Casey Dellacqua ( ; born 11 February 1985) is an Australian former professional tennis playerIrish Times, 25 June 2008 and current commentator. Her best singles results on the WTA Tour have been semifinal appearances at the 2012 Texas Tennis Open and 2014 Birmingham Classic, a quarterfinal finish at the 2014 Indian Wells Open and fourth round appearances at the 2008 Australian Open, the 2014 Australian Open and the 2014 US Open; she also won 22 ITF singles titles.
Dellacqua's career highlights, however, have all come in doubles. She has won seven WTA Tour doubles titles, 23 ITF doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed-doubles title, at the 2011 French Open. She reached the finals of all four major events in women's doubles, appearing in seven finals from 2008 to 2017, however failed to win a title. She won her biggest women's doubles title at the Premier Mandatory 2015 Madrid Open, partnered with Yaroslava Shvedova. Dellacqua achieved her highest singles ranking of world No. 26 in September 2014, and career-high doubles ranking of No. 3 in February 2016.
Personal life Dellacqua lived in Woodvale, Western Australia. She attended Woodvale Primary School from kindergarten to year seven and then Woodvale Senior High School, before moving to Canberra to train with the Australian Institute of Sport at the age of 16. Throughout her early life she was an active member of local tennis clubs and teams.
Dellacqua and her partner Amanda Judd have three children.
Career overview 2003–2007: First steps From 2003 to 2007 Dellacqua won eleven singles and thirteen doubles titles on the ITF Circuit, most of them at $25k-level, spread out across Australia. She also won the $50k Bronx Open in August 2007. At the 2007 US Open, she won her first Grand Slam main-draw match against Yaroslava Shvedova, before losing to defending champion Maria Sharapova in the second round. She finished the 2007 season ranked No. 78 in singles and 123 in doubles.
2008: Breakthrough
Dellacqua began the year by reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open and upset 15th-seeded Patty Schnyder, and former champion and world No. 1, Amélie Mauresmo, but eventually lost to third seed Jelena Janković. The performance meant she surpassed Alicia Molik to become the highest ranked Australian female tennis player.
The French Open again showed Dellacqua's improved ability as she defeated the ninth-seeded Marion Bartoli and Nathalie Dechy in the first two rounds but she was knocked out in straights sets by Carla Suárez Navarro in the third round. The doubles proved to be a highlight for Dellacqua as she teamed with Francesca Schiavone to reach the final despite being unseeded. The pair lost in three sets to Spaniards Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual in a match that lasted two-and-a-half hours.
For the first round of the Wimbledon Championships, Dellacqua faced the 12th-seeded Patty Schnyder, who Dellacqua had already beaten earlier this year in the second round of the Australian Open. Although she lost the first set to her again, Dellacqua had a convincing win against Schnyder. In her second round match against French player Pauline Parmentier, Dellacqua won a tight three set match. She faced Nicole Vaidišová in the third round but lost in straight sets. In the women's doubles event, Dellacqua partnered with Nathalie Dechy of France who she already partnered with at the Eastbourne Open. They started by defeating British wildcards Anna Fitzpatrick and Anna Elizabeth Hawkins in the first round. They had an easy second-round match easily beating Tatiana Perebiynis and Alicja Rosolska. They won their third round match over American qualifiers Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears and won a tight quarterfinal match against Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez. Their Wimbledon run ended when they lost to Venus and Serena Williams in two sets. In the mixed doubles event, Dellacqua partnered with American Scott Lipsky. Dellacqua and Lipsky won their first round match against Marta Domachowska and Fernando Verdasco. In the second round, they upset seventh-seeds Mark Knowles and Yan Zi. They eventually lost to ninth-seeded Andy Ram and Nathalie Dechy.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Dellacqua represented Australia in the singles event along with Alicia Molik and Samantha Stosur. Dellacqua had an easy first-round match against Gisela Dulko. In the second round, she lost to 12th-seeded Belarusian Victoria Azarenka. In the doubles event, Dellacqua partnered with fellow Australian Molik. In their first round match, they lost to the Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone in straight sets.
Dellacqua had a bad start at the US Open after losing both of her first-round matches in singles and women's doubles. In the singles, she was beaten by French qualifier Julie Coin in two tiebreaks. In the doubles event, Dellacqua entered the competition seeded ninth with Nathalie Dechy, one of the defending champions of the event. They lost to Klaudia Jans and Alicja Rosolska, in three sets. In the mixed-doubles event, she played alongside fellow Australian Jordan Kerr. They lost in the second round against Jonas Björkman and Nadia Petrova.
2009: Injury troubles Casey Dellacqua started her year in a disappointing performance at the Hopman Cup. Representing Australia alongside Lleyton Hewitt, she only won one of her matches, defeating American Meghann Shaughnessy.
She then participated at the Sydney International, where she lost her first-round singles match against Sara Errani. She found better success in the doubles event, where she partnered with Nathalie Dechy, who she had played with in previous doubles matches last year. They had not lost a set coming into the semifinals, where they beat the third seeds Květa Peschke and Lisa Raymond. They then reached the finals, winning against the world No. 1's and top seeds, Cara Black and Liezel Huber. However, Dellacqua and Dechy lost to Peng Shuai and Hsieh Su-wei.
In the first round of the Australian Open, Dellacqua lost to 19th-seeded Daniela Hantuchová in straight sets. She was singled out for criticism by Australian coach Roger Rasheed for carrying excess weight and not being in match condition.Women Players Carrying "Excess Baggage", Says Top Coach Yahoo! Sports, 21 January 2009 She found better success in the doubles event, partnering with Francesca Schiavone with whom she reached the finals at last year's French Open. Coming to the event seeded they won their first-round match against Petra Cetkovská and Carla Suárez Navarro. They then beat Alla Kudryavtseva and Ekaterina Makarova. They had a walkover in their third round match against Maria Kirilenko and Flavia Pennetta. In the quarterfinal, Dellacqua and Schiavone managed to win after having a bad first set against Patty Schnyder and Anna-Lena Grönefeld. They lost their semifinal against Venus and Serena Williams in just 58 minutes. Reaching the semifinal was the furthest Dellacqua has gone at the Australian Open. After the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, Dellacqua and coach Nicole Pratt decided to go separate ways.
Dellaqua underwent shoulder surgery in February 2009 and was off the court until mid-2009.Dellacqua to Undergo Surgery WTATour.com, 26 February 2009 On her website, Casey stated that the surgery and rehab went really well. She had stated in an interview that she would return to the WTA Tour at the start of the 2010 season. In December 2009, Dellacqua competed in the Australian Open Wildcard Playoff and won a wildcard entry into the main draw. She went undefeated in the round-robin stage of the tournament, and in the elimination rounds. In the quarterfinals she played second-seeded Queenslander Shannon Golds, scraping through in three sets. In the semifinals, she faced sixth seed Sally Peers, winning in straight sets. She overcame Olivia Rogowska in the final, saving three match points and eventually coming back to win in three sets.
2010: Second surgery Dellacqua received a wildcard into the Brisbane International, but lost in the first round to Sesil Karatantcheva. She also received a wildcard to the Sydney International, but again lost in the first round, to Vera Dushevina.
In the first round of the Australian Open, she defeated Anastasiya Yakimova. She faced a tougher opponent in her second round match against Karolina Šprem, but eventually won through in two tiebreaks. She was eliminated in two sets in the third round by sixth seed Venus Williams.
After representing Australia at the Federation Cup with Samantha Stosur, Alicia Molik and Rennae Stubbs, Dellacqua entered a $25k tournament in Mildura, which she won in both singles and doubles (with compatriot Jessica Moore). Her next tournament was a $25k tournament in Sydney. She was defeated in the second round in singles, but won the doubles title with Jessica Moore.
Dellacqua's next tournament was Wimbledon, where she used her protected ranking to gain direct entry into the main draw. She was beaten in the opening round by Bojana Jovanovski.
Dellacqua took the rest of the tour-year off and missed the 2011 Australian Open due to another surgery.
2011: French Open mixed doubles title
Dellacqua came into 2011 having not played since the 2010 Wimbledon Championships because of injury. Her first tournament back from injury was the doubles at the $25k Burnie tournament, partnering Isabella Holland. The pair reached the second round. Dellacqua then played another four $25k tournaments in Australia, playing singles in the last three. In her first singles match back from injury in Mildura, she was beaten by compatriot and doubles partner Olivia Rogowska. Dellacqua again losing first round the next week to Sacha Jones in Ipswich, Queensland. In her final of the five straight $25k Australian tournaments, although having a bad start, Dellacqua defeated country woman Viktorija Rajicic. This was her first singles win in over a year. Dellacqua grew a lot confidence from this win and went on to win the tournament defeating doubles partner Olivia Rogowska in the final in straight sets. Dellacqua had major success in the doubles in these tournaments. Her and partner Olivia Rogowska went on a 16-match winning streak and won four straight tournaments.
Her next tournament was her first WTA Tour main draw since the 2010 Wimbledon, in Estoril as a player under protected ranking. Her first round opponent was Zhang Shuai, whom she defeated in two sets. This was her first WTA main-draw match win since the 2010 Australian Open. Dellacqua lost to fellow Australian Jarmila Gajdošová in the second round. Dellacqua lost in the first round of qualifying for the Madrid Open to Anastasia Rodionova. Retired Australian Doubles great Rennae Stubbs came out of retirement to help former top-10 doubles player Dellacqua on her comeback from injury and played with her in numerous tournament up until the US Open. Their first tournament together was in the Madrid Open. They reached the semifinals defeating fourth seeds Lisa Raymond and Liezel Huber in straight sets along the way. This result put Dellacqua back in the top 120 doubles players.
After failing to qualify in the Rome Masters, and Dellacqua and Stubbs unable to pack up their good doubles form from Madrid, her next tournament was the 2011 Brussels Open. In this tournament, Dellacqua used her protected ranking to avoid qualifying for a spot in the main draw. This move paid off as Dellacqua caused a big upset to world No. 20 and fifth seed Shahar Pe'er in the first round. This was Dellacqua's sixth victory against a top-20 player in her career. Dellacqua lost in the second round in three sets to Ayumi Morita.