Margarita Gasparyan
Margarita Melikovna Gasparyan is a Russian tennis player.
Gasparyan has won two singles and four doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as nine singles and eight doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 15 February 2016, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 41, while on 6 June 2016 she reached her best doubles ranking of No. 25. One of very few women to use a one-handed backhand, hers is perhaps second in quality only to Carla Suárez Navarro amongst current players.
In 2015, she won both her first singles and doubles titles during the same week, a feat she achieved at the Baku Cup. She was formerly coached by Elena Makarova, and is currently coached by Carlos Martinez.
Career
Born to an Armenian father, Melik, and a Russian mother, Lyudmyla, Gasparyan began playing tennis at age five. Her father was for a time a weightlifter, while her mother a biathlonist. Margarita's home club is CSKA Moscow.2010–14: Early career
Gasparyan started her pro career at the $10k tournament in St. Petersburg in mid-March 2010, losing in the first qualification round. Her first successful appearance was in another $10k tournament in Minsk, reaching the quarterfinals in singles and semifinals in doubles, respectively. Her first final was in Tyumen in doubles with Natela Dzalamidze in the very end of 2011, losing 0–6, 2–6 to Darya Kustova and Olga Savchuk.In 2012, Gasparyan won four singles ITF titles, all under the category 25k. All of her singles titles came from Russia. She was awarded a wild card into the Kremlin Cup but lost to Lucie Šafářová in three sets.
At the end of the 2013 season, Gasparyan was called by captain, Shamil Tarpischev, to be part of the Russian team for the Fed Cup Final against Italy, on November 2 and 3. Afterwards, she won her fifth ITF title in Minsk.
The 2014 WTA Tour was for Gasparyan more productive especially by season's end in singles, while in doubles she improved as she won two major ITF tournaments out of four, one being a top-levelled tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Gasparyan qualified for the Tashkent Open, but lost in the first round. She debuted at a Grand Slam tournament when she was in the qualifying draw at the US Open. At the end of the season, Gasparyan saw good results in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, winning one tournament.
2015: First WTA titles, Grand Slam main draw debut
Gasparyan won three ITF singles tournaments and one ITF doubles tournament, former being a top-level one. She achieved her first loss in an ITF final, also a $100k tournament, in Trnava, Slovakia, where she lost to Danka Kovinić, 5–7, 3–6. She then decided to play on the WTA Tour.In May, Gasparyan made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at French Open, where she lost in two sets to Ana Konjuh as a qualifier. On June 29, she made her second Grand Slam main-draw entry as a qualifier at Wimbledon, where she faced No. 1 seed, Serena Williams, in the first round. She broke Williams' serve early in the first set, but lost the match after yielding 11 of the final 13 games of the match.
At the İstanbul Cup, Gasparyan was drawn to face eighth seed Tsvetana Pironkova after getting past the qualifying rounds. Despite winning the first set 6–0 and having two match points, she lost the match 6–0, 6–7, 6–7.
Gasparyan won her first WTA title in Baku, defeating Patricia Maria Țig in the final. She became the first one-handed backhand player to win in the 2015 WTA season. As a result, her singles ranking rose to a career-high No. 71. Gasparyan, also with her win in the doubles event alongside title defender Alexandra Panova, climbed to No. 84 in the doubles rankings.
At the Connecticut Open, she fell in the first round of qualifying to Christina McHale. She also fell in the qualifying rounds at the US Open, losing to American wildcard Jessica Pegula in straight sets.
Gasparyan then lost in the second round of the Tashkent Open to German Anna-Lena Friedsam in straight sets. However, she won her second WTA doubles title of the year there with Alexandra Panova.
At the Generali Ladies Linz, Gasparyan upset sixth seed Camila Giorgi in the second round, before losing to Friedsam again.
At the Kremlin Cup, Gasparyan upset ninth seed Kristina Mladenovic in the second round but fell to eventual finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals.
In her last tournament of the year, Gasparyan reached the quarterfinals of the WTA 125K Open GdF Suez Seine-et-Marne, before retiring in the match against former Grand Slam champion Francesca Schiavone after losing the first set in a tiebreak.
Gasparyan ended the season as world No. 62, her first season ending in the top 100 and winning her first WTA singles title.
2016: Top 50, French Open doubles semifinal
Gasparyan played in Brisbane, but fell in the final qualifying round. However, due to Maria Sharapova's withdrawal, Gasparyan was awarded a lucky loser spot. However, she lost in the first round to compatriot Ekaterina Makarova. In Hobart, Gasparyan lost in the second round to Johanna Larsson.In the Australian Open, she managed to reach the fourth round, her best to date Grand Slam performance, after upsetting 17th seed, Sara Errani, in the first round. She then fell to world No. 1, Serena Williams, in straight sets.
At the inaugural St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy, Gasparyan reached the second round, before losing to fourth seed Ana Ivanovic.
In Doha, she caused a big upset by outclassing 10th seed Karolína Plíšková in just 49 minutes. However, she failed to keep up the good momentum as she lost to Andrea Petkovic.
At the BNP Paribas Open, Gasparyan defeated Olga Govortsova in the first round but lost to ninth seed Roberta Vinci in the second round despite having two match points.
She debuted for Team Russia at the 2016 Fed Cup against Belarus in the World Group Play-offs.
After Wimbledon, Gasparyan underwent surgery due to an injury, after which she was not able to participate over a specific time period. Among the tournaments she skipped were the Summer Olympics, where she planned to partner with Kuznetsova in doubles.
2017–18: Recovery from injury
Gasparyan came back to tennis in late 2017, participating in the qualifying rounds of the Kremlin Cup. In 2018, she reached the final of a $25k event in Spain, losing to Paula Badosa Gibert. She then entered her first WTA tournament since coming back from injury, the Jiangxi International Open in Nanchang, China, reaching the second round where she eventually lost to Zhang Shuai.She was granted a protected ranking and entered the main draw of the US Open without having to qualify. She was defeated by world No. 4 Angelique Kerber in straight sets.
Performance timelines
Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments and Olympic Games are included in Win–Loss records.Singles
This table is current through the 2019 China Open.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 Total 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 Toray Pan Pacific Open was downgraded to a Premier event and replaced by the Wuhan Open.
Doubles
WTA career finals
Singles: 2 (2 titles)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | 2015 Baku Cup – Singles| | Baku Cup, Azerbaijan | International | Hard |  Patricia Maria Țig | 6–3, 5–7, 6–0 |
| Win | 2–0 | 2018 Tashkent Open – Singles| | Tashkent Open, Uzbekistan | International | Hard |  Anastasia Potapova | 6–2, 6–1 |
Doubles: 6 (4 titles, 2 runner-ups)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | 2014 Tashkent Open – Doubles| | Tashkent Open, Uzbekistan | International | Hard | Alexandra Panova |  Aleksandra Krunić  Kateřina Siniaková | 2–6, 1–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | 2015 Baku Cup – Doubles| | Baku Cup, Azerbaijan | International | Hard | Alexandra Panova | Vitalia Diatchenko  Olga Savchuk | 6–3, 7–5 |
| Win | 2–1 | 2015 Tashkent Open – Doubles| | Tashkent Open, Uzbekistan | International | Hard | Alexandra Panova | Vera Dushevina Kateřina Siniaková | 6–1, 3–6, |
| Win | 3–1 | 2016 J&T Banka Prague Open – Doubles| | Prague Open, Czech Republic | International | Clay | Andrea Hlaváčková |  María Irigoyen  Paula Kania | 6–4, 6–2 |
| Win | 4–1 | 2019 St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy – Doubles| | St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy, Russia | Premier | Hard | Ekaterina Makarova | Anna Kalinskaya  Viktória Kužmová | 7–5, 7–5 |
| Loss | 4–2 | 2019 Bronx Open – Doubles| | Bronx Open, United States | International | Hard |  Monica Niculescu |  Darija Jurak  María José Martínez Sánchez | 5–7, 6–2, |
WTA 125K series finals
Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)
ITF Circuit finals
Singles: 11 (9 titles, 2 runner–ups)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponents | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Mar 2012 | ITF Moscow, Russia | 25,000 | Carpet | Lyudmyla Kichenok | 6–0, ret. |
| Win | 2–0 | May 2012 | ITF Moscow, Russia | 25,000 | Hard |  Çağla Büyükakçay | 6–3, 4–6, 6–1 |
| Win | 3–0 | May 2012 | ITF Moscow, Russia | 25,000 | Clay | Daria Gavrilova | 4–6, 6–4, 7–6 |
| Win | 4–0 | Sep 2012 | ITF Yoshkar-Ola, Russia | 25,000 | Hard | Nadiia Kichenok | 7–5, 7–6 |
| Win | 5–0 | Nov 2013 | ITF Minsk, Belarus | 25,000 | Hard | Anastasiya Vasylyeva | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Win | 6–0 | Nov 2014 | ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt | 25,000 | Hard |  Elitsa Kostova | 6–3, 6–0 |
| Win | 7–0 | Feb 2015 | ITF Andrézieux-Bouthéon, France | 25,000 | Hard | Elitsa Kostova | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Win | 8–0 | Feb 2015 | ITF Moscow, Russia | 25,000 | Hard | Karine Sarkisova | 6–0, 6–4 |
| Win | 9–0 | 2015 Open GDF Suez Seine-et-Marne – Singles| | ITF Croissy-Beaubourg, France | 50,000 | Hard |  Mathilde Johansson | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Loss | 9–1 | 2015 Empire Slovak Open – Singles| | ITF Trnava, Slovakia | 100,000 | Clay |  Danka Kovinić | 5–7, 3–6 |
| Loss | 9–2 | May 2018 | ITF Les Franqueses del Valles, Spain | 25,000 | Hard | Paula Badosa Gibert | 4–6, 6–3, 2–6 |
Doubles: 13 (8 titles, 5 runner–ups)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | 2011 Siberia Cup – Doubles| | ITF Tyumen, Russia | 50,000 | Hard | Natela Dzalamidze |  Darya Kustova Olga Savchuk | 0–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Jan 2012 | ITF Karst, Germany | 10,000 | Carpet | Anna Smolina | Alexandra Artamonova Marina Melnikova | 6–7, 6–2, |
| Win | 2–1 | Mar 2012 | ITF Moscow, Russia | 25,000 | Carpet | Anna Arina Marenko | Valentyna Ivakhnenko Kateryna Kozlova | 3–6, 7–6, |
| Win | 3–1 | Sep 2012 | ITF Yoshkar-Ola, Russia | 25,000 | Hard | Veronika Kapshay | Irina Buryachok  Valeria Solovyeva | 6–4, 2–6, |
| Loss | 3–2 | Jan 2013 | ITF Andrézieux-Bouthéon, France | 25,000 | Hard | Olga Savchuk |  Amra Sadiković  Ana Vrljić | 7–5, 5–7, |
| Win | 4–2 | Feb 2013 | ITF Moscow, Russia | 25,000 | Hard | Polina Monova | Maryna Zanevska Valeria Solovyeva | 6–4, 2–6, |
| Win | 5–2 | Jun 2013 | ITF Karshi, Uzbekistan | 25,000 | Hard | Polina Pekhova | Veronika Kapshay Teodora Mirčić | 6–2, 6–1 |
| Loss | 5–3 | Sep 2013 | ITF Clermont-Ferrand, France | 25,000 | Hard | Alyona Sotnikova |  Michaëlla Krajicek Marta Domachowska | 7–5, 4–6, |
| Loss | 5–4 | Feb 2014 | ITF Grenoble, France | 25,000 | Hard | Kateryna Kozlova |  Sofia Shapatava Anastasiya Vasylyeva | 1–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 6–4 | 2014 Open GDF Suez Seine-et-Marne – Doubles| | ITF Croissy-Beaubourg, France | 50,000 | Hard | Lyudmyla Kichenok |  Kristina Barrois  Eleni Daniilidou | 6–2, 6–4 |
| Loss | 6–5 | 2014 Empire Slovak Open – Doubles| | ITF Trnava, Slovakia | 100,000 | Clay | Evgeniya Rodina |  Stephanie Vogt  Zheng Saisai | 4–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 7–5 | 2014 President's Cup – Women's Doubles| | ITF Astana, Kazakhstan | 100,000 | Hard | Vitalia Diatchenko |  Michaela Boev Anna-Lena Friedsam | 6–4, 6–1 |
| Win | 8–5 | 2015 Empire Slovak Open – Doubles| | ITF Trnava, Slovakia | 100,000 | Clay | Yuliya Beygelzimer | Aleksandra Krunić Petra Martić | 6–3, 6–2 |
National representation
Team competition: 1 (1 runner-up)
Fed Cup participation
This table is current through the 2019 Fed Cup| Legend |
| World Group |
| World Group Play-off |
| World Group II |
| World Group II Play-off |
| Europe/Africa Group |