Alexandra Dulgheru

Biography

Her father, Dumitru, is a pilot, and her mother Doina is an airline coordinator. Her sister, Bianca, is an assistant hotel manager.

Alexandra has a German Shepherd Dog called Ciavi. She likes reading, movies, music, dancing, painting, and drawing. She would like to be a designer or architect after tennis.

Her favorite actor is Johnny Depp, and her favorite movie is Meet Joe Black. She likes listening to pop music, and her favourite artists are Céline Dion and Backstreet Boys. Her favorite book is Harry Potter.

Alexandra's favorite food is Chinese, but she also likes Romanian cuisine. She likes to drink lemonade and hot chocolate.

She speaks Romanian, English, and Spanish, and she is currently studying economics at Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies.

Her favourite shot is a high backhand (Ríos style), she admires Justine Henin and Roger Federer, and her favorite tournament is the Warsaw Open.

Career

She started playing tennis at the age of 4. Her best junior result came at the 2006 Wimbledon Girls' Singles Championship, where she was defeated in the quarter finals by Tamira Paszek 4–6, 4–6. She also made the doubles final with Kristina Antoniychuk. They lost to the pairing of Alisa Kleybanova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 1–6, 2–6. At the end of 2008 she was No.346 in the WTA Rankings.

2009: First WTA title

In April 2009, she finished runner-up to Kimiko Date-Krumm in a $75,000 tournament in Monzon. Just over a fortnight later, she won a $25,000 tournament in Bari, where she defeated Sandra Záhlavová in the final.

She made her WTA debut as a qualifier in the 2009 Warsaw Open. She defeated fellow Romanian qualifier Ágnes Szatmári 6–3, 6–4 in the first round. She followed that up with a 6–4, 6–3 win over 44th-ranked Sara Errani to advance to the quarterfinals. She made to the semi final after she beat 95th-ranked Galina Voskoboeva 6–1, 7–5. In the semifinal, she defeated world No. 36 and former world No. 5 Daniela Hantuchová 6–4, 6–7, 6–1 to reach her first WTA final; where she defeated Alona Bondarenko 7–6, 3–6, 6–0 for her first WTA tour title.
Her next tournament was ECM Prague Open where she lost in the opening round to Carla Suárez Navarro. In Bad Gastein Tournament Alexandra suffered yet another opening round exit at the hands of the 4th seeded Iveta Benešová.
In August 2009 she made her Grand Slam debut in 2009 US Open where she lost in the first round to 8th seeded Victoria Azarenka
In Linz Tournament she won in the first round to Sybille Bammer in two sets, before she lost in the second round to 3rd seeded and eventual champion Yanina Wickmayer. She lost in the first round BGL Luxembourg Open to Wickmayer.

These results brought her to be, by the year end, No.52 in the WTA Rankings and No.2 in Romanian women tennis.

2010: Reaching Top 30

At the first Grand Slam of the year, the 2010 Australian Open, Alexandra entered both the singles and the doubles events, these being her first appearances at Melbourne. In singles she lost in the first round to Belgian qualifier Yanina Wickmayer in three sets 6–1, 5–7, 8–10 after a spectacular match. In doubles she teamed up with fellow countrywoman Edina Gallovits. They lost in the first round to American-Czech team of Carly Gullickson–Vladimíra Uhlířová in three sets: 3–6, 6–3, 3–6.

The first highlight of the year came at the Barcelona Ladies Open where Alexandra reached the semifinals. She defeated along the way names such as: Silvia Soler Espinosa, Sara Errani, Arantxa Parra Santonja, only to lose in the semis to Italian Roberta Vinci in three sets, 7–6, 1–6, 2–6.

Dulgheru got her first Top 10 win at the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia against World No. 3 Dinara Safina 6–4, 6–7, 6–1. In the third round, Dulgheru lost to World No. 19 Nadia Petrova 6–0, 3–6, 6–2.

At the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open she defeated World No.6 Elena Dementieva in the second round 6–1, 3–6, 7–5 for her second Top 10. In third round she lost to World No. 30 Lucie Šafářová 6–7, 6–1, 7–6.

She won her second WTA Premier title and second WTA overall at Polsat Warsaw Open where she was the defending champion. In the first rounds she won over Kateryna Bondarenko and Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets. In the Quarterfinals she won over Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova 6–4, 7–5. In the semifinals she won over 3rd seeded and World No. 12 Li Na 6–4, 3–6, 6–4. In the final she won over 5th seeded Zheng Jie 6–3, 6–4.

Grand Slams and injury

Playing at the 2010 French Open for the first time she defeated Lucie Hradecká 7–6, 4–6, 6–3 in the first round and Timea Bacsinszky 6–4, 6–2 in the second. She lost to third seeded Caroline Wozniacki 6–3, 6–4 in the third round.

In doubles she teamed up with Italian Alberta Brianti. They defeated the team of Jill Craybas and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6–1, 6–4 in the first round. Then they played fifth seeds Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta in the second round but lost the match 7–5, 7–6.

Another semifinal followed at the UNICEF Open. For the first time in her career she was a seeded player (5th seed) and following wins over Julie Coin, Alla Kudryavtseva and Yaroslava Shvedova, Alexandra eventually lost in the semis to 1st seed, Belgian Justine Henin, in straight sets: 2–6, 2–6.

A first time appearance at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships saw Alexandra entering the all three possible draws: singles, doubles and mixed doubles. In singles, the 31st seed Alexandra, defeated in the first round Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm in three sets: 6–2, 6–7, 6–1. She faced in the second round qualifier Romina Oprandi who she swept through in straight sets: 6–2, 6–0. Her victorious run ended in the third round where she lost to Estonian qualifier Kaia Kanepi in two sets: 1–6, 2–6. In the doubles event she teamed up with Italian Alberta Brianti. They lost in the first round in straight sets, 1–6, 2–6 to American-Kazakh team and eventual Wimbledon Champions, Vania King–Yaroslava Shvedova. In the mixed doubles section she teamed up with Spaniard David Marrero. In the first round they defeated Wild Card entries, Britons Ross Hutchins–Anne Keothavong, 6–4, 6–4. They lost in the second round to 12th seeded pair of Australian-Taiwanese duo Paul Hanley and Chan Yung-jan in straight sets: 1–6, 3–6.

At the GDF Suez Grand Prix, 2nd seeded Alexandra reached her fourth semifinal of the year. She won over Sandra Záhlavová, Anna Chakvetadze and Anastasija Sevastova being defeated in the semis by crowd favorite, 7th seeded Hungarian Ágnes Szávay in three sets: 1–6, 7–5, 5–7.

Following good form, Alexandra was 2nd seeded at ECM Prague Open too. In the first round she defeated Italian Tathiana Garbin in three sets: 6–4, 2–6, 6–2. Soon after the victory she felt pain in her right knee and had to withdrew from the tournament ahead of her 2nd round clash with Slovenian Polona Hercog. The injury held her away from tennis for one month.

In August 2010 she returned to the courts preparing for the US Open Series. She entered the Cincinnati Masters where she lost in the first round to Russian Alisa Kleybanova in straight sets: 6–4, 6–4. Her next stop was the Canada Masters. She faced in the first round Austrian Sybille Bammer who defeated her in three sets: 6–2, 3–6, 6–3. In search of her good form and recovering from her injury in July she entered the New Haven tournament where she once again lost in the first round to American qualifier, Bethanie Mattek-Sands in straight sets: 6–2, 6–1.

She finally found her game at the 2010 US Open where she entered both singles and doubles events. In singles, being the 25th seed she won in the first round over French Julie Coin in straight sets: 6–1, 6–3. She then faced in the second round Swede Sofia Arvidsson whom she defeated also in straight sets: 7–6, 6–1. Her run came to an end in the third round where she lost to 7th seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva in straight sets: 2–6, 6–7. In the doubles event, partnering Slovak Magdaléna Rybáriková, Alexandra and her partner surprised in the first round 3rd seeded Spanish duo consisting of Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez in three sets: 6–4, 4–6, 7–6. In the second round Alexandra and her partner defeated the Romanian-Polish duo of Edina Gallovits and Klaudia Jans in straight sets: 6–2, 6–3. Their run was stopped by 14th seeded Russian duo of Elena Vesnina–Vera Zvonareva who defeated Alexandra and Magdaléna in two sets: 7–5, 6–3.

The end of the year found Alexandra in 29th position of the WTA Rankings, and she was also No.1 in Romanian women tennis at that moment.

2011: High ranked 26th

Dulgheru started off the year losing in the first round of both of her first two tournaments in straight sets: in the Brisbane International, against the eventual finalist Andrea Petkovic, and in the Medibank International Sydney, against 3-time Grand Slam winner Kim Clijsters. Her poor form on continued at the Australian Open losing 4–6, 4–6 to the unseeded player, Ayumi Morita.She lost again at Qatar Ladies Open in Doha to Klára Zakopalová 6–7, 2–6. At Indian Wells, she lost in the second round in 3 sets to Lucie Hradecká 6–4, 4–6, 4–6. Then in Miami, Dulgheru found her form and had a very good tournament. She won in the second round over Chanelle Scheepers 6–3, 6–2, and in the third round over Johanna Larsson 6–2, 6–1. In the fourth round she beat Peng Shuai, 6–3, 6–4 . In the quarterfinals Dulgheru faced Sharapova, and they played a marathon 3 and a half-hour match. Dulgheru won the first set 6–3 . Then Sharapova won the second set 7–6, 8–6 in the tiebreak. In the third set, at 5–4 Dulgheru served for the match, but Sharapova got a break and then won the match in the third set tiebreak 7–5. After this, Dulgheru was 26th in the WTA Rankings, her best ranking so far.

At the 2011 US Open, Dulgheru upset recent Wimbledon champion and fifth seed Petra Kvitová 7–6, 6–3 in the first round before losing in the second to fellow countrywoman Monica Niculescu 3–6, 0–6.

2012: Injury and fall out of Top 200

Ranked 65th at the beginning of the year, in Auckland, Dulgheru lost 2–6 3–6 in the 1st round to Christina McHale. She did better in Sydney, where she won the first 2 qualifying matches, but lost in 3 long sets to Swedish Sofia Arvidsson. Yet, as Lucky Loser, she played in the 1st round to beat the same Swedish in straight sets, but then she lost to 2nd seeded Petra Kvitová in the 2nd round.

At the Australian Open, she lost in the first round to Vera Zvonareva, in three sets.

Next, she won her only (ITF) title of the year in Cali, defending Mandy Minella with 6–3 1–6 6–3.

After consecutively losing openers in Bogotá (as seed no.2, to Karin Knapp), in Monterrey (as seed no.4, to Sílvia Soler Espinosa) and in Acapulco (as seed no.5, to Magdaléna Rybáriková), she played in the 1st round at Indian Wells with Irina Falconi, but after winning the first set 6–4, she retired in the second set (at 2–5) with a knee injury.

She came back on courts after 8 months, in November, in a couple of ITF tournaments, yet with poor results. By the end of the year she was ranked 233rd in the WTA rankings.

2013: Slowly climbing back

After making semifinals and then becoming winner in 2 ITF tournaments in Antalya, Alexandra returned to the WTA Tour with Protected Ranking in Indian Wells, and defeated 6–4 6–4 qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito, before losing in the 2nd round 0–6 6–4 3–6 to 32nd seeded Peng Shuai. Next week, in Miami, she lost her opener in a balanced 3-setter to Anabel Medina Garrigues.

She received a wildcard for the qualifying tournament in Madrid, and she did qualify, but lost 5–7 2–6 to eventual finalist Maria Sharapova in the 1st round. Still as a qualifier in Palermo, she had to retire in the 1st round at 1–5 in the first set with Lourdes Domínguez Lino due to right toe injury.

In Båstad she started better, defeating Caroline Garcia in 2 sets, but then she lost to Virginie Razzano 6–3 0–6 4–6 in the second round. In Toronto she had to play the qualifying matches again, and she qualified for the first round, where she lost to Magdaléna Rybáriková in straight sets. But in Cincinnati she did not manage to qualify for the main draw, losing again to Sofia Arvidsson in the 2nd qualifying round.

With Protected Ranking, she received an entrance directly in the 1st round at the US Open, and first she defeated Varvara Lepchenko in a tough game 6–7(5),6–2,7–6(5), before losing 2–6 1–6 to 13th seeded Ana Ivanovic.

Before playing some smaller ITF tournaments, she ended her WTA Tour in Seoul, where she won in straight sets to wildcard Han Sung-hee, before losing in the second round to Lara Arruabarrena on 3 sets.

At the end of the year, Alexandra was ranked 164th in the WTA Rankings.

2014: Return to Top 100

Despite inconsistent results on the WTA tour, Dulgheru did very well in ITF tournaments, winning in Marseille and Dubai, and making semifinals in Campinas. The points she gathered made her climb up to No.83 in the WTA Rankings, by the end of year.

2015: Finalist in Kuala Lumpur and Top 50 again

In her first tournament of the year, she lost the opener in Shenzhen to Chinese Zheng Saisai 5-7 7-5 1-6. Then the played to qualify in Sydney but lost in the second qualifying tour to Kristina Mladenovic 3-6 2-6. At the Australian Open she entered directly into the main draw but she lost in the 1st round to Jarmila Gajdošová 3-6 4-6.

In February, in Dubai she reached only the 2nd qualifying tour, where she lost to Mirjana Lučić-Baroni in 3 sets. But then she entered a good form, in Doha, where she qualified to the main draw after defeating Gabriela Dabrowski, Jarmila Gajdošová and Zheng Saisai, then she made a big surprise by beating 6-4 3-6 6-1 Alizé Cornet in the 1st tour, but then she had to retired while playing in the 2nd round with Caroline Wozniacki at 1-6 0-3, due to upper respiratory tract infection.

She recovered soon and made it to her 3rd WTA final of the career in Kuala Lumpur, after beating 3 seeds in 4 matches on the way: seed no.2 Sabine Lisicki 6-4 7-5 in the 1st round, Chinese Duan Yingying 6-4 6-1 in the 2nd tour, seed no.8 Julia Görges 7-6(5) 7-5 in the quarterfinals, and seed no.4 Jarmila Gajdošová in a long 3-setter 5-7 7-5 7-6(4) in the semifinals. She lost the final to seed 1 and World No.5 Caroline Wozniacki in 3 sets: 6-4 2-6 1-6. This brought her to be 72nd in the WTA Rankings. Following this performance she entered the 2015 Miami Open and qualified for the event but lost in the first round to Elena Vesnina.

Dulgheru began her clay court season in Charleston where she again lost in the first round to Ajla Tomljanovic. She then played for Romania at the 2015 Fed Cup World Group Play-offs where she won both matches against Françoise Abanda and world number 7 Eugenie Bouchard. Dulgheru then received a wildcard at the 2015 Mutua Madrid Open but retired in the third set against former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic after taking the first set.

Dulgheru had another great tournament at the Premier 5 2015 Internazionali BNL d'Italia. She qualified for the event and defeated Misaki Doi, 12th seed Lucie Šafářová and 8th seed Ekaterina Makarova. This was Dulgheru's 4th career top 10 win. She lost to world No.2 Simona Halep in the quarterfinals. This performance brought her back into Top 50.

Singles performance timeline

This table is current through 2013 US Open.

Doubles performance timeline

This table is current through 2013 US Open.

Record against other players

Dulgheru's win-loss record against certain players who have been ranked World No. 10 or higher is as follows: