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

$8,989,062

Official website

babostimea.hu

Singles

Career record

425–335 (55.92%)

Career titles

Highest ranking

No. 25 (19 September 2016)

Current ranking

No. 895 (26 May 2025)

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

459–226 (67.01%)

Career titles

Highest ranking

No. 1 (16 July 2018)

Current ranking

No. 27 (26 May 2025)

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 No. 1 in doubles.

Tímea has won three titles in singles and 27 titles in doubles on the WTA Tour. She is a four-time Grand Slam tournament champion in women's doubles. She won the Australian Open in 2018 and 2020. She also won the French Open in 2019 and 2020. All these major wins were with her partner, Kristina Mladenovic.

Babos and Mladenovic 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 Wimbledon final in 2016 with Yaroslava Shvedova. In mixed doubles, she reached two major finals. These were at Wimbledon in 2015 with Alexander Peya and the Australian Open in 2018 with Rohan Bopanna.

Tímea Babos became world No. 1 in doubles for the first time in July 2018. She held this top spot for 13 weeks. She was the first Hungarian tennis player, male or female, to reach number one in either singles or doubles. She also won the WTA Finals three times (2017, 2018, 2019) and two WTA 1000 trophies.

In singles, Tímea's highest ranking was No. 25 in September 2016. She has won three WTA Tour singles titles and was 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 Tennis Beginnings
Junior Tennis Career
Professional Tennis Career
Playing Style
Sponsors and Endorsements
Images for kids
See also

Early Life and Tennis Beginnings

Tímea Babos was born on May 10, 1993, in Sopron, Hungary. Her parents are Zsuzsanna and Csaba. She has an older sister. Tímea comes from a family that loves sports. Her father is a tennis coach at their family's tennis club in Sopron. Her sister was also a good tennis player.

Tímea first started as a swimmer and was a national champion in Hungary. However, she found swimming a bit boring. At age 8, she started going to tennis practice with her sister. She began playing tennis just for fun. But her dad soon saw her talent, so she focused more on tennis and stopped swimming.

She loved watching her sister practice with their father. After a few months, Tímea joined local tennis 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, Tímea went to the United Kingdom to practice. Hungary mostly has clay courts, but she needed to practice on hard courts. Two years later, she got a good sponsorship deal. This allowed her to return and train in Budapest. Tímea still lives in her hometown of Sopron. Her nickname on tour is 'Babosdook'. Her doubles partner, Kristina Mladenovic, gave her this name because Tímea likes horror films. It's a fun reference to the movie The Babadook.

Tímea Babos became the first Hungarian female tennis player to reach the world number one spot. She admired 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 big fan of the Manchester United football team, just like her whole family.

Junior Tennis Career

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 her first doubles title in her very first event in Hungary. She continued to succeed in doubles, winning more tournaments in 2007.

In 2008, she improved a lot. She reached a singles final and won a doubles title at a big junior event. Tímea 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 quarterfinals in doubles. She also won a doubles title at the 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 final in doubles. She played with Heather Watson, but they lost in a close match. At Wimbledon, she reached her first major singles semifinal.

Tímea had a great start to 2010. She won her first singles tournament of the year. She then reached the singles quarterfinal and doubles final at the Australian Open. Tímea won her first major title at the French Open in doubles. She partnered with Sloane Stephens and won without losing a single set. Babos won another major title with Stephens at Wimbledon. She also won the title at the US Open, again with Stephens. This was her last junior tournament.

Professional Tennis Career

Early Professional Years (2009–2013)

Tímea Babos in 2010

Tímea Babos started playing on the ITF Women's Circuit in 2009 at age 15. She reached a final in her first event and won her first title the next week. She also started strong in doubles, winning one title. In 2010, she reached her first final in a bigger tournament (25k event) in Budapest. 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 made her doubles debut there. Her first major appearance was at the US Open, but she did not reach the main draw. In late 2011, she won her first 50k event in both singles and doubles.

Tímea Babos at the 2013 French Open

Tímea had a strong start to 2012. 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 good results helped her enter the top 100 players. She made her major debut at the French Open. At Wimbledon, she won her first major match. In 2013, she reached three quarterfinals in singles. She also won a 50k event in Johannesburg.

In doubles, Tímea won her first WTA Tour doubles title in 2012 at the Birmingham Classic. She played with Hsieh Su-wei. She also made her Grand Slam doubles debut at the French Open. In 2013, she won four International doubles titles with different partners.

Grand Slam Finals and Top 10 in Doubles (2014–2018)

Babos with her doubles partner Kristina Mladenovic

In 2014, Tímea continued to have strong results in doubles. She won a Premier-level title in Sydney. She also won the Malaysian Open with Chan Hao-ching. In June, Tímea reached her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon with Kristina Mladenovic. They lost in the final, but this result helped Tímea move into the top 30 in doubles.

In 2015, Tímea won her first doubles title of the year at the Dubai Championships with Mladenovic. She also won titles at the Morocco Open and the Italian Open. At Wimbledon, she reached the mixed-doubles final with Alexander Peya. At the end of 2015, Tímea played in the WTA Finals for the first time with Mladenovic.

Babos at the 2016 Birmingham Classic

In 2016, Tímea had a good singles season. She reached the semifinals in Shenzhen and Morocco. She also beat Venus Williams at the Italian Open. At the US Open, she reached the third round for the first time in a major singles event. This helped her reach her career-high singles ranking of 25. She also played in the WTA Elite Trophy at the end of the year.

Her 2016 doubles season was also successful. She reached the final at the Miami Open. In July, she reached another Grand Slam final at Wimbledon. This time, she partnered with Yaroslava Shvedova, but they lost to Serena and Venus Williams. She qualified for the WTA Finals for the second year in a row.

Babos at the 2017 French Open

In 2017, Tímea reached more than one singles final. In Hungary, she won her second career singles title at the Hungarian Open. She also reached two other finals but did not win them.

In doubles, she reached two new Premier Mandatory finals in Madrid and Beijing. She won three International-level tournaments. She also won the Premier-level Sydney International and Kremlin Cup. Tímea qualified for the WTA Finals again. With Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková, she won the title, beating Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson in the final.

Babos and Mladenovic holding the 2019 Birmingham Classic trophy

In 2018, Tímea continued to reach singles finals. In January, she won her third singles title at the Taiwan Open. In April, she reached another singles final in Monterrey.

However, she had even more success in doubles. At the Australian Open, she won her first Grand Slam title with Kristina Mladenovic. They beat Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. She also reached the mixed doubles final there. She won a title at the Premier-level Birmingham Classic. After Wimbledon, Tímea Babos became the world No. 1 doubles player on July 16, 2018. She then reached another Grand Slam final at the US Open with Mladenovic. For the second year in a row, Tímea won the WTA Finals title, this time with Mladenovic.

More Major Doubles Titles (2019–2020)

Babos at the 2019 French Open

While Tímea had some challenges in singles during 2019 and 2020, she was amazing in doubles. At the start of 2019, she and Mladenovic reached the final at the Australian Open. In April 2019, they won the Istanbul Cup. They reached another Grand Slam final at the French Open and won it! They also reached the Wimbledon semifinal. At the US Open, she reached her first doubles quarterfinal there. This meant she had reached quarterfinals at all four major tournaments in the same year. Tímea and Mladenovic won all their matches at the WTA Finals, winning the title for the third time for Tímea.

Tímea continued to play well in 2020. At her first tournament, the Australian Open, she won her third major title, all with Mladenovic. They won without losing a single set. After a break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tímea played at the US Open. She and Mladenovic won their first match. However, they had to leave the tournament because Mladenovic had contact with a player who tested positive for COVID-19. But this did not stop them from winning their title at the French Open again!

Recent Years (2021–Present)

Tímea started 2021 at the Gippsland Trophy and the Australian Open in singles. In doubles, she reached the semifinals at Dubai. She did not play at the 2022 Australian Open due to COVID-19 rules. As a result, her doubles ranking dropped. However, she finished 2022 ranked No. 92 in doubles.

In 2023, Tímea qualified for the main draw of the Morocco Open. She won her first singles match at a WTA 250 level in over two years. She also entered the main draw of the WTA 500 Zhengzhou Open.

In January 2025, Tímea partnered with Luisa Stefani. They won the doubles title at the WTA 500 Upper Austria Ladies Linz. In May 2025, they won another WTA 500 title at the Internationaux de Strasbourg.

Playing Style

Babos hitting a forehand

Tímea Babos has an exciting and aggressive way of playing tennis. She uses a good mix of shots. Over time, she has improved her game. Now, she can hit nice 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 balanced player, not too aggressive or too defensive.

Because she is tall and powerful, her strongest weapon is her serve. This helps her a lot when playing on faster courts. These include grass courts or indoor hard courts. 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 programme. 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. Some of her other sponsors include Samsung, the Swedish drink brand "Vitamin Well," Hungarian company Cardo, and Finnish brand Ice Power.