Kirsten Flipkens

Kirsten Flipkens
Kirsten Flipkens 2015 at Aegon International
Nickname:	Pinball machine
Nation:	Belgium
Birthday:	January 10, 1986
Size:	165 cm
Weight:	55 kg
1st professional season:	2003
Playing hand:	Right, two-handed backhand
Trainer:	Maxime Braeckman
Prize money:	$ 5,266,507
singles
Career record:	517: 378
Career title:	1 WTA, 13 ITF 1 WTA Challenger
Highest ranking:	13 (August 5, 2013)
Current placement:	77
Grand Slam record
Double
Career record:	134: 125
Career title:	5 WTA, 2 ITF
Highest ranking:	23 (July 1, 2019)
Current placement:	27
Grand Slam record
Mixed
Grand Slam record
Last update of the infobox: March 16, 2020
Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links )

Kirsten Flipkens (born January 10, 1986 in Geel ) is a Belgian tennis player .

Career

Early successes: 2003 to 2006

Flipkens, who started playing tennis at the age of four, was an excellent junior. In 2002 she played her first smaller tournaments on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour and won two titles. In the same year she was allowed to qualify for the WTA Premier tournament in Antwerp with a wildcard . In 2003 she was able to win the singles competition for women at both Wimbledon and the US Open . Before that, she won the doubles junior title at the 2002 US Open . At the end of the year she was the ITF junior world champion and in early 2004 she reached number one in the world junior rankings . In the same year she became German team champion in the Bundesliga with the TC Moers 08 and won her first title in the $ 50,000 category on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour in Innsbruck .

In 2005, Flipkens made her debut in the qualification of a Grand Slam tournament for women at the French Open , but was already defeated in their opening match. Another ITF title in the $ 25,000 category in Las Palmas in spring 2006 was followed by Flipken's first victory in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament in Paris . After losing the decisive set against Virginie Pichet in the final round of qualification , she was able to beat the French woman two days later as the lucky loser in the first round of the main draw, before she only one against Flavia Pennetta in the next round Game win succeeded. In New York she qualified for the first time for the first time in 2007 for the main draw and defeated Latisha Chan there at the beginning of the tournament ; in the second round she failed to Jelena Janković . Then she made it into the top 100 of the world rankings for the first time.

Injury concerns and comebacks: 2007 to 2012

The following year, Flipkens suffered from wrist problems and had to take a break for several months in the summer. Due to the resulting drop in the world rankings, she tried to work her way up again in 2008 via victories on the ITF tour. At the $ 75,000 tournament in Marseille , she won her biggest title to date and finished the season on the cusp of the top 100. In 2009 she was able to win at least one match in the main draw of all four Grand Slam tournaments; in the Wimbledon Championships 2009 / women's singles and at the US Open , she even reached the third round, in which she was first defeated by Dinara Safina and Kim Clijsters . At the end of the season in Luxembourg she was coming from the qualification for the first time in the quarterfinals of a WTA tournament and lost to Yanina Wickmayer there . Nevertheless, she was able to finish the season in the top 100 in the world for the first time.

2010 was Flipken's first full season on the WTA Tour. In Indian Wells she reached the third round after a clear victory over Aleksandra Wozniak , where she was defeated by Jelena Dementjewa . In 's-Hertogenbosch , she advanced to a WTA semi-finals for the first time as a result of a straight two-set win over Dominika Cibulková , which she lost to Andrea Petković . With 59th place she then achieved her highest world ranking position to date. Due to persistent wrist problems, she decided to have an operation at the end of the year. Despite the successful intervention, the following year was disappointing for the Belgian. After she had played her second semi-final on the WTA Tour in Fez , Flipkens only won three more matches by the end of the year and fell far behind in the world rankings.

In April 2012, doctors discovered a threatening blood clot in her calf, which is why she had to sit out for two months. When she returned to the WTA Tour, she immediately reached the semi-finals in 's-Hertogenbosch, beating a top 10 player for the first time in round two with Samantha Stosur ; in the round of the last four she was defeated by Nadja Petrowa . This was followed by two other smaller ITF titles in Middelburg and Rebecq, as well as her first and so far only triumph on the WTA Tour Québec in autumn after a two-set win in the final against Lucie Hradecká . In Linz she reached the semi-finals again at the end of the season as a qualifier, after clearly defeating Ana Ivanović in the round of the last eight, but lost to Julia Görges in three sets. With position 54, Flipkens achieved her best year-end ranking to date.

Rise to world class: 2013

2013 marked by far the most successful season for Flipkens on the WTA Tour. After reaching the fourth round in Melbourne , she caught the eye with her quarter-finals in Miami and a win over Petra Kvitová . In 's-Hertogenbosch she was in her second WTA final at the beginning of the grass season, in which she had to admit defeat to Simona Halep . The big international breakthrough then followed with the semifinals in Wimbledon , which she reached after her second win of the season over Kvitová, before she had to admit defeat to the eventual winner Marion Bartoli . She then achieved her highest career ranking with rank 13. Even though her form went down towards the end of the year, she finished the season in the top 20 in the world and was voted Belgium's Sportswoman of the Year.

Since 2014

Flipkens has not been able to repeat the sensational success of the 2013 grass pitch season. Instead, she established herself as a solid WTA player with selectively good results in small WTA tournaments, without ever advancing to the expanded world elite. In 2014 she reached her only WTA semi-finals of the year in the first week of the year, in which she was defeated by Ana Ivanović. In addition, she reached the second round in Miami and the third round in London , in which she failed to Angelique Kerber . In the following season she reached the semi-finals in Istanbul and Linz again, but lost to the later winners Lessja Zurenko and Anastassija Pavlyuchenkova . In 2016, she lost her third tour final against Heather Watson in three sets in Monterrey , but surprised in the first round at the WTA tournament in Mallorca with a success over top 10 player Garbiñe Muguruza and a subsequent entry into the semi-finals. At the tournament of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, she was able to eliminate another player from the top 10 in the world, Venus Williams , but lost to Laura Siegemund in the second round . In doubles she competed for Belgium with Yanina Wickmayer; the two were eliminated in the second round in three sets against the Spaniards Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro .

In Seoul she won her first WTA title in doubles alongside Johanna Larsson . At the 2017 French Open , she and Francesca Schiavone reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, in which they were only defeated by the later titleholders Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Šafářová . In 's-Hertogenbosch , Dominika Cibulková won the second WTA title in doubles.

In 2018 Flipkens managed to return to the top 50 in the world rankings. After reaching the semi-finals in Nuremberg , she reached her second individual final after 2013 in 's-Hertogenbosch , among other things after successes over Aryna Sabalenka and Kiki Bertens , in which she failed again, this time to Aleksandra Krunić . On the ITF tour, however, she succeeded in Southsea after a final victory over Katie Boulter, her biggest title to date. It went better for Flipkens in doubles, where she and her compatriot Elise Mertens won her third WTA title at the Samsung Open 2018 in Lugano , which was followed by the fourth in Linz , again alongside Larsson. Together with the Swede, she was able to celebrate her first Grand Slam semi-final at the French Open the following year, in which they were defeated by the Chinese Duan Yingying and Zheng Saisai . Subsequently, the two won the doubles competition at the WTA tournament in Mallorca . In the singles, Flipkens was able to finish the 2019 season well thanks to a good final sprint with reaching the quarter-finals at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow and her first triumph at a WTA Challenger Series tournament in Houston in the final over Coco Vandeweghe for the eighth year in a row in the top 100 End world.

Kirsten Flipkens has played for the Belgian Fed Cup team since 2003 and has since played 48 singles and doubles for her country, of which she won 17 (individual balance 14:20). With 16 years in a row in the Belgian team, she is the national record holder and was awarded the Fed Cup Commitment Award in 2016.

Tournament victories

singles

No.	date	competition	category	Topping	Final opponent	Result
1.	August 4, 2002	Pétange	ITF $ 10,000	sand	Tanja Hirschauer	4: 6, 6: 2, 6: 1
2.	August 18, 2002	Koksijde	ITF $ 10,000	sand	Michelle Gerards	6: 4, 7: 6 4
3.	April 4, 2004	Naples	ITF $ 10,000	sand	Mandy Minella	5: 7, 6: 3, 6: 1
4th	July 25, 2004	innsbruck	ITF $ 50,000	sand	Michaela Paštiková	6: 2, 6: 3
5.	August 14, 2005	Hechingen	ITF $ 25,000	sand	Magdaléna Rybáriková	6: 4, 6: 3
6th	March 5, 2006	Las Palmas	ITF $ 25,000	Hard court	Alla Kudryavtseva	6: 1, 6: 4
7th	March 2, 2008	Book	ITF $ 10,000	Carpet (hall)	Sandra Záhlavová	6: 1, 3: 6, 6: 4
8th.	March 30, 2008	Tessenderlo	ITF $ 25,000	Sand (hall)	Caroline Maes	7: 5, 6: 1
9.	June 15, 2008	Marseille	ITF $ 75,000	sand	Stéphanie Foretz	7: 6 4 , 6: 4
10.	July 19, 2009	Zwevegem	ITF $ 25,000	sand	Yurika Sema	6: 3, 6: 3
11.	July 8, 2012	Middelburg	ITF $ 25,000	sand	Aravane Rezaï	6-0, 6-1
12.	5th August 2012	Rebecq	ITF $ 25,000	sand	Myrtille Georges	6: 2, 6: 1
13.	September 16, 2012	Quebec	WTA International	Carpet (hall)	Lucie Hradecká	6: 1, 7: 5
14th	June 29, 2018	Southsea	ITF $ 100,000	race	Katie Boulter	6: 4, 5: 7, 6: 3
15th	17th November 2019	Houston	WTA Challenger	Hard court	Coco Vandeweghe	7: 6 4 , 6: 4

Double

No.	date	competition	category	Topping	Partner	Final opponents	Result
1.	August 16, 2003	Koksijde	ITF $ 10,000	sand	Elke Clijsters	Zuzana Cerná Vladimíra Uhlířová	6: 2, 6: 4
2.	September 25, 2016	Seoul	WTA International	Hard court	Johanna Larsson	Akiko Omae Peangtarn Plipuech	6: 2, 6: 3
3.	17th June 2017	's-Hertogenbosch	WTA International	race	Dominika Cibulková	Kiki Bertens Demi Schuurs	4: 6, 6: 4, [10: 6]
4th	April 15, 2018	Lugano	WTA International	sand	Elise Mertens	Wera Lapko Aryna Sabalenka	6: 1, 6: 3
5.	June 29, 2018	Southsea	ITF $ 100,000	race	Johanna Larsson	Alicja Rosolska Abigail Spears	6: 4, 3: 6, [11: 9]
6th	15th October 2018	Linz	WTA International	Hard court (hall)	Johanna Larsson	Raquel Atawo Anna-Lena Grönefeld	4: 6, 6: 4, [10: 5]
7th	June 23, 2019	Mallorca	WTA International	race	Johanna Larsson	María José Martínez Sánchez Sara Sorribes Tormo	6: 2, 6: 4

Performing in Grand Slam tournaments

singles

competition	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	Career
Australian Open	-	1	-	2	1	1	-	AF	2	1	2	1	2	1	1	AF
French Open	2	-	-	2	2	1	-	2	2	1	1	2	2	1		2
Wimbledon	1	-	-	3	2	1	-	HF	3	2	2	2	2	2		HF
US Open	2	-	-	3	1	-	2	1	1	1	1	2	2	2		3

Double

competition	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	Balance sheet	Career
Australian Open	1	1	-	1	1	2	AF	2	1	AF	2	7:10	AF
French Open	1	-	-	-	2	-	2	VF	2	HF		10: 6	HF
Wimbledon	1	-	-	2	1	-	1	AF	AF	2		6: 7	AF
US Open	1	-	1	2	1	2	1	1	1	1		2: 9	2

Web links

Commons : Kirsten Flipkens  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• WTA profile Kirsten Flipkens (English)
• ITF profile of Kirsten Flipkens (English)
• Fed Cup stats by Kirsten Flipkens (English)
• Kirsten Flipkens website (Dutch)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Flipkens mistake Wimbledon en Fedcup. In: nieuwsblad.be. June 15, 2007, accessed July 12, 2020 (Flemish). 
2. ↑ Q AND A With Kirsten Flipkens - By: Matt Cronin. In: 10sballs.com. January 17, 2013, accessed on July 12, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Tennis - Kirsten Flipkens is named Belgium´s Sportswoman of the Year. In: tennisworldusa.org. December 24, 2013, accessed on July 12, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Commitment Award. In: fedcup.com. Retrieved July 12, 2020 .