Chanelle Scheepers


Chanelle Scheepers is a retired South African tennis player.
She won one singles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as 12 singles and 20 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit in her career. On 10 October 2011, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 37. On 10 April 2014, she peaked at No. 42 in the doubles rankings.

Career

Scheepers turned pro in 2000 and played two ITF events.
In 2001, she reached four finals on ITF level and won all, with three of them coming from Durban, South Africa a local tournament, and one in the United States.
In 2002, she reached three ITF finals winning one in Mackay, Australia and losing in the other two in Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
In 2003, she played her first tour-level event in the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts and won her first main-draw tour-level match after getting through the qualifying draw over Samantha Stosur but lost to Tathiana Garbin in the next round. She then had a 19 match losing streak in the qualifying draws of tour-level and ITF events and main draw of ITF events.
2004 was a better year for Scheepers, she returned playing in ITF events where she won four titles; two in Benin City, Nigeria and two in Pretoria, South Africa. She also reached four other finals in Torre del Greco and Taranto both in Italy, in Pétange, Luxembourg and Lagos, Nigeria.
In 2005, Scheepers once again started playing in the qualifying draw of tour-level events but she didn't produce results as she only reached one semifinals and one quarterfinals in ITF events.
2006 was not a better year for Scheepers despite returning to the ITF circuit as she only reached two semifinals and one quarterfinal.
In 2007, Scheepers won her first ITF titles in three years as she won two titles in Lagos, Nigeria and Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States.
In 2008, her form went down as she only reached one semifinal and two quarterfinals.
2009 was a breakthrough year for the South African player as she made her Grand Slam main-draw debut getting through the qualifying draw in the Australian Open and French Open. She also made four main-draw wins and won a title in Irapuato, Mexico.
In 2010, Scheepers continued to play in the tour-level events and her persistence paid off as she reached her first main-draw quarterfinals in the Malaysian Open losing to Japanese Ayumi Morita. She then won in the ITF event of Fort Walton Beach, United States. In the French Open, after coming through the qualifying draw, she won her first Grand Slam main-draw match over Frenchwoman Mathilde Johansson in straight sets. She then continued her form by upsetting both, Gisela Dulko and Akgul Amanmuradova. She lost to world No. 5, Elena Dementieva in the fourth round in two sets. As a result of this performance, she was awarded a wildcard into the main draw of Wimbledon, where she lost in the first round to ninth seed and eventual quarter-finalist Li Na.
In 2011, she made the third round of the Australian Open. Following modest results for much of the rest of the year, Scheepers reached the third round of the US Open, where she even held match points against Francesca Schiavone before losing the match in three sets. Following that, she won her first WTA single titles at Guangzhou, China as the seventh seed defeating the eighth seed Magdaléna Rybáriková of Slovakia 6–2, 6–2 in the final. Chanelle achieved her career-high singles rank of world No. 37 following the tournament.
On 13 July 2012, Scheepers lost to Serena Williams in the Stanford Classic.
In July 2012, she reached the second round of Mercury Insurance Open, Carlsbad losing to Varvara Lepchenko.
At the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, she teamed with Shuko Aoyama to advance to the semifinals in women's doubles.
In 2015, after the Family Cup in Charleston, she retired from the WTA Tour and later started coaching American tennis player Alison Riske.

Personal life

Scheepers married Roger Anderson, her former coach, on 10 November 2012, in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.

WTA career finals

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Winner1.24 September 2011Guangzhou International Women's OpenHard Magdaléna Rybáriková6–2, 6–2
Runner-up1.20 July 2014Swedish Open, BåstadClay Mona Barthel3–6, 6–7

Doubles: 5 (1 title, 4 runner-ups)

OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Runner-up1.18 October 2009HP Open, Osaka, JapanHard Abigail Spears Lisa Raymond
Chuang Chia-jung
2–6, 4–6
Runner-up2.3 August 2012Citi Open, Washington, D.C.Hard Irina Falconi Shuko Aoyama
Chang Kai-chen
5–7, 2–6
Winner1.25 May 2013Internationaux de Strasbourg, FranceClay Kimiko Date-Krumm Cara Black
Marina Erakovic
6–4, 3–4,
Runner-up3.22 February 2014Rio Open, BrazilClay Johanna Larsson Irina-Camelia Begu
María Irigoyen
2–6, 0–6
Runner-up4.12 April 2014Copa Colsanitas, BogotáClay Vania King Lara Arruabarrena
Caroline Garcia
6–7, 4–6

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

ITF finals

Singles: 18 (12–6)

OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Winner1.27 May 2001Durban, South AfricaHard Lara Van Looyen7–5, 6–2
Winner2.3 June 2001Durban, South AfricaHard Lara Van Looyen4–6, 6–3, 7–6
Winner3.21 July 2001Evansville, United StatesHard Kristen Schlukebir6–1, 6–3
Runner-up1.10 June 2002Vaduz, LiechtensteinClay Myriam Casanova1–6, 3–6
Runner-up2.17 June 2002Lenzerheide, SwitzerlandClay Eva Birnerová5–7, 4–6
Winner4.14 October 2002Mackay, AustraliaHard Amanda Grahame7–6, 7–5
Winner5.22 February 2004Benin City, NigeriaHard Meghha Vakaria6–1, 6–3
Winner6.29 February 2004Benin City, NigeriaHard Susanne Aigner6–1, 4–6, 6–4
Runner-up3.5 April 2004Torre del Greco, ItalyClay Emma Laine6–3, 4–6, 0–6
Runner-up4.17 June 2004Pétange, LuxembourgClay Stanislava Hrozenská7–6, 1–6, 4–6
Runner-up5.10 October 2004Lagos, NigeriaHard Sania Mirza6–4, 6–7, 5–7
Winner7.22 November 2004Pretoria, South AfricaHard Lizaan du Plessis6–1, 6–3
Winner8.28 November 2004Pretoria, South AfricaHard Karoline Borgersen6–1, 6–3
Runner-up6.4 June 2007Hilton Head, United StatesHard Angela Haynes6–3, 2–6, 4–6
Winner9.11 June 2007Allentown, United StatesHard Angela Haynes6–2, 2–6, 6–1
Winner10.17 December 2007Lagos, NigeriaHard Zuzana Kučová6–2, 6–0
Runner-up6.26 January 2009Laguna Niguel, United StatesHard Alexa Glatch1–6, 0–6
Winner11.16 March 2009Irapuato, MexicoHard Natalia Rizhonkova6–1, 7–5
Winner12.15 March 2010Fort Walton Beach, United StatesHard Sophie Ferguson7–5, 7–5

Doubles: 36 (20–16)

OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Runner-up1.11 June 2000Pretoria, South AfricaHard Carien Venter Natalie Grandin
Nicole Rencken
6–7, 2–6
Winner1.3 June 2001Durban, South AfricaHard Lara Van Rooyen Maretha van Niekerk
Karin Vermeulen
7–6, 6–0
Winner2.10 June 2001Durban, South AfricaHard Lara Van Rooyen Marcela Evangelista
Letícia Sobral
6–2, 6–2
Winner3.24 June 2001Algiers, AlgeriaClay Karin Vermeulen Evghenia Ablovatchi
Lenka Tvarošková
7–6, 6–4
Winner4.1 July 2001Algiers, AlgeriaClay Karin Vermeulen Isabel Collischonn
Marnie Mahler
7–5, 6–2
Runner-up2.25 nov 2002Mount Gambier, AustraliaHard
w/o
Winner5.30 March 2003Rabat, MoroccoClay Daniela Klemenschits Helena Ejeson
Helena Norfeldt
6–3, 6–2
Runner-up3.28 February 2004Benin City, NigeriaHard Jennifer Schmidt Zuzana Cerna
Franziska Etzel
0–6, 7–5, 3–6
Winner6.7 March 2004Benin City, NigeriaHard Alanna Broderick Zuzana Cerna
Franziska Etzel
6–2, 6–2
Winner7.11 April 2004Torre del Greco, ItalyClay Jolanda Mens Michelle Gerards
Marielle Hoogland
6–3, 6–0
Runner-up4.9 October 2004Lagos, NigeriaHard Surina De Beer Shelley Stephens
Sania Mirza
1–6, 4–6
Winner8.16 October 2004Lagos, NigeriaHard Surina De Beer Shelley Stephens
Sania Mirza
6–0, 6–0
Winner9.3 December 2004Pretoria, South AfricaHard Melissa Berry Karoline Borgersen
Leonie Mekel
6–2, 3–6, 7–5
Winner10.15 January 2006Tampa, United StatesHard Aleke Tsoubanos Chan Chin-Wei
Hsu Wen-hsin
3–6, 7–6, 6–3
Runner-up5.22 Jan 2006Fort Walton Beach, United StatesHard Zuzana Kučová Maureen Drake
Vladimíra Uhlířová
6–2, 4–6, 5–7
Runner-up6.5 March 2006Clearwater, United StatesHard Natalie Grandin Kelly Liggan
Lina Stančiūtė
3–6, 1–6
Runner-up7.9 April 2006Pelham, United StatesClay Tiffany Dabek Tetiana Luzhanska
Romana Tedjakusuma
4–6, 1–6
Winner11.23 May 2006Grado, ItalyClay Tiffany Dabek Mailyne Andrieux
Nika Ožegović
6–4, 4–6, 7–6
Winner12.12 June 2006Gorizia, ItalyClay Soledad Esperón Matilde Muñoz Gonzalves
Sílvia Soler Espinosa
6–4, 6–3
Runner-up8.8 October 2006Troy, United StatesHard Neha Uberoi Nicole Kriz
Leanne Baker
7–6, 5–7, 3–6
Runner-up9.29 October 2006Augusta, United StatesHard Neha Uberoi Nicole Kriz
Leanne Baker
6–7, 1–6
Runner-up10.31 October 2006Mexico City, MexicoHard Maria Fernanda Alves María José Argeri
Letícia Sobral
3–6, 5–7
Winner13.6 March 2007Toluca, MexicoHard Courtney Nagle María Irigoyen
Andrea Benítez
6–2, 1–6, 6–2
Runner-up11.13 March 2007Mérida, MexicoHard Robin Stephenson Maria Fernanda Alves
Vanina García Sokol
3–6, 2–6
Winner14.20 March 2007Coatzacoalcos, MexicoHard Robin Stephenson Līga Dekmeijere
Story Tweedie-Yates
6–2, 6–2
Runner-up12.29 April 2007Sea Island, United StatesClay Anda Perianu Raquel Kops-Jones
Lilia Osterloh
5–7, 3–6
Winner15.13 October 2007Saltillo, MexicoHard Soledad Esperón Debbrich Feys
Leonie Mekel
6–0, 6–4
Winner16.20 October 2007San Luis Potosí, MexicoHard Debbrich Feys Estefanía Craciún
Betina Jozami
6–1, 6–4
Winner17.15 December 2007Lagos, NigeriaHard Kelly Anderson Iryna Brémond
Ágnes Szatmári
0–6, 6–3,
Winner18.22 December 2007Lagos, NigeriaHard Kelly Anderson Iryna Brémond
Ágnes Szatmári
1–6, 6–3,
Runner-up13.21 March 2008Noida, IndiaHard Kelly Anderson Teodora Mirčić
Lenka Tvarošková
2–6, 7–6 ,
Runner-up14.18 May 2008Saint-Gaudens, FranceClay Aurélie Védy Hsieh Su-wei
Marie-Ève Pelletier
4–6, 0–6
Runner-up15.21 March 2009Irapuato, MexicoHard Soledad Esperón Jorgelina Cravero
Veronica Spiegel
1–6, 0–6
Winner19.17 May 2009Saint-Gaudens, FranceClay Rika Fujiwara Kimiko Date-Krumm
Sun Tiantian
7–5, 6–4
Winner20.20 March 2010Fort Walton Beach, United StatesHard Johanna Larsson Christina Fusano
Courtney Nagle
2–6, 7–6,
Runner-up16.1 November 2010Grapevine, United StatesHard Julie Ditty Ahsha Rolle
Mashona Washington
7–5, 2–6, 2–6