Anna Smashnova

Tennis career

Born to a Russian Jewish family, Smashnova began playing when she was six. She became the number 1 junior in the Soviet Union at the age of 10. She won the girls' Soviet Union youth championship in 1989 at the age of 14. Her family moved to Israel in 1990, after Freddy Krivine, one of the founders of the Israel Tennis Centers, invited her to immigrate. Smashnova then trained at the Israel Tennis Centers. In 1991, she won the girls' singles title at the French Open.

Smashnova was named Tennis Magazine/Rolex Watch Female Rookie of the Year in 1994. At the 1994 French Open she upset world number 5 Jana Novotná, 6–4, 6–2. At the US Open in 1994 she upset world number 14 Lori McNeil in straight sets. She reached the fourth round of the French Open in 1995 and 1998.

At the 1996 Australian Open she upset world number 15 Natasha Zvereva in three sets. She won her first top-level WTA tour singles title in 1999 at Tashkent. She won her second career title on July 24, 2000, winning the Sanex Trophy in Belgium. Smashnova defeated Anna Kournikova in straight sets in her semifinal match, and went on to win the final against top-seed Dominique van Roost.

Smashnova had a breakthrough in 2002, winning four titles and beating 11 players ranked in the top-20, including Jelena Dokić, Justine Henin, and Kim Clijsters. On January 5, 2002, Smashnova defeated Tatiana Panova in the ASB Classic at Auckland, New Zealand. On January 12, she defeated top-seeded Tamarine Tanasugarn at the Canberra Classic. In March 2002 she upset world number 13 Meghann Shaughnessy of the US at Indian Wells. In April she defeated world number 7 Justine Henin of Belgium in Miami, and world number 9 Jelena Dokić in Charleston. In May at the WTA German Open she upset world number three Kim Clijsters of Belgium, and world number 14 Daniela Hantuchová of Slovakia, both in three sets.

On June 16, 2002, Smashnova defeated defending champion Iroda Tulyaganova at the Wien Energie Grand Prix. In August she beat world number 13 Elena Dementieva of Russia in San Diego. On September 15, 2002, she beat Anna Kournikova in the finals of the Shanghai Open. According to The New York Times, Smashnova "was precise and controlled throughout the match, hitting perfect winners in stride... Kournikova didn't score a point until the third game of the first set when Smashnova hit a shot wide. 'She was like a wall today, hitting everything back', Kournikova said." In October, she beat world number 13 Chanda Rubin of the US in Zurich. She played in the 2002 WTA Tour Championships, and lost in the first round to world number 1 Serena Williams. On December 7, 2002, Anna married Claudio Pistolesi, her former coach (whom she later divorced), and played for a period of time as "Anna Pistolesi" and "Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi."

She won the 2003 Idea Prokom Open in Poland, beating Klára Koukalová in the finals in straight sets. Smashnova eliminated Karolina Šprem in the Nordic Light Open semifinal in Helsinki and defeated Jelena Kostanić in the final. At the Pilot Pen Tennis in New Haven, she posted wins against Anastasia Myskina and Vera Zvonareva. In October 2003 she defeated world number 13 Nadia Petrova in Moscow.

At the 2005 Australian Open, Smashnova defeated María Sánchez Lorenzo in the first round and Tamarine Tanasugarn in the second round. She lost to Venus Williams (seeded eighth) in the third round. In July 2006, Smashnova won her 12th tour title at Budapest, maintaining a 100% winning record in WTA Tour finals – a record she held alone for players who had won double-digit titles. That was wrecked in August 2006, when she lost in the final of the Forest Hills Tennis Classic women's event to Meghann Shaughnessy.

In March 2007, Smashnova publicly announced on Israeli radio that she would retire from professional tennis after Wimbledon 2007. As it turned out, she lost in the first round to German Martina Müller by the "double bagel" scoreline, 0–6, 0–6.

Fed Cup

Smashnova holds the record for most ties played in Fed Cup competition – 61. She is 43–30 in Fed Cup competition for Israel from 1992–2006, including 7–3 on hard courts in singles.

Singles finalist (1)

Head-to-Head record against other players

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

Players who have been ranked World No. 1 are in boldface.