Aravane Rezaï

Aravane Rezaï

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	$2,817,085
Singles
Career record	305–225 (57.5%)
Career titles	4
Highest ranking	No. 15 (11 October 2010)
Current ranking	No. 813 (18 March 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	3R (2008)
French Open	4R (2009)
Wimbledon	3R (2007)
US Open	4R (2006)
Doubles
Career record	9–29 (23.7%)
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)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	2–2
Last updated on: 25 March 2024.

Aravane Rezaï

Medal record
Women's tennis
Representing  Iran
Women's Islamic Games
	2001 Iran	Singles
	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.^{[citation needed]}

Career

2001–2008

Rezaï competed for Iran at the Women's Islamic Games, winning gold in 2001 and 2005.^[1][2] 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 hardcourts 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 Auckland Classic which she lost to Lindsay Davenport. 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 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 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

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 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.^[3][4]

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 now lost to Alisa Kleybanova in the first round 1–6, 2–6.

2011

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 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 Miami Open 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.

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."^[5]

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.^[6]

Father's controversies

Rezaï's father, Arsalan Rezaï, who was a member of her coaching team, has repeatedly been the focus of controversial allegations of violence and abuse. In one interview, Aravane said, "I had tough moments, lots of sacrifices. I remember playing outside in the rain and snow."^[7][8] Her father mentioned the concern neighbors had about his training methods: "I had lots of problems to train this girl: lack of money and lack of courts. Some neighbors bothered us. They accused me, saying that this man was killing this child. But today, she's not dead. She's happy."^[7][8]

At one point, the French Tennis Federation was forced to employ bodyguards to prevent Arsalan from attacking other competitors' fathers.^[why?][8] In one 2006 incident, Arsalan attacked Sergey Vesnin, the father of Elena Vesnina, and then accidentally hit his own daughter with a racquet.^[9] Aravane was denied training funds that are typically available to all French players, and she was also banned in 2007 from training with other players at Roland Garros because of her father's dispute with the French Fed Cup captain.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Just before her loss in the first round of the 2011 Australian Open, Arsalan was violent to his daughter and threatened her boyfriend.^[9] After losing the match, Aravane said, "I do not want to look for excuses but I had a lot of trouble on the morning of the match."^[9] The WTA indefinitely banned Arsalan from the tour, pending investigation.^[9] The incident was also investigated by the Victoria police.^[9][11]

Performance timelines

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

Singles

Doubles

Significant finals

WTA Elite Trophy

Singles: 1 (title)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	2009	WTA Elite Trophy13–31 (29.5%)	Hard	Marion Bartoli	7–5, ret.

WTA 1000 tournaments

Singles: 1 (title)

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

WTA career finals

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

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	May 2007	İstanbul Cup, Turkey	Tier III[e]	Clay	Elena Dementieva	6–7(5–7), 0–3 ret.
Loss	0–2	Jan 2008	Auckland Open, New Zealand	Tier IV[e]	Hard	Lindsay Davenport	2–6, 2–6
Win	1–2	May 2009	Internationaux de Strasbourg, France	International[e]	Clay	Lucie Hradecká	7–6(7–2), 6–1
Win	2–2	Nov 2009	WTA Tournament of Champions, Bali	Elite	Hard (i)	Marion Bartoli	7–5, ret.
Win	3–2	May 2010	Madrid Open, Spain	Premier M[f]	Clay	Venus Williams	6–2, 7–5
Win	4–2	Jul 2010	Swedish Open, Sweden	International	Clay	Gisela Dulko	6–3, 4–6, 6–4
Loss	4–3	Aug 2011	Texas Open, United States	International	Hard	Sabine Lisicki	2–6, 1–6

ITF finals

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

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

Best Grand Slam results details

Singles

Australian Open 2008 Australian Open Round Opponent Rank Score ARR 1R Kateryna Bondarenko No. 43 7–6(7–4), 6–2 No. 69 2R Tatiana Golovin (13) No. 13 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 3R Hsieh Su-wei (Q) No. 158 2–6, 7–6(7–3), 4–6

French Open 2009 French Open Round Opponent Rank Score ARR 1R Ai Sugiyama No. 37 6–3, 6–2 No. 57 2R Polona Hercog (Q) No. 167 3–6, 6–4, 6–2 3R Michelle Larcher de Brito (Q) No. 132 7–6(7–3), 6–2 4R Dinara Safina (1) No. 1 1–6, 0–6

Wimbledon Championships 2007 Wimbledon Round Opponent Rank Score ARR 1R Shenay Perry No. 88 6–2, 7–6(7–4) No. 60 2R Francesca Schiavone (29) No. 30 6–4, 2–6, 6–4 3R Ana Ivanovic (6) No. 6 3–6, 2–6

US Open 2006 US Open Round Opponent Rank Score ARR 1R Anna-Lena Grönefeld (15) No. 16 2–6, 6–0, 6–4 No. 96 2R Lucie Šafářová No. 43 7–6(4–7), 2–6, 6–4 3R Maria Kirilenko (20) No. 24 6–3, 6–1 4R Elena Dementieva (4) No. 6 5–7, 4–6

Top 10 wins

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

See also

• Muslim women in sport

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aravane Rezaï.

• Aravane Rezaï at the Women's Tennis Association
• Aravane Rezaï at the International Tennis Federation
• Aravane Rezaï at the Billie Jean King Cup

This page was last edited on 26 March 2024, at 16:55