fbpx
Wikipedia

Tsvetana Pironkova

January 01, 1970

In this Bulgarian name, the patronymic is Kirilova and the family name is Pironkova.

Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova (Bulgarian: Цветана Кирилова Пиронкова [tsvɛˈtanɐ piroŋˈkɔvɐ]; 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.[2][3] 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.[4][5]

Tsvetana Pironkova
Pironkova at the 2016 US Open
Full nameTsvetana Kirilova Pironkova
Native nameЦветана Пиронкова
Country (sports) Bulgaria
ResidencePlovdiv, Bulgaria
Born (1987-09-13) 13 September 1987 (age 36)
Plovdiv, People's Republic of Bulgaria
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Turned pro2002
PlaysRight (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$ 5,321,439
Official websitetsvetanapironkova.com
Singles
Career record413–321 (56.3%)
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 31 (13 September 2010)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015)
French OpenQF (2016)
WimbledonSF (2010)
US OpenQF (2020)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games2R (2008, 2012)
Doubles
Career record13–31 (29.5%)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 141 (23 March 2009)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open2R (2007, 2009)
French Open2R (2006, 2008)
Wimbledon2R (2011, 2013)
US Open2R (2008)
Team competitions
Fed Cup29–27 (51.8%)
(singles 22–17)
Hopman CupRR (2012)

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 Grand Slam in singles.[6] 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;[7] she made it all the way to the quarterfinals, her first at a Grand Slam championship since 2016.[8][9] Her performances in 2020 earned her the Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year Award and a nomination for the WTA Comeback Player of the Year.[10][11]

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.[12][13]

Personal life edit

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.[14] She has one brother, Encho, and one sister, Elisaveta.[14] Pironkova is the granddaughter of a prominent Bulgarian contemporary artist, Encho Pironkov. She started playing tennis at the age of four,[14] when her father introduced her to the game. When she decided to play professionally, he became her coach.[15]

Pironkova married her long-time boyfriend Mihail Mirchev, a former Bulgarian football player, in July 2016.[16] In April 2018, she gave birth to a baby boy named Alexander.[17] The couple had their second child, another boy, in July 2022.[18]

Career edit

First professional steps edit

Pironkova won the 2001 Atlantic Cup International Junior Tournament held in Bulgaria,[19] and her career-high in juniors was world No. 227 in March 2002.[20] 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.[21] 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 Switzerland[22] to win her first ITF event.[14] In 2003, Pironkova won three singles titles, one in Orestiada and two in Istanbul.[14]

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.[23] Pironkova garnered widespread media attention by defeating Venus again in the first round of the 2006 Australian Open.[24] She was ranked 94th in the world.[25][26][27] However, in the next round, she lost to Laura Granville.[28] 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.[29] On 16 November 2006, Pironkova reached a career-high singles ranking of 62.[30]

2007–2009: Top-50 debut edit

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.[31] 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.[29][32]

 
Pironkova at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships

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.[29] Pironkova caused another upset at the Rome Masters, 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.[33] 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.[29] In September, Pironkova reached the final of an ITF event in Sofia, where she lost to Nuria Llagostera Vives.[29] Pironkova ended the year ranked No. 46 in the world, marking her first ever top-50 season.[15]

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 her fifth top-20 win in her career.[14]

At the Australian Open, Pironkova defeated Karolina Šprem in the first round before losing to 16th seeded Marion Bartoli.[29] 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.[29]

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.[29] 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 edit

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.

 
Pironkova at the 2010 US Open

She made her first ITF Circuit appearance of the year in the Fort Walton Beach tournament, where she reached the semifinals.[34] 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,[3] 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.[35] Pironkova beat five-time champion Venus Williams before she lost her first Grand Slam semifinal to Vera Zvonareva, in three sets.[34]

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.[30][34]

2011: Wimbledon quarterfinal edit

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.[36]

 
Pironkova at the 2011 Eastbourne International

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.[37]

At the US Open, she defeated Virginie Razzano in the first round, but lost to world No. 13, Peng Shuai, in the second.[36] 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.[30]

2012–2013: US Open and Wimbledon fourth rounds edit

Pironkova began 2012 representing Bulgaria at the Hopman Cup losing to Petra Kvitová. Pironkova and her partner Grigor Dimitrov defeated Tomáš Berdych and Kvitová in doubles. Despite their win, the team of Bulgaria lost to the Czech Republic (1–2), after Pironkova and Dimitrov lost their singles matches.[38] Afterward, their team was victorious against Denmark 2–1.[39] They scored a victory over the United States, but finished second in Group A and didn't qualify for the final.[40]

At the Australian Open, Pironkova defeated Sania Mirza in the first round, before losing to Galina Voskoboeva in the second. She again represented Bulgaria in the Fed Cup, alongside Elitsa Kostova, Dia Evtimova, and Isabella Shinikova. They scored their first victory, beating Estonia (3–0).[41] Later, the team lost to Austria, then lost again to Portugal and finished in seventh place in the group.[42]

Pironkova competed in the Qatar Open, recording a victory over Angelique Kerber in the second round, but losing to Marion Bartoli in the third. She reached the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open, losing to Roberta Vinci. At the Brussels Open, Pironkova reached the quarterfinals, falling to Kaia Kanepi.[43] She then reached the second round of the French Open, losing to former champion Francesca Schiavone.

At the Eastbourne International, Pironkova reached her second quarterfinal of the season after defeating No. 1 seeded Agnieszka Radwańska and qualifier Stéphanie Dubois, losing to eventual champion Tamira Paszek. At Wimbledon, Pironkova lost a second-round match to Maria Sharapova, in three sets. She reached the quarterfinals of the Swedish Open, losing to Polona Hercog.

At the US Open, Pironkova reached the third round of a Grand Slam besides Wimbledon for the first time. She defeated Camila Giorgi in the first round, Ayumi Morita in the second, and Sílvia Soler Espinosa in the third. In the fourth round, with a first US Open quarterfinal in sight, she was upset by former world No. 1, Ana Ivanovic. Her last tournament of the year was the Tournament of Champions, where she entered with a wildcard. She lost to Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals.[40]

Pironkova reached the quarterfinals of the 2013 Hobart International, where she lost to the defending champion Mona Barthel. She had beaten Irina-Camelia Begu and third seed Klára Koukalová in the round of 16.[44] She was eliminated in the first round of the Australian Open by Romina Oprandi.

 
Pironkova at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships

In February, Pironkova took part in the Fed Cup tie vs. the Netherlands, defeating Arantxa Rus in straight sets, helping Bulgaria win the tie. She later helped Bulgaria win the tie against Luxembourg with a victory over veteran Anne Kremer. On 9 February, she played in the tie against Slovenia, and beat Tjasa Srimpf, who retired after losing the first game of the match, which advanced Bulgaria to the promotion playoffs. In the playoff tie against Great Britain on 10 February, Pironkova lost against Heather Watson in three sets, meaning that Bulgaria lost the tie and remained in the Fed Cup Europe/Africa Group I.

Following a string of first-round losses,[44] Pironkova beat Karolína Plíšková in Marrakesh, but then lost in three sets to Lourdes Domínguez Lino, who went on to reach the final. She then lost a series of first-round matches throughout the remainder of the clay-court season, culminating with an early exit at the French Open.[44]

On her preferred surface of grass,[3] Pironkova snapped her losing streak at the Birmingham Classic, defeating Lauren Davis in the opening round. She dropped her second-round match to Sorana Cîrstea. She went on to play in 's-Hertogenbosch, where she beat Kristina Mladenovic and Irina-Camelia Begu, marking the first time since January that she reached the quarterfinals of a WTA event. She then lost to Carla Suárez Navarro in three sets.[44]

At Wimbledon, she won against 21st seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the opening match and then went on to beat Barbora Strýcová and Petra Martić in the next two rounds. She came close to causing another huge upset at the tournament when she was up a set against fourth seed Agnieszka Radwańska, but eventually lost in three sets to the former finalist.

2014: First WTA title edit

Pironkova started the 2014 season ranked outside the top 100, at No. 107. She made it through the qualifying draw at the Sydney International. In the main draw, she defeated world No. 7, Sara Errani, in the quarterfinals and world No. 6, Petra Kvitová, in the semifinals, both in straight sets. She then defeated ninth ranked Angelique Kerber to win her first WTA Tour title. Pironkova was the first qualifier to win a Premier event in three and a half years,[45] moved up 50 places in the world rankings, and was the first Bulgarian to win a WTA event in over ten years (after Magdalena Maleeva at the 2003 Birmingham Classic). Pironkova's run in Australia ended at the Australian Open with a second-round straight-set loss to Samantha Stosur, managing to win just two games.[46] After the Australian Open, she reached a ranking of No. 52.

In February, Pironkova played in Doha, where she made it through the qualifying rounds. She beat veteran world No. 14, Roberta Vinci, in the first round, losing just six games.[47] However, Pironkova's good run ended in the second round, where she lost to youngster No. 55, Annika Beck, after winning the first set on a tie-break.[48] She then played in Dubai. In the first round of qualifying, she beat world No. 487, Vitalia Diatchenko, in a long and hard match (over 2 and a half hours), losing the first set on a tiebreak, saving a match point in the 10th game of the second set, then winning the second set again on a tiebreak, and was leading in the third set when her opponent retired. However, in what was her second loss against the Canadian out of two matches, she lost in the second qualifying round to youngster, No. 19, Eugenie Bouchard.[49]

In March, Pironkova played at the Indian Wells hard-court event,[50] where she started in the main draw. She lost in straight sets to No. 38, Madison Keys, in the first round.[51] She then played in Miami, where she beat Galina Voskoboeva and 25th seed Sorana Cîrstea without losing a set, but then lost in the third round to fifth seed Angelique Kerber,[52] who went on to reach the quarterfinals. Pironkova moved five places up the rankings after Miami, to No. 42.[53]

In April, she played at the indoor hardcourt event in Katowice, where she was seeded eighth. In the first round, Pironkova beat Andrea Hlaváčková, after losing the first set. In round two, in what was her fifth loss against the Israeli out of eight matches, she lost to world No. 90, Shahar Pe'er, whom she also lost to in this same event in 2013. Pironkova then played in the qualifying for the indoor clay court event in Stuttgart, where she was the top-ranked player at No. 40. In the first round of qualifying, she beat local teenager Tayisiya Morderger, but then lost to No. 221, Gioia Barbieri, in the second qualifying round.

 
Pironkova at the Kremlin Cup 2014

In Madrid, where she started in the main draw and lost to wildcard No. 145, Lara Arruabarrena, in round one. Pironkova then played in Rome, where she lost to qualifier Petra Cetkovská in round one, despite easily winning the first set.

She then played at Roland Garros. In round one, she beat No. 49 Annika Beck (after losing the first on a tie-break), whom she had never beaten before. Pironkova then faced a major test in round two, in what was her fifth loss out of five matches, despite being a break up in the first set, to seventh seed Maria Sharapova, who went on to win the tournament.

Pironkova's first tournament for the grass-court season was the Eastbourne International, where in round one she lost to local wildcard No. 70, Heather Watson, who went on to reach the semifinals. Pironkova then played Wimbledon, where she faced No. 57, Varvara Lepchenko, in the first round and lost in a match that was played over two days.

In July, she played at the Istanbul hardcourt event, where she was unseeded. In what was the second match between the two and second loss for Pironkova, she lost to No. 72 Stefanie Vögele in the first round. Pironkova played in Cincinnati, where she lost in the first round to Carla Suárez Navarro. In New Haven, she fell in the qualifying draw.

At the US Open, she reached the second round, where in what was her sixth loss to the Serb out of six matches, she lost to ninth seed Jelena Janković. In September, Pironkova played in Wuhan, where she lost in the qualifying draw. Her second tournament in September was the China Open, where she lost in the second round to world No. 1, Serena Williams. Next, she reached the quarterfinals in Linz, before losing to Karin Knapp. She reached her second quarterfinal of the month in Moscow, where she fell to eventual finalist Irina-Camelia Begu. Pironkova was awarded a wildcard for the final tournament of the year, the Tournament of Champions. She lost all her matches in the round-robin stage and finished fourth in her group.

2015–2016: Roland Garros quarterfinal edit

Pironkova started the year ranked No. 50 and began the season at the Brisbane International where she lost her first-round match to seventh seed Carla Suárez Navarro. Then she returned to Sydney to play the Apia International as the defending champion and once again had to go through qualifying, as she was not given a wildcard entry.[54] At the time, Pironkova was ranked No. 67 and lost the points from her title. She beat eighth seed Flavia Pennetta in the first round in straight sets, then overcoming unseeded Madison Keys and Záhlavová-Strýcová both in straight sets, but then lost in the semifinals to second seed and eventual champion Petra Kvitová in a repeat of the 2014 semifinals. With this defeat, she ended her 14-match winning streak at the tournament.[55]

 
Pironkova at the 2015 Eastbourne International

At the Australian Open, she beat Heather Watson in the first round, but then in what was her eighth loss against the Slovak out of nine matches, lost to 11th seed Dominika Cibulková in the second, again in straight sets. Pironkova reached the third round of the Dubai Championships, where she beat Klára Koukalová and Peng Shuai, before losing to top seed world No. 2, Simona Halep, in straight sets. At Indian Wells, she lost in the first round, reached the second round in Miami, losing to 15th seed Flavia Pennetta in three tight sets. She reached second rounds in both Prague and Madrid, losing to top seeds Karolína Plíšková and Lucie Šafářová, respectively. She suffered a first-round defeat in Rome.[56]

At the French Open, Pironkova reached the third round, where she upset 25th seed Barbora Strýcová and then took out another Czech player Denisa Allertová, both in straight sets, before losing to American Sloane Stephens. The third-round appearance at the Roland Garros was her best to date.[57]

Pironkova started her grass-court season at the Birmingham Classic, where in the first round she beat Brit Katie Stan, but came short against German fourth seed Angelique Kerber, losing in three sets. She then reached her second premier-level event quarterfinal in 2015 in Eastbourne at the Aegon International, where she beat Marina Erakovic in the first round, 16th seed Samantha Stosur, and former Grand Slam finalist Dominika Cibulková, before being beaten by eventual finalist Agnieszka Radwańska. At Wimbledon, she lost to 30th seed and Aegon International winner, Belinda Bencic, in three sets.[58]

She then entered the İstanbul Cup as the eighth seed and reached her third quarterfinal of the year. She beat Margarita Gasparyan and Kurumi Nara, both in three sets, but lost to Urszula Radwańska in three sets in a tie-break in the final set.[59]

Pironkova started the 2016 season with a loss to Samantha Crawford in Brisbane qualifying. She played the Sydney International, where she received a wildcard to the main draw and reached the second round, beating Lesia Tsurenko before losing to No. 8 seed, Belinda Bencic. At the Australian Open, she lost in the first round to Yaroslava Shvedova. Her next tournament was the Dubai Championships, where she entered the main draw after beating Kristýna Plíšková, Kateryna Bondarenko and Anna-Lena Friedsam in the qualifying. She lost to eventual finalist Barbora Strýcová in the first round.

 
Pironkova reached the quarterfinals at the 2016 French Open, her best performance at the tournament

At Roland Garros, the 102nd ranked Pironkova upset 16th seed Sara Errani in the first round and 19th seed Sloane Stephens in the third round, both in straight sets. In the fourth round against world No. 2, Agnieszka Radwańska, after Pironkova was a set and three games down, the match was cancelled due to rain and resumed after two days. The Bulgarian took advantage of the situation, dominating the rest of the match after the pause by winning 12 out of 15 games, thus eventually reaching the quarterfinals and becoming the first Bulgarian since Sesil Karatantcheva in 2005 to reach this stage of the tournament.[60] Pironkova's run at Roland Garros ended with a loss to Samantha Stosur.

In June, her good performance continued on grass court. She passed the qualifying event of Birmingham, and then, in the second round, the Bulgarian beat No. 26, Irina-Camelia Begu to reach the quarterfinals, where she was eliminated by Barbora Strýcová. Pironkova then exited the Wimbledon Championships in the first round, losing to seventh seed Belinda Bencic in two tight sets.

In August, she participated in the Summer Olympics. She lost in the opening round to Laura Siegemund, and next played the Cincinnati Masters making her way to the second qualifying round by beating Kateryna Kozlova. She then lost to Annika Beck, but was allowed into the main draw as a lucky loser. She faced Daria Kasatkina overcoming her in straight sets. In the next round she lost to world No. 8, Roberta Vinci. Towards the end of the month, she lost in the first round of qualifying in New Haven in straight sets.

Pironkova reached the second round of the US Open but was beaten by Johanna Konta in three sets. She then lost in the first round of both tournaments that she played in after the US Open, and finished the year ranked 64th.

2017–2019: Decline in ranking, shoulder injury, pregnancy hiatus edit

Her 2017 campaign began with a second-round appearance at the Shenzhen Open, where lost to the eighth seed and eventual finalist, Alison Riske, having beaten Galina Voskoboeva in her opening match. She next played in the qualifying rounds at the Sydney International. She defeated Patricia Maria Tig in the first round, only to retire in her next match against Maria Sakkari. Pironkova entered the Australian Open as the 64th ranked player, and lost in three sets against the third seeded Agnieszka Radwańska as her first round opponent. The tournament marked Pironkova's 45th consecutive Grand Slam appearance, the second longest active streak on the WTA Tour only behind Jelena Janković's 51.[61] Pironkova's next tournament was the Qatar Open where she competed in the qualifying competition. She breezed through the first two rounds with straight set wins over Vania King and Evgeniya Rodina. However, in the final round of qualifying, she lost to former world No. 1, Jelena Janković, in three hard-fought sets.

After having lost six consecutive first-round matches, which included defeats in round of 128 at the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open and two losses in the qualifying rounds at the Italian Open and Madrid Open, Pironkova broke her losing streak with a straight-set victory over Mona Barthel in the first round of French Open.[62] She was en route for another big upset having led with one set in the second round encounter against one of the tournament favourites Elina Svitolina, who was the No. 1 ranked player in the Race to Singapore standings, but eventually lost in three sets.[63][64]

Pironkova began her grass-court season with a straight-set victory over tournament qualifier Tereza Martincová in the first round of the Nottingham Open.[65] She next beat Kurumi Nara, also in straight sets, to reach the quarterfinals, where she lost to the fifth seed Lucie Šafářová, after having won the second set 6–0. She entered the qualifying round of the Eastbourne International, where she comfortably got better of the tenth seed Markéta Vondroušová in the opening round. Pironkova failed to reach the main draw as she suffered a tough three-set defeat in the final qualifying round, losing out to the third seed Lara Arruabarrena. However, she was awarded entry into the main draw as a lucky loser.[66] Pironkova defeated Monica Niculescu in straight sets in her first match in the main draw, and then faced second seed Simona Halep in the next round.[67] Pironkova won the first set in a tie-break and was leading 2–1 (40–30), when the match was suspended due to rain.[68][69] When play resumed the next day, she went on to lose the match in three tight sets, in over 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Pironkova entered the Wimbledon Championships, drawing former world No. 5, Sara Errani, in the first round, a match that she eventually won comfortably in just over an hour, with the loss of just five games.[70] Pironkova was dubbed as the darkhorse and one of the most dangerous unseeded players in draw by WTA insider David Kane prior to the tournament, and her potential second round encounter with former world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki, was variously dubbed one of the most anticipated matches in the early rounds.[2][71][72][73] With heavy strapping on her left thigh, Pironkova lost a closely contested two-set match against Wozniacki. The former played erratically, with both winners and unforced errors flowing from her racket incongruously.[74]

Pironkova was sidelined from the US Open Series with a persistent shoulder injury. She was unable to participate at the US Open, and it marked the end of her run of 47 Grand Slam appearances in a row.[75]

Pironkova missed the rest of the 2017 season and finished No. 162 in the world. In December, it was revealed, she was expecting her first child with her husband, and gave birth to a son in April 2018. For this reason, Pironkova did not participate in the 2018 and 2019 seasons as well.[76]

2020: Return to action, US Open quarterfinal edit

Pironkova announced her return to tennis in March, just before the COVID-19 pandemic. She returned to action at the 2020 US Open, playing her first tournament since the 2017 Wimbledon Championships using a protected ranking of No. 123 that she applied for prior to the birth of her son. Pironkova began her campaign with a straight-sets win over world No. 120, Ludmilla Samsonova in the first round.[77] She then followed it up with wins over tenth seed Garbiñe Muguruza[78] and 18th seed Donna Vekić in the second and third rounds, respectively. Playing in just her second round of 16 match in New York, Pironkova defeated Alizé Cornet in three hours.[79] In the quarterfinals, she was defeated by Serena Williams, 4–6, 6–3, 6–2, despite leading by a break in the second set. 'USOpen.org' writer Steve Pratt highlighted Pironkova's run to the quarterfinals, noting how her successful return to tour after a three-year absence "[became] the story of the women's singles draw".[80]

Pironkova received a wildcard for the 2020 French Open. In the first round, she defeated Andrea Petkovic in straight sets. Her opponent in the second round, Serena Williams, withdrew before the match. She was defeated by Barbora Krejčíková in the third round.

Due to her stellar performance at the US Open, reaching the quarterfinals at this major for the first time in her career, Pironkova was announced as the Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year.[81]

2021: Drop in the rankings edit

After defeating Margarita Gasparyan in the third round of the Australian Open qualifying,[82][83] she lost to eventual quarterfinalist Hsieh Su-wei.

At Wimbledon, she entered the main draw as lucky loser, losing to Yulia Putintseva in round one in straight sets.[84][85]

At the US Open, she lost in the first round to 25th seed Daria Kasatkina and has not competed since then.

She finished the year ranked world No. 245.

Playing style edit

 
Pironkova prefers her backhand side for groundstrokes

Pironkova plays right-handed, and uses a double-handed backhand.[15] She prefers fast surfaces, with grass being her favourite. Although she has a powerful first serve that consistently measures up to 180 kmph or 110 mph, she has a relatively weaker second serve.[86][87] Pironkova is noted for her powerful backhand, with the down-the-line backhand being one of her best shots.[88] Her forehand, however, has been variously described as "bizarre" and "clever", owing to the unusual amount of spin or slice on the shot. The Daily Telegraph commentator Emily Benammar noted in 2010 that if Pironkova's, "forehand comes up to scratch, she's in with a chance of beating the best".[86][89]

Overall, Pironkova does not rely heavily upon her groundstrokes, but is instead noted for her stroke-play, variety of shots and intelligent use of the court and its geometry.[89] She is also known for her squash-shot forehand and for incorporating flat and slice shots into rallies from her forehand and backhand sides. Pironkova varies the length of her shots and often draws her opponent forward with short balls to set up passing shots.[3][89][90] She also makes her opponents move around the court by making use of deep cross-court groundstrokes to keep them off balance.[91] Pironkova admittedly prefers shorter rallies, and looks for winners early in the point which at times leads to unforced errors. She told the freelance tennis writer Matt Trollope that she played mostly on clay courts early in her career and that the aggressive style developed "pretty naturally" during her formative years.[92]

Pironkova's style of play has drawn comparisons with such players as Justine Henin. Sports columnist Simon Briggs elaborated on the similarity in the styles noting that Pironkova's court craft and tactical nous made her capable of "reflecting the Williams sisters' own power back against them".[89] Pironkova has also been praised for her fast movement on the tennis court by such commentators as Briggs, who was impressed by her "nimble" footwork at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. Pironkova thought of her movement on the grass courts as her best among all the surfaces. She also ascribed the optimum ball bounce on the grass as it is "probably just perfect for [my] timing". Having been praised for her range of shots and strokeplay, Pironkova said that she developed a spontaneous approach towards her shot selection and overall game as she matured.[92]

Honors edit

Career statistics edit

Main article: Tsvetana Pironkova career statistics

Grand Slam tournament performance timelines edit

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles edit

Tournament 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 ... 2020 2021 2022 SR W–L Win%
Australian Open A 2R 1R 2R 2R 2R 2R 2R 1R 2R 2R 1R 1R A 1R A 0 / 13 8–13 38%
French Open A 2R 1R 2R 1R 1R 2R 2R 1R 2R 3R QF 2R 3R Q2 A 0 / 13 13–13 50%
Wimbledon Q3 2R 1R 1R 1R SF QF 2R 4R 1R 1R 1R 2R NH 1R A 0 / 13 15–13 54%
US Open Q2 1R 2R 1R 1R 2R 2R 4R 1R 2R 1R 2R A QF 1R 0 / 13 12–13 48%
Win–loss 0–0 3–4 1–4 2–4 1–4 7–4 7–4 6–4 3–4 3–4 3–4 5–4 2–3 5–2 0–3 0 / 52 48–52 48%
Career statistics
Titles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Career total: 1
Finals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Career total: 1
Year-end ranking 88 62 98 46 99 35 46 42 108 39 59 64 162 135 245 $5,321,439

Doubles edit

Tournament 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 SR W–L Win%
Australian Open A 2R A 2R A 1R A A A A 0 / 3 2–3 40%
French Open 2R A 2R 1R A 1R 1R A A 1R 0 / 6 2–6 25%
Wimbledon A A 1R A A 2R A 2R 2R 1R 0 / 5 3–5 38%
US Open 1R A 2R A 1R 1R 1R A A A 0 / 5 1–5 17%
Win–loss 1–2 1–1 2–3 1–2 0–1 1–4 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–2 0 / 19 8–19 30%

References edit

  1. ^ "Профил на Цветана Пиронкова" (in Bulgarian). tennis.bg. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b Kane, Dane (2 July 2017). . WTA. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d Rothenberg, Ben (28 June 2013). "Something About Wimbledon Agrees With Lisicki and Pironkova". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  4. ^ "Ranking movers: Watson heads back towards Top 100 territory". Women's Tennis Association. 3 July 2017. from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  5. ^ Kane, David (16 January 2015). . Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Tsvetana Pironkova Bio | Bio & Career". WTA Tennis. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Phenomenal Pironkova comeback rolls on into US Open round of 16". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  8. ^ . Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ Rothenberg, Ben (9 September 2020). "Pironkova Surprises Even Herself in Her Return at the U.S. Open". The New York Times.
  10. ^ "2020 Season WTA Player Awards: Nominations announced".
  11. ^ "Grand Slam winners Sofia Kenin, Naomi Osaka, Iga Swiatek on WTA Player of the Year shortlist". 3 December 2020.
  12. ^ "Pironetic". Pironetic. from the original on 5 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  13. ^ Orlinov, Borislav (3 July 2017). "Pironetic". TennisKafe.com. from the original on 5 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  14. ^ a b c d e f "Tsvetana Pironkova". WTA. from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  15. ^ a b c "ITF Circuit Profile". International Tennis Federation. from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  16. ^ "Tsvetana Pironkova got Married". Tennis World Magazine. 17 July 2016. from the original on 20 July 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  17. ^ "Tsvetana Pironkova gives birth to first child". Women's Tennis Blog. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  18. ^ "Tsvetana Pironkova welcomes second son, Viktor, to growing family". Tennis.com. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  19. ^ Juniors – Player Activity 7 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine. ITF Tennis (29 June 2010). Retrieved on 2011-06–29.
  20. ^ ITF junior profile on www.itftennis.com 7 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Itftennis.com. Retrieved on 29 June 2011.
  21. ^ . [dead link] ITF Tennis. Retrieved on 29 June 2011.
  22. ^ Women's Circuit – Tournament Overview 14 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine. ITF Tennis (29 September 2002). Retrieved on 29 June 2011.
  23. ^ Women's Circuit – Drawsheet By Round 7 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine. ITF Tennis. Retrieved on 29 June 2011.
  24. ^ Circuit – Drawsheet By Round. ITF Tennis. Retrieved on 29 June 2011.
  25. ^ "Venus slumps to shock early exit". BBC. 16 January 2006. from the original on 18 January 2006. Retrieved 16 January 2006.
  26. ^ Bulgarian teen bounces Venus from Australian Open from SI.com, retrieved 16 January 2006 26 January 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ Walker, Randy (2008 by New Chapter Press) On this Day in Tennis History, p. 21
  28. ^ Women's Circuit – Drawsheet By Round 7 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine. ITF Tennis, retrieved on 29 June 2011.
  29. ^ a b c d e f g h Women's Circuit – Player Activity 16 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine. ITF Tennis, retrieved on 29 June 2011.
  30. ^ a b c "Rankings". wtatennis.com. from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  31. ^ Women's Circuit – ITF Circuit Calendar 25 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine. ITF Tennis, retrieved on 29 June 2011.
  32. ^ Women's Circuit – Tournament Overview 14 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine. ITF Tennis (16 September 2007), retrieved on 29 June 2011.
  33. ^ (in Bulgarian). 7sport.net. 15 May 2008. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  34. ^ a b c "2010 Results". ESPN. from the original on 2 July 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  35. ^ Finn, Robin (10 September 1992). "U.S. OPEN '92; Graf Is Left Baffled; Young Maleeva Falls". The New York Times. from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  36. ^ a b "2011 Results". CBS. from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  37. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  38. ^ "Гришо и Цвети с победа на двойки срещу чехите" (in Bulgarian). 2 January 2012. from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  39. ^ "Bulgaria defeats Denmark in Hopman Cup". 4 January 2012. from the original on 9 June 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  40. ^ a b "2012 Results". ESPN. from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  41. ^ "Пиронкова и Костова мачкат естонки за Фед Къп" (in Bulgarian). 1 February 2012. from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  42. ^ "България остана на 7–мо място в I-ва група на "Фед Къп"" (in Bulgarian). 4 February 2012. from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  43. ^ "Пиронкова отпадна на четвъртфинал в Брюксел" (in Bulgarian). 24 May 2012. from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  44. ^ a b c d "2013 Results". CBS. from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  45. ^ . Sports Network. 24 March 2015. Archived from the original on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  46. ^ "Пиронкова отпадна от Australian Open, контузия й попречи да се бори със Стосър". 15 January 2014. from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  47. ^ "Пиронкова победи 14-та в света Винчи в Доха". from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  48. ^ "Цветана Пиронкова допусна обрат срещу 55-ата в света и отпадна от турнира в Доха". 12 February 2014. from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  49. ^ . Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  50. ^ . Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  51. ^ . Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  52. ^ "Пиронкова губи от Кербер в Маями". from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  53. ^ "Цвети се изкачи с 5 места нагоре в ранглистата". from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  54. ^ McCullough, Ian (14 January 2015). "Sydney wildcard snub firing up Tsvetana Pironkova". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  55. ^ . Zee News. Archived from the original on 15 January 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  56. ^ . Women's Tennis Association. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  57. ^ Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova Proceeds to Third Round of Roland Garros
  58. ^ . Telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  59. ^ . Novinite.com. Archived from the original on 26 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  60. ^ "Radwanska shocked by world No.102 Pironkova". from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  61. ^ "Agnieszka Radwanska beats Tsvetana Pironkova to keep Australian Open dream alive". Hindustan Times. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  62. ^ "Pironkova ends long losing streak at French Open". Diario AS. 30 May 2017. from the original on 13 June 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  63. ^ "Svitolina rallies past former quarterfinalist Pironkova in Parise". WTA. 1 June 2017. from the original on 3 June 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  64. ^ "Women's wrap: Thursday, June 1". SuperSport. 1 June 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  65. ^ "Konta and Watson headline action-packed Tuesday at Aegon Open Nottingham". My Nottingham News. 12 June 2017. from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  66. ^ Ene, Diana (26 June 2017). "WTA Eastbourne: Petra Kvitova s-a retras din competitie - Monica Niculescu o va intalni in turul doi pe Tsvetana Pironkova". HotNews.ro. from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  67. ^ "Kerber, Halep stay the course for No.1 clash in Eastbourne". WTA. 28 June 2017. from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  68. ^ "Eastbourne International: Novak Djokovic launches grass court season with straight sets win over Vasek Pospisil". Firstpost. 28 June 2017. from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  69. ^ "Kerber wins as rain derails Halep". Supersport. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  70. ^ "Wimbledon – Sara Errani inerme, tutto facile per la Pironkova". Tennis World. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  71. ^ Hodgkinson, Mark (6 July 2017). "Who to look out for on Day 4". The Championships Wimbledon. from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  72. ^ Nguyen, Courtney (30 June 2017). "Battle for No.1 begins at Wimbledon: WTA Insider analyzes the draw". WTA. from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  73. ^ "Wimbledon 2017: Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep's shot at No 1 adds spice to wide open women's draw". Firstpost. 1 July 2017. from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  74. ^ Jones, Chris (6 July 2017). "Wait is worth it for No.5 seed Wozniacki". The Championships Wimbledon. from the original on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  75. ^ "Tsvetana Pironkova will miss the US Open". Novinite. 28 August 2017. from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  76. ^ "Пиронкова пропуска сезона, ще става майка" (in Bulgarian). 20 December 2017. from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  77. ^ "Pironkova returns to tour: 'I'm glad I took the challenge'".
  78. ^ "US Open 2020: Garbine Muguruza beaten by Tsvetana Pironkova". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  79. ^ "Pironkova quells Cornet to continue US Open run into QF".
  80. ^ Pratt, Steve. "Tsvetana Pironkova's amazing US Open run continues to inspire". UsOpen.org. US Open. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  81. ^ "Tsvetana Pironkova is the Bulgarian Sportsperson of 2020". NOVA. NOVA. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  82. ^ "Veteran Pironkova, teen Burel among AO 2021 qualifiers". Ausopen.com.
  83. ^ "Pironkova prevails in second round of Aussie Open qualies". Wtatennis.com.
  84. ^ . Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  85. ^ "Minnen reaches Wimbledon main draw; Pironkova, Konjuh set qualifying clash". Wtatennis.com.
  86. ^ a b Benammar, Emily (14 June 2011). "Serena Williams v Tsvetana Pironkova – Eastbourne". The Daily Telegraph. from the original on 27 October 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  87. ^ "Wimbledon 2010: Tsvetana Pironkova stuns Venus Williams". BBC. 29 June 2010. from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  88. ^ "Bulgarian Father-Coach: Pironkova's Backhand Already Perfect". Novinite. 3 July 2010. from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  89. ^ a b c d Briggs, Simon (29 June 2010). "Wimbledon 2010: Tsevtana Pironkova causes shock of the year by beating Venus Williams". The Daily Telegraph. from the original on 23 August 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  90. ^ Pagliaro, Richard (28 June 2011). "Wimbledon: Kvitova d. Pironkova". tennis.com. from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  91. ^ "Wimbledon 2010: Tsvetana who? Your guide to the women's semi-finalists". The Guardian. 30 June 2010. from the original on 14 January 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  92. ^ a b Trollope, Matt (3 July 2016). "Grasscourt guns: Tsvetana Pironkova". Tennis Mash. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  93. ^ (PDF). bgtennis.bg. 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  94. ^ "Sportsperson of the Year 2020". bnr.bg. 30 December 2020.
  95. ^ "Sportsperson of the Year 2020". bgtennis.bg. 2020.

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tsvetana Pironkova.

January 01, 1970
tsvetana, pironkova, this, bulgarian, name, patronymic, kirilova, family, name, pironkova, tsvetana, kirilova, pironkova, bulgarian, Цветана, Кирилова, Пиронкова, tsvɛˈtanɐ, piroŋˈkɔvɐ, born, september, 1987, bulgarian, former, tennis, player, considered, best. In this Bulgarian name the patronymic is Kirilova and the family name is Pironkova Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova Bulgarian Cvetana Kirilova Pironkova tsvɛˈtanɐ piroŋˈkɔvɐ 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 2 3 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 4 5 Tsvetana PironkovaPironkova at the 2016 US OpenFull nameTsvetana Kirilova PironkovaNative nameCvetana PironkovaCountry sports BulgariaResidencePlovdiv BulgariaBorn 1987 09 13 13 September 1987 age 36 Plovdiv People s Republic of BulgariaHeight1 75 m 5 ft 9 in 1 Turned pro2002PlaysRight two handed backhand Prize moneyUS 5 321 439Official websitetsvetanapironkova comSinglesCareer record413 321 56 3 Career titles1Highest rankingNo 31 13 September 2010 Grand Slam singles resultsAustralian Open2R 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 French OpenQF 2016 WimbledonSF 2010 US OpenQF 2020 Other tournamentsOlympic Games2R 2008 2012 DoublesCareer record13 31 29 5 Career titles0Highest rankingNo 141 23 March 2009 Grand Slam doubles resultsAustralian Open2R 2007 2009 French Open2R 2006 2008 Wimbledon2R 2011 2013 US Open2R 2008 Team competitionsFed Cup29 27 51 8 singles 22 17 Hopman CupRR 2012 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 Istanbul 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 Grand Slam in singles 6 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 Radwanska 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 7 she made it all the way to the quarterfinals her first at a Grand Slam championship since 2016 8 9 Her performances in 2020 earned her the Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year Award and a nomination for the WTA Comeback Player of the Year 10 11 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 12 13 Contents 1 Personal life 2 Career 2 1 First professional steps 2 2 2007 2009 Top 50 debut 2 3 2010 First major semifinal 2 4 2011 Wimbledon quarterfinal 2 5 2012 2013 US Open and Wimbledon fourth rounds 2 6 2014 First WTA title 2 7 2015 2016 Roland Garros quarterfinal 2 8 2017 2019 Decline in ranking shoulder injury pregnancy hiatus 2 9 2020 Return to action US Open quarterfinal 2 10 2021 Drop in the rankings 3 Playing style 4 Honors 5 Career statistics 5 1 Grand Slam tournament performance timelines 5 1 1 Singles 5 1 2 Doubles 6 References 7 External linksPersonal life editPironkova 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 14 She has one brother Encho and one sister Elisaveta 14 Pironkova is the granddaughter of a prominent Bulgarian contemporary artist Encho Pironkov She started playing tennis at the age of four 14 when her father introduced her to the game When she decided to play professionally he became her coach 15 Pironkova married her long time boyfriend Mihail Mirchev a former Bulgarian football player in July 2016 16 In April 2018 she gave birth to a baby boy named Alexander 17 The couple had their second child another boy in July 2022 18 Career editFirst professional steps edit Pironkova won the 2001 Atlantic Cup International Junior Tournament held in Bulgaria 19 and her career high in juniors was world No 227 in March 2002 20 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 21 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 Switzerland 22 to win her first ITF event 14 In 2003 Pironkova won three singles titles one in Orestiada and two in Istanbul 14 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 23 Pironkova garnered widespread media attention by defeating Venus again in the first round of the 2006 Australian Open 24 She was ranked 94th in the world 25 26 27 However in the next round she lost to Laura Granville 28 In the first round of 2006 Wimbledon Championships Pironkova came from a set down to defeat then top 20 player Anna Lena Gronefeld However in the second round she lost to Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets 29 On 16 November 2006 Pironkova reached a career high singles ranking of 62 30 2007 2009 Top 50 debut edit 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 Ondraskova Marta Domachowska and Stephanie 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 31 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 Alize Cornet 29 32 nbsp Pironkova at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships 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 Cibulkova She reached the second round of the Australian Open losing to second seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets 29 Pironkova caused another upset at the Rome Masters 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 33 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 29 In September Pironkova reached the final of an ITF event in Sofia where she lost to Nuria Llagostera Vives 29 Pironkova ended the year ranked No 46 in the world marking her first ever top 50 season 15 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 her fifth top 20 win in her career 14 At the Australian Open Pironkova defeated Karolina Sprem in the first round before losing to 16th seeded Marion Bartoli 29 Playing at the Dubai Open Pironkova reached the second round of the tournament losing to 12th seed Cibulkova Seeded No 8 at the first Andalucia Tennis Experience Pironkova lost in the first round to Roberta Vinci 29 Pironkova won four matches at Stuttgart three in qualifying but lost to Agnieszka Radwanska 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 29 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 edit 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 nbsp Pironkova at the 2010 US Open She made her first ITF Circuit appearance of the year in the Fort Walton Beach tournament where she reached the semifinals 34 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 3 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 35 Pironkova beat five time champion Venus Williams before she lost her first Grand Slam semifinal to Vera Zvonareva in three sets 34 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 Cibulkova and ended the year ranked No 35 in the world 30 34 2011 Wimbledon quarterfinal edit 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 36 nbsp Pironkova at the 2011 Eastbourne International 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 Kvitova In July Pironkova competed in the Internazionali di Palermo where she defeated Anna Tatishvili in the first round and Sorana Cirstea in the second before losing to Flavia Pennetta 37 At the US Open she defeated Virginie Razzano in the first round but lost to world No 13 Peng Shuai in the second 36 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 Martic after her opponent retired due to injury She then lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round and ended the year at No 46 30 2012 2013 US Open and Wimbledon fourth rounds edit Pironkova began 2012 representing Bulgaria at the Hopman Cup losing to Petra Kvitova Pironkova and her partner Grigor Dimitrov defeated Tomas Berdych and Kvitova in doubles Despite their win the team of Bulgaria lost to the Czech Republic 1 2 after Pironkova and Dimitrov lost their singles matches 38 Afterward their team was victorious against Denmark 2 1 39 They scored a victory over the United States but finished second in Group A and didn t qualify for the final 40 At the Australian Open Pironkova defeated Sania Mirza in the first round before losing to Galina Voskoboeva in the second She again represented Bulgaria in the Fed Cup alongside Elitsa Kostova Dia Evtimova and Isabella Shinikova They scored their first victory beating Estonia 3 0 41 Later the team lost to Austria then lost again to Portugal and finished in seventh place in the group 42 Pironkova competed in the Qatar Open recording a victory over Angelique Kerber in the second round but losing to Marion Bartoli in the third She reached the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open losing to Roberta Vinci At the Brussels Open Pironkova reached the quarterfinals falling to Kaia Kanepi 43 She then reached the second round of the French Open losing to former champion Francesca Schiavone At the Eastbourne International Pironkova reached her second quarterfinal of the season after defeating No 1 seeded Agnieszka Radwanska and qualifier Stephanie Dubois losing to eventual champion Tamira Paszek At Wimbledon Pironkova lost a second round match to Maria Sharapova in three sets She reached the quarterfinals of the Swedish Open losing to Polona Hercog At the US Open Pironkova reached the third round of a Grand Slam besides Wimbledon for the first time She defeated Camila Giorgi in the first round Ayumi Morita in the second and Silvia Soler Espinosa in the third In the fourth round with a first US Open quarterfinal in sight she was upset by former world No 1 Ana Ivanovic Her last tournament of the year was the Tournament of Champions where she entered with a wildcard She lost to Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals 40 Pironkova reached the quarterfinals of the 2013 Hobart International where she lost to the defending champion Mona Barthel She had beaten Irina Camelia Begu and third seed Klara Koukalova in the round of 16 44 She was eliminated in the first round of the Australian Open by Romina Oprandi nbsp Pironkova at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships In February Pironkova took part in the Fed Cup tie vs the Netherlands defeating Arantxa Rus in straight sets helping Bulgaria win the tie She later helped Bulgaria win the tie against Luxembourg with a victory over veteran Anne Kremer On 9 February she played in the tie against Slovenia and beat Tjasa Srimpf who retired after losing the first game of the match which advanced Bulgaria to the promotion playoffs In the playoff tie against Great Britain on 10 February Pironkova lost against Heather Watson in three sets meaning that Bulgaria lost the tie and remained in the Fed Cup Europe Africa Group I Following a string of first round losses 44 Pironkova beat Karolina Pliskova in Marrakesh but then lost in three sets to Lourdes Dominguez Lino who went on to reach the final She then lost a series of first round matches throughout the remainder of the clay court season culminating with an early exit at the French Open 44 On her preferred surface of grass 3 Pironkova snapped her losing streak at the Birmingham Classic defeating Lauren Davis in the opening round She dropped her second round match to Sorana Cirstea She went on to play in s Hertogenbosch where she beat Kristina Mladenovic and Irina Camelia Begu marking the first time since January that she reached the quarterfinals of a WTA event She then lost to Carla Suarez Navarro in three sets 44 At Wimbledon she won against 21st seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the opening match and then went on to beat Barbora Strycova and Petra Martic in the next two rounds She came close to causing another huge upset at the tournament when she was up a set against fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska but eventually lost in three sets to the former finalist 2014 First WTA title edit Pironkova started the 2014 season ranked outside the top 100 at No 107 She made it through the qualifying draw at the Sydney International In the main draw she defeated world No 7 Sara Errani in the quarterfinals and world No 6 Petra Kvitova in the semifinals both in straight sets She then defeated ninth ranked Angelique Kerber to win her first WTA Tour title Pironkova was the first qualifier to win a Premier event in three and a half years 45 moved up 50 places in the world rankings and was the first Bulgarian to win a WTA event in over ten years after Magdalena Maleeva at the 2003 Birmingham Classic Pironkova s run in Australia ended at the Australian Open with a second round straight set loss to Samantha Stosur managing to win just two games 46 After the Australian Open she reached a ranking of No 52 In February Pironkova played in Doha where she made it through the qualifying rounds She beat veteran world No 14 Roberta Vinci in the first round losing just six games 47 However Pironkova s good run ended in the second round where she lost to youngster No 55 Annika Beck after winning the first set on a tie break 48 She then played in Dubai In the first round of qualifying she beat world No 487 Vitalia Diatchenko in a long and hard match over 2 and a half hours losing the first set on a tiebreak saving a match point in the 10th game of the second set then winning the second set again on a tiebreak and was leading in the third set when her opponent retired However in what was her second loss against the Canadian out of two matches she lost in the second qualifying round to youngster No 19 Eugenie Bouchard 49 In March Pironkova played at the Indian Wells hard court event 50 where she started in the main draw She lost in straight sets to No 38 Madison Keys in the first round 51 She then played in Miami where she beat Galina Voskoboeva and 25th seed Sorana Cirstea without losing a set but then lost in the third round to fifth seed Angelique Kerber 52 who went on to reach the quarterfinals Pironkova moved five places up the rankings after Miami to No 42 53 In April she played at the indoor hardcourt event in Katowice where she was seeded eighth In the first round Pironkova beat Andrea Hlavackova after losing the first set In round two in what was her fifth loss against the Israeli out of eight matches she lost to world No 90 Shahar Pe er whom she also lost to in this same event in 2013 Pironkova then played in the qualifying for the indoor clay court event in Stuttgart where she was the top ranked player at No 40 In the first round of qualifying she beat local teenager Tayisiya Morderger but then lost to No 221 Gioia Barbieri in the second qualifying round nbsp Pironkova at the Kremlin Cup 2014 In Madrid where she started in the main draw and lost to wildcard No 145 Lara Arruabarrena in round one Pironkova then played in Rome where she lost to qualifier Petra Cetkovska in round one despite easily winning the first set She then played at Roland Garros In round one she beat No 49 Annika Beck after losing the first on a tie break whom she had never beaten before Pironkova then faced a major test in round two in what was her fifth loss out of five matches despite being a break up in the first set to seventh seed Maria Sharapova who went on to win the tournament Pironkova s first tournament for the grass court season was the Eastbourne International where in round one she lost to local wildcard No 70 Heather Watson who went on to reach the semifinals Pironkova then played Wimbledon where she faced No 57 Varvara Lepchenko in the first round and lost in a match that was played over two days In July she played at the Istanbul hardcourt event where she was unseeded In what was the second match between the two and second loss for Pironkova she lost to No 72 Stefanie Vogele in the first round Pironkova played in Cincinnati where she lost in the first round to Carla Suarez Navarro In New Haven she fell in the qualifying draw At the US Open she reached the second round where in what was her sixth loss to the Serb out of six matches she lost to ninth seed Jelena Jankovic In September Pironkova played in Wuhan where she lost in the qualifying draw Her second tournament in September was the China Open where she lost in the second round to world No 1 Serena Williams Next she reached the quarterfinals in Linz before losing to Karin Knapp She reached her second quarterfinal of the month in Moscow where she fell to eventual finalist Irina Camelia Begu Pironkova was awarded a wildcard for the final tournament of the year the Tournament of Champions She lost all her matches in the round robin stage and finished fourth in her group 2015 2016 Roland Garros quarterfinal edit Pironkova started the year ranked No 50 and began the season at the Brisbane International where she lost her first round match to seventh seed Carla Suarez Navarro Then she returned to Sydney to play the Apia International as the defending champion and once again had to go through qualifying as she was not given a wildcard entry 54 At the time Pironkova was ranked No 67 and lost the points from her title She beat eighth seed Flavia Pennetta in the first round in straight sets then overcoming unseeded Madison Keys and Zahlavova Strycova both in straight sets but then lost in the semifinals to second seed and eventual champion Petra Kvitova in a repeat of the 2014 semifinals With this defeat she ended her 14 match winning streak at the tournament 55 nbsp Pironkova at the 2015 Eastbourne International At the Australian Open she beat Heather Watson in the first round but then in what was her eighth loss against the Slovak out of nine matches lost to 11th seed Dominika Cibulkova in the second again in straight sets Pironkova reached the third round of the Dubai Championships where she beat Klara Koukalova and Peng Shuai before losing to top seed world No 2 Simona Halep in straight sets At Indian Wells she lost in the first round reached the second round in Miami losing to 15th seed Flavia Pennetta in three tight sets She reached second rounds in both Prague and Madrid losing to top seeds Karolina Pliskova and Lucie Safarova respectively She suffered a first round defeat in Rome 56 At the French Open Pironkova reached the third round where she upset 25th seed Barbora Strycova and then took out another Czech player Denisa Allertova both in straight sets before losing to American Sloane Stephens The third round appearance at the Roland Garros was her best to date 57 Pironkova started her grass court season at the Birmingham Classic where in the first round she beat Brit Katie Stan but came short against German fourth seed Angelique Kerber losing in three sets She then reached her second premier level event quarterfinal in 2015 in Eastbourne at the Aegon International where she beat Marina Erakovic in the first round 16th seed Samantha Stosur and former Grand Slam finalist Dominika Cibulkova before being beaten by eventual finalist Agnieszka Radwanska At Wimbledon she lost to 30th seed and Aegon International winner Belinda Bencic in three sets 58 She then entered the Istanbul Cup as the eighth seed and reached her third quarterfinal of the year She beat Margarita Gasparyan and Kurumi Nara both in three sets but lost to Urszula Radwanska in three sets in a tie break in the final set 59 Pironkova started the 2016 season with a loss to Samantha Crawford in Brisbane qualifying She played the Sydney International where she received a wildcard to the main draw and reached the second round beating Lesia Tsurenko before losing to No 8 seed Belinda Bencic At the Australian Open she lost in the first round to Yaroslava Shvedova Her next tournament was the Dubai Championships where she entered the main draw after beating Kristyna Pliskova Kateryna Bondarenko and Anna Lena Friedsam in the qualifying She lost to eventual finalist Barbora Strycova in the first round nbsp Pironkova reached the quarterfinals at the 2016 French Open her best performance at the tournament At Roland Garros the 102nd ranked Pironkova upset 16th seed Sara Errani in the first round and 19th seed Sloane Stephens in the third round both in straight sets In the fourth round against world No 2 Agnieszka Radwanska after Pironkova was a set and three games down the match was cancelled due to rain and resumed after two days The Bulgarian took advantage of the situation dominating the rest of the match after the pause by winning 12 out of 15 games thus eventually reaching the quarterfinals and becoming the first Bulgarian since Sesil Karatantcheva in 2005 to reach this stage of the tournament 60 Pironkova s run at Roland Garros ended with a loss to Samantha Stosur In June her good performance continued on grass court She passed the qualifying event of Birmingham and then in the second round the Bulgarian beat No 26 Irina Camelia Begu to reach the quarterfinals where she was eliminated by Barbora Strycova Pironkova then exited the Wimbledon Championships in the first round losing to seventh seed Belinda Bencic in two tight sets In August she participated in the Summer Olympics She lost in the opening round to Laura Siegemund and next played the Cincinnati Masters making her way to the second qualifying round by beating Kateryna Kozlova She then lost to Annika Beck but was allowed into the main draw as a lucky loser She faced Daria Kasatkina overcoming her in straight sets In the next round she lost to world No 8 Roberta Vinci Towards the end of the month she lost in the first round of qualifying in New Haven in straight sets Pironkova reached the second round of the US Open but was beaten by Johanna Konta in three sets She then lost in the first round of both tournaments that she played in after the US Open and finished the year ranked 64th 2017 2019 Decline in ranking shoulder injury pregnancy hiatus edit Her 2017 campaign began with a second round appearance at the Shenzhen Open where lost to the eighth seed and eventual finalist Alison Riske having beaten Galina Voskoboeva in her opening match She next played in the qualifying rounds at the Sydney International She defeated Patricia Maria Tig in the first round only to retire in her next match against Maria Sakkari Pironkova entered the Australian Open as the 64th ranked player and lost in three sets against the third seeded Agnieszka Radwanska as her first round opponent The tournament marked Pironkova s 45th consecutive Grand Slam appearance the second longest active streak on the WTA Tour only behind Jelena Jankovic s 51 61 Pironkova s next tournament was the Qatar Open where she competed in the qualifying competition She breezed through the first two rounds with straight set wins over Vania King and Evgeniya Rodina However in the final round of qualifying she lost to former world No 1 Jelena Jankovic in three hard fought sets After having lost six consecutive first round matches which included defeats in round of 128 at the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open and two losses in the qualifying rounds at the Italian Open and Madrid Open Pironkova broke her losing streak with a straight set victory over Mona Barthel in the first round of French Open 62 She was en route for another big upset having led with one set in the second round encounter against one of the tournament favourites Elina Svitolina who was the No 1 ranked player in the Race to Singapore standings but eventually lost in three sets 63 64 Pironkova began her grass court season with a straight set victory over tournament qualifier Tereza Martincova in the first round of the Nottingham Open 65 She next beat Kurumi Nara also in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals where she lost to the fifth seed Lucie Safarova after having won the second set 6 0 She entered the qualifying round of the Eastbourne International where she comfortably got better of the tenth seed Marketa Vondrousova in the opening round Pironkova failed to reach the main draw as she suffered a tough three set defeat in the final qualifying round losing out to the third seed Lara Arruabarrena However she was awarded entry into the main draw as a lucky loser 66 Pironkova defeated Monica Niculescu in straight sets in her first match in the main draw and then faced second seed Simona Halep in the next round 67 Pironkova won the first set in a tie break and was leading 2 1 40 30 when the match was suspended due to rain 68 69 When play resumed the next day she went on to lose the match in three tight sets in over 2 hours and 40 minutes Pironkova entered the Wimbledon Championships drawing former world No 5 Sara Errani in the first round a match that she eventually won comfortably in just over an hour with the loss of just five games 70 Pironkova was dubbed as the darkhorse and one of the most dangerous unseeded players in draw by WTA insider David Kane prior to the tournament and her potential second round encounter with former world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki was variously dubbed one of the most anticipated matches in the early rounds 2 71 72 73 With heavy strapping on her left thigh Pironkova lost a closely contested two set match against Wozniacki The former played erratically with both winners and unforced errors flowing from her racket incongruously 74 Pironkova was sidelined from the US Open Series with a persistent shoulder injury She was unable to participate at the US Open and it marked the end of her run of 47 Grand Slam appearances in a row 75 Pironkova missed the rest of the 2017 season and finished No 162 in the world In December it was revealed she was expecting her first child with her husband and gave birth to a son in April 2018 For this reason Pironkova did not participate in the 2018 and 2019 seasons as well 76 2020 Return to action US Open quarterfinal edit Pironkova announced her return to tennis in March just before the COVID 19 pandemic She returned to action at the 2020 US Open playing her first tournament since the 2017 Wimbledon Championships using a protected ranking of No 123 that she applied for prior to the birth of her son Pironkova began her campaign with a straight sets win over world No 120 Ludmilla Samsonova in the first round 77 She then followed it up with wins over tenth seed Garbine Muguruza 78 and 18th seed Donna Vekic in the second and third rounds respectively Playing in just her second round of 16 match in New York Pironkova defeated Alize Cornet in three hours 79 In the quarterfinals she was defeated by Serena Williams 4 6 6 3 6 2 despite leading by a break in the second set USOpen org writer Steve Pratt highlighted Pironkova s run to the quarterfinals noting how her successful return to tour after a three year absence became the story of the women s singles draw 80 Pironkova received a wildcard for the 2020 French Open In the first round she defeated Andrea Petkovic in straight sets Her opponent in the second round Serena Williams withdrew before the match She was defeated by Barbora Krejcikova in the third round Due to her stellar performance at the US Open reaching the quarterfinals at this major for the first time in her career Pironkova was announced as the Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year 81 2021 Drop in the rankings edit After defeating Margarita Gasparyan in the third round of the Australian Open qualifying 82 83 she lost to eventual quarterfinalist Hsieh Su wei At Wimbledon she entered the main draw as lucky loser losing to Yulia Putintseva in round one in straight sets 84 85 At the US Open she lost in the first round to 25th seed Daria Kasatkina and has not competed since then She finished the year ranked world No 245 Playing style edit nbsp Pironkova prefers her backhand side for groundstrokes Pironkova plays right handed and uses a double handed backhand 15 She prefers fast surfaces with grass being her favourite Although she has a powerful first serve that consistently measures up to 180 kmph or 110 mph she has a relatively weaker second serve 86 87 Pironkova is noted for her powerful backhand with the down the line backhand being one of her best shots 88 Her forehand however has been variously described as bizarre and clever owing to the unusual amount of spin or slice on the shot The Daily Telegraph commentator Emily Benammar noted in 2010 that if Pironkova s forehand comes up to scratch she s in with a chance of beating the best 86 89 Overall Pironkova does not rely heavily upon her groundstrokes but is instead noted for her stroke play variety of shots and intelligent use of the court and its geometry 89 She is also known for her squash shot forehand and for incorporating flat and slice shots into rallies from her forehand and backhand sides Pironkova varies the length of her shots and often draws her opponent forward with short balls to set up passing shots 3 89 90 She also makes her opponents move around the court by making use of deep cross court groundstrokes to keep them off balance 91 Pironkova admittedly prefers shorter rallies and looks for winners early in the point which at times leads to unforced errors She told the freelance tennis writer Matt Trollope that she played mostly on clay courts early in her career and that the aggressive style developed pretty naturally during her formative years 92 Pironkova s style of play has drawn comparisons with such players as Justine Henin Sports columnist Simon Briggs elaborated on the similarity in the styles noting that Pironkova s court craft and tactical nous made her capable of reflecting the Williams sisters own power back against them 89 Pironkova has also been praised for her fast movement on the tennis court by such commentators as Briggs who was impressed by her nimble footwork at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships Pironkova thought of her movement on the grass courts as her best among all the surfaces She also ascribed the optimum ball bounce on the grass as it is probably just perfect for my timing Having been praised for her range of shots and strokeplay Pironkova said that she developed a spontaneous approach towards her shot selection and overall game as she matured 92 Honors editBest progressing player of the year in Bulgaria 2005 93 Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year 2020 94 95 Career statistics editMain article Tsvetana Pironkova career statistics Grand Slam tournament performance timelines edit Key W F SF QF R RR Q DNQ A NH W winner F finalist SF semifinalist QF quarterfinalist R rounds 4 3 2 1 RR round robin stage Q qualification round DNQ did not qualify A absent NH not held SR strike rate events won competed W L win loss record To avoid confusion and double counting these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player s participation has ended Singles edit Tournament 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2020 2021 2022 SR W L Win Australian Open A 2R 1R 2R 2R 2R 2R 2R 1R 2R 2R 1R 1R A 1R A 0 13 8 13 38 French Open A 2R 1R 2R 1R 1R 2R 2R 1R 2R 3R QF 2R 3R Q2 A 0 13 13 13 50 Wimbledon Q3 2R 1R 1R 1R SF QF 2R 4R 1R 1R 1R 2R NH 1R A 0 13 15 13 54 US Open Q2 1R 2R 1R 1R 2R 2R 4R 1R 2R 1R 2R A QF 1R 0 13 12 13 48 Win loss 0 0 3 4 1 4 2 4 1 4 7 4 7 4 6 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 2 3 5 2 0 3 0 52 48 52 48 Career statistics Titles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Career total 1 Finals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Career total 1 Year end ranking 88 62 98 46 99 35 46 42 108 39 59 64 162 135 245 5 321 439 Doubles edit Tournament 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 SR W L Win Australian Open A 2R A 2R A 1R A A A A 0 3 2 3 40 French Open 2R A 2R 1R A 1R 1R A A 1R 0 6 2 6 25 Wimbledon A A 1R A A 2R A 2R 2R 1R 0 5 3 5 38 US Open 1R A 2R A 1R 1R 1R A A A 0 5 1 5 17 Win loss 1 2 1 1 2 3 1 2 0 1 1 4 0 2 1 1 1 1 0 2 0 19 8 19 30 References edit Profil na Cvetana Pironkova in Bulgarian tennis bg Retrieved 4 September 2020 a b Kane Dane 2 July 2017 Insider Top 10 Dangerous floaters at Wimbledon 2017 WTA Archived from the original on 3 July 2017 Retrieved 7 July 2017 a b c d Rothenberg Ben 28 June 2013 Something About Wimbledon Agrees With Lisicki and Pironkova The New York Times Retrieved 30 June 2013 Ranking movers Watson heads back towards Top 100 territory Women s Tennis Association 3 July 2017 Archived from the original on 7 July 2017 Retrieved 8 July 2017 Kane David 16 January 2015 A Beginner s Guide Tsvetana Pironkova Archived from the original on 22 July 2015 Retrieved 4 July 2022 Tsvetana Pironkova Bio Bio amp Career WTA Tennis Retrieved 8 September 2020 Phenomenal Pironkova comeback rolls on into US Open round of 16 Women s Tennis Association Retrieved 4 July 2022 Archived copy Archived from the original on 20 January 2021 Retrieved 12 September 2020 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Rothenberg Ben 9 September 2020 Pironkova Surprises Even Herself in Her Return at the U S Open The New York Times 2020 Season WTA Player Awards Nominations announced Grand Slam winners Sofia Kenin Naomi Osaka Iga Swiatek on WTA Player of the Year shortlist 3 December 2020 Pironetic Pironetic Archived from the original on 5 October 2017 Retrieved 5 October 2017 Orlinov Borislav 3 July 2017 Pironetic TennisKafe com Archived from the original on 5 October 2017 Retrieved 5 October 2017 a b c d e f Tsvetana Pironkova WTA Archived from the original on 24 August 2017 Retrieved 26 June 2017 a b c ITF Circuit Profile International Tennis Federation Archived from the original on 16 June 2013 Retrieved 29 June 2011 Tsvetana Pironkova got Married Tennis World Magazine 17 July 2016 Archived from the original on 20 July 2016 Retrieved 17 July 2016 Tsvetana Pironkova gives birth to first child Women s Tennis Blog 3 April 2018 Retrieved 9 September 2018 Tsvetana Pironkova welcomes second son Viktor to growing family Tennis com 22 July 2022 Retrieved 28 August 2022 Juniors Player Activity Archived 7 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine ITF Tennis 29 June 2010 Retrieved on 2011 06 29 ITF junior profile on www itftennis com Archived 7 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine Itftennis com Retrieved on 29 June 2011 Women s Circuit ITF Circuit Calendar dead link ITF Tennis Retrieved on 29 June 2011 Women s Circuit Tournament Overview Archived 14 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine ITF Tennis 29 September 2002 Retrieved on 29 June 2011 Women s Circuit Drawsheet By Round Archived 7 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine ITF Tennis Retrieved on 29 June 2011 Circuit Drawsheet By Round ITF Tennis Retrieved on 29 June 2011 Venus slumps to shock early exit BBC 16 January 2006 Archived from the original on 18 January 2006 Retrieved 16 January 2006 Bulgarian teen bounces Venus from Australian Open from SI com retrieved 16 January 2006 Archived 26 January 2006 at the Wayback Machine Walker Randy 2008 by New Chapter Press On this Day in Tennis History p 21 Women s Circuit Drawsheet By Round Archived 7 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine ITF Tennis retrieved on 29 June 2011 a b c d e f g h Women s Circuit Player Activity Archived 16 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine ITF Tennis retrieved on 29 June 2011 a b c Rankings wtatennis com Archived from the original on 4 July 2013 Retrieved 30 June 2013 Women s Circuit ITF Circuit Calendar Archived 25 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine ITF Tennis retrieved on 29 June 2011 Women s Circuit Tournament Overview Archived 14 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine ITF Tennis 16 September 2007 retrieved on 29 June 2011 Pironkova nakova Ivanovich Cveti hvrlya bombata na turnira v Rim bie 1 v shemata in Bulgarian 7sport net 15 May 2008 Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 3 October 2015 a b c 2010 Results ESPN Archived from the original on 2 July 2012 Retrieved 30 June 2013 Finn Robin 10 September 1992 U S OPEN 92 Graf Is Left Baffled Young Maleeva Falls The New York Times Archived from the original on 26 May 2015 Retrieved 30 June 2012 a b 2011 Results CBS Archived from the original on 9 July 2015 Retrieved 30 June 2013 XXIV SNAI Open Main draw singles PDF Archived from the original PDF on 12 August 2011 Retrieved 13 August 2011 Grisho i Cveti s pobeda na dvojki sreshu chehite in Bulgarian 2 January 2012 Archived from the original on 8 January 2012 Retrieved 2 January 2012 Bulgaria defeats Denmark in Hopman Cup 4 January 2012 Archived from the original on 9 June 2012 Retrieved 4 January 2012 a b 2012 Results ESPN Archived from the original on 15 January 2013 Retrieved 30 June 2013 Pironkova i Kostova machkat estonki za Fed Kp in Bulgarian 1 February 2012 Archived from the original on 5 February 2012 Retrieved 2 February 2012 Blgariya ostana na 7 mo myasto v I va grupa na Fed Kp in Bulgarian 4 February 2012 Archived from the original on 6 February 2012 Retrieved 7 February 2012 Pironkova otpadna na chetvrtfinal v Bryuksel in Bulgarian 24 May 2012 Archived from the original on 29 May 2012 Retrieved 24 May 2012 a b c d 2013 Results CBS Archived from the original on 4 June 2015 Retrieved 30 June 2013 Pironkova tops Kerber in Sydney for first title Sports Network 24 March 2015 Archived from the original on 13 January 2014 Retrieved 4 July 2022 Pironkova otpadna ot Australian Open kontuziya j poprechi da se bori ss Stosr 15 January 2014 Archived from the original on 18 January 2014 Retrieved 15 January 2014 Pironkova pobedi 14 ta v sveta Vinchi v Doha Archived from the original on 3 March 2014 Retrieved 11 February 2014 Cvetana Pironkova dopusna obrat sreshu 55 ata v sveta i otpadna ot turnira v Doha 12 February 2014 Archived from the original on 24 September 2015 Retrieved 12 February 2014 Pironkova gubi v Dubaj Archived from the original on 21 February 2014 Retrieved 16 February 2014 Pironkova gubi v Dubaj Archived from the original on 21 February 2014 Retrieved 16 February 2014 CVETI OTPADNA OT INDIN UELS Archived from the original on 7 April 2014 Retrieved 7 March 2014 Pironkova gubi ot Kerber v Mayami Archived from the original on 7 April 2014 Retrieved 22 March 2014 Cveti se izkachi s 5 mesta nagore v ranglistata Archived from the original on 31 March 2014 Retrieved 31 March 2014 McCullough Ian 14 January 2015 Sydney wildcard snub firing up Tsvetana Pironkova Stuff co nz Retrieved 4 July 2022 Zee News Latest News Live Breaking News Today News India Political News Updates Zee News Archived from the original on 15 January 2015 Retrieved 4 July 2022 Tsvetana Pironkova Player Stats amp More WTA Official Women s Tennis Association Archived from the original on 9 February 2013 Retrieved 4 July 2022 Bulgaria s Tsvetana Pironkova Proceeds to Third Round of Roland Garros Wimbledon 2015 day one as it happened Telegraph co uk Archived from the original on 10 July 2015 Retrieved 4 July 2022 Bulgaria s Tsvetana Pironkova Proceeds to Quarterfinals of Istanbul Cup Novinite com Sofia News Agency Novinite com Archived from the original on 26 July 2015 Retrieved 4 July 2022 Radwanska shocked by world No 102 Pironkova Archived from the original on 3 June 2016 Retrieved 31 May 2016 Agnieszka Radwanska beats Tsvetana Pironkova to keep Australian Open dream alive Hindustan Times 25 January 2017 Retrieved 25 January 2017 Pironkova ends long losing streak at French Open Diario AS 30 May 2017 Archived from the original on 13 June 2017 Retrieved 31 May 2017 Svitolina rallies past former quarterfinalist Pironkova in Parise WTA 1 June 2017 Archived from the original on 3 June 2017 Retrieved 2 June 2017 Women s wrap Thursday June 1 SuperSport 1 June 2017 Retrieved 2 June 2017 Konta and Watson headline action packed Tuesday at Aegon Open Nottingham My Nottingham News 12 June 2017 Archived from the original on 27 August 2017 Retrieved 21 June 2017 Ene Diana 26 June 2017 WTA Eastbourne Petra Kvitova s a retras din competitie Monica Niculescu o va intalni in turul doi pe Tsvetana Pironkova HotNews ro Archived from the original on 13 November 2017 Retrieved 27 June 2017 Kerber Halep stay the course for No 1 clash in Eastbourne WTA 28 June 2017 Archived from the original on 3 July 2017 Retrieved 3 July 2017 Eastbourne International Novak Djokovic launches grass court season with straight sets win over Vasek Pospisil Firstpost 28 June 2017 Archived from the original on 13 November 2017 Retrieved 28 June 2017 Kerber wins as rain derails Halep Supersport 28 June 2017 Retrieved 29 June 2017 Wimbledon Sara Errani inerme tutto facile per la Pironkova Tennis World Retrieved 5 July 2017 Hodgkinson Mark 6 July 2017 Who to look out for on Day 4 The Championships Wimbledon Archived from the original on 5 July 2017 Retrieved 7 July 2017 Nguyen Courtney 30 June 2017 Battle for No 1 begins at Wimbledon WTA Insider analyzes the draw WTA Archived from the original on 2 July 2017 Retrieved 3 July 2017 Wimbledon 2017 Karolina Pliskova Simona Halep s shot at No 1 adds spice to wide open women s draw Firstpost 1 July 2017 Archived from the original on 3 July 2017 Retrieved 3 July 2017 Jones Chris 6 July 2017 Wait is worth it for No 5 seed Wozniacki The Championships Wimbledon Archived from the original on 6 July 2017 Retrieved 7 July 2017 Tsvetana Pironkova will miss the US Open Novinite 28 August 2017 Archived from the original on 28 August 2017 Retrieved 28 August 2017 Pironkova propuska sezona she stava majka in Bulgarian 20 December 2017 Archived from the original on 12 January 2018 Retrieved 11 January 2018 Pironkova returns to tour I m glad I took the challenge US Open 2020 Garbine Muguruza beaten by Tsvetana Pironkova BBC Sport Retrieved 3 September 2020 Pironkova quells Cornet to continue US Open run into QF Pratt Steve Tsvetana Pironkova s amazing US Open run continues to inspire UsOpen org US Open Retrieved 9 September 2020 Tsvetana Pironkova is the Bulgarian Sportsperson of 2020 NOVA NOVA Retrieved 30 December 2020 Veteran Pironkova teen Burel among AO 2021 qualifiers Ausopen com Pironkova prevails in second round of Aussie Open qualies Wtatennis com Archived copy Archived from the original on 16 September 2021 Retrieved 16 September 2021 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Minnen reaches Wimbledon main draw Pironkova Konjuh set qualifying clash Wtatennis com a b Benammar Emily 14 June 2011 Serena Williams v Tsvetana Pironkova Eastbourne The Daily Telegraph Archived from the original on 27 October 2011 Retrieved 3 July 2017 Wimbledon 2010 Tsvetana Pironkova stuns Venus Williams BBC 29 June 2010 Archived from the original on 7 March 2016 Retrieved 3 July 2017 Bulgarian Father Coach Pironkova s Backhand Already Perfect Novinite 3 July 2010 Archived from the original on 31 October 2017 Retrieved 3 July 2017 a b c d Briggs Simon 29 June 2010 Wimbledon 2010 Tsevtana Pironkova causes shock of the year by beating Venus Williams The Daily Telegraph Archived from the original on 23 August 2012 Retrieved 3 July 2017 Pagliaro Richard 28 June 2011 Wimbledon Kvitova d Pironkova tennis com Archived from the original on 9 January 2014 Retrieved 30 June 2013 Wimbledon 2010 Tsvetana who Your guide to the women s semi finalists The Guardian 30 June 2010 Archived from the original on 14 January 2014 Retrieved 3 July 2017 a b Trollope Matt 3 July 2016 Grasscourt guns Tsvetana Pironkova Tennis Mash Retrieved 3 July 2017 Godishni nagradi na Blgarska Federaciya po Tenis 2005 PDF bgtennis bg 2005 Archived from the original PDF on 2 April 2015 Retrieved 16 March 2015 Sportsperson of the Year 2020 bnr bg 30 December 2020 Sportsperson of the Year 2020 bgtennis bg 2020 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tsvetana Pironkova Tsvetana Pironkova at the Women s Tennis Association nbsp Tsvetana Pironkova at the International Tennis Federation nbsp Tsvetana Pironkova at the Billie Jean King Cup nbsp Tsvetana Pironkova Official website Tsvetana Pironkova at the Australian Open Getting to know Tszvetana Pironkova WTA Tour Interview Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tsvetana Pironkova amp oldid 1200565658, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.