Aleksandra Wozniak ( ; born September 7, 1987) is a Canadian former tennis player. She turned professional in November 2005, and achieved a career-best ranking of No. 21 in June 2009, making her the fifth highest-ranked Canadian singles player of all time. She won one WTA and eleven ITF tournaments. At the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford in 2008, she became the first Canadian in 20 years to capture a WTA singles title and the first Quebecer in history to have accomplished such a feat. She reached a career-high ITF junior ranking of No. 3 on January 31, 2005. Wozniak was named Female Player of the Year by Tennis Canada five times (2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012).
Early life Wozniak's family immigrated to Canada from Poland in 1983, before she was born. She speaks Polish, English and French fluently. She has an elder sister, Dorota, who also played tennis. Aleksandra started playing tennis at the age of three. She was inspired to pick up a racquet by her sister and Monica Seles, her idol growing up, and was coached by her father Antoni.
Tennis career
2002–2007: early years In 2002, as a 14-year-old, Wozniak won the Canadian Indoors Under-16 and Under-18 championships. She won the Kentucky International Junior Tennis Derby in 2004, and in 2005, she reached No. 3 in the juniors' ranking. She also won the Tevlin Challenger 25k tournament in Toronto, the Hamilton Challenger 25k in Canada, the Victoria Challenger 25k and the Junior Casablanca Cup (as well as the doubles) in Mexico, and the Junior Del Cafe Cup (as well as the doubles) in Costa Rica.
In 2006, Wozniak won the Pittsburgh Challenger (defeating Belarusian Victoria Azarenka), and the Ashland Challenger (defeating Hungarian Ágnes Szávay). Wozniak also won the Challenger in Hamilton the same year. In February she beat her first top-100 player, world No. 63 Li Na, in Thailand. In November 2006, she defeated her first top-50 player, world No. 40, Olga Puchkova, in Pittsburgh.
2008: breakthrough and first WTA title At the French Open, Wozniak made it to the third round of a Grand Slam championship for the first time in her career before losing to 11th seed Vera Zvonareva. By achieving this feat, she became the first Québécoise singles player to reach the third round of a Grand Slam since 2002.
In July, Wozniak won her first, and what would be her only, WTA singles title at the Stanford Classic. During the tournament she beat world No. 20, Francesca Schiavone, world No. 29, Sybille Bammer, and world No. 5, Serena Williams (who had to retire in the match), en route to defeating sixth seed Marion Bartoli in the final. Because she needed to earn a spot in the tournament by winning through pre-tournament qualifying rounds, she had to win three qualifying matches followed by five main-draw matches for a combined total of eight match wins in nine days. Wozniak became the first Canadian in 20 years to win a WTA Tour singles title. The victory vaulted her WTA ranking by 40 spots, as she jumped from No. 85 to No. 45 in the world. In August 2008, she was presented with key to the city in Blainville, Québec, by the mayor; they renamed it "Wozniakville" for 24 hours commemorating her achievement as the first time a woman from Québec had won a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title (when she won Stanford in July).
She also received an award from the National Assembly of Québec in October 2008 for her career-high ranking of No. 37 and first WTA singles title.
2009: continued good form and career-high ranking of No. 21
Wozniak was upset by German Sabine Lisicki, also of Polish heritage, in the first round of the Australian Open where Wozniak was the 30th seed. Wozniak joined up with compatriot Daniel Nestor in the mixed doubles, where they made it to the quarterfinals before losing to Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi.
In March, she defeated world No. 48, Lucie Šafářová, in Indian Wells. That month she moved up to a career-best world No. 29. She reached her third singles final in April in the Ponte Vedra Beach, beating world No. 10, Nadia Petrova, in the semifinals, but was then defeated by world No. 12, Caroline Wozniacki. In May, she upset world No. 13, Marion Bartoli, at the Madrid Open.
At the French Open, Wozniak was the 24th seed and became the first Québécoise to ever be seeded at Roland-Garros. Wozniak made it to the round of 16, before losing to Serena Williams. With her French Open success, Wozniak became Canada's first representative in the fourth round of the French Open women's draw in 17 years, and the first Canadian woman to survive into the second week at the French Open since Patricia Hy-Boulais in 1992. Wozniak was also the first Canadian to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam event since Maureen Drake qualified for the round of 16 at the 1999 Australian Open. "That's awesome for Canada and I hope to keep going", said Wozniak.
She debuted her grass season in June, at the Eastbourne International, Wozniak made it to the semifinals, before losing to Caroline Wozniacki. After that tournament, Wozniak's ranking rose two spots, to a career-high of No. 21. At Wimbledon, she was the first Canadian to be seeded in singles in 20 years at No. 23. However, she fell in the first round to Francesca Schiavone.
At the US Open, she advanced to the third round before losing to tenth seed Flavia Pennetta. Wozniak entered the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and made it into the third round before losing in three sets to Magdaléna Rybáriková.
Wozniak was named Athlete of the Year for the second time in three years at the Tennis Quebec Excellence Awards. Her father Antoni and fitness trainer André Parent were joint winners of the International Coach of the Year Award for Quebec athletes. She was also named Female Athlete of the Year by the Canadian Press in recognition of her outstanding season.
2010–11: struggle with form and injuries
In January at the Australian Open, Caroline Wozniacki eliminated Wozniak for the sixth time in straight sets. After early losses in Miami and Indian Wells, she went to defend her last year final in Ponte Vedra Beach. However, she lost in the quarterfinals to Dominika Cibulková.
At the French Open, she lost in the third round to fifth seed Elena Dementieva in a match that lasted more than three hours. At Wimbledon, Wozniak made it to the second round before losing to fourth seed Jelena Janković. After losing in the first round of the Rogers Cup in her native Quebec against Timea Bacsinszky, she lost again in the first round at the US Open against world No. 202, Sally Peers, in a match that took just 48 minutes. She was out for the remainder of the season due to a forearm injury.
In her first Grand Slam appearance since coming back from injury, Wozniak qualified for the 2011 French Open. She won her first round match against Junri Namigata before losing in the second round to world No. 1 Wozniacki. She also qualified for Wimbledon, but lost in the first round against Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová.
She won in early August the second biggest tournament of her career at the $100k Vancouver Open, where she defeated Jamie Hampton in the final. Wozniak qualified for her third straight Grand Slam at the US Open, but lost in the first round to young American Christina McHale.
2012: return to form and first Olympic experience
At the first Grand Slam of the season, the Australian Open, Wozniak defeated Zhang Shuai in the first round. She made it through to the second round for the first time of her career. She was defeated by 27th seed, Maria Kirilenko, in the next round. In March, she won the $100k Bahamas Open, beating Alizé Cornet in the final. Wozniak reached the third round of the Miami Open with wins over Eleni Daniilidou and world No. 28, Monica Niculescu, in first and second round respectively, but lost to Venus Williams after having a match point in the third set.
At the French Open, she reached the third round for the fourth time in five years, but lost to world No. 1, Victoria Azarenka. She was eliminated in the second round at Wimbledon by world No. 27, Zheng Jie. Wozniak qualified for the Summer Olympics in London, but lost to Venus Williams in the second round. At the Rogers Cup, she reached the quarterfinals at a Premier 5 tournament for the first time of her career, where she lost to Caroline Wozniacki. She became the first Canadian in 20 years (since Patricia Hy-Boulais in 1992) to reach the quarterfinals there. Wozniak lost in the second round of the US Open to world No. 17, Lucie Šafářová.
She was forced to end her season prematurely after suffering a joint sprain in her right shoulder at the Challenge Bell in September.
2013: more injuries Wozniak made a first return following her injury at the Miami Open in March, but fell to Kristina Mladenovic in the first round. She was then forced to take a second break of three months to make sure her shoulder is completely healed. She made a second return at the New Haven Open in mid-August, but was defeated in three sets by world No. 26, Ekaterina Makarova, in her opening match. Her next tournament was the US Open where she was eliminated by world No. 2, Victoria Azarenka, in the second round.
In September, Wozniak lost in the first round of the Challenge Bell to the eighth seed Caroline Garcia. At the Premier-5 Pan Pacific Open in late September, Wozniak made it to the second round using her protected ranking. She defeated world No. 47, Francesca Schiavone, in the opening round, but fell to the second seed Agnieszka Radwańska in the next one. The next week, she lost in the first round of the Premier Mandatory China Open to world No. 13, Sloane Stephens. At the last tournament of her season in early October, the HP Open, she was defeated by Kristina Mladenovic in the first round.
2014: shoulder surgery Wozniak started the season, and the first with her new coach, Nathalie Tauziat, at the Shenzhen Open, but lost to Viktorija Golubic in the first round. At the Australian Open, Wozniak fell in the first round of qualifying to Anna Tatishvili. In February, she helped Canada reach the World Group play-offs for the first time since 2004 with a three-set win over Vesna Dolonc. In late February, Wozniak reached the second round of the Mexican Open with a win over Ashleigh Barty in her opening match. She was eliminated by Zhang Shuai in the next round.
At the Premier Mandatory Indian Wells Open in March, Wozniak defeated Urszula Radwańska in her opening match to set up a clash with world No. 15, Sabine Lisicki, in the next round. She won in three sets after being down 2–5 in the third set tiebreak, and with Lisicki serving twice for the match. She beat her second straight top-30 player with a victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round. She was defeated by world No. 2, Li Na, in the round of 16. In mid-March, Wozniak was awarded a wildcard for the Miami Open but was eliminated by Caroline Garcia in the first round. At her next tournament, the Monterrey Open in late March, she qualified for the main draw and won her opening match over Marcela Zacarías, but was stopped by world No. 13, Ana Ivanovic, in the next round.