Tímea Babos facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

The native form of this personal name is Babos Tímea. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Quick facts for kids
Tímea Babos

Babos at the 2023 US Open

Country (sports)

Hungary

Residence

Sopron, Hungary

Born

10 May 1993 (age 32)
Sopron, Hungary

Height

1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)

Turned pro

2011

Plays

Right-handed (two-handed backhand)

Coach

Romain Deridder

Prize money

US$ 8,731,550

Official website

babostimea.hu

Singles

Career record

425–331 (56.22%)

Career titles

Highest ranking

No. 25 (19 September 2016)

Current ranking

No. 259 (15 July 2024)

Grand Slam singles results

Australian Open

2R (2016, 2018, 2019, 2021)

French Open

2R (2016)

Wimbledon

2R (2012, 2015, 2016)

US Open

3R (2016)

Doubles

Career record

436–204 (68.13%)

Career titles

Highest ranking

No. 1 (16 July 2018)

Current ranking

No. 54 (15 July 2024)

Grand Slam doubles results

W (2018, 2020)

W (2019, 2020)

F (2014, 2016)

F (2018)

Other doubles tournaments

Tour Finals

W (2017, 2018, 2019)

Mixed doubles

Grand Slam mixed doubles results

F (2018)

SF (2014)

F (2015)

QF (2017)

Team competitions

Fed Cup

20–9

Medal record

Youth Olympic Games

Representing a mixed-NOCs team
Bronze	2010 Singapore	Girls' doubles

Tímea Babos (born May 10, 1993) is a professional tennis player from Hungary. She was once the world's number one player in doubles.

She has won four Grand Slam titles in women's doubles. These wins include the 2018 and 2020 Australian Opens. She also won the French Open in 2019 and 2020. All these titles were won with her partner, Kristina Mladenovic.

Tímea and Kristina also reached the finals at Wimbledon in 2014, the US Open in 2018, and the Australian Open in 2019. Tímea also made it to the final of Wimbledon in 2016 with Yaroslava Shvedova. In mixed doubles, she reached two major finals. One was at Wimbledon in 2015 with Alexander Peya. The other was at the Australian Open in 2018 with Rohan Bopanna.

In July 2018, Tímea became the world No. 1 in doubles. She was the first Hungarian tennis player, male or female, to reach the top spot in either singles or doubles. She has won 21 other doubles titles on the WTA Tour. This includes the WTA Finals in 2017, 2018, and 2019. She also won two titles at the WTA 1000 level.

In singles, Tímea's highest ranking was No. 25 in September 2016. She has won three singles titles on the WTA Tour. She also finished as a runner-up five times. She has played for Hungary in the Fed Cup and Billie Jean King Cup since 2011. She also competed in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.

Early Life and Family Background

Tímea Babos was born on May 10, 1993, in Sopron, Hungary. Her mother is Zsuzsanna and her father is Csaba. She has an older sister. Tímea comes from a family that loves sports. Her father is a coach at the tennis club her family owns in Sopron. Her mother is a housewife.

Tímea's sister was also a very good tennis player. She won NCAA titles while studying in the United States. Tímea first started as a swimmer and was a national champion in Hungary. But she found swimming boring and hard work. So, at age 8, she started going to tennis practice with her sister.

She began playing tennis just for fun. But her dad saw her talent. So, she started focusing more on tennis and stopped swimming. She loved watching her sister practice with their father. Her parents signed her up for a class at a local club. After a few months, she played in local events.

Her big moment came at age nine. She led her under-12 club team to four wins. This helped her qualify for the under-12 National Championships. A few weeks later, she won her first Hungarian National Championship title.

When she was 15, she went to the United Kingdom to practice. Hungary did not have enough good tennis facilities. For example, she could practice on hardcourts there, which her home country mostly lacked. Two years later, she got a good sponsorship deal. This meant she could return to train in Budapest.

Junior Tennis Career Highlights

Tímea Babos playing at the 2009 US Open junior event

Tímea Babos reached a high ranking of No. 2 as a junior player. She started playing on the ITF Junior Circuit in September 2006 when she was 13. She won the doubles title in her very first event in Hungary. She continued to do well in doubles, winning more tournaments in 2007.

In 2008, she improved even more. She reached a singles final and won a doubles title at a Grade-1 tournament. She also played in her first junior major at the 2008 French Open. She reached the second round in both singles and doubles. At Wimbledon, she made it to the doubles quarterfinals. She also won a doubles title at the Grade-A Osaka Mayor's Cup.

In 2009, Tímea started getting strong results at junior Grand Slams. She won both singles and doubles titles at two Grade-1 tournaments. At the 2009 French Open, she reached her first Grand Slam doubles final. She played with Heather Watson but they lost a tough match. At Wimbledon, she reached her first Grand Slam singles semifinal.

Tímea had a great start to 2010. She won her first singles tournament of the year. Then, she reached the doubles final at the Australian Open. Her first major title came at the French Open in doubles. She won with Sloane Stephens. They did not lose a single set in the whole tournament. Tímea then won another Grand Slam title with Stephens at Wimbledon. She won her last junior tournament at the US Open, again with Stephens.

Professional Tennis Journey

Starting Out: Early Wins (2009–2011)

Tímea Babos in 2010

Tímea started playing on the ITF Women's Circuit in 2009 at age 15. She reached a final in her first event. The next week, she won her first title. She continued to win one and lose two other finals by the end of 2009. She also had a strong start in doubles, winning one title.

In 2010, she reached her first final in a $25k event. In July, she played her first WTA Tour match at the Hungarian Open. She won her first $25k title in Woking. She also won four $25k doubles events.

In July 2011, Tímea won her first WTA match at the Hungarian Open. She also played her first WTA Tour doubles match there. Her first Grand Slam try was at the US Open, but she did not make it to the main draw. In October, she won her first $50k event in both singles and doubles.

First WTA Titles (2012–2013)

Singles Success

... at the 2013 French Open

Tímea started 2012 well. She reached her first WTA Tour singles semifinal at the Copa Colsanitas. She then reached her first WTA Tour singles final at the Monterrey Open and won the title. These wins helped her enter the top 100 players.

She played in her first Grand Slam main draw at the French Open. At Wimbledon, she won her first Grand Slam match. In 2013, she reached three quarterfinals at smaller tournaments. She also won a $50k event in Johannesburg.

Doubles Success

In 2012, Tímea reached three doubles semifinals. She then won her first WTA Tour doubles title at the Birmingham Classic. This was with her partner Hsieh Su-wei. She also played in her first Grand Slam doubles event at the French Open.

In 2013, Tímea made more progress in doubles. She won four International-level doubles titles. She won the Copa Colsanitas with Mandy Minella. She also won the Monterrey Open with Kimiko Date. Later, she won the Morocco Open with Minella again. Finally, she won the Tashkent Open with Yaroslava Shvedova.

Grand Slam Finals and Top 10 (2014–2015)

Babos with her doubles partner Mladenovic

In 2014, Tímea had modest results in singles. But she did well on the ITF Circuit, winning two titles. In doubles, she started strong, winning her second title of the year in Sydney. She reached another final in Paris with Kristina Mladenovic.

In late June, Tímea made a big step. She reached her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon with Mladenovic. They lost to Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. This result helped Tímea enter the top 30 in doubles.

In 2015, Tímea continued to struggle in singles. But in doubles, she won her first title of the year in Dubai with Mladenovic. She also won titles in Morocco and Italy. At Wimbledon, she reached the semifinals in women's doubles. She also reached the mixed-doubles final with Alexander Peya. At the end of the year, Tímea played in the WTA Finals for the first time.

Top 30 in Singles, Wimbledon Final (2016)

Babos at the 2016 Birmingham Classic

Singles Progress

After years of weaker singles results, Tímea started 2016 well. She reached a semifinal in the first week. She also made it to the second round of the Australian Open. She reached the third round of the Qatar Open. At the Miami Open, she reached the round of 16.

She continued to improve, reaching a semifinal in Morocco. At the Italian Open, she beat Venus Williams. In August, she reached a final in Brazil. At the US Open, she made it to the third round for the first time at a major. This helped her reach her career-high singles ranking of 25. She also qualified for the year-end WTA Elite Trophy.

Doubles Success

The 2016 season was also good for doubles. Tímea reached the semifinals at Indian Wells. She then reached the final at the Miami Open. In July, she reached another Grand Slam final at Wimbledon. This time, with Shvedova, she lost to Serena and Venus Williams. For the second year in a row, she qualified for the WTA Finals.

WTA Finals Champion (2017)

Babos at the 2017 French Open

This was the first season Tímea reached more than one singles final. In her home country, she won the Hungarian Open. She beat Lucie Šafářová in the final for her second singles title. In September, she reached two more finals but did not win them. Even with three singles finals, her ranking dropped outside the top 50.

In doubles, she reached two new Premier Mandatory finals in Madrid and Beijing. But she did not win those titles. At Wimbledon, she lost in the third round. But she made it to the quarterfinals at the US Open. Before the year ended, she won three smaller tournaments. She also won Premier-level tournaments in Sydney and Moscow.

Again, she qualified for the WTA Finals. With Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková, she won the title. They beat Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson in the final.

Grand Slam Title and World No. 1 (2018)

Babos and Mladenovic holding the 2019 Birmingham Classic trophy

Tímea continued to reach finals in singles. In January, after the Australian Open, she went to Taipei. There, she won her third singles title at the Taiwan Open. In April, she reached another singles final in Monterrey but lost.

Even though she did well in singles, she had even more success in doubles. At the Australian Open, she won her first Grand Slam title. This was with Kristina Mladenovic. They beat Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. She also reached the mixed doubles final with Rohan Bopanna.

Things continued well. She reached a Premier Mandatory semifinal in Indian Wells. Then, she made it to the final of the Madrid Open. She also won a title at the Premier-level Birmingham Classic. After losing in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, Tímea became the world No. 1 doubles player on July 16.

She then reached another Grand Slam final at the US Open. This time, Tímea and Mladenovic lost to Ashleigh Barty and CoCo Vandeweghe. For the second year in a row, Tímea won the WTA Finals title. This time, it was with Mladenovic.

Three More Grand Slam Doubles Titles (2019–2020)

Babos at the 2019 French Open

While Tímea struggled in singles during 2019 and 2020, she was amazing in doubles. At the start of 2019, Tímea and Mladenovic reached the final at the Australian Open. But they lost to Samantha Stosur and Zhang Shuai. In April 2019, they won the Istanbul Cup.

They reached another Grand Slam final at the French Open. This time, they won, beating Duan Yingying and Zheng Saisai. They also reached the Wimbledon semifinal. At the US Open, she reached her first doubles quarterfinal there. This meant she had reached the quarterfinals at all four Grand Slams in the same year. Tímea and Mladenovic won all their matches at the WTA Finals. It was Tímea's third title there.

Tímea continued to play well in 2020. At her first tournament, the Australian Open, she won her third major title. This was again with Mladenovic. They beat Barbora Strýcová and Hsieh Su-wei in the final. They did not lose a single set during the whole tournament.

After six months away due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tímea played at the US Open. Tímea and Mladenovic won their first match. But they were removed from the tournament because Mladenovic had contact with a player who tested positive for COVID-19. However, this did not stop them from winning their title again at the French Open. They beat Alexa Guarachi and Desirae Krawczyk in the final.

Recent Years (2021-2024)

In 2021, Tímea reached the semifinals in doubles at Dubai. She also played in the Australian Open singles.

She did not play in the 2022 Australian Open because she did not want to follow the COVID-19 rules. Her doubles ranking dropped to No. 242 in April 2022. But she finished 2022 ranked No. 92 in doubles.

In 2023, Tímea qualified for the main singles draw of the Morocco Open. She won her first singles match at this level in over two years. She also entered the main singles draw of the WTA 500 Zhengzhou Open.

Personal Life and Interests

Tímea Babos lives in her hometown of Sopron in Hungary. Her nickname on tour is 'Babosdook'. Her doubles partner Kristina Mladenovic gave her this name. It's because Tímea loves horror films, and the name is a reference to the movie The Babadook.

Tímea Babos was the first Hungarian female tennis player to reach the world number one spot. She enjoyed watching Elena Dementieva when she was growing up. Tímea said she liked Dementieva's playing style. She also said Dementieva was always nice to junior players.

Tímea is a fan of the football team Manchester United. Her whole family supports the team too.

Playing Style and Strengths

Babos hitting a forehand

Tímea Babos has an aggressive style of play. She uses a good mix of shots. She has learned to use different shots like slices and drop-shots. She also uses her doubles skills to come to the net often. She tries to hit winners as much as possible.

Her father taught her to be a neutral player. This means she can hit slices and drop shots sometimes. Because she is tall and powerful, her biggest strength is her serve. This helps her a lot when playing on faster courts like grass or indoor hard. She grew up playing on clay courts.

Sponsors and Endorsements

Tímea Babos has many sponsors. She has been part of the MOL Talent Support Programme since 2008. In 2011, she joined the MOL professional sponsorship program. She uses a VCORE-98 Racquet made by Yonex.

In 2016, she signed a sponsorship deal with Fila. Before that, she had deals with Adidas and K-Swiss, but they did not last long. Some of her other sponsors include Samsung, a Swedish drink brand called "Vitamin Well", a Hungarian company named Cardo, and a Finnish brand called Ice Power.