Bethanie Lynn Mattek-Sands (born March 23, 1985, in Rochester, Minnesota) is an American professional tennis player who competes on the WTA Tour. She lives in Miami, Florida but trains in Phoenix, Arizona. Mattek has won five singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit, and her best results on the WTA Tour to date are reaching the semifinals of the tournaments in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2005 and Birmingham, United Kingdom in 2008 and the finals of the Bell Challenge in 2008 and 2010. In doubles, she has won eight WTA Tour titles.
Mattek also plays for the New York Sportimes for World Team Tennis.In 1999, Mattek played her first WTA Tour event in Philadelphia where she received a wildcard into the qualifying. She fell in the first round of qualifying to Nana Miyagi 6–3, 6–2. It was the only match of the year for Mattek. Then in 2000, Mattek received a wildcard into qualifying at the Lipton International Players Championships in Key Biscayne, Florida but fell in the first round to Anca Barna 6–1, 6–2. Later in the year, Mattek played in her first Grand Slam event at the US Open. She was gifted a wildcard into the qualification rounds and fell in the first round to 28th-seeded Gisela Riera 5–7, 6–2, 6–2.
In 2001, Mattek again received a wildcard into the qualifying at the Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida. She won her first match against 12th-seeded Catalina Castaño 6–4, 7–6(3) but fell in the next round to 14th-seeded Sandra Cacic 7–5, 6–4. Mattek received direct entry into the ITF event Boynton Beach due to a wildcard. She defeated top-seeded Elena Likhovtseva 6–3, 1–6, 6–2 in the first round and Jennifer Hopkins 6–2, 6–0 in the second round. She lost in the quarterfinals against Asa Carlsson 6–1, 6–1. With these successes, she rose to World No. 343 in the rankings.
Mattek received direct entry to the tournament in Amelia Island, Florida thanks to a wildcard. She lost first round to lucky loser Jill Craybas 4–6, 6–1, 6–3. Mattek played another ITF event Bronx as a wildcard and lost first round to Sylvia Plischke 6–1, 6–4. Mattek played her first main draw as a wildcard at a Grand Slam tournament at the US Open and lost to Australia's Alicia Molik 4–6, 6–2, 6–4. Mattek ended the year ranked World No. 338.
Mattek reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 38 on November 3, 2008 and career-high ranking of World No. 24 in doubles. At Grand Slam tournaments, she has reached the second round of the 2008 French Open, extending World No. 1 Maria Sharapova, who had beaten her on their only meeting till that day 6–0, 6–0 on green clay, to three sets, and the second round of the 2007 US Open; her best result was at Wimbledon in 2008 where she reached the fourth round, claiming her first top 10 win over 2007 Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli.
She reached the last sixteen, losing to Serena Williams 6–3, 6–3. At the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles, Mattek defeated Abigail Spears in the first round 6–2, 6–4 and 11th-seeded Nicole Vaidišová in the second round 6–4, 6–0. In both victories over Vaidišová this year, Mattek managed to take a love set. She went on to defeat Olga Govortsova 7–5, 6–2 in the third round and Meng Yuan in the quarterfinals 6–2, 7–5 having recovered from a 2–5 deficit in the second set. In the semifinals, Mattek was defeated by tenth-seeded Flavia Pennetta 3–6, 6–2, 7–5.
Mattek reached her first ever WTA tour final in November 2008 at the Bell Challenge in Canada losing to the top seed Nadia Petrova 4–6, 6–4, 6–1. Bethanie Mattek-Sands 2009. She pulled out of the Australian Open in January 2009 with a hip injury. She made her season debut at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, CA reaching the second round, defeating Tathiana Garbin in the first, before losing to Gisela Dulko. She also entered the doubles event with Mashona Washington, where she reached the third round. At the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, she lost in the first round to the 18th seed from Australia, Samantha Stosur.
In January 2011, Mattek-Sands got the biggest win of her career of World No. 7 Francesca Schiavone. Mattek-Sands teamed with John Isner for the USA, and they reached the Hopman Cup Teams Event Final -- Belgium V USA that they won 6-1 6-3 (Belgium: Justine Henin and Ruben Bemelmans). Bethanie's good form continued into the 2011 Moorilla Hobart International where she has made the final defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Ayumi Morita, Angelique Kerber and Peng Shuai along the way. She lost to her opponent in the final, Jarmila Groth.
At the Australian Open, Mattek-Sands lost to qualifier Arantxa Rus in the first round. She reached the quarterfinals of women's doubles and the semi-finals of mixed doubles. Her next scheduled event was a Fed Cup tie vs Belgium in Antwerp, Belgium. She faced Yanina Wickmayer in the opening match, losing 1-6, 6-7(6). Next, she lost to Kim Clijsters in three sets, 7-6(10), 2-6, 1-6. At the indoor tournament in Paris, she reached the semifinal, where she lost to Petra Kvitová. Mattek has achieved extensive publicity as a result of her eccentric fashion sense on the court.
Bethanie Mattek Sands Photos
Bethanie Mattek Sands Photos
Bethanie Mattek Sands Photos
Bethanie Mattek Sands Photos
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