Lucie Šafářová (; born 4 February 1987) is a Czech inactive tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles, and No. 5 in singles.
She is a five-time major champion in doubles, having won the 2015 Australian Open, 2015 French Open, 2016 US Open, 2017 Australian Open and 2017 French Open, all alongside Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Šafářová won 15 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, including five at Premier Mandatory/Premier 5-level, and also finished runner-up at the 2016 WTA Finals with Mattek-Sands. She became world No. 1 for the first time in August 2017, holding the top ranking for the next six weeks.
In singles, Šafářová won seven WTA Tour titles, most notably the 2015 Qatar Open, and reached her highest ranking of world No. 5 in September that year. She reached her first major singles final at the 2015 French Open, being defeated by world No. 1 Serena Williams. Šafářová also reached the semifinals at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, and the quarterfinals at the 2007 Australian Open, qualifying for the WTA Finals for the first time in 2015.
She represented the Czech Republic in the Fed Cup from 2004 to 2019, and was a key part of the team which won the competition five times between 2011 and 2018. Šafářová also competed at the Summer Olympics on three occasions, winning a bronze medal in doubles at the 2016 Rio Games partnering Barbora Strýcová.
Playing style Šafářová plays left-handed with a two-handed backhand and possesses a high topspin forehand. Her timing off the ground allows her to project groundstrokes with power, and she is quick to spot opportunities to take the initiative. Šafářová is notorious for having a volatile return that is capable of hitting clean winners, as well as unforced errors. Her preferred surface is clay. She was coached by Rob Steckley until September 2016 when she split with him, ending a coaching relationship of more than three and a half years, and hired František Čermák. In December 2017, Šafářová announced that she is reuniting with Rob Steckley for the 2018 season.
Career 2005–2006 Šafářová won her first WTA Tour event in May 2005 at the Estoril Open in Portugal, where she defeated fourth-seeded Li Na in a three-sets final. In June she lost the final of the Rosmalen grass court tournament to fellow Czech Klára Koukalová in three sets. She won her second tournament at the Forest Hills Tennis Classic in August, which was played at the historic West Side Tennis Club, after a victory in the final against Sania Mirza.
Šafářová started off 2006 by upsetting world No. 6, Patty Schnyder, in the semifinals of the Gold Coast tournament and then winning the title with a straight-set victory. Also in 2006, she made her first Tier-II semifinal at Amelia Island, where she upset Nicole Vaidišová in the round of 16. She later lost to eventual champion Nadia Petrova. She then made another semifinal at the Tier-IV tournament at Palermo, where she was defeated by Anabel Medina Garrigues.
2007: First major quarterfinal
At the start of 2007, Šafářová elected to represent the Czech Republic in the Hopman Cup instead of defending her Gold Coast title. Due to not defending the points at that tournament, she came into the first Grand Slam tournament of the year ranked No. 70 and unseeded. Yet she made headlines at the Australian Open, when she stunned the defending champion and No. 2 seed Amélie Mauresmo in the fourth round. She then lost to fellow Czech Nicole Vaidišová in the quarterfinals. After the Australian Open, her ranking rose from No. 70 to 31.
Šafářová continued her good start to 2007 at the Paris indoor event. She reached the final by defeating Tsvetana Pironkova in three sets and Nicole Vaidišová, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Justine Henin, all in straight sets. However, she lost the final against Nadia Petrova in three sets. She pulled out of her next event in Antwerp due to a shoulder injury.
Šafářová lost in round three of both Indian Wells and Miami to Shahar Pe'er and Serena Williams, respectively. She defeated Daniela Hantuchová in the Czech Republic vs. Slovak Republic Fed Cup encounter. She then lost in the semifinals of the Tier-IV Estoril tournament to Victoria Azarenka.
At Roland Garros, Šafářová defeated Mauresmo in the third round, in straight sets. It was the second time in a row that she had beaten Mauresmo in a Grand Slam championship, after winning their only previous encounter in January at the Australian Open. In the next round, she lost in three sets to Anna Chakvetadze. As the 25th seed in Wimbledon, she defeated Zuzana Ondrášková followed by a win over Eleni Daniilidou, in three sets. However, in the third round, she lost to world No. 3, Jelena Janković, in three sets, after coming within two points of another major upset. The match was described as the best match of the 2007 WTA Tour up to that point and the best women's Wimbledon match in many years. Šafářová entered the US Open as the 20th seed. She defeated Jessica Moore in the first round and Andrea Petkovic in the second round. She fell to Marion Bartoli in the third round. In 2007, she advanced to the third round or better in all four majors including the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, which was the best Grand Slam tournament result at that point of her career.
2008 At the beginning of 2008, Šafářová again decided to enter the Hopman Cup in Perth. She was ranked No. 23 and took on world No. 56 Alicia Molik of Australia. She lost the match followed by a loss with her partner on and off the court, Tomáš Berdych, in mixed doubles. Against the team of the United States, she lost to Serena Williams in three sets. Šafářová and Berdych lost the first set of the mixed doubles and then retired from the match due to Berdych's health concerns. The Czechs closed the cup by defeating India 2-1. Šafářová won her singles match against Sania Mirza in three sets. After Berdych also won his singles match and clinched the victory, Šafářová and Berdych lost the mixed-doubles match.
Šafářová's second competition of the year was the Sydney International. In the first round, she faced Alicia Molik and won in two tiebreaks. Both players had set points and match points throughout the tiebreaker, but Šafářová was able to come out on top. She subsequently pulled out of the second round against world No. 1, Justine Henin.
Šafářová entered the Australian Open as the 22nd seed. In the first round, she faced Catalina Castaño of Colombia and lost in 71 minutes. Later, it was revealed that a gluteal strain was plaguing her during the match. She sustained the injury during her first-round encounter against Molik at the Medibank International. Competing in Indian Wells, Šafářová, seeded 26th, lost in three sets in the second round to Ashley Harkleroad. Following that, she lost at Miami to fourth seed Jelena Janković.
At the Summer Olympics, Šafářová competed in both singles and women's doubles. She reached the third round of the singles by beating Maret Ani and Mariya Koryttseva before losing to Sybille Bammer. In the women's doubles, she and partner Petra Kvitová were knocked out in the first round. She followed the Olympics by winning the Forest Hills Tennis Classic for the second time. She became the first and only player to win the Classic more than once, as 2008 was the last edition of the tournament.
2009
Šafářová began the year with a quarterfinal showing at the hardcourt event in Brisbane. She defeated the Australians Isabella Holland and Samantha Stosur before being defeated by second-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. After failing to qualify for the premier event in Sydney, she reached the third round of the Australian Open by defeating Sybille Bammer and Marina Erakovic before losing to Marion Bartoli in three sets. She did not advance past the second round in any of the other Grand Slam tournaments in 2009.
2010 Šafářová started into the season by reaching the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International, where she lost to eventual champion Kim Clijsters. She then suffered first round losses at the Hobart International, where she retired against Kateryna Bondarenko in the third set, and the Australian Open, where she lost to sixth seed Venus Williams. She made her first final of the year indoors in Paris by defeating Flavia Pennetta in the semifinals. In the final, she won the first set, but fell in three sets to top seed Elena Dementieva. In her next two tournaments, she then suffered two more first-round losses. First, at the Monterrey Open, she lost to Julie Coin, then at Indian Wells against Julia Görges. At the Miami Open, she was unseeded. She won her first-round match against Kaia Kanepi, and then defeated María José Martínez Sánchez in the second round in three sets, after being down match points at 5–2 in the second set. She then fell to fourth seed Victoria Azarenka.
At the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Šafářová upset world No. 2 and top-seed, Caroline Wozniacki, in the second round. She then fell in three sets to qualifier Anna Lapushchenkova in the quarterfinals. At the Italian Open, she upset world No. 9, Agnieszka Radwańska, in the third round, but lost to eventual champion Martínez Sánchez, in straight sets in the quarterfinals. At the Madrid Open, she upset world No. 12 Maria Sharapova in the first round. She then defeated Olga Govortsova and Alexandra Dulgheru to advance to the quarterfinals, where she beat world No. 18 Nadia Petrova. She retired due to a thigh injury while trailing Aravane Rezaï by a set in the semifinals. At the French Open, she was seeded 24th. She defeated Jelena Dokić in the first round, but was defeated by Polona Hercog in the second round. The French Open would be her best singles result at a Grand Slam in 2010 as she lost in the first round at both Wimbledon and the US Open.
2011 Šafářová began the year at the Brisbane International where she made it to the quarterfinals after tough matches against Akgul Amanmuradova and Shahar Pe'er where she lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, in three sets. As the 31st seed at the Australian Open, she struggled through her first two rounds, but defeated Zhang Shuai and Klára Zakopalová, respectively. In the third round, she lost in two sets to world No. 2, Vera Zvonareva, despite having had a set point in the second set.
Following the Australian Open, Šafářová defeated Daniela Hantuchová in the 2011 Fed Cup, but retired in her second rubber against Jana Čepelová. Her next tournament was the Paris Indoor, where she fell to a resurgent Jelena Dokić in the first round. A week later at the Dubai Championships, she again exited in the first round by losing to Klára Zakopalová. Her performance at the Qatar Open was more positive, as she defeated world No. 10, Agnieszka Radwańska in two sets, before losing in three sets in the second round to Flavia Pennetta. She had her best result in 2011 at the Malaysian Open, where she reached the final against an in-form Jelena Dokić. She held two championship points in the second-set tiebreaker, but was unable to convert either chance and succumbed in three sets. She reached the second round in Indian Wells by beating Kristina Barrois, while serving a WTA season-high 18 aces, before losing a close match to 21st seed Andrea Petkovic. The following week as the 31st seed, she had a bye in round one in Miami. She then defeated Patty Schnyder and lost to fourth seed Sam Stosur.