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Aravane Rezaï
Rezai POI21 (51713737871).jpg
Rezaï in 2021
Country (sports)  Iran (2001–2005)
 France (2005–present)
Residence Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Born (1987-03-14) 14 March 1987 (age 37)
Saint-Étienne, France
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Turned pro January 2005
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money $2,812,513
Singles
Career record 294–217 (57.53%)
Career titles 4
Highest ranking No. 15 (11 October 2010)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open 3R (2008)
French Open 4R (2009)
Wimbledon 3R (2007)
US Open 4R (2006)
Doubles
Career record 9–29 (23.68%)
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 118 (9 March 2009)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open 1R (2007, 2008, 2010)
French Open 3R (2008)
Wimbledon 2R (2008, 2010)
US Open 2R (2008)
Aravane Rezaï
Medal record
Women's Tennis
Representing  Iran
Women's Islamic Games
Gold 2001 Iran Singles
Gold 2005 Iran Singles

Aravane Rezaï (French: [aʁavan ʁɛza.i]; Persian: ارغوان رضایی Arghavān-e Rezāyi pronounced [æɾɣævɒːn(-e) ɾezɒːjiː], born 14 March 1987) is an Iranian–French professional tennis player. She has defeated many top players on the WTA Tour, such as Justine Henin, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Dinara Safina, Francesca Schiavone, Caroline Wozniacki, Marion Bartoli, Flavia Pennetta, Jelena Janković and Ai Sugiyama. Her career-high ranking was No. 15, achieved on 11 October 2010.

Personal life

Rezaï was born to Iranian parents in Saint-Étienne. She took up tennis after a childhood stint as her older brother's ball girl.

Career

2001–2008

Rezaï competed for Iran at the Women's Islamic Games, winning gold in 2001 and 2005. She also won the Chambon-sur-Lignon Open in 2004.

Rezaï started playing for France in 2006. For the second year in a row, she lost in the qualifying rounds of the Australian Open. However, her French Open run was more successful. She struggled through to the tournament's third round, defeating Ai Sugiyama of Japan along the way. She fell to Nicole Vaidišová, in a hard-fought three-setter. Her Wimbledon dreams were also put on hold as she fell in the first qualifying round. At the US Open, she reached the fourth round, her career-best Grand Slam singles result. She also competed on the ITF Circuit throughout the year, reaching the final of two tournaments and winning one in the later part of the year on the hard courts of France.

Her 2007 year started poorly, reaching the second round only twice in her first thirteen tournaments on tour, including a first-round loss at the Australian Open. At the International clay tournament of Istanbul, Rezaï reached the final by beating world No. 29 Venus Williams in the second round (6–4, 6–4) and world No. 2 Maria Sharapova in the semifinal (6–2, 6–4). In the final she lost to Elena Dementieva due to retiring, trailing 6–7, 0–3.

Despite her good performance in İstanbul, she lost the week after 6–2, 6–4 to countrywoman Marion Bartoli in the first round of the French Open. In her first appearance in Wimbledon she defeated Shenay Perry from the U.S. 6–2, 7–6, and Francesca Schiavone, the 29th seed, in the second round, 6–4, 2–6, 6–4. However, in the third round, she was defeated by Ana Ivanovic 6–3, 6–2. At the US Open in the second round, she once again lost to Ivanovic. She ended an appalling year with yet another ITF title in Deauville, France, losing only one set en route to her victory.

Despite being unseeded, Rezaï reached the final of the ASB Classic in Auckland. She lost to Lindsay Davenport 2–6, 2–6. However, her year stagnated with early losses in the first and second rounds of tournaments, and her only other grand success came on the clay of Morocco in mid-spring, where she reached the semifinals before falling to Gisela Dulko.

At the Australian Open, Rezaï reached the third round, beating 13th seed Tatiana Golovin in the second round 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 before losing to Hsieh Su-wei 2–6, 7–6, 4–6. Her Grand Slam results for the rest of the year were disappointing. At the French Open, she fell to Nadia Petrova in the first round. At Wimbledon, she faced Gisela Dulko. She pushed Dulko to three sets but eventually fell 6–1, 0–6, 2–6. The US Open started well as she defeated American Asia Muhammad 6–2, 6–4. However, she fell in the second round to Sybille Bammer, 1–6, 5–7.

2009

Rezaï won the first WTA title of her career in Strasbourg, beating Lucie Hradecká 7–6, 6–1 in the final. Despite a first-round loss at the Australian Open, she flew to the fourth round of the French Open after defeating Michelle Larcher de Brito 7–6, 6–2, but lost to world No. 1 Dinara Safina 1–6, 0–6, effectively putting an end to her participation in Roland-Garros. At Wimbledon, she beat Ayumi Morita 6–2, 6–2 but then lost to fourth seed Elena Dementieva 1–6, 3–6.

In the first round of Rogers Cup, she defeated Alizé Cornet 6–4, 7–5. In the second round, she made the biggest upset of the tournament by defeating world No. 1 Dinara Safina, 3–6, 6–2, 6–4. In the third round, she was defeated by Alisa Kleybanova in two sets 6–3, 6–4. Rezaï then lost at the US Open to Sabine Lisicki in the first round, her earliest loss ever at Flushing Meadows. At the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Rezaï won her opening match in straight sets, defeating Sara Errani 6–2, 6–2. In the second round she lost to Marion Bartoli 4–6, 2–6.

Seeded tenth at the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions, Rezaï won her first round-robin match against fourth seed Sabine Lisicki 6–1, 3–6, 4–6, then beat Melinda Czink in her second match 6–3, 7–5 to make her the first player to advance to the semifinals of the inaugural event. She then went on to the semifinals, where she beat María José Martínez Sánchez 6–2, 6–3. In the final, she faced Marion Bartoli and won the first set 7–5 before Bartoli retired. Because of her performance, Rezaï reached a new career high of world No. 26.

2010

Aravane Rezai 2010 (cropped)
Rezaï in 2010

Her first tournament of the year was the Auckland Open, where she was seeded No. 7. In the first round she beat fellow countrywoman Julie Coin 6–4, 6–3. At the match point, the lights in the stadium went out, but they were fixed shortly after and Rezaï closed out the match. In the second round, she was defeated by Dominika Cibulková 6–3, 6–4.

Her next tournament was the Sydney International. Rezaï won her first-round match against Anna-Lena Grönefeld 6–7, 6–2, 6–2, then faced Ágnes Szávay, whom she defeated 6–3, 7–6. In the quarterfinals she beat Flavia Pennetta 6–3, 6–0; in the semifinal she faced world No. 1, Serena Williams. She began strong, leading in the match by 6–3, 5–2, and was two points away from victory, but ended up losing 6–3, 5–7, 4–6.

Rezaï was seeded No. 26 for the Australian Open. She won her first-round match against Sania Mirza 6–4, 6–2, but was then defeated in the second round by Angelique Kerber 6–2, 6–3. In the doubles draw she partnered with Sabine Lisicki, but they lost in the first round.

Her next tournament was the Open GdF Suez, where she was seeded No. 5. She won her first-round match against qualifier Evgeniya Rodina, 6–4, 6–4. In the second round, she faced Andrea Petkovic, getting upset 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 and spoiling her chance to play Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals. She lost in the next round.

At the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, Rezaï caused a huge upset in the first round, defeating the former world No. 1 and four-time French Open champion Justine Henin 4–6, 7–5, 6–0. In the second round, she won her match against Klára Zakopalová 6–3, 7–5, then defeated Andrea Petkovic in two sets 6–4, 7–6. Rezaï pulled off a major fourth-round upset by defeating Jelena Janković in two straight sets 7–5, 6–4. In the semifinal, she won against Lucie Šafářová (6–1, ret.), reaching the most critical final in her career. She defeated Venus Williams in the final 6–2, 7–5, returning from a 2–5 deficit and overcoming numerous set points to win. She then to the French Open with improved odds. Because of her performance at Mutua Madrileña, Rezaï reached a new high career ranking as No. 16. Seeded 15th at the French Open, Rezaï fell to No. 19 Nadia Petrova in the third round in three sets.

On grass, Rezaï played at the Birmingham Classic, cruising through the semifinals without dropping a set, but fell to eventual champion Li Na 1–6, 6–3, 3–6. She then played at the Eastbourne International, where she upset top seed Caroline Wozniacki 6–4, 1–6, 6–3 in the first round before retiring against María José Martínez Sánchez in the second round, down 6–2, 3–0. At the Wimbledon Championships, as the 18th seed, she was upset by Klára Zakopalová 5–7, 6–3, 6–3 in the second round.

At the Swedish Open, Rezaï cruised through the finals with wins over Arantxa Parra Santonja and Lucie Šafářová, finally facing Gisela Dulko. Rezaï won 6–3, 4–6, 6–4, despite giving up a 4–0 lead in the third set.

At the Cincinnati Open, Rezaï was upset by world No. 98 Bojana Jovanovski 4–6, 6–3, 6–4; even though she had "breathtaking" strokes, her serve was erratic with a high number of unforced errors.

Her disappointing level of play continued until the end of her season, as she lost in the first round of the Tournament of Champions. She won the title in 2009 but lost to Alisa Kleybanova in the first round 1–6, 2–6.

2011

Aravane Rezai at 2011 Texas Tennis Open
Rezaï at the 2011 Texas Tennis Open.

Rezaï obtained an invite from the Hong Kong Tennis Patrons' Association to play in the Hong Kong Tennis Classic with Caroline Wozniacki and Stefan Edberg for Team Europe. Still, they lost to Team Russia (including Vera Zvonareva, Maria Kirilenko and Yevgeny Kafelnikov) in the final of Gold Group.

She started off the year with a win over world No. 8 Jelena Janković 7–5, 2–6, 6–3 but lost in the second round to Bojana Jovanovski 6–7, 6–7.

Seeded 17th, Rezaï competed at the Australian Open. She lost in the first round to Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová of the Czech Republic 0–6, 6–3, 5–7.

Rezaï lost in the first round of the Monterrey Open to Alla Kudryavtseva 2–6, 1–6. At the Indian Wells Open, she reached the third round before being defeated by Maria Sharapova in straight sets, losing 2–6, 2–6.

She lost in the first round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami to Peng Shuai 0–6, 4–6.

Her poor form continued onto the start of the clay-court season. She lost in the first round of the Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella to world No. 258 Estrella Cabeza Candela 3–6, 0–6.

She returned to form at the Dallas WTA tournament, reaching the final.

2012–2014

Rezaï started her year playing in Auckland, where she lost in the first round to Peng Shuai. In Sydney, she was forced to retire in the qualifying draw. She would also fall in round one of the Australian Open. She would then go on to lose in the qualifying of both Indian Wells and Miami, and fall in round two in Clearwater.

At the French Open, Rezaï lost in the first round to Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu three sets (5–7, 7–5, 2–6). She reached two ITF finals this year with a victory in the final at the Open 88 tournament in Contrexéville. Against Austrian Yvonne Meusburger, she won in three sets (6–3, 2–6, 6–3).

Rezaï lost in the first round of the French Open to Petra Kvitová, 3–6, 6–4, 2–6, and also in the first qualifying round of the Wimbledon to Mariana Duque Mariño, 6–4, 3–6, 3–6.

She lost in the first qualifying round of the Australian Open to Alla Kudryavtseva 4–6, 2–6.

2015–present: return to professional tennis

Rezaï announced her return to professional tennis after more than one-year absence by taking a wildcard into the qualifying draw of the French Open, losing to compatriot Julie Coin in the first round. Later that year, she played only two European tournaments, losing in the early games in both.

Rezaï did not play a tournament again until 2017, when she played three ITF tournaments in France but won only one match across the three, against Maria Novikova. She played one game each in November 2018 (in Luxembourg) and in July 2019 (in France), again falling in the early rounds of each.

Playing style

Aravane Rezaï is well known for her hard-hitting games and hits the ball with immense power; players often cite her as finishing the point much quicker. Jelena Janković stated after her quarterfinal against Rezaï in Madrid. "Aravane hits every ball hard; no matter if it is a high or low ball, you don't know where she will hit it. I have played players who hit the ball hard but not like Aravane. Even if I hit the ball high, she is so aggressive." Venus Williams also said "Wow, what can I say? Aravane is a very hard hitter; obviously, she was brought up playing on clay courts, but I can not get over how hard she hits that tennis ball. She is a player to watch out for in the future. I warn other top players: watch out for her."

Political support

Rezaï told the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting that she supported Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. When the reporter asked her "Do you like Mr. Ahmadinejad?" and "why?", she responded that "Yes, I do a lot. Because he has shown Iran's power to the whole world, I am really proud of him."

In this interview, she also affirmed having presented two tennis rackets as a gift to Ahmadinejad. The footage of Rezaï presenting her tennis rackets to Ahmadinejad was used in his official campaign advertisement video during his 2009 presidential election campaign.

Performance timelines

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A P Z# PO G F-S SF-B NMS NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.

Singles

Tournament 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 SR W–L Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A Q1 1R 3R 1R 2R 1R 1R A Q1 A 0 / 6 3–6 33%
French Open Q1 2R 3R 1R 1R 4R 3R 1R 1R 1R A Q1 0 / 9 8–9 47%
Wimbledon A A Q1 3R 1R 2R 2R 1R Q2 Q1 A A 0 / 5 4–5 44%
US Open A A 4R 2R 2R 1R 2R 1R Q1 A A A 0 / 6 6–6 50%
Win–loss 0–0 1–1 5–2 3–4 3–4 4–4 5–4 0–4 0–2 0–1 0–0 0–0 0 / 26 21–26 45%
Year-end championships
WTA Elite Trophy NH W 1R DNQ 1 / 2 4–1 80%
WTA 1000 + former
Dubai / Qatar Open NMS A A 2R A 2R A A A 0 / 2 1–1 50%
Indian Wells Open A A A 1R 2R Q2 4R 3R Q1 A A A 0 / 4 4–4 50%
Miami Open A A A 1R 1R 1R 2R 2R Q2 A A A 0 / 5 0–5 0%
German / Madrid Open A A A 1R 1R 2R W 1R A Q2 A A 1 / 5 7–4 64%
Italian Open A A A 1R A 2R 2R A A A A A 0 / 3 2–3 40%
Canadian Open A A A 1R 1R 3R 2R Q1 1R A A A 0 / 5 3–5 38%
Cincinnati Open NMS 1R 1R A Q1 A A A 0 / 2 0–2 0%
Pan Pacific / Wuhan Open A A A A 1R 2R 2R Q2 A A A A 0 / 3 2–3 40%
China Open NMS 1R 1R A A A A A 0 / 2 0–2 0%
Charleston Open (former) A A A 2R 2R NMS 0 / 2 2–2 50%
Kremlin Cup (former) A A A A Q3 NMS 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–6 2–6 5–7 12–8 1–3 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 1 / 33 21–31 40%
Career statistics
Tournament 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 SR W–L Win%
Tournaments 0 2 6 21 17 20 26 20 6 2 0 0 Career total: 120
Titles 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 Career total: 4
Finals 0 0 0 1 1 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 Career total: 7
Hard win–loss 0–0 0–0 7–3 1–9 8–8 11–10 12–15 9–11 1–4 0–0 0–0 0–0 1 / 61 49–60 45%
Clay win–loss 0–0 1–1 5–3 5–9 4–6 12–5 18–6 3–7 0–2 0–2 0–0 0–0 3 / 42 48–41 54%
Grass win–loss 0–0 0–1 0–0 2–2 2–3 3–2 5–3 1–3 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 14 13–14 48%
Carpet win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 3 1–3 25%
Overall win–loss 0–0 1–2 12–6 8–21 14–17 26–18 36–25 13–21 1–6 0–2 0–0 0–0 4 / 120 111–118 48%
Win (%)  –  33% 67% 28% 45% 59% 59% 38% 14% 0%  –   –  Career total: 48%
Year-end ranking 189 49 80 74 26 19 113 169 513 887 $2,812,513

Doubles

Tournament 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 SR W–L Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A 1R 1R A 1R A A A 0 / 3 0–3 0%
French Open A 1R 3R 1R 2R 2R 1R 1R 0 / 7 4–7 36%
Wimbledon A 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R A A 0 / 5 2–5 29%
US Open 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R A A A 0 / 5 1–5 17%
Win–loss 0–1 0–4 4–4 0–3 2–4 1–2 0–1 0–1 0 / 20 7–20 26%
WTA 1000
Pan Pacific / Wuhan Open A A 1R A A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Career statistics
Tournaments 1 5 6 3 6 3 1 1 Career total: 26
Overall win–loss 0–1 0–5 4–6 0–3 3–6 1–3 0–1 0–1 0 / 26 8–26 24%
Year-end ranking n/a 850 126 861 159 359 n/a 786

Significant finals

WTA Elite Trophy

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 2009 WTA Elite Trophy13–31 (29.55%) Hard France Marion Bartoli 7–5, ret.

WTA 1000 tournaments

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 2010 Madrid Open Clay United States Venus Williams 6–2, 7–5

WTA career finals

Singles: 7 (4 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam
WTA Elite Trophy (1–0)
WTA 1000 (1–0)
WTA 500
WTA 250 (2–3)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–2)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (3–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 May 2007 İstanbul Cup, Turkey Tier III Clay Russia Elena Dementieva 6–7(5–7), 0–3 ret.
Loss 0–2 Jan 2008 Auckland Open, New Zealand Tier IV Hard United States Lindsay Davenport 2–6, 2–6
Win 1–2 May 2009 Internationaux de Strasbourg, France International Clay Czech Republic Lucie Hradecká 7–6(7–2), 6–1
Win 2–2 Nov 2009 WTA Tournament of Champions, Bali Elite Hard (i) France Marion Bartoli 7–5, ret.
Win 3–2 May 2010 Madrid Open, Spain Premier M Clay United States Venus Williams 6–2, 7–5
Win 4–2 Jul 2010 Swedish Open, Sweden International Clay Argentina Gisela Dulko 6–3, 4–6, 6–4
Loss 4–3 Aug 2011 Texas Tennis Open, United States International Hard Germany Sabine Lisicki 2–6, 1–6

ITF finals

Singles: 12 (8 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Jan 2004 ITF Grenoble, France 10,000 Hard Germany Martina Müller 5–7, 1–6
Win 1–1 Oct 2004 ITF Castel Gandolfo, Italy 10,000 Clay Italy Anna Floris 3–6, 6–2, 7–5
Win 2–1 Oct 2004 ITF Settimo San Pietro, Italy 10,000 Clay Romania Liana Ungur 6–3, 6–4
Win 3–1 Mar 2005 ITF Rome, Italy 10,000 Clay Bulgaria Maria Penkova 6–2, 6–3
Win 4–1 May 2005 ITF Saint-Gaudens, France 50,000 Clay Germany Stephanie Gehrlein 6–4, 2–6, 6–2
Loss 4–2 Aug 2005 ITF Coimbra, Portugal 25,000 Hard Romania Monica Niculescu 3–6, 1–6
Win 5–2 Mar 2006 ITF Telde, Spain 25,000 Clay Spain Magüi Serna 6–4, 6–1
Loss 5–3 Mar 2006 ITF Fuerteventura, Spain 25,000 Hard Netherlands Elise Tamaëla 3–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win 6–3 Nov 2006 ITF Poitiers, France 75,000 Hard Croatia Ivana Lisjak 7–6(9–7), 6–1
Win 7–3 Nov 2007 ITF Deauville, France 50,000 Clay Belgium Kirsten Flipkens 6–4, 6–3
Loss 7–4 Jul 2012 ITF Middelburg, Belgium 25,000 Clay Belgium Kirsten Flipkens 1–6, 0–6
Win 8–4 Jul 2012 ITF Contrexéville, France 50,000 Clay Austria Yvonne Meusburger 6–3, 2–6, 6–3

Best Grand Slam results details

Singles

Top 10 wins

Season 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Total
Wins 1 0 1 3 1 6
# Opponent Rank Event Surface Round Score ARR
2007
1. Russia Maria Sharapova No. 2 Istanbul Cup, Turkey Clay SF 6–2, 6–4 No. 59
2009
2. Russia Dinara Safina No. 1 Canadian Open Hard 2R 3–6, 6–2, 6–4 No. 39
2010
3. Serbia Jelena Janković No. 4 Madrid Open, Spain Clay QF 7–5, 6–4 No. 24
4. United States Venus Williams No. 3 Madrid Open, Spain Clay F 6–2, 7–5 No. 24
5. Denmark Caroline Wozniacki No. 3 Eastbourne International, UK Grass 1R 6–4, 1–6, 6–3 No. 19
2011
6. Serbia Jelena Janković No. 8 Sydney International, Australia Hard 1R 7–5, 2–6, 6–3 No. 19

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Aravane Rezaï para niños

  • Muslim women in sport
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