Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova ( ; born 13 September 1987) is a Bulgarian former tennis player. Considered to be one of the best grass court players of her generation, she has been noted for her "cerebral" skills on the surface, reaching the semifinals at the Wimbledon Championships. Pironkova also found success playing on the quick hardcourts throughout her career, winning a title in Sydney and reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open.
Pironkova started playing tennis at the age of four on being introduced to the sport by her father. She made her WTA Tour debut at the İstanbul Cup in 2005, and achieved moderate success early in her career. That changed in 2010, when she entered Wimbledon with a 1–4 career record at the event, and went on reach the semifinals of the tournament, becoming first Bulgarian tennis player in history to reach the semifinal stage of a major in singles. She garnered wide recognition for her performance, and after her semifinal finish reached her highest singles ranking at No. 31 in September 2010. Pironkova followed it up with a quarterfinal run at the event the following year.
Pironkova won her first title on WTA Tour at the 2014 Sydney International, defeating three top-10 ranked players in a row. She defeated then world No. 2, Agnieszka Radwańska, in the fourth round of the 2016 French Open, reaching her first quarterfinal at a Grand Slam tournament other than Wimbledon. Following an injury in 2017, Pironkova announced a sabbatical from the sport - which was later extended to accommodate her maternity leave. Playing at her first professional tournament in over three years, she made a successful return at the 2020 US Open; she made it all the way to the quarterfinals, her first at a Grand Slam championship since 2016. Her performances in 2020 earned her the Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year Award and a nomination for the WTA Comeback Player of the Year.
Pironkova has a total of twelve wins over top-10 ranked players and, at a point of time, held one of the longest streak of consecutive Grand Slam appearances at 47. Ahead of the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, she launched her own women's clothing and lifestyle brand, Pironetic.
Personal life Pironkova was born 1987 to athlete parents; her father Kiril Enchev Pironkov is a former canoeing champion, and her mother Radosveta Chinkova Nikolova is a former swimmer. She has one brother, Encho, and one sister, Elisaveta. Pironkova is the granddaughter of a prominent Bulgarian contemporary artist, Encho Pironkov. She started playing tennis at the age of four, when her father introduced her to the game. When she decided to play professionally, he became her coach.
Pironkova married her long-time boyfriend Mihail Mirchev, a former Bulgarian football player, in July 2016. In April 2018, she gave birth to a baby boy named Alexander. The couple had their second child, another boy, in July 2022.
Career First professional steps Pironkova won the 2001 Atlantic Cup International Junior Tournament held in Bulgaria,Juniors – Player Activity . ITF Tennis (29 June 2010). Retrieved on 2011-06–29. and her career-high in juniors was world No. 227 in March 2002.ITF junior profile on www.itftennis.com . Itftennis.com. Retrieved on 29 June 2011. After playing at a junior level and winning the Atlantic Cup, she made her senior international debut in 2002 at ITF tournaments. Early in her career, she won six singles titles on the ITF Circuit. Pironkova played her first professional match 2002 at a tournament in Bucharest at the age of 14. She won three matches in the qualifying draw, before reaching the final in the main draw, where she lost to Monica Niculescu.Women's Circuit – ITF Circuit Calendar. ITF Tennis. Retrieved on 29 June 2011. In September 2002, Pironkova played in Volos, Greece, where she lost only one set playing through the qualifying and main draw. She defeated Tina Schmassmann of SwitzerlandWomen's Circuit – Tournament Overview . ITF Tennis (29 September 2002). Retrieved on 29 June 2011. to win her first ITF event. In 2003, Pironkova won three singles titles, one in Orestiada and two in Istanbul.
At the age of 17, she played her first WTA Tour tournament, the Tier-III event in Istanbul. After winning two qualifying matches, she won three matches in the main draw, before losing in the semifinals to Venus Williams.Women's Circuit – Drawsheet By Round . ITF Tennis. Retrieved on 29 June 2011. Pironkova garnered widespread media attention by defeating Venus again in the first round of the 2006 Australian Open.Circuit – Drawsheet By Round. ITF Tennis. Retrieved on 29 June 2011. She was ranked 94th in the world.Bulgarian teen bounces Venus from Australian Open from SI.com, retrieved 16 January 2006 Walker, Randy (2008 by New Chapter Press) On this Day in Tennis History, p. 21 However, in the next round, she lost to Laura Granville.Women's Circuit – Drawsheet By Round . ITF Tennis, retrieved on 29 June 2011. In the first round of 2006 Wimbledon Championships, Pironkova came from a set down to defeat then-top-20 player Anna-Lena Grönefeld. However, in the second round, she lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in straight sets. On 16 November 2006, Pironkova reached a career-high singles ranking of 62.
2007–2009: Top-50 debut In 2007, Pironkova lost in the first rounds of the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon. She played in qualifying rounds for the US Open and beat Zuzana Ondrášková, Marta Domachowska, and Stéphanie Dubois to reach the main draw, and drew Olga Puchkova in the first round, and won that match to set up a clash with world No. 1, Justine Henin, in the second round. Pironkova lost to Henin in straight sets.Women's Circuit – ITF Circuit Calendar . ITF Tennis, retrieved on 29 June 2011. After the US Open in September, Pironkova played in one of the biggest Challenger events of the year in Bordeaux, winning the tournament with straight-set victories over Mathilde Johansson, Tatjana Malek and Alizé Cornet.Women's Circuit – Tournament Overview . ITF Tennis (16 September 2007), retrieved on 29 June 2011.
Pironkova made a solid start to 2008, winning two qualifying matches at the Tier-II event in Sydney before bowing out in three sets to Dominika Cibulková. She reached the second round of the Australian Open, losing to second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets. Pironkova caused another upset at the Italian Open, when as a qualifier, she beat top seed and world No. 3, Ana Ivanovic, in the second round for the biggest victory of her career at that time. Pironkova advanced to the quarterfinals, her first ever at a Tier-I event, when Victoria Azarenka retired during their third-round match with Pironkova leading, but, was defeated in three sets by Anna Chakvetadze.Women's Circuit – Player Activity . ITF Tennis, retrieved on 29 June 2011. In September, Pironkova reached the final of an ITF event in Sofia, where she lost to Nuria Llagostera Vives. Pironkova ended the year ranked No. 46 in the world, marking her first ever top-50 season.
She kicked off her 2009 season playing at Brisbane where she lost in second round to Sara Errani, she made the quarterfinals at the Hobart International before she lost to Virginie Razzano. En route, she defeated then world No. 15, Patty Schnyder. It was the fifth top-20 win in her career.
At the Australian Open, Pironkova defeated Karolina Šprem in the first round before losing to 16th seeded Marion Bartoli. Playing at the Dubai Open, Pironkova reached the second round of the tournament losing to 12th seed Cibulková. Seeded No. 8 at the first Andalucia Tennis Experience, Pironkova lost in the first round to Roberta Vinci.
Pironkova won four matches at Stuttgart (three in qualifying) but lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in the round of 16. She also lost in the first rounds of the French Open and Wimbledon, both times to Jill Craybas in straight sets. Pironkova played her last tournament of the season at Kremlin Cup where she came up with better performance reaching the quarterfinals defeating top seeded Vera Zvonareva in round of 16 before losing out to Alona Bondarenko. She also reached two ITF quarterfinals at Sofia and Athens.
2010: First major semifinal Pironkova bowed out of the Australian Open with a straight sets second-round loss to the world No. 28, Shahar Pe'er, after having beaten Galina Voskoboeva in the opening match.
She made her first ITF Circuit appearance of the year in the Fort Walton Beach tournament, where she reached the semifinals. In Warsaw she reached her first quarterfinal of the year after defeating Elena Dementieva. She then lost to the defending and eventual champion Alexandra Dulgheru. At the French Open, Pironkova lost to four-time tournament champion Justine Henin, in the first round.
Entering Wimbledon with a 1–4 career record at the event, Pironkova went beyond the second round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time and become the first Bulgarian to reach a semifinal of a major tournament. Manuela Maleeva at the US Open in 1992 and 1993 represented Switzerland. Pironkova beat five-time champion Venus Williams before she lost her first Grand Slam semifinal to Vera Zvonareva, in three sets.
En route to her maiden semifinal appearance, Pironkova beat three Russian players Anna Lapushchenkova, Vera Dushevina, and Regina Kulikova, all in straight sets in the first three rounds and then upstaged Frenchwoman and 11th seed Marion Bartoli in the fourth round before taking out Williams.
Pironkova reached the second round in Palermo, beating Italian Anna Floris, before losing to Jill Craybas. In July, she scored a straight-set victory over Tatjana Malek in Istanbul. However, she then recorded three consecutive losses, two of which were to Anastasia Rodionova and one to Anna Lapushchenkova.
At the US Open, Pironkova lost in the second round to qualifier Mandy Minella. At the Pan Pacific Open, she beat Japanese qualifier Ayumi Morita, before losing to qualifier Roberta Vinci in the second round. In her last tournament of the year, the Kremlin Cup, Pironkova lost in the second round to Dominika Cibulková, and ended the year ranked No. 35 in the world.
2011: Wimbledon quarterfinal In the Australian Open, Pironkova fell in the second round to Monica Niculescu, having beaten Pauline Parmentier in the first round. She also fell in the second round at the Indian Wells Open to 16th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in a tight three setter. She was seeded 32nd at the French Open and beat Casey Dellacqua in the first round, but yet again failed to cross the second-round hurdle as she lost to Gisela Dulko in straight sets.
At Wimbledon, Pironkova as the 32nd seed defeated in the third round world No. 3, Vera Zvonareva in straight sets, and went on to defeat former champion Venus Williams for the second year straight at Wimbledon, but then lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion, Petra Kvitová.
In July, Pironkova competed in the Internazionali di Palermo, where she defeated Anna Tatishvili in the first round and Sorana Cîrstea in the second, before losing to Flavia Pennetta.
At the US Open, she defeated Virginie Razzano in the first round, but lost to world No. 13, Peng Shuai, in the second. She teamed with Chanelle Scheepers in the doubles tournament, but they were defeated by Arantxa Parra Santonja and Nuria Llagostera Vives.
At the Pan Pacific Open, Pironkova beat Gisela Dulko in the first round, but then lost to Vera Zvonareva in the second. At the Kremlin Cup, she beat Petra Martić, after her opponent retired due to injury. She then lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round and ended the year at No. 46.
2012–2013: US Open and Wimbledon fourth rounds