Bethanie Mattek Sands

Tennis career

In 1999, Mattek played her first WTA Tour event in Philadelphia where she received a wildcard into the qualifying. She lost in the first round of qualifying to Nana Miyagi. It was the only tour match of the year for Mattek. Then in 2000, Mattek received a wildcard into qualifying at the Lipton International Players Championships in Key Biscayne, Florida but lost in the first round to Anca Barna. Later in the year, Mattek played in her first Grand Slam event at the US Open. She was given a wildcard into the qualification rounds, but lost in the first round to Gisela Rivera.

In 2001, Mattek again received a wildcard into the qualifying at the Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, but lost in the second round of the qualifications to Sandra Cacic. Mattek received direct entry into the ITF event Boynton Beach due to a wildcard. She defeated top-seeded Elena Likhovtseva in the first round and Jennifer Hopkins in the second round, but lost in the quarterfinals against Åsa Carlsson. With these successes, she rose to World No. 343 in the rankings. Mattek received direct entry into the tournament at Amelia Island, Florida thanks to a wildcard. However, she lost to fellow American Jill Craybas in the first round. Mattek next played another ITF event in the Bronx as a wildcard, but lost in the first round to Sylvia Plischke. Mattek played her first main draw as a wildcard at a Grand Slam tournament at the US Open but lost to Australia's Alicia Molik in the first round. Mattek ended the year ranked World No. 338.

In 2008, Mattek reached a then career-high singles ranking of No. 38 on November 3, 2008, and a then career-high ranking of No. 24 in doubles. At the Grand Slam tournaments, she didn't qualify for the 2008 Australian Open, but reached the second round of the 2008 French Open and the second round of the 2008 US Open. Her best result was at Wimbledon in 2008 where she reached the fourth round, claiming her first top 10 win over 2007 Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli. She then lost in the Round of 16 to fellow American Serena Williams.

At the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles, Mattek made it to the semifinals before losing to tenth-seeded Flavia Pennetta. Mattek later reached her first ever WTA tour final in November 2008 at the Bell Challenge in Canada before losing to the top seeded Nadia Petrova.

In 2009, she had to pull out of the Australian Open in January with a hip injury. She later made her season debut at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and reached the second round before losing to Gisela Dulko. She also entered the doubles event with Mashona Washington, where she reached the third round. At the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, she lost in the first round to the 18th seed from Australia, Samantha Stosur.

2011

In January 2011, Mattek-Sands got the biggest win of her career by defeating world no. 7 Francesca Schiavone. Mattek-Sands later teamed with John Isner for the USA and reached the Hopman Cup final, defeating the Belgian team of Justine Henin and Ruben Bemelmans.

Her good form continued into the 2011 Moorilla Hobart International, where she reached her third career WTA singles final, before losing to Jarmila Groth.

At the Australian Open, Mattek-Sands lost to qualifier Arantxa Rus in the first round. She reached the quarterfinals of the women's doubles with partner Meghann Shaughnessy, and made the semifinals of mixed doubles. Her next event was a Fed Cup tie against Belgium in Antwerp, where she lost to Yanina Wickmayer in the opening rubber, and later to Kim Clijsters.

At the indoor tournament in Paris, Mattek-Sands advanced to her second semifinal in her third WTA event of the season. She lost to eventual champion, Petra Kvitová. Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy then made it to the final of the doubles event without dropping a set and defeated the team of Dushevina/Makarova to win their first doubles title as a team. It was her ninth career WTA doubles title.

After her success in Paris, Mattek-Sands rushed off to Dubai, where she suffered an opening round loss to Peng Shuai. From Dubai, her next tournament was the 2011 Indian Wells Masters, where she made it to the second round before losing to 10th seeded Shahar Pe'er. Pairing with Meghann Shaughnessy, the American duo made it to the doubles finals before losing to Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina in the finals. In her next tournament in Miami, Mattek-Sands made it to the second round before losing to world number one, Caroline Wozniacki.

After Miami, Mattek-Sands was off to Charleston for the start of the clay court season, where she made it to the second round before losing to Russia's Elena Vesnina. In doubles, Mattek-Sands/Shaughnessy made the finals of Charleston, but were once again defeated by the team of Vesnina/Mirza. Mattek-Sands next entered a small clay event in Estoril where she was the 5th-seeded player in singles, but was then upset in the first round by Monica Niculescu.

At the 2011 Mutua Madrid Open, Mattek-Sands caused an upset in the first round when she defeated former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic after coming back from a first set loss at love. She eventually made it to the quarterfinals before losing to Li Na in three sets.

Mattek-Sands faced Italy's own Flavia Pennetta in her opening round match in Rome. She defeated Pennetta in three sets, before losing to Jarmila Gajdošová in the second round.

Mattek-Sands played in the French Open and made it to the third round before losing to the higher-seeded as well as her good friend, Jelena Janković.

At Wimbledon 2011, Mattek-Sands (then ranked 30th) was upset in the first round against then ranked 133rd Misaki Doi from Japan.

Mattek-Sands then had to withdraw from her heavily scheduled USO Series events due to a shoulder injury. She did try to play at the US Open, but lost to Polona Hercog in the first round. In the Women's Doubles competition, she acquired a new partner due to the retirement of Meghann Shaughnessy. She teamed up with Australia's Jarmila Gajdošová, and they reached the third round before they lost to the team of Huber/Raymond.

2012

Mattek-Sands started her year representing the USA in the 2012 Hopman Cup with Mardy Fish. She came up short in her singles matches against Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitová of the Czech Republic and Denmark's world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, but beat Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova in the third tie. After an early exit from the Hopman Cup, she played singles at the Moorilla Hobart International, where she was a finalist, and doubles with partner, Jarmila Gajdošová. In singles, she lost in the second round to Sorana Cîrstea, and in doubles, she reached the semifinals, before having to retire due to a neck injury.

At the 2012 Australian Open, Mattek-Sands lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in the first round. In the doubles competition, she reached the third round with Jarmila Gajdošová, before losing to the Indian/Russian pairing of Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina. In the mixed doubles competition, she and Romanian partner, Horia Tecău finally had their breakthrough moment, defeating title favorites, Bhuphati/Mirza in the semifinals. They then went on to win the title by defeating the team of Elena Vesnina and Leander Paes in the final.

Mattek-Sands made it through the qualifying draw at the Paris Indoors Open GDF Suez tournament. In the main draw, she made it to the second round, before losing to Roberta Vinci in three sets.

Mattek-Sands started to play on the doubles circuit with Sania Mirza, with whom she had had success in the past. In only their second tournament as a team in 2012, the Indian-American duo won the Premier-level event in Brussels, Belgium. However, they could not hold on to the good form as they were upset in the first round at Roland Garros. They made it to the third round of Wimbledon, but were eliminated by the Williams sisters.

Mattek-Sands and Mirza were beaten in the first round of the WTA event in Carlsbad, California by Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan.

After reaching an ITF quarterfinal in Lexington, Kentucky, Mattek-Sands failed to win another main-draw match in singles. However, with Mirza in doubles, she reached the quarterfinals of Montreal and the third round of the US Open, playing eventual champions Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci to three sets.

2013

Mattek-Sands received a wildcard to play in Kuala Lumpur, and justified it, as she reached final ranked at number 197. She lost to Karolína Plíšková, despite winning first set. At home event in Charleston, she brushed aside fellow American and that year's Aussie Open semifinalist Sloane Stephens, before losing to Madison Keys in third round. At Premier event in Stuttgart, Bethanie reached semifinals as qualifier, stunning #7 Sara Errani and Sabine Lisicki in second round and quarterfinals, respectively. There she lost to Li Na.

At the 2013 French Open, Mattek-Sands won against the sixth seeded Li Na in the second round, beating her in three sets. Mattek-Sands was placed 61 places lower than Li, the 2011 champion, in the WTA rankings. She subsequently reached the fourth round, where she lost to Maria Kirilenko.

After successful clay court season, she didn't continue in that style, losing in first or second round at all tournaments. At Wimbledon she lost in first round to Angelique Kerber and to Ekaterina Makarova in second round of US Open.

2014

At Sydney International, Bethanie qualified for tournament and then beat Eugenie Bouchard and #5 Agnieszka Radwanska. Both defeated players would go on to reach semifinals of first Slam of season, which made Bethanie's wins bigger. But in quarterfinals she retired against Madison Keys in first set due to lumbar spine injury. At Australian Open, she wasn't happy with draw, as she was the first opponent of third seed Maria Sharapova, losing in two sets. At the PTT Pattaya Open, Mattek-Sands lost in the first round to Karolína Plíšková. In Doha she beat again Bouchard, before losing to Monica Niculescu.

After losing in first round of Miami, Bethanie underwent hip surgery. She came back on court in September, when she played in Wuhan and lost in qualifying. She qualified for China Open, but lost in first round to another qualifier Mona Barthel in three sets. Soon the season was finished, after playing two more events without success.

2015: Australian Open & French Open doubles champion

In 2015, Mattek-Sands won the Australian Open and French Open women's doubles alongside Lucie Šafářová. She also won the 2015 French Open mixed doubles title with partner Mike Bryan.

2016: Olympic Gold medalist and US Open champion

In 2016, Mattek-Sands had an immense success in both doubles and mixed doubles.

At the Australian Open, Mattek-Sands was unable to defend her title with Lucie Safarova, because of Safarova's bacterial infection. Mattek-Sands competed with Sabine Lisicki instead, and lost in the second round.

In March, she competed in the BNP Paribas Open women's doubles event. She competed with fellow American Coco Vandeweghe. Mattek-Sands and Vandeweghe claimed the title, defeating Julia Görges and Karolina Pliskova. Next, in Miami, Mattek-Sands (partnering with Lucie Safarova, her regular parter, again) reached the final, in which she and Safarova won against Tímea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova. These were Mattek-Sands' second and third Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 titles, respectively.

At the French Open in May, Mattek-Sands and Safarova (the defending champions) lost in the first round to Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson.

In June, at Wimbledon, Mattek-Sands and Safarova had another first round exit, losing to Daria Gavrilova and Daria Kasatkina.

At the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Mattek-Sands became an Olympic gold medalist when she won the mixed doubles title with Jack Sock against Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram in an all-American match-up.

Her success with Safarova was reignited at the 2016 US Open, when the pair won the title against Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, the no. 1 seeds. This was Mattek-Sands' third Grand Slam title with Safarova, and third overall (in women's doubles).

Mattek-Sands and Safarova had an excellent finish during the Asian leg, the final leg of the WTA Tour. The pair competed at the Wuhan Open, their first Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 tournament since May. They ended up winning the title, defeating the doubles world no. 1 and defending champion, Sania Mirza, and Barbora Strycova. Their winning streak continued over in Beijing, where Mattek-Sands and Safarova claimed the title again Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic. These were their fourth and fifth Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 titles together, respectively, and their fourth and fifth titles of 2016. These victories also allowed Mattek-Sands and Safarova to qualify for the 2016 WTA Finals. They were the fourth team to do so.

At the WTA Finals, Mattek-Sands and Safarova defeated Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova in the quarterfinals, and their rivals Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic in the semifinals. Had the pair won in the final, Mattek-Sands would have become the WTA doubles year-end no. 1. However, the American-Czech team was defeated by Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.

2017: World no. 1 doubles ranking and second Australian Open and French Open doubles titles

Mattek-Sands played at the Brisbane International with Sania Mirza, the defending champion, in doubles. The duo defeated Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the final, with Mattek-Sands succeeding Mirza as the new world No. 1 in doubles.

At the Australian Open, Mattek-Sands competed with Lucie Safarova. The pair won their second Australian Open doubles title in three years, and their second straight Grand Slam tournament, defeating Andrea Hlaváčková and Peng Shuai in the final, in three sets.

Again with Safarova, Mattek-Sands won 2017 French Open women's doubles title by beating Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua from Australia in straight sets.

Playing in the second round of the 2017 Wimbledon ladies' singles, Mattek-Sands was running to the net at the beginning of the third set, when she collapsed in agony, clutching at her right knee. She was treated on the court before being rushed to a local hospital with an "acute knee injury." Mattek-Sands had suffered a torn medial collateral ligament on the same knee in September 2013.

The acute injury Mattek-Sands suffered in her right knee at Wimbledon was later revealed to be a dislocated kneecap and ruptured patellar ligament, for which surgery is needed.

Fashion

Mattek has achieved extensive publicity as a result of her eccentric fashion sense on the court and has led to her being dubbed in the press as the 'Lady Gaga of the tennis world'. Notable outfits include leopard print outfits at the 2004 US Open and 2007 US Open, a striped cowboy hat that garnered her a fine at the 2005 US Open, a "soccer theme" at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships that included £10 football socks, chandelier earrings, a tube top worn over a strappy vest top, tiny running shorts and a headband, pink knee-high socks at the 2006 JPMorgan Chase Open, and a loosely draped beige top, with a crocheted waist and split sleeves that resembled a toga and beige knee-high socks at the 2006 US Open. During the 2011 pre-Wimbledon party in London, Mattek-Sands wore a fluorescent green dress, by designer Alex Noble, that featured tennis balls as components and a Mohican-style hat.

Personal life

On November 29, 2008 she married insurance executive Justin Sands in Naples, Florida; since then she has used the name Bethanie Mattek-Sands professionally. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and her 140-pound boerboel named Ruger.

Singles

Only Main Draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam Tournaments and Olympic Games are included in Win–Loss records. This table is current through the 2017 Wimbledon Championships.

Doubles

Only Main Draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam Tournaments and Olympic Games are included in Win–Loss records. This table is current through the 2017 Wimbledon Championships.

Team

Levels of Fed Cup in which United States did not compete in a particular year are marked "Not Participating" or "NP".