New Lifestyle Sports: Alisa Kleybanova Info and Pics

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Alisa Kleybanova Info and Pics

Bio
Currently ranked No. 26 in the world, Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova has four career WTA titles.
She has been ranked as high as No. 22 in singles (March 22, 2010) and No. 10 in doubles (Feb. 1, 2010).
She played in her first main Tour draw in 2004, reaching the second round at Indian Wells.
She struggled to qualify for the Tour over the next three years, but emerged as a force in 2008, reaching the quarterfinals of three tournaments, and making the fourth round at Wimbledon before losing to Venus Williams.
She also reached the second round of the Australian, French and US Opens. She made her Top 100 debut on Feb. 18, then moved into the Top 50 on June 9, ultimately fiishing the year ranked No. 33.
In 2009, she reached the semifinals of three events and reached the fourth round of the Australian Open. Entering the tournament as the No. 29 seed, she defeted No. 5 seed Ana Ivanovic. She ended the year ranked No. 26.
In 2010, she made the third round of the Australian Open before losing to Justine Henin. She reached the quarterfinals at Indian Wells as the No. 23 seed, defeating Kim Clijsters before losing to eventual champion Jelena Jankovic.

Year-End Singles Rankings: 2003 – 623rd; 2004 – 364th; 2005 – 244th; 2006 – 262nd; 2007 – 150th; 2008 – 33rd; 2009 – 26th.

Personal
Coached by Julian Vespan. Began playing at age 4 and was coached by her mother until she was 13. When she was young, she was compared to Monica Seles for her impressive brand of play.