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Lucie Safarova

Cze
Residence: Brno, Czech Republic
DOB: Febuary 4, 1987
Birthplace: Brno, Czech Republic
Height: 5' 9" (1.77 m)
Weight: 137 lbs. (62 kg)
Plays: Left-handed (two-handed backhand)
Status: Pro (2002)
JANUARY - Reached QF at Brisbane (l. to No.2 seed and eventual champion Azarenka); fell in Sydney qualifying; reached 3r at Australian Open (d. No.24 seed Bammer en route; l. to No.16 seed Bartoli).

FEBRUARY - Went 1-0 in Czech Republic's 4-1 Fed Cup World Group 1r win over Spain; reached QF at Memphis (as No.3 seed, l. to No.6 seed Lisicki); fell 1r at Acapulco (as No.6 seed, l. to Vinci).

MARCH - Reached QF at Monterrey (l. to Li); reached 2r at Indian Wells (l. to No.25 seed Wozniak); reached 2r at Miami (l. to No.18 seed Schnyder in 3s).

APRIL - Reached QF at Barcelona (d. No.7 seed Errani en route; l. to Schiavone); went 1-0 in Czech Republic's 3-2 Fed Cup World Group SF loss to USA.

MAY - Reached 2r at Rome (l. to No.4 seed V.Williams in 3s); reached 3r at Madrid (l. to top seed and eventual champion Safina in 3s); reached 2r at Roland Garros (l. to No.3 seed V.Williams 67(5) 62 75; held mp at 5-4 third set).

JUNE - Withdrew from 's-Hertogenbosch w/illness; fell 1r at Wimbledon (l. to Groth in 3s).

JULY - Fell 1r at Budapest (as No.8 seed, l. to qualifier Martic); reached 2r at Portoroz (as No.6 seed, l. to Voegele in 3s).

AUGUST - Reached 2r at Los Angeles (d. No.15 seed Kanepi in 1r; l. to A.Bondarenko 75 third set); reached 2r at Cincinnati (l. to No.6 seed Kuznetsova 76 third set); reached QF at Toronto (as qualifier, d. No.11 seed Ivanovic en route; l. to No.2 seed S.Williams); fell 1r at US Open (l. to No.19 seed Schnyder 76 third set).

SEPTEMBER - Runner-up at Quebec City (as No.4 seed, l. to No.5 seed Czink 75 third set in final); reached 3r at Tokyo (d. No.10 seed Ivanovic en route; l. to No.8 seed Azarenka); reached 2r at Beijing (l. to No.16 seed Li in 3s).

OCTOBER - Reached QF at Linz (as No.7 seed, l. to No.2 seed A.Radwanska); reached 2r at Moscow (l. to No.2 seed Jankovic).
2001 - Played first events of career on ITF Circuit.

2002 - Did not play.

2003 - Continued to play on ITF Circuit.

2004 - Played first Tour qualifying at US Open and Philadelphia; won two singles titles on ITF Circuit.

2005 - First Top 50 season; won first two Tour singles titles at Estoril (d. Li in final) and Forest Hills (d. Mirza in final); were third and ninth career Tour main draws; runner-up at 's-Hertogenbosch (l. to Zakopalova in final); reached 2r twice; fell 1r six times (incl. first three Grand Slam main draws at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open); fell in Tour qualifying three times (incl. Australian Open); won three singles titles on ITF Circuit; made Top 100 debut on June 6 (after Roland Garros; rose from No.106 to No.77) and Top 50 debut on November 7 (rose from No.52 to No.50).

2006 - Second straight Top 50 season; won third Tour singles title at Gold Coast (d. No.7 Schnyder in QF for first Top 10 win; d. Pennetta in final); SF twice, at Amelia Island (l. to Petrova) and Palermo (l. to Medina Garrigues); best Grand Slam was 2r at US Open; withdrew from Wimbledon w/rib injury.

2007 - Third straight Top 50 season (near-Top 20 season); runner-up at Paris [Indoors] (l. to Petrova in final); SF at Estoril (l. to Azarenka); reached first Grand Slam QF at Australian Open (l. to Vaidisova); played all four Grand Slams in a season for first time, next-best result being 4r at Roland Garros (l. to Chakvetadze); had second through sixth Top 10 wins, at Australian Open (No.3 Mauresmo), Paris [Indoors] (No.9 Vaidisova, No.5 Kuznetsova, No.2 Henin) and Roland Garros (No.4 Mauresmo); rose to career-high No.22 on August 20.

2008 - Fourth straight Top 100 season, highlighted by fourth Tour singles title at Forest Hills (d. Peng in final); QF at Barcelona (as No.4 seed, ret. vs. Martínez Sánchez w/right hamstring injury); reached 3r twice, at Miami (l. to No.4 seed Jankovic) and Olympics (l. to Bammer 75 64; held 3sp at 5-4 first set) and 2r eight times, incl. Roland Garros (l. to No.2 seed and eventual champion Ivanovic); fell 1r nine times, incl. Australian Open (as No.22 seed, l. to Castaño), Wimbledon (l. to Loit 63 76(4); held 3sp at 6-5 first set) and US Open (l. to Cirstea in 3s); won one doubles title on ITF Circuit; surpassed $1 million in career prize money earnings; member of Czech Fed Cup team that d. Israel 3-2 in World Group Play-off (went 0-1); withdrew prior to Sydney 2r w/right gluteal muscle strain and from 's-Hertogenbosch w/left shoulder injury.
SINGLES
Winner (4): 2008 - Forest Hills; 2006 - Gold Coast; 2005 - Estoril, Forest Hills; ITF/Capriolo-ITA, ITF/Redding, CA-USA, ITF/Prostejov-CZE; 2004 - ITF/Bergamo-ITA, ITF/Bastad-SWE.
Finalist (3): 2009 - Québec City; 2007 - Paris [Indoors]; 2005 - 's-Hertogenbosch.
Semifinalist (3): 2007 - Estoril; 2006 - Amelia Island, Palermo.

DOUBLES
Winner: 2008 - ITF/Poitiers-FRA (w/Cetkovska).
Finalist (1): 2008 - Stockholm (w/Cetkovska).

ADDITIONAL
Czech Fed Cup Team, 2004, 2006-09; Czech Olympic Team, 2008.
Coached by Patrik Navara; physical trainer is David Vydra ... Began playing at age 3 ... Favorite surface is clay ... Father, Milan, used to be her coach; mother is Jana; has one sister, Veronika; also has one dog, Kuba ... Admires Steffi Graf, Lindsay Davenport ... Speaks Czech, German, English ... Enjoys comedy movies; favorite actress is Angelina Jolie ... Also likes playing basketball and table tennis and going swimming.