Anastasija Sevastova
Anastasija Sevastova is a professional tennis player from Latvia. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 in October 2018, after reaching her first Premier Mandatory final at the China Open. She has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 13 singles and four doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.
Somewhat like Kim Clijsters, Sevastova is best-known for her success at the US Open, particularly in recent years. In 2016, she defeated the reigning French Open champion and world No. 3, Garbiñe Muguruza, as well as Australian Open semifinalist Johanna Konta, en route to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. In 2018, she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal, defeating defending champion and world No. 3, Sloane Stephens, in the quarterfinals, whom she had lost to at that same stage in 2017, before losing to Serena Williams.
Career
In 2007, she qualified for the İstanbul Cup where she won her first career WTA match beating Anastasiya Yakimova. In the second round, she lost to fifth-seeded Alona Bondarenko.In August 2009, she qualified for the main draw of the US Open and won her first match in a Grand Slam tournament by defeating Tamarine Tanasugarn.
2010–2013
In March 2010, Sevastova got one of the bigger wins of her early career by defeating world No. 9, Jelena Janković in the first round of the Monterrey Open and then reached the semifinals.Sevastova played at the Estoril Open and in her first match defeated top seed Ágnes Szávay in three sets. In the final of this tournament, her first WTA final, she beat Arantxa Parra Santonja in straight sets and won her first WTA title.
At the 2011 Australian Open, Sevastova upset the 21st seed Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets, before losing in the fourth round to world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets.
Due to ongoing injuries and illness, Sevastova announced her retirement from the sport in May 2013.
2015: Return to professional tennis
In 2015 January, Sevastova returned to professional tennis, receiving a wildcard into the $10K tournament in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.In the first half of the year, she won four ITF tournaments.
In the Brasil Tennis Cup, Sevastova reached her first WTA semifinal since 2013 in Pattaya.
At the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, she upset Karolína Plíšková in the second round and then lost to eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets.
2016: First Grand Slam quarterfinal
During the summer, Sevastova reached two finals: in Mallorca and Bucharest, losing to Caroline Garcia and Simona Halep respectively.At the US Open, Sevastova stunned Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round in straight sets, then followed with wins over Kateryna Bondarenko and Johanna Konta, reaching her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. She was defeated in the quarterfinals by Caroline Wozniacki, but gained with the new ranking of No. 32, eclipsing a new high ranking of No. 36 on 31 January 2011.
2017: Second WTA title; second US Open quarterfinal; top-15 ranking
Sevastova reached the third round of the Australian Open, beating Nao Hibino and Kristína Kučová before losing to Garbiñe Muguruza.Sevastova reached semifinals at two Premier-5 events- Dubai Tennis Championships and Mutua Madrid Open. In Madrid she had her second top-ten win in 2017, beating world No. 3 Karolína Plíšková in straight sets. Sevastova claimed her first WTA title since 2010, winning Mallorca Open, where she had reached final the previous year.
Following Wimbledon, Sevastova reached No. 17 in the singles rankings, and two quarterfinal appearances at the Bucharest Open and Swedish Open.
Sevastova made it to her second consecutive US Open quarterfinal. She won her first three rounds easily in straight sets and defeated Maria Sharapova in the fourth round, before losing to eventual champion Sloane Stephens.
Sevastova played at Elite Trophy in Zhuhai. She won both her matches in the group stage, against Sloane Stephens and Barbora Strýcová. In semifinal she was defeated by Julia Görges.
2018: Third WTA title; first Grand Slam semifinal; first Mandatory final
Sevastova started 2018 season in Brisbane, where she lost in semifinals to the qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich. At Australian Open, Sevastova lost in second round to Maria Sharapova.In Doha, Sevastova was eliminated in the third round by Simona Halep. In Indian Wells, Sevastova defeated Monica Puig and Julia Görges before losing to Venus Williams in fourth round. In Miami, she defeated Alizé Cornet and lost to Victoria Azarenka in third round. Sevastova reached semifinals in Charleston, where she lost to Julia Görges.
Sevastova played for Latvia in the Fed Cup. After she, alongside teammates Jeļena Ostapenko, Diāna Marcinkēviča and Daniela Vismane helped Latvia win all three of its ties in the zonal group round-robin phase, and defeat Serbia in the zonal group playoffs, Latvia advanced to the World Group II playoffs, where they played Russia. Despite Sevastova dropping her first match to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Ostapenko won both of her singles rubbers, and after Sevastova defeated Ekaterina Makarova in the final singles rubber, Latvia advanced to World Group II.
In Madrid, Sevastova lost in second round to Kiki Bertens. In Rome, she reached third round where she lost to Caroline Wozniacki. At French Open she lost in first round to qualifier Mariana Duque-Mariño.
Sevastova started grass-court season in Mallorca as the defending champion. She lost in the final to Tatjana Maria. In Eastbourne, Sevastova lost in third round to Daria Kasatkina. At Wimbledon, she lost in the first round to Camila Giorgi.
Returning to the clay in July, Sevastova made the final of the Bucharest Open defeating Croatian Petra Martić in straight sets to win her third WTA title.
At the US Open, Sevastova defeated Donna Vekić, Claire Liu, Ekaterina Makarova and seventh seed Elina Svitolina to reach her third consecutive quarterfinal at the tournament. In the quarterfinals, she defeated defending champion Sloane Stephens in straight sets to reach her first major semifinal, where she lost to 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in straight sets.
In October, Sevastova reached the final in Beijing, defeating Donna Vekić, Dominika Cibulková and Naomi Osaka. She lost to Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets but after the tournament, she made her career highest ranking. At Kremlin Cup, Sevastova reached semifinals where she lost to qualifier Ons Jabeur.
2019: Second week of Australian Open and Roland Garros; first title at home
Sevastova started her year off at Brisbane with a quarterfinal loss to world No. 3 Osaka in three sets. She then went to the Australian Open and made her first second week at the event since 2011. She beat Barthel, Andreescu and Wang to lose to Osaka again in three sets.Sevastova had a slump, partly due to injuries and resulted in early losses in Doha, Dubai, Indian Well and Miami. She made the quarterfinals at Stuttgart to start her clay-court season with wins over Ostapenko and Siegemund. She had another three-set tussle with a top-5 player with Kvitova, eventually losing 4–6 in the third. She would go onto to make third round of Madrid and have an early loss in Rome to Bertens and Bencic respectively.
Sevastova would go into Roland Garros in questionable form but she would make the second week of the event for the first time. She played an amazing match against Mertens in the third round saving five match points with winners. She won the match 9–7 in the third. She would come into the fourth round and lose to the eventual finalist Markéta Vondroušová, 2–6, 0–6.
Sevastova began her grass-court season at Mallorca having reached the final the last three years in a row. She would make the semifinal and lose to the eventual champion Kenin in three sets. Wimbledon would turn out to be a disappointment as she made the second round and led 6–4, 3–0 against Collins. A match, if she won, would have secured her a top-ten entry. However, she would go onto lose in three sets.
After Wimbledon, Sevastova would bounce back and claim what she called her most cherished title. She won the inaugural event in Latvia, the Baltic Open in Jūrmala. She struggled through the event, getting taken to three sets in the second round against Dalila Jakupović and in the final against Katarzyna Kawa. However, she did take home the title, winning 3–6, 7–5, 6–4.
Playing style
Sevastova is a tactical, all-round player who uses varied shots to win points. She possesses consistent and accurate groundstrokes, with both wings capable of producing winners. She has an accurate serve that can reach 110 mph. She also moves around the court well, and has good footwork. She may approach the net to finish points, and some of her best shots are her drop shots and slices. She states that her backhand is her favourite shot. Possibly her biggest asset is her variety and resilience on court.Endorsements
She is sponsored by Yonex for her racquets and clothing. She uses the Yonex Ezone DR 98 racquet.Performance timelines
- Sourced from WTA
Singles
Current through the suspension of the 2020 WTA Tour.Notes
- WTA Tournament of Champions was held from 2009 to 2014, when WTA Elite Trophy replaced it.
- The first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009–2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The two tournaments have since alternated status every year.
- In 2014, the Pan Pacific Open was downgraded to a Premier event and replaced by the Wuhan Open.
Significant finals
Premier-Mandatory & Premier-5 tournaments
Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)
WTA career finals
Singles: 8 (4 titles, 4 runner-ups)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | 2010 Estoril Open – Women's Singles| | Portugal Open, Portugal | International | Clay |  Arantxa Parra Santonja | 6–2, 7–5 |
| Loss | 1–1 | 2016 Mallorca Open – Singles| | Mallorca Open, Spain | International | Grass |  Caroline Garcia | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 1–2 | 2016 BRD Bucharest Open – Singles| | Bucharest Open, Romania | International | Clay |  Simona Halep | 0–6, 0–6 |
| Win | 2–2 | 2017 Mallorca Open – Singles| | Mallorca Open, Spain | International | Grass |  Julia Görges | 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 |
| Loss | 2–3 | 2018 Mallorca Open – Singles| | Mallorca Open, Spain | International | Grass | Tatjana Maria | 4–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 3–3 | 2018 Bucharest Open – Singles| | Bucharest Open, Romania | International | Clay |  Petra Martić | 7–6, 6–2 |
| Loss | 3–4 | 2018 China Open – Women's Singles| | China Open, China | Premier M | Hard |  Caroline Wozniacki | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 4–4 | 2019 Baltic Open – Singles| | Baltic Open, Latvia | International | Clay |  Katarzyna Kawa | 3–6, 7–5, 6–4 |
Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | 2017 Mallorca Open – Doubles| | Mallorca Open, Spain | International | Grass |  Jelena Janković |  Chan Yung-jan  Martina Hingis | w/o |
ITF Circuit finals
Singles: 23 (13 titles, 10 runner–ups)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Jul 2006 | ITF Garching, Germany | 10,000 | Clay |  Sandra Martinović | 7–6, 3–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Aug 2006 | ITF Bad Saulgau, Germany | 10,000 | Clay | Josipa Bek | 6–1, 6–0 |
| Win | 2–1 | Aug 2006 | ITF Bratislava, Slovakia | 10,000 | Clay |  Klaudia Malenovská | 4–6, 6–0, 6–3 |
| Loss | 2–2 | May 2007 | ITF Antalya, Turkey | 25,000 | Hard | Vojislava Lukić | 3–6, 6–7 |
| Loss | 2–3 | Jun 2007 | ITF Fontanafredda, Italy | 25,000 | Clay | Anna Korzeniak | 5–7, 0–6 |
| Win | 3–3 | Mar 2008 | ITF Noida, India | 25,000 | Hard |  Sunitha Rao | 6–2, 6–1 |
| Win | 4–3 | Jun 2008 | ITF Galatina, Italy | 25,000 | Clay | Estrella Cabeza Candela | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Win | 5–3 | Jul 2008 | ITF Les Contamines, France | 25,000 | Hard |  Agustina Lepore | 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 |
| Loss | 5–4 | Aug 2008 | ITF Katowice, Poland | 25,000 | Clay | Lenka Wienerová | 3–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 5–5 | Sep 2008 | ITF Brno, Czech Republic | 25,000 | Clay |  Zuzana Ondrášková | 4–6, 6–3, 2–6 |
| Win | 6–5 | Mar 2009 | ITF La Palma, Spain | 25,000 | Hard | Kristína Kučová | 4–6, 6–1, 6–1 |
| Win | 7–5 | May 2009 | Soweto Open, South Africa | 100,000 | Hard | Eva Hrdinová | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Loss | 7–6 | Jul 2009 | Zagreb Ladies Open, Croatia | 75,000 | Clay | Sandra Záhlavová | 1–6, 6–7 |
| Loss | 7–7 | Jul 2012 | Reinert Open, Germany | 50,000 | Clay | Annika Beck | 3–6, 1–6 |
| Win | 8–7 | Jul 2012 | ITF Zwevegem, Belgium | 25,000 | Hard |  Çağla Büyükakçay | 6–0, 6–3 |
| Win | 9–7 | Jul 2012 | Empire Slovak Open, Slovakia | 50,000 | Clay | Ana Savić | w/o |
| Win | 10–7 | Feb 2015 | ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt | 10,000 | Hard |  Yuuki Tanaka | 7–5, 6–3 |
| Win | 11–7 | Feb 2015 | ITF Trnava, Slovakia | 10,000 | Hard |  Réka Luca Jani | 6–1, 7–6 |
| Win | 12–7 | Apr 2015 | ITF Ahmedabad, India | 25,000 | Hard |  Ankita Raina | 6–4, 7–6 |
| Win | 13–7 | May 2015 | Wiesbaden Open, Germany | 25,000 | Clay | Tereza Martincová | 6–1, 6–3 |
| Loss | 13–8 | May 2015 | ITF La Marsa, Tunisia | 25,000 | Clay |  Romina Oprandi | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 13–9 | 2015 Bursa Cup – Singles| | Bursa Cup, Turkey | 50,000 | Clay | İpek Soylu | 5–7, 6–3, 1–6 |
| Loss | 13–10 | 2016 Empire Slovak Open – Singles| | Empire Slovak Open, Slovakia | 100,000 | Clay | Kateřina Siniaková | 6–7, 7–5, 0–6 |
Doubles: 5 (4 titles, 1 runner–up)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Aug 2008 | ITF Katowice, Poland | 25,000 | Clay | Lenka Wienerová | Karolina Kosińska Aleksandra Rosolska | 5–7, 6–3, |
| Loss | 1–1 | May 2009 | Soweto Open, South Africa | 100,000 | Hard | Kristína Kučová |  Naomi Cavaday  Lesia Tsurenko | 2–6, 6–2, |
| Win | 2–1 | Jan 2015 | ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt | 10,000 | Hard |  Melanie Klaffner |  Caroline Rohde-Moe Midori Yamamoto | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Win | 3–1 | Feb 2015 | ITF Trnava, Slovakia | 10,000 | Hard | Anna Maria Heil | Michaela Hončová Lenka Juríková | 6–4, 6–3 |
| Win | 4–1 | Sep 2015 | L'Open de Saint-Malo, France | 50,000 | Clay | Kristína Kučová |  Maria Marfutina Natalia Vikhlyantseva | 6–7, 6–3, |