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Aravane Rezai

Country	France ,  Iran
Residence	Saint-Etienne, France
Date of birth	March 14, 1987 (1987-03-14) (age 23)
Place of birth	Saint-Etienne, France
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight	62 kg (140 lb)
Turned pro	January 1, 2005
Plays	Right; Two-handed backhand
Career prize money	$1,215,071
Singles
Career record	178 - 110
Career titles	2 WTA, 7 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 21 (February 1, 2010)
Current ranking	No. 21 (March 8, 2010)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	3R (2008)
French Open	4R (2009)
Wimbledon	3R (2007)
US Open	4R (2006)
Doubles
Career record	4–17
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 36 (August 3, 2009)
Last updated on: 20 January 2010.

Aravane Rezai (Persian: ارغوان رضائی , Latin alphabet: Aravane Rezaï, born March 14, 1987) is an Iranian-French tennis player born in St. Etienne, France to Iranian parents. Rezaï took up tennis after a childhood stint as her older brother's ball girl. Her career high rank was #21, achieved on February 1, 2010. She became the French No. 2 player in 2010.

Career

2001 and 2005: Women's Islamic Games

She competed for Iran at the Women's Islamic Games winning Gold in 2001 and 2005.

2006: U.S. Open & ITF Success

For the second year in a row, Rezai lost in the qualifying rounds of the Australian Open. However, her French Open run was more successful. She struggled through to the third round of the tournament, defeating Ai Sugiyama of Japan along the way. She fell to Nicole Vaidisova, in a hard fought three-setter. Her Wimbledon dreams were also put on hold as she fell in the first round of qualifying. At the 2006 U.S. Open, she reached the fourth round, her career best Grand Slam singles result. She had a fantastic run, even beating Russian beauty Maria Kirilenko in straight sets.

She also competed on the ITF circuit throughout the year. She reached the final of two ITF tournaments, as well as winning one in the later part of the year on the hardcourts of France.

2007

Her year started poorly, reaching the second round only twice in her first thirteen tournaments on tour, including a first round loss at the Australian Open. At the international clay tournament of Istanbul (Turkey) Rezaï reached the final by beating American World No. 29 Venus Williams in the 2nd round (6–4, 6–4) and Russian World No. 2 Maria Sharapova in the semi-final (6–2, 6–4). In the final she lost to Russian Elena Dementieva due to retiring, trailing 6–7(5) 0–3.

In spite of her good performance in the international clay tournament, she lost the week after 6–2, 6–4 to countrywoman Marion Bartoli in the first round of the 2007 French Open.In her first appearance in Wimbledon she defeated Shenay Perry from the U.S. in the first round 6–2 7–6 and Francesca Schiavone from Italy the 29 seed in the second round, 6–4 2–6 6–4. However, in the third round she was defeated by Ana Ivanović from Serbia by 6–3, 6–2. At the 2007 US Open she once again lost to Ana Ivanovic in the second round.

She ended an appalling year with yet another ITF Circuit title Deauville France. She won the title, losing only one set en route.

2008

She reached the final of the 2008 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, despite being unseeded. She lost to American, Lindsay Davenport, 6–2, 6–2. Her year was stagnated with early losses in the first and second rounds of tournaments. Her only other grand success of the year came on the clay of Morocco through late April to early May. She reached the semi-finals. However, she lost to Gisela Dulko.

At the Australian Open, Rezai reached the third round, beating thirteenth seed Tatiana Golovin in the second round 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 before losing to Hsieh Su-Wei 6–2, 6–7, 6–4. Her Grand Slam results for the rest of the year was disappointing. At the French Open, she fell to Nadia Petrova in the first round. At Wimbledon, she faced Gisela Dulko of Argentina. She pushed Dulko to three sets, but eventually fell 6-1 0-6 2-6. The US Open started well as she defeated American Asia Muhammed 6-2 6-4. However, she fell in the second round to Bammer 1-6, 5-7.

2009

She won the first WTA Tour title of her career in Strasbourg, beating Lucie Hradecká 7–6(2), 6–1 in the final. Despite a first round loss at the Australian Open, she flew to the 4th round of French Open after defeating Michelle Larcher de Brito by 7-6(3), 6-2, but lost to World No.1 Dinara Safina 6-1, 6-0, effectively putting an end to her participation in Roland-Garros. At the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, she beat Ayumi Morita 6-2 6-2 but then lost to number #4 Elena Dementieva 6-1 6-3 in the second round.

In the first round of Rogers Cup 2009, she defeated Alize Cornet by 6-4 7-5. In the second round, she made the biggest upset of the tournament by defeating world number 1 Dinara Safina 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. In the third round, she was defeated by Alisa Kleybanova in two sets 3-6, 4-6. Aravane Rezai then lost at the US Open to Sabine Lisicki in the first round, her earliest loss ever at the US Open.

At the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Rezai won her opening match in straight sets, defeating Sara Errani 6-2, 6-2. In the second round she lost to Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-2.

Seeded tenth at the 2009 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions Rezai won her first round robin match against fourth seed Sabine Lisicki 6–1, 3–6, 4–6 and then beat Melinda Czink in her second round robin match, 6-3, 7-5 to make her the first player to advance to the semifinals of the inaugural event. She then went on to the semifinals where she beat María José Martínez Sánchez 6-2 6-3. In the final she faced Marion Bartoli and won the first set 7-5 before Bartoli retired. Because of her performance Rezai reached a new career high of world number 26.

2010

Rezai's first tournament of the year is the 2010 ASB Classic where she is seeded #7. In the first round she beat fellow countrywoman Julie Coin 6-4 6-3. On matchpoint the lights in the stadium shut off, but shortly after were fixed where Rezai then closed out the match. In the second round she was defeated by Dominika Cibulková 6-3 6-4.

Her next tournament was the Medibank International Sydney. Rezai won her first round match against Anna-Lena Grönefeld 6-7 6-2 6-2. She then faced Ágnes Szávay and won 6-3 7-6. In the quaterfinals she beat Flavia Pennetta 6-3 6-0. In the semifinal she faced World No.1 Serena Williams. She began strong leading the match 6-3 5-2 and was two points away from victory but ended up losing 6-3 5-7 4-6.

Rezai was seeded #26 for the Australian Open. She won her first round match again Sania Mirza 6-4 6-2 but was then defeated in the second round by Angelique Kerber 6-2 6-3. In the doubles she partnered with Sabine Lisicki but they lost in the first round.

Her next tournament is the 2010 Open GDF Suez where she is seeded #5. She won her first round match defeating Qualifier Evgeniya Rodina 6-4 6-4. In the second round she faced Andrea Petkovic, getting upset 6-3 3-6 6-3, spoiling her chance to play Elena Dementieva in the Quarter-Finals. She lost in the next round.

Singles titles

Aravane Rezai, 2007 Australian Open

Wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	May 18, 2009	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Lucie Hradecká	7–6(2), 6–1
2.	November 8, 2009	Tournament of Champions, Bali, Indonesia	Hard (i)	Marion Bartoli	7–5, retired

Runners-up (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	May 26, 2007	Istanbul, Turkey	Clay	Elena Dementieva	7–6(5), 3–0, ret.
2.	January 5, 2008	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Lindsay Davenport	6–2, 6–2

Performance timeline

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. To help interpret the performance table, the legend below explains what each abbreviation and color coded box represents in the performance timeline.

External links

• Aravane Rezaï profile on the WTA Tour's official website