Margarita Gasparyan

Playing Style

Gasparyan is noted for her extremely powerful backhand. Her forehand is stable yet is more prone to break down under pressure and cause erratic errors. Gasparyan's movement is also targeted because of her height which is often associated with poor movement in tennis.

Career

Born to an Armenian father, Melik, and a Russian mother, Lyudmyla, Gasparyan began playing tennis at age five. Her father was for a time weightlifter, her mother a biathlonist. Margarita's home club is CSKA Moscow.

2010–14: Early career

Gasparyan started her pro career at the $10,000 ITF tournament in St. Petersburg in mid-March 2010, losing in the first qualification round. Her first successful appearance was in another $10,000 tournament in Minsk, reaching the quarterfinals in singles and semifinals in doubles, respectively. Her first final was in Tyumen in doubles with Natela Dzalamidze in the very end of 2011, losing 0–6, 2–6 to Darya Kustova and Olga Savchuk.

In 2012, Gasparyan won four singles ITF titles, all under the category 25K. All of her singles titles came from Russia. She was awarded a wildcard into the 2012 Kremlin Cup but lost to Lucie Šafářová in three sets.

At the end of the 2013 season, Gasparyan was called by captain, Shamil Tarpischev, to be part of the Russian team for the 2013 Fed Cup Final against Italy, on November 2 and 3. Afterwards, she won her fifth ITF title in Minsk.

The 2014 WTA Tour was for Gasparyan more productive especially by season's end in singles, while in doubles she improved as she won two major ITF tournaments out of four, one being a top-levelled tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Gasparyan qualified for the 2014 Tashkent Open, but lost in the first round. She debuted at a Grand Slam when she was in the qualifying draw at the US Open. At the end of the 2014 season, Gasparyan saw good results in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, winning one tournament.

2015: First WTA titles, Grand Slam main draw debut

Gasparyan won three ITF singles tournaments and one ITF doubles tournament, former being a top-level one. She achieved her first loss in an ITF final, also a $100,000 tournament, in Trnava, Slovakia, where she lost to Danka Kovinić, 5–7, 3–6. She then decided to play on the WTA Tour.

In May, Gasparyan made her Grand Slam main draw debut at French Open, where she lost in two sets to Ana Konjuh as a qualifier. On June 29, she made her second Grand Slam main draw entry as a qualifier at Wimbledon, where she faced No. 1 seed, Serena Williams, in the first round. She broke Williams' serve early in the first set, but lost the match after yielding 11 of the final 13 games of the match.

At the İstanbul Cup, Gasparyan was drawn to face 8th seed Tsvetana Pironkova after getting past the qualifying rounds. Despite winning the first set 6–0 and having 2 match points, she lost the match 6–0, 6–7, 6–7.

Gasparyan won her first WTA title in Baku, defeating Patricia Maria Țig in the final. She became the first one-handed backhand player to win in the 2015 WTA season. As a result, Gasparyan's singles ranking rose to a career-high No. 71. Gasparyan, also with her win in the doubles event alongside title defender Alexandra Panova, climbed to No. 84 in the doubles rankings.

At the Connecticut Open, she fell in the first round of qualifying to Christina McHale. She also fell in the qualifying rounds at the US Open, losing to American wildcard Jessica Pegula in straight sets.

Gasparyan then lost in the second round of the Tashkent Open to German Anna-Lena Friedsam in straight sets. However, she won her second WTA doubles title of the year there with Alexandra Panova.

At the Generali Ladies Linz, Gasparyan upset 6th seed Camila Giorgi in the second round, before losing to Anna-Lena Friedsam again.

At the Kremlin Cup, Gasparyan upset 9th seed Kristina Mladenovic in the second round but fell to eventual finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarter finals.

In her last tournament of the year, Gasparyan reached the quarter finals of the WTA 125K Open GDF Suez Seine-et-Marne, before retiring in the match against former Grand Slam champion Francesca Schiavone after losing the first set in a tie-break.

Gasparyan ended the season as World No. 62, her first top 100 season and winning her first WTA Singles title.

2016: Top 50, French Open doubles semifinal

Gasparyan played in Brisbane, but fell in the final qualifying round. However, due to Maria Sharapova's withdrawal, Gasparyan was awarded a lucky-loser spot. However, she lost in the first round to compatriot Ekaterina Makarova. In Hobart, Gasparyan lost in the second round to Johanna Larsson.

In the Australian Open, she managed to reach the fourth round, her best to date Grand Slam performance, after upsetting 17th seed Sara Errani in the first round. She then fell to World No. 1 Serena Williams in straight sets.

At the inaugural St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy, Gasparyan reached the second round, before losing to 4th seed Ana Ivanovic.

In Doha, Gasparyan caused a big upset by outclassing 10th seed Karolína Plíšková in just 49 minutes. However, she failed to keep up the good momentum as she lost to Andrea Petkovic.

At the BNP Paribas Open, Gasparyan defeated Olga Govortsova in the first round but lost to 9th seed Roberta Vinci in the second round despite having 2 match points.

She debuted for Team Russia at the 2016 Fed Cup against Belarus in the World Group play-offs.

After Wimbledon, Gasparyan will undergo surgery due to an injury, after which she won't be able to participate over a specific time period. Among the tournaments she will skip are the Summer Olympics, where she planned to partner with Kuznetsova in doubles.

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 2016 Wimbledon Championships.

¹ Before 2015 known as WTA Tournament of Champions.

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 2016 Wimbledon Championships.

¹ Before 2015 known as WTA Tournament of Champions.

Fed Cup participation

This Table is current through the 2016 Fed Cup