Monica Niculescu

At 36 years old, Monica Niculescu has this physical status:

Before reaching the age of 18, Niculescu had won 11 singles finals in the ITF Junior Circuit, losing only one set:

She also won eight out of fourteen doubles events, most of them paired with her sister, Gabriela Niculescu. She reached the finals in girls' doubles at the French Open (2004, paired with Mădălina Gojnea) and twice in Wimbledon (2004 and 2005, paired with Marina Erakovic).

Professional career

Niculescu had her first WTA Tour debuting attempt in May 2006 at the Istanbul Cup, but lost in qualifying. In February of the following year, she made her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the Dubai Tennis Championships. In June 2007, she played her first doubles event at the Barcelona Open. There, she also recorded her first win in doubles at the WTA Tour. A month later, she managed to get to her first WTA event semifinal, at the Gastein Ladies in the doubles event. During the year, she also attempted to make her major debut but lost in the qualifyings of all four of them. She finished the year 2007 in the top 200.

Niculescu continued with making progress during the season of 2008. At the Australian Open, she played her first Grand Slam main draw as a qualifier. A month later, at the Qatar Open, she made her Tier I debut and also recorded her first win on the WTA Tour in a singles event. She continued making debuts at the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open, at Tier I events such as the Italian Open and Canadian Open. In doubles events, she managed to get to her first WTA final at the Connecticut Open alongside compatriot Sorana Cîrstea, but they failed to win the trophy. Due to all the success she managed to achieve during the season, Niculescu finished the year inside the top 50 in both singles and doubles. In singles, she was ranked world No. 48, and second in Romania, at the end of 2008.

Despite progress in previous seasons, the opening of the season was not promising for Niculescu. In May 2009, she reached her first singles quarterfinal at the Internationaux de Strasbourg. To get there, she needed to win two tough matches, both played in the three sets. In the quarterfinal match, she lost to Aravane Rezaï. In her next quarterfinal appearance four months later, at the Tashkent Open, she advanced to the quarterfinal, before losing to top 60 Yaroslava Shvedova. Due to weak performances, Niculescu fell outside the top 100 at the end of the year, ranked 103.

In doubles, in February alongside Cîrstea, she reached semifinals of the Premier Open GdF Suez but then withdrew. The following two tournaments she had success: She reached two back-to-back Premier 5/Mandatory quarterfinals at the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Indian Wells Open. Her journey continued with two consecutive Grand Slam third rounds - French Open and Wimbledon. The next step was her first WTA Tour doubles title, at the Budapest Grand Prix, winning alongside Alisa Kleybanova. Three weeks later, she advanced to another final at the Stanford Classic, but failed to win the trophy. Soon after, she reached her first Premier 5/Premier Mandatory semifinal at the Cincinnati Open alongside Akgul Amanmuradova. By the end of the year, she reached the third round of the US Open and semifinals of the International-level Tashkent Open and Premier-level Kremlin Cup. Thanks to her great performances, she finished 2009 as world No. 30.

Niculescu struggled to find her form during most of the season. The first sign of good game came in late September, when she reached the semifinals at the Tashkent Open. She beat fellow Romanian and top-30 player, Alexandra Dulgheru, before losing her semifinal match to Elena Vesnina. During the year, she recorded only one major match win at Wimbledon, defeating Gisela Dulko in the first round. At the Premier 5/Premier Mandatory-level, she also scored only one win. It came at the Cincinnati Open, where she defeated Sabine Lisicki, giving away only three games to her opponent. Despite the lack of significant results, Niculescu returned to the top 100 in August and stayed there for the rest of the season.

She had success in the early season in doubles, reaching the final of the Hobart International in the second week of a year. At the French Open, she reached her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal. In July, she played another final at the Prague Open, but once again finished runner-up. The following week, she won the title at the $100K Pétange tournament. And she had a promising start on the American tour, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open, followed by a semifinal at the Cincinnati Open and third round at the US Open.

At the Australian Open, Niculescu advanced to her first Grand Slam third round in singles. In the first round, she defeated top-50 player, Timea Bacsinszky, in straight sets. Facing off then against Tsvetana Pironkova, the 32nd seed, Niculescu cruised through the match after losing only five games. In the third round, she lost to the Grand Slam champion and top 10 Francesca Schiavone. In April, she reached her first semifinal of the year at the Estoril Open. To get there, among her wins, she needed to defeat two top-40 players. She lost her semifinal match to Anabel Medina Garrigues.

Her most outstanding performance to date was at the 2011 US Open. For the first time, she reached Grand Slam round of 16, after making three convinced wins. After defeating top 100 Patricia Mayr-Achleitner in the straight-sets in the first round, Niculescu had fewer problems with the following two opponents. In the second round, she let top 50 Dulgheru to win three games, while in the third round, she lost only one game to top 30 Lucie Šafářová. She failed to reached her first singles Grand Slam quarterfinal after losing to Angelique Kerber in the straight-sets.

Niculescu continued with progress after the US Open. At the China Open, she started well with a victory over top-10 player Li Na. She then defeated top 50 Chanelle Scheepers with losing only three games. Her matches in the third round and quarterfinal were more difficult. In both situation, she made a turnover after losing the first set. In the semifinal, she faced No. 11 Andrea Petkovic but won only two games. Niculescu then finished the year with another WTA final, at the Luxembourg Open, but once again finished as a runner-up. In the final, she lost to No. 3 Victoria Azarenka. Right after that, in late October, she made her debut inside the top 30. She finished the year as a No. 30 and Romanian No. 1 player.

During the year, her doubles performance were weaker than in the previous seasons. She had a solid opening of the year, reaching the semifinal of the Brisbane International in the first week of the year. However, her results then started to weak, getting to another semifinal in early April at the Andalucia Tennis Experience. Her best Grand Slam result of the year was the third round of the French Open. She reached only one WTA final, at the Baku Cup in July 2011.

These three seasons were marked by mixed results in both singles and doubles events. However, there were some good moments when she stood out. In February 2012, she reached the quarterfinal of the Qatar Open in singles event. The biggest focus was on the second round victory over top 10 Vera Zvonareva. It was the second career top-10 win for Niculescu. Until October 2012, she struggled with results, losing in the early round at the all tournaments. She then jumped to the final of the Luxembourg Open for the second year in-a-row, after making four consecutive straight-sets wins. She still was not lucky to win her first WTA singles title, losing to Venus Williams in the final match. The next two weeks, she played at the ITF Circuit as her last two singles tournaments of the year. First week, she reached the semifinal of the $100K Poitiers tournament, followed up with title at the $50K+H Open Nantes tournament. In the final, she defeated Yulia Putintseva.

Niculescu started season of 2013 with the semifinal of the Shenzhen Open, the first time for her a significant result in the opening round. Right after that, she came to Australia to play at the Hobart International, where she advanced to the quarterfinals. In early March, she won her first WTA singles title at the Brasil Tennis Cup in Florianópolis, after defeating Olga Puchkova in the final. A month later, she got to another semifinal at the Monterrey Open. By the end of the year, she reached only one WTA quarterfinal, at the Washington Open. In 2013, she suffered first-round losses in all Grand Slam tournaments.

For the second year in-a-row, Niculescu had a solid start. She started the year with two back-to-back quarterfinals of the Shenzhen Open and Hobart International. At the Australian Open, she reached the third round, after defeating No. 15 Lisicki in the three sets. It was first singles Grand Slam win for Niculescu, after making 7 consecutive Grand Slam first round losses. In July, she reached the semifinal of the Bucharest Open, but then lost to her compatriot and No. 3 Simona Halep. In September, she won her second career WTA singles title at the Guangzhou Open. Niculescu was convinced during the whole tournaments, winning all matches in straight sets, and defeating No. 22 Alizé Cornet in the final.

Niculescu left her marks during the all three seasons. She started strong in January 2012 with winning title at the Hobart International. The following week, she reached her second career Grand Slam quarterfinal in doubles at the Australian Open. In March 2012, she reached the semifinal of the Premier Mandatory Miami Open. It was her first at least quarterfinal of the Premier 5/Premier Mandatory tournaments after winning semifinal at the 2010 Canadian Open. In September 2012, she get to the final of the Guangzhou Open, but finished as a runner-up. A month later, she finished as another runner-up, this time at the Luxembourg Open.

The first half of the 2013 was marked with poorly results. Her first significant result came at the Italian Open, where she finished as a quarterfinalist. In that manner, she achieved at least one quarterfinal on both surfaces (hardcourt and clay) at the Premier 5/Premier Mandatory tournaments. It was also her eight Premier 5/Premier Mandatory at least quarterfinal. In June, she reached the final of the Eastbourne International. Despite losing in the final match, she had accomplished at least one final at the all three surfaces (hard, clay and grass).

Starting of the 2014 season was the strong to date for Niculescu. She started the year with the two back-to-back titles at the Shenzhen Open and Hobart International. At the Qatar Open, she reached her ninth Premier 5/Premier Mandatory quarterfinal. In April, she advanced to the another WTA final at the Katowice Open, but failed to win the trophy. During the year, she also reached two Premier semifinals, at the Open GdF Suez in late January and at the Connecticut Open in August.

First half of the year was heavy for Niculescu. She was also confronted with difficult draws. For instance, she drew world No. 1, Serena Williams, twice in a row in the second round of Indian Wells and Miami. While she managed to test Williams in Indian Wells with a 5–7, 5–7 score, she was not able to win a set against her in either match. At the French Open, she had another difficult job, facing No. 8 Carla Suárez Navarro in the opening round. She lost the match after winning only four games. She made improvement at the $100K Marseille tournament in early June, when she won the ITF title. She then returned to the WTA Tour, with a strong performance at the Nottingham Open. She get to the final after defeating No. 13 Agnieszka Radwańska. In the final, she lost to Ana Konjuh after three sets. At Wimbledon, she reached round of 16 and lost to No. 15 Bacsinszky. The next two tournaments were solid for Niculescu: First, she played in the semifinal of the Bucharest Open, followed up then with the quarterfinal of the Washington Open. In late September, she advanced to her last quarterfinal of the year, at the Guangzhou Open.

Like in a singles, she had steady game in doubles during the whole year. In January, at the Hobart International, she came to the final. A month later, she reached the quarterfinal of the Premier 5 Dubai Championships. Soon after, she achieved another Premier 5/Premier Mandatory quarterfinal at the Miami Open. In early October, she went further. At the Wuhan Open, she advanced to the final as her first Premier 5/Premier Mandatory final. Alongside fellow Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu, she finished as a runner-up, after losing to Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza. She finished the year with the Premier Kremlin Cup final and title at the $100K Poitiers tournament.

Niculescu started the year with the title at the Shenzhen Open in doubles event. She drew attention to the singles at the Qatar Open. Despite reaching only the third round, she beat No. 31 Lisicki in the first round, followed up then with a win over former No. 1 Jelena Janković. In the third round, she had a hard job facing No. 3 Radwańska. She lost the match in the straight-sets. At the Miami Open, she had a prosperous two weeks in both events. As a 32nd seed in singles, she omit first round and had a lower ranked player in the next round. In the third round, she faced top 40 CoCo Vandeweghe, letting her win only 5 games. Despite losing to No. 23 Johanna Konta in the fourth round, it was her first Premier 5/Premier Mandatory in that stage of competition since the 2012 Qatar Open. In doubles, she reached the semifinal as her 12th Premier 5/Premier Mandatory quarterfinal and fourth semifinal. Her doubles journey continued with reaching another semifinal from the same category at the Italian Open.

In late July, she won her 6th doubles WTA title at the Washington Open. A week later, she won in the another final, this time at the Premier 5 Canadian Open. For the second time in her career, she failed to win title from the mentioned category. On the first next ranking, she reached a to date the highest doubles ranking of 16 place. She then made her debut at the Olympics Games. In the singles, she advanced to the second round, after defeating Verónica Cepede Royg, but then was forced to withdraw. In doubles, she lost in the first round. Her American Tour past successfully. She started with the quarterfinal of the Cincinnati Open. Alongside Mirza, she then won title at the Connecticut Open as her 7th career doubles title and first from the Premier category. After not winning any quarterfinal in singles since the begging of the year, she made progress at the Korea Open. In the first fourth rounds, she was sured with her games with winning all matches in the straight-sets. In the final, she lost to Lara Arrubarrena after three sets. A month later, she won her third career singles WTA title at the Luxembourg Open after beating Petra Kvitová. There, she also reached the final in doubles.

At the 2017 Hobart International, she made it to the final and lost to Elise Mertens, in straight sets. In April, she won the doubles event at the Ladies Open Biel-Bienne alongside Hsieh Su-wei. At Wimbledon, alongside Chan Hao-ching, she finished as a runner-up after losing to Ekaterina Makarova and Vesnina. In August, she advanced to the quarterfinal of the Citi Open in Washington, but then lost to Julia Görges. At the Cincinnati Open, she reached the semifinal in doubles event alongside Hsieh. They lost to Hingis-Latisha Chan. At the US Open, she reached the third round, where she lost to Jennifer Brady. She won the WTA 125 event at Limoges, on 12 November.

Her 2018 season started with playing at the Hobart International. She advanced to the quarterfinals after two wins but then was forced to withdraw. Despite losing in the first round of the singles event at the Australian Open, she managed to reach semifinals in doubles, partnering with Begu. Next, she advanced to another quarterfinal at the Taiwan Open, but lost to Lisicki, in three sets. She then performanced at the WTA 1000 Qatar Open when she beat Maria Sharapova in the first round, followed up with a win over Magdaléna Rybáriková. In the following round, she lost to Caroline Wozniacki. A month later, she reached another WTA 1000 third round, this time at the Miami Open. On her way she needed to defeat Putintseva and get another win over Rybáriková. In the third round, she was forced to retired during the third set against Sloane Stephens. Her results then start to weaken. Some of her results include the first round of Wimbledon, Canadian Open, US Open and Wuhan Open. On the 2 April 2018, she reached a career-high doubles ranking of 11.

Niculescu started 2019 by reaching the quarterfinals of the Shenzhen Open, but then lost to Wang Yafan. The following week, she reached the semifinals of the Hobart International in doubles event. In the Australian Open, she lost in the first round in singles but get to the third round in doubles. At the Thailand Open, she and Begu won a title in the doubles category. At the Miami Open, she get to the third round after defeating Garbiñe Muguruza, but then lost to Wozniacki. In doubles, she and Abigail Spears reached the quarterfinals. They lost in the quarterfinal match against Samantha Stosur and Zhang Shuai after three sets.

She started well the grass season with the semifinal of the Nottingham Open doubles event. The following week, she won the $100k Ilkley Trophy grass-court tournament defeating Tímea Babos in the final. Her next tournament was Wimbledon, where she defeated former top 10 player Petkovic. In doubles, she advanced to the third round. A month later, she and Margarita Gasparyan lost in the final of the Bronx Open.

At the 2020 Australian Open, Niculescu qualified into the main draw, facing Alizé Cornet in the first round. After winning the first set, she only won one game in the second set, and got defeated in the third. At the Prague Open, Niculescu finished runner-up alongside Olaru losing to the pair of Lucie Hradecká/Kristýna Plíšková. At the US Open, she lost to Danielle Collins in the first round.

At the 2021 Qatar Open doubles event, she and Jeļena Ostapenko finished runners-up, losing the final to Nicole Melichar and Demi Schuurs. Soon later, she reached the semifinal of the St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy alongside Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove. At the French Open, she and Ostapenko got into the fourth round, where the Pliskova's sisters defeated them. Next, she won the ITF title at the $100.000 Nottingham tournament, where together with Elena-Gabriela Ruse, she defeated Priscilla Hon and Storm Sanders. After that she went to Wimbledon, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka. In doubles, she got one round further together with Andreea Mitu.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Niculescu started for her country only in the doubles event. Playing alongside Olaru, she get to the second round after beating former No. 5, Chan Hao-ching, and former No. 1, Latisha Chan. Niculescu continued her good results in doubles, getting to the quarterfinals of the US Open alongside Ruse, this being her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2018 Australian Open and the first one at the US Open. In October, Niculescu won the inaugural Astana Open together with Anna-Lena Friedsam. This was her tenth WTA doubles title, and the first since February 2019. She closed 2021 off with the doubles title at the WTA 125 Open de Limoges, alongside Vera Zvonareva.

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