Yanina Wickmayer Belgian professional tennis player Date of Birth: 20.10.1989 Country: Belgium

1. Biography of Yanina Wickmayer
2. Rise in Rankings
3. First WTA Title
4. Continued Success
5. Current Standing

Biography of Yanina Wickmayer

Yanina Wickmayer is a professional tennis player from Belgium. She is currently ranked 19th in the world and is the second highest-ranked Belgian player. Wickmayer's first successful performances came in 2006 when she won three singles and two doubles championships in the International Tennis Federation (ITF). In the following year, she continued to dominate ITF tournaments in Asia, surpassing Caroline Maes and becoming the second-ranked player in Belgium.

Rise in Rankings

At the beginning of the year, Wickmayer was ranked 534th in the world, but by November she had climbed to 170th place. Sabine Appelmans selected Wickmayer to represent Belgium in the Fed Cup, but she unfortunately lost to Venus Williams and a Chinese player. In 2008, Wickmayer participated in the Fed Cup again and redeemed herself by defeating Kateryna Bondarenko. She also qualified for the French Open but was unable to overcome Akgul Amanmuradova. In the DFS Classic final, Wickmayer lost to Bondarenko once again, and in the first round of Wimbledon she was defeated by Ai Sugiyama.

First WTA Title

In 2009, Wickmayer won her first WTA singles championship at the Estoril Open. She had several successful performances throughout the year, including reaching the semifinals of the US Open. However, the year ended on a dark note when she and fellow Belgian player Xavier Malisse were charged with failing to provide information about their whereabouts to the anti-doping committee. Initially, they faced a simple punishment, but on November 5th, 2009, the committee unexpectedly handed them a harsh sentence, banning both athletes from competing for a year. Wickmayer and Malisse immediately appealed, and their ban was lifted on December 16th.

Continued Success

In 2010, Wickmayer started the year with a brilliant performance at the ASB Classic in Auckland. She then competed in the Australian Open, where she was defeated in the fourth round by Justine Henin. Despite not winning, Wickmayer significantly rose in the rankings, reaching 15th position. After an impressive performance at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, where she reached the quarterfinals, Wickmayer climbed to 12th place in the rankings. In early 2011, she attempted to defend her title in Auckland but lost in the final to Greta Arn. Wickmayer's second victory over a top-ten player came at the Australian Open, where she defeated Li Na.

Current Standing

Currently, Wickmayer has dropped to 19th place in the world rankings. However, she is still at the peak of her career and undoubtedly has the potential to make a comeback.