Séverine Beltrame
6–1, 6–3
Win 9–5 Feb 2010 National Indoors,
United States
International Hard Michaëlla Krajicek Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Meghann Shaughnessy
7–5, 6–2
Loss 9–6 Mar 2010 Monterrey Open, Mexico International Hard Anna-Lena Grönefeld Iveta Benešová
Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová
6–3, 4–6, [8–10]
Loss 9–7 Apr 2010 Charleston Open,
United States
Premier Clay Michaëlla Krajicek Liezel Huber
Nadia Petrova
3–6, 4–6
Win 10–7 May 2010 Internationaux de Strasbourg,
France
International Clay Alizé Cornet Alla Kudryavtseva
Anastasia Rodionova
3–6, 6–4, [10–7]
Loss 10–8 Jun 2010 Rosmalen Championships,
Netherlands
International Grass Yaroslava Shvedova Alla Kudryavtseva
Anastasia Rodionova
6–3, 3–6, [6–10]
Win 11–8 Jul 2010 Wimbledon, Great Britain Grand Slam Grass Yaroslava Shvedova Elena Vesnina
Vera Zvonareva
7–6(8–6), 6–2
Win 12–8 Sep 2010 US Open Grand Slam Hard Yaroslava Shvedova Liezel Huber
Nadia Petrova
2–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Loss 12–9 Mar 2011 Monterrey Open, Mexico International Hard Anna-Lena Grönefeld Iveta Benešová
Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová
7–6(10–8), 2–6, [6–10]
Loss 12–10 May 2011 Italian Open Premier 5 Clay Yaroslava Shvedova Peng Shuai
Zheng Jie
2–6, 3–6
Win 13–10 Aug 2011 Cincinnati Open,
United States
Premier 5 Hard Yaroslava Shvedova Natalie Grandin
Vladimíra Uhlířová
6–4, 3–6, [11–9]
Loss 13–11 Sep 2011 US Open Grand Slam Hard Yaroslava Shvedova Liezel Huber
Lisa Raymond
6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(3–7)
Loss 13–12 Oct 2011 Osaka Open, Japan International Hard Yaroslava Shvedova Kimiko Date-Krumm
Zhang Shuai
5–7, 6–3, [9–11]
Win 14–12 Oct 2011 Kremlin Cup, Russia Premier Hard (i) Yaroslava Shvedova Anastasia Rodionova
Galina Voskoboeva
7–6(7–3), 6–3
Loss 14–13 Jul 2012 Bank of the West Classic,
United States
Premier Hard Jarmila Gajdošová Marina Erakovic
Heather Watson
5–7, 6–7(7–9)
Loss 14–14 Jul 2012 Southern California Open,
United States
Premier Hard Nadia Petrova Raquel Kops-Jones
Abigail Spears
2–6, 4–6
Loss 14–15 Sep 2012 Korea Open, South Korea International Hard Akgul Amanmuradova Raquel Kops-Jones
Abigail Spears
6–2, 2–6, [8–10]
Loss 14–16 Sep 2013 Guangzhou Open, China International Hard Galina Voskoboeva Hsieh Su-wei
Peng Shuai
3–6, 6–4, [10–12]
Loss 14–17 Apr 2014 Copa Colsanitas, Colombia International Clay Chanelle Scheepers Lara Arruabarrena
Caroline Garcia
6–7(5–7), 4–6
Win 15–17 Jan 2016 Shenzhen Open, China International Hard Monica Niculescu Xu Yifan
Zheng Saisai
6–1, 6–4
Loss 15–18 Jun 2016 Birmingham Classic,
Great Britain
Premier Grass Alla Kudryavtseva Karolína Plíšková
Barbora Strýcová
3–6, 6–7(1–7)

Mixed-doubles performance timeline

Tournament20052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018W–L
Australian Open 1RKU 1RMM 1RMM 1RHT 2RFS 1–5
French Open 1RFC FMM SFCK 1RDN 2RFS 8–5
Wimbledon 2RVS 1RDM 1RJK 1RCK 1RDB 2RTB 1RFS 2–7
US Open QFVS 2RVS 1RMM 1RHT 1RRB 3–5
Win–Loss 0–0 2–1 2–3 0–2 4–3 3–3 0–4 0–0 0–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–1 2–3 14–22

KU=with Kevin Ullyett
FC=with František Čermák
MM=with Marcelo Melo
CK=with Christopher Kas
VS=with Vincent Spadea
DM=with David Martin
JK=with Jordan Kerr
HT=with Horia Tecău
DN=with Daniel Nestor
DB=with Dustin Brown
RB=with Rohan Bopanna
TB=with Tomasz Bednarek
FS=with Franko Škugor

References

  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 19, 2010. Retrieved March 11, 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Success for younger Radwanska in Stanford". July 11, 2012.
  3. "Bartoli Outlasts King, Chan's Ninth & Biggest". Retrieved July 22, 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.