Monica Niculescu


Monica Niculescu is a Romanian professional tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 28 in February 2012, and has three singles titles to her credit on the WTA Tour since she turned pro in May 2002, the last one coming at the end of 2016, at the BGL Luxembourg Open. Although she was a steady top 30 player for several years and enjoyed relative success in singles, she is also a doubles specialist, where she achieved a career-high ranking of No. 11 in April 2018, after partnering with Grand Slam winner and Olympic medalist Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková at Indian Wells. Her biggest doubles result up to date is reaching her first Grand Slam doubles final at Wimbledon in 2017, alongside Chan Hao-ching. She was also runner-up at three Premier Mandatory events: the 2015 Wuhan Open, with fellow Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu, the 2016 Rogers Cup, with former world No. 1 Simona Halep, and the 2017 Cincinnati Open, partnering former world No. 1 in doubles, Hsieh Su-wei.
She is popular among spectators and other players alike for her unconventional style of play, employing an extreme grip as well as two hands for both her forehand and backhand. She is also best known for her trademark forehand-slice, her winning deamenour and her exceptional shot-making abilities at the net. Niculescu currently holds the Open Era record of highest first serve percentage in a year.
Niculescu has defeated many top-ten opponents throughout her career, having 25 wins against top-ten opponents to date.
Niculescu was born in Slatina, Romania, but moved to Bucharest when she was four. She is currently coached by Călin Stelian Ciorbagiu.

Tennis career

2002–2005: Junior years

As a junior, Niculescu had the remarkable gift to win quite easily every final she reached. Thus, before reaching the age of 18, she won eleven ITF singles finals, losing only one set:
She also won eight out of 14 ITF finals played in doubles as a junior, in most of them partnered by her older sister, Gabriela Niculescu. She played finals in girls' doubles in Roland Garros and twice in Wimbledon.
By the end of 2005, now already a senior player, she was No. 271 in the WTA rankings and No. 4 in Romania.

2006–2008: Constant progress as a senior, top 50

Niculescu made her WTA debut in 2006 Istanbul, where she won to then junior Sabine Lisicki but could not pass the third qualification round. In 2007, she continued to play many ITF tournaments, and she also played in qualifications in all four Grand Slam and three other WTA tournaments, but only in Dubai she reached the main draw. Still, winning several ITF tournaments and gathering many small points, she finished the year 2007 in top 200.
In 2008, she reached the quarterfinals in Tashkent, and in all four Grand Slam tournaments she reached the first round, with round two reached in Wimbledon. Gathering points constantly on WTA Tour, and also including some smaller successes in ITF tournaments, Niculescu was ranked 48th in the world, and second in Romania, at the end of 2008.

2009: Setback and out of top 100

Niculescu opened the season at the Brisbane International, where she lost to Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round in three sets. She also lost in the first round of the Moorilla Hobart International to Alona Bondarenko. At the 2009 Australian Open, Niculescu beat Katie O'Brien in the first round, 6–4, 6–4, before losing to Sara Errani in the second, 2–6, 3–6. Alongside Sorana Cîrstea, Niculescu was the 14th seed in women's doubles; they lost to Nathalie Dechy and Mara Santangelo in the second round, 3–6, 3–6.
In the other three Grand Slam events, she did not go past round one of the main draw. Her best results of the year were quarterfinals in Tashkent and Strasbourg.
At the Open GDF Suez held in Paris, Niculescu defeated Timea Bacsinszky in the first round, before losing to eventual champion Amélie Mauresmo in the second. She then took part in the Dubai Tennis Championships. She beat Peng Shuai in the first round in three sets, 3–6, 7–5, 6–2, and then lost to world No. 3, Jelena Janković, 3–6, 2–6. Niculescu also partnered Elena Vesnina in doubles, and the two reached the quarterfinals in women's doubles; they lost to Anabel Medina Garrigues and Francesca Schiavone. Niculescu had two consecutive first-round losses, at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. Partnering Alisa Kleybanova, she reached the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open, where they lost to Maria Kirilenko and Flavia Pennetta. At the Sony Ericsson Open she partnered Kleybanova again, but they lost to second seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual.
Niculescu withdrew from the Andalucía Tennis Experience and Barcelona Ladies Open due to a forearm injury.
At the end of the year, she had slipped out of top 100.

2010: Comeback to top 100, first WTA semifinal

In 2010, Monica started the season in Auckland, coming from qualifying. In the first round, she lost to fifth seed Virginie Razzano, 5–7, 4–6. In doubles, she partnered Ioana Raluca Olaru, and they defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues and Carla Suárez Navarro, 7–5, 7–5. In the second round, they lost to Cara Black and Liezel Huber, 3–6, 2–6.
At the Australian Open, she lost in the first round to Jelena Janković, 4–6, 0–6. In doubles, she partnered Chan Yung-jan and defeated Monique Adamczak and Nicole Kriz, 6–3, 6–1. The pair defeated Alla Kudryavtseva and Ekaterina Makarova in the second round, 6–4, 6–4. In the third round, they lost to sixth seeds Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs, 5–7, 3–6.
Niculescu then played an ITF tournament in Midland, but lost in the first round to Eleni Daniilidou 4–6, 2–6.
In Memphis, she lost in the first round qualifying to Valérie Tétreault. In doubles, she reached the semifinals along with Riza Zalameda, losing to Vania King and Michaëlla Krajicek, 1–6, 4–6.
At Indian Wells, she lost in qualifying to Tamarine Tanasugarn. In doubles, together with Michaëlla Krajicek, she lost in first round to Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Yan Zi, 6–7, 2–6.
In Marbella failed to qualify in singles, but in doubles she partnered Sophie Lefèvre. They defeated Kristina Barrois and Ioana Raluca Olaru in the first round, 6–3, 4–6, . However, in the second round, they lost to Virginia Ruano Pascual and Meghann Shaughnessy, 2–6, 4–6.
She made again her best in Tashkent, where she reached her first WTA semifinals but lost to Elena Vesnina.
Although in the first half of the year she was struggling between ranks 100 and 150, by the middle of the year she reached top 100 again and ended the year as No. 82 in the world, and No. 2 in Romania.

2011: Consistent game, advance to top 30

At the Australian Open, Niculescu defeated Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets, 6–0, 6–3. Facing off against the 32nd seed, Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, Niculescu cruised through the match winning 6–4, 6–1. In the third round, she lost to the 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, 0–6, 6–7.
Niculescu defeated Patricia Mayr-Achleitner in the first round and compatriot Alexandra Dulgheru in the second round, 6–3, 6–0, to advance to the third round of the US Open. In defeating Lucie Šafářová, 6–0, 6–1, Niculescu advanced to the fourth round of a Grand Slam singles competition for the first time in her career, where she lost 4–6, 3–6 to unseeded Angelique Kerber.
At the Tier-1 China Open, she shocked the world with a dominating victory over fourth seed Li Na, 6–4, 6–0 in the first round and advanced to the semifinals, where she lost to eventual runner-up, Andrea Petkovic.
She advanced to her first WTA final at the International tournament in Luxembourg, losing to Victoria Azarenka, 2–6, 2–6. En route to the final, she spent many hours on court with a 6–7, 7–5, 7–6 first-round victory over Karin Knapp, a second-round 7–6, 3–6, 6–1 win over Anabel Medina Garrigues, and a 7–5, 4–6, 6–3 win in three hours over 2010 finalist Anne Keothavong in the semifinals.
The end of the year found her as No. 30 in the world and No. 1 in Romania.

2012: Career high, small setback, still top 60

At the Australian Open, Niculescu made it to the third round by defeating Alizé Cornet and Pauline Parmentier, but she was defeated by then–world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki, 2–6, 2–6.
She reached quarterfinals in Doha, where she lost to Samantha Stosur.
Her best result was again the final in Luxembourg, lost to Venus Williams.
Although in February Niculescu had reached rank No. 28, her career high so far, the inconsistent results during the season made her go down to world No. 58 by the end of the year.

2013: Steady position, first WTA title

Aside two WTA semifinals in Shenzhen and Monterrey, Niculescu won her first singles WTA title in Florianópolis.
She played in round one of all the Grand Slam events, but lost the games constantly.
Yet, winning enough games and points in WTA tournaments, she kept her top-60 position, finishing the season as No. 59 in the WTA rankings.

2014: Second WTA title, top 50 again

In all, Niculescu had an improving season, reaching round three at Australian Open, round two at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, quarterfinals in Shenzhen, Hobart and Florianópolis, and semifinals in Bucharest. The best result was her winning the tournament in Guangzhou, as her second WTA title.
Thus, she entered top 50 again by the end of the year.

2015: Tough matches, steady game

Much of early 2015 was particularly difficult for Niculescu, as she often faced difficult draws. For instance she drew world No. 1 Serena Williams twice in a row in the second round of Indian Wells and Miami. While she managed to test Williams with a 5–7, 5–7 score, she was not able to win a set against her in either match. She also suffered first-round losses at Shenzhen, Hobart, the Australian Open, Dubai, Prague, and the French Open.
Niculescu won the Marseille clay 100K tournament in June. Shortly thereafter, she defeated first-seeded Agnieszka Radwańska 5–7, 6–4, 6–0 at the Nottingham grass tournament to earn a place in the final where she lost to teenager Ana Konjuh 6–1, 4–6, 2–6. All five matches she played went to three sets. She then lost in the first round at Birmingham to the 10th seed, Barbora Strýcová.
Niculescu earned a spot in the fourth round at the Wimbledon Championships for the first time, defeating Monica Puig 5–7, 6–3, 6–1, Jana Čepelová 6–3, 6–3, and Kristýna Plíšková 6–3, 7–5. This is the second time she has made it past the third round at a major. Despite winning the first set of her fourth-round match 6-1 and having a positive head-to-head record against the player, she was defeated by 15th-seeded Timea Bacsinszky, who took the next two sets.

2016: Doubles success

Niculescu reached a career-high ranking of 16 in doubles in July. She partnered with Sania Mirza to win in New Haven.

2017: Wimbledon doubles final and first WTA 125 series crown

She started her season at Shenzhen Open with a victory, defeating Zhang Kailin, but she lost her second match to Wang Qiang.
Niculescu also played at Hobart International, where she made it to the final and lost to Elise Mertens, 3–6, 1–6.
At the Australian Open, she lost to Anna Blinkova in the first round. Then, Niculescu played doubles with Abigail Spears, but they lost in the first round to Andrea Petkovic and Mirjana Lučić-Baroni. She won the WTA 125 Series Open at Limoges on 12 November.

2020

Playing style

Nicolescu plays right-handed, with powerful topspin backhand and unpredictable forehand slice. She has great volleying ability and great footwork.

Personal life

Her mother, Cristiana Silvia Niculescu is a pharmaceutical sales representative; her father Mihai Niculescu is an engineer. Niculescu has an older sister, Gabriela, who was a professional tennis player too and attended University of Idaho, after transferring from USC after her junior year.
Monica Niculescu cited Martina Hingis and Andre Agassi as her tennis idols.

Performance timelines

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

Singles

Current through the suspension of the 2020 WTA Tour.

Doubles

Updated up to end of 2019

Significant finals

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Premier-Mandatory/Premier-5 finals

Doubles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

WTA career finals

Singles: 8 (3 titles, 5 runner-ups)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–12011 BGL Luxembourg Open – Singles|Luxembourg Open, LuxembourgInternationalHard Victoria Azarenka2–6, 2–6
Loss0–22012 BGL Luxembourg Open – Singles|Luxembourg Open, LuxembourgInternationalHard Venus Williams2–6, 3–6
Win1–2Brasil Tennis Cup, BrasilInternationalHard Olga Puchkova6–2, 4–6, 6–4
Win2–22014 Guangzhou International Women's Open – Singles|Guangzhou Open, ChinaInternationalHard Alizé Cornet6–4, 6–0
Loss2–32015 Aegon Open Nottingham – Women's Singles|Nottingham Open, United KingdomInternationalGrass Ana Konjuh6–1, 4–6, 2–6
Loss2–4Korea Open, South KoreaInternationalHard
Win3–42016 BGL Luxembourg Open – Singles|Luxembourg Open, LuxembourgInternationalHard Petra Kvitová6–4, 6–0
Loss3–52017 Hobart International – Singles|Hobart International, AustraliaInternationalHard Elise Mertens3–6, 1–6

Doubles: 26 (9 titles, 17 runner-ups)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–12008 Pilot Pen Tennis – Women's Doubles|Connecticut Open,
United States
Tier IIHard Sorana Cîrstea Květa Peschke
Lisa Raymond
6–4, 5–7,
Win1–12009 GDF Suez Grand Prix – Doubles|Hungarian Ladies Open,
Hungary
InternationalClay Alisa Kleybanova Alona Bondarenko
Kateryna Bondarenko
6–4, 7–6
Loss1–22009 Bank of the West Classic – Doubles|Bank of the West Classic,
United States
PremierHard Chan Yung-jan Serena Williams
Venus Williams
1–6, 4–6
Loss1–32010 Moorilla Hobart International – Doubles|Hobart International,
Australia
InternationalHard Chan Yung-jan Květa Peschke
Chuang Chia-jung
6–3, 3–6,
Loss1–42010 ECM Prague Open – Doubles|Prague Open,
Czech Republic
InternationalClay Ágnes Szávay Timea Bacsinszky
Tathiana Garbin
5–7, 6–7
Loss1–52011 Baku Cup – Doubles|Baku Cup,
Azerbaijan
InternationalHard Galina Voskoboeva Mariya Koryttseva
Tatiana Poutchek
3–6, 6–2,
Win2–52012 Moorilla Hobart International – Doubles|Hobart International,
Australia
InternationalHard Irina-Camelia Begu Chuang Chia-jung
Marina Erakovic
6–7, 7–6,
Loss2–62012 Guangzhou International Women's Open – Doubles|Guangzhou Open,
China
InternationalHard Jarmila Gajdošová Tamarine Tanasugarn
Zhang Shuai
6–2, 2–6,
Loss2–72012 BGL Luxembourg Open – Doubles|Luxembourg Open,
Luxembourg
InternationalHard Irina-Camelia Begu Andrea Hlaváčková
Lucie Hradecká
3–6, 4–6
Loss2–82013 Aegon International – Women's Doubles|Eastbourne International,
United Kingdom
PremierGrass Klára Koukalová Nadia Petrova
Katarina Srebotnik
3-6, 3-6
Win3–82014 WTA Shenzhen Open – Doubles|Shenzhen Open,
China
InternationalHard Klára Koukalová Lyudmyla Kichenok
Nadiia Kichenok
6–3, 6–4
Win4–82014 Moorilla Hobart International – Doubles|Hobart International,
Australia
InternationalHard Klára Koukalová Lisa Raymond
Zhang Shuai
6–2, 6–7,
Loss4–92014 BNP Paribas Katowice Open – Doubles|Katowice Open,
Poland
InternationalHard Klára Koukalová Yuliya Beygelzimer
Olga Savchuk
4–6, 7–5,
Loss4–102015 Hobart International – Doubles|Hobart International,
Australia
InternationalHard Vitalia Diatchenko Kiki Bertens
Johanna Larsson
5–7, 3–6
Loss4–112015 Wuhan Open – Doubles|Wuhan Open,
China
Premier 5Hard Irina-Camelia Begu Martina Hingis
Sania Mirza
2−6, 3−6
Loss4–122015 Kremlin Cup – Women's Doubles|Kremlin Cup,
Russia
PremierHard Irina-Camelia Begu Daria Kasatkina
Elena Vesnina
3–6, 7–6,
Win5–122016 WTA Shenzhen Open – Doubles|Shenzhen Open,
China
InternationalHard Vania King Xu Yifan
Zheng Saisai
6−1, 6−4
Win6–122016 Citi Open – Women's Doubles|Citi Open,
United States
InternationalHard Yanina Wickmayer Shuko Aoyama
Risa Ozaki
6–4, 6–3
Loss6–132016 Rogers Cup – Women's Doubles|Rogers Cup,
Canada
Premier 5Hard Simona Halep Ekaterina Makarova
Elena Vesnina
3–6, 6–7
Win7–132016 Connecticut Open – Doubles|Connecticut Open,
United States
PremierHard Sania Mirza Kateryna Bondarenko
Chuang Chia-jung
7–5, 6–4
Loss7–142016 BGL Luxembourg Open – Doubles|Luxembourg Open,
Luxembourg
InternationalHard Patricia Maria Țig Kiki Bertens
Johanna Larsson
6–4, 5–7,
Win8–142017 Ladies Open Biel Bienne – Doubles|Ladies Open Biel Bienne,
Switzerland
InternationalHard Hsieh Su-wei Timea Bacsinszky
Martina Hingis
5–7, 6–3,
Loss8–152017 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Doubles|Wimbledon,
United Kingdom
Grand SlamGrass Chan Hao-ching Ekaterina Makarova
Elena Vesnina
0–6, 0–6
Loss8–162017 Western & Southern Open – Women's Doubles|Cincinnati Open,
United States
Premier 5Hard Hsieh Su-wei Chan Yung-jan
Martina Hingis
6–4, 4–6,
Win9–162019 Thailand Open – Doubles|Hua Hin Championships,
Thailand
InternationalHard Irina-Camelia Begu Anna Blinkova
Wang Yafan
2–6, 6–1,
Loss9–172019 Bronx Open – Doubles|Bronx Open,
United States
InternationalHard Margarita Gasparyan Darija Jurak
María José
Martínez Sánchez
5–7, 6–2,

WTA 125K series finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 24 (19 titles, 5 runner–ups)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–0Aug 2002ITF Bucharest, Romania10,000Clay Tsvetana Pironkova6–1, 7–6
Win2–0Apr 2003ITF Cavtat, Croatia10,000Clay Darija Jurak6–4, 6–1
Win3–0Aug 2003ITF Timișoara, Romania10,000Clay Veronica Rizhik6–2, 6–3
Win4–0Feb 2004ITF Albufeira, Portugal10,000Hard Irina Kotkina6–1, 3–6, 6–0
Win5–0Feb 2004ITF Portimao, Portugal10,000Hard Nadja Pavic6–4, 7–6
Win6–0May 2004ITF Bucharest, Romania10,000Clay Simona Matei6–2, 6–2
Win7–0Aug 2004ITF Iași, Romania10,000Clay Raluca Olaru7–6, 6–0
Win8–0Mar 2005ITF Cairo, Egypt10,000Clay Galina Fokina6–4, 6–2
Win9–0Mar 2005ITF Ain Sokhna, Egypt10,000Clay Magdaléna Rybáriková6–3, 6–4
Win10–0May 2005ITF Antalya, Turkey25,000Clay Ekaterina Dzehalevich6–2, 6–2
Win11–0Aug 2005ITF Coimbra, Portugal25,000Hard Aravane Rezaï6–3, 6–1
Loss11–1Jul 2006ITF Stuttgart, Germany25,000Clay Yevgenia Savranska6-7, 5–7
Loss11–2Jul 2006ITF Darmstadt, Germany25,000Clay Magda Mihalache0–6, 1–6
Loss11–3Aug 2006ITF Coimbra, Portugal25,000Hard Kelly Liggan0–6, 6-7
Win12–3Sep 2007ITF Granada, Spain25,000Hard María José Martínez Sánchez6–3, 6–4
Win13–3Oct 2007ITF Istanbul, Turkey25,000Hard Oxana Lyubtsova6–2, 6–0
Win14–3Nov 2007ITF Port Pirie, Australia25,000Hard Hwang I-hsuan6–1, 6–2
Win15–3Nov 2007ITF Mount Gambier, Australia25,000Hard Lee Ye-ra6–3, 6–1
Loss15–4Nov 2008ITF Kraków, Poland100,000Hard Anne Keothavong6–7, 6–4, 3–6
Loss15–5Jul 2010ITF Pétange, Luxembourg100,000Clay Mathilde Johansson3–6, 3–6
Win16–5Nov 2012ITF Nantes, France50,000Hard Yulia Putintseva6–2, 6–3
Win17–5Jun 2015ITF Marseille, France100,000Clay Pauline Parmentier6–2, 7–5
Win18–5Nov 2015ITF Poitiers, France100,000Hard Pauline Parmentier7–5, 6–2
Win19–5Jun 2019ITF Ilkley, United Kingdom100,000Grass Tímea Babos6–2, 4–6, 6–3

Doubles: 37 (21 titles, 16 runner–ups)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–1Aug 2002ITF Bucharest,
Romania
10,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Radoslava Topalova
Virginia Trifonova
4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win1–1Aug 2002ITF Bucharest,
Romania
10,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Iveta Gerlová
Nina Nittinger
6–2, 6–2
Loss1–2Mar 2003ITF Makarska,
Croatia
10,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Stefanie Haidner
Daniela Klemenschits
6–3, 6–7, 4–6
Win2–2Mar 2003ITF Makarska,
Croatia
10,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Darija Jurak
Maria Jedlicková
6–2, 6–2
Loss2–3Apr 2003ITF Dubrovnik,
Croatia
10,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Mervana Jugić-Salkić
Darija Jurak
2–6, 6–4, 2–6
Loss2–4Aug 2003ITF Bucharest,
Romania
10,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Anna Bastrikova
Elena Vesnina
4–6, 4–6
Loss2–5Aug 2003ITF Timișoara,
Romania
10,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Julia Ács
Vasilisa Davydova
4–6, 3–6
Win3–5May 2004ITF Bucharest,
Romania
10,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Lenore Lazaroiu
Andra Savu
6–4, 6–2
Win4–5Jul 2004ITF Bucharest,
Romania
10,000Clay Mădălina Gojnea Liana Ungur
Iris Ichim
6–4, 6–1
Win5–5Aug 2004ITF Târgu Mureș,
Romania
10,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Simona Matei
Barbara Pócza
7–5, 6–1
Win6–5Aug 2004ITF Iași,
Romania
10,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Nadine Schlotterer
Eva Valková
7–5, 6–1
Win7–5Mar 2005ITF Cairo,
Egypt
10,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Hanna Andreyeva
Valeria Bondarenko
6–2, 6–3
Win8–5Mar 2005ITF Ain Sokhna,
Egypt
10,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Laura-Ramona Husaru
Sarah Raab
6–1, 6–1
Loss8–6Apr 2005ITF Civitavecchia,
Italy
25,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Lucie Hradecká
Sandra Záhlavová
4–6, 3–6
Win9–6May 2005ITF Antalya,
Turkey
10,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Irina Buryachok
Olga Panova
6–3, 6–4
Win10–6May 2005ITF Antalya,
Turkey
25,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Renata Kucerková
Kathrin Woerle
6–7, 6–0, 6–0
Loss10–7Oct 2005ITF Sevilla,
Spain
25,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Sara Errani
María José Martínez Sánchez
2–6, 6–7
Loss10–8Apr 2006ITF Athens,
Greece
25,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Olga Brózda
Margit Rüütel
6–2, 4–6, 2–6
Win11–8May 2006ITF Bucharest,
Romania
10,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Sorana Cîrstea
Diana Buzean
6–3, 6–0
Win12–8Jun 2006ITF Bucharest,
Romania
10,000Clay Gabriela Niculescu Raluca Ciulei
Neda Kozic
6–2, 6–1
Win13–8Jul 2006ITF Stuttgart,
Germany
25,000Clay Renata Voráčová Eva Fislová
Stanislava Hrozenská
6–2, 6–7, 7–5
Win14–8Jul 2006ITF Darmstadt,
Germany
25,000Clay Yevgenia Savranska Daniela Klemenschits
Sandra Klemenschits
1–6, 6–0, 6–1
Win15–8Sep 2006ITF Mestre,
Italy
50,000Clay Renata Voráčová Margalita Chakhnashvili
Tatjana Maria
6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Win16–8Apr 2007ITF Putignano,
Italy
25,000Hard Andreja Klepač Jessica Kirkland
Carmen Klaschka
6–2, 7–5
Loss16–9Jul 2006ITF Jounieh,
Lebanon
75,000Clay Madalina Gojnea Tatiana Poutchek
Anastasiya Yakimova
7–5, 6–0
Win17–9Jul 2007ITF Darmstadt,
Germany
25,000Clay Ekaterina Dzehalevich Hilary Barte
Tatjana Priachin
6–4, 7–5
Loss17–10Jul 2007ITF Bucharest,
Romania
25,000Clay Ekaterina Dzehalevich Sorana Cîrstea
Ágnes Szatmári
6–0, 4–6, ret.
Loss17–11Sep 2007ITF Madrid,
Spain
25,000Clay Yevgenia Savranska María José Martínez Sánchez
Arantxa Parra Santonja
6–1, 6–7
Loss17–12Jul 2007ITF Granada,
Spain
25,000Clay Alexandra Dulgheru Marta Marrero
María José Martínez Sánchez
4–6, 1–6
Win18–12Nov 2007ITF Mount Gambier,
Australia
25,000Hard Antonia Matic Sophie Ferguson
Trudi Musgrave
5–7, 6–3,
Win19–12Dec 2007ITF Dubai,
United Arab Emirates
75,000Hard Marina Erakovic Yuliana Fedak
Anna Lapushchenkova
7–6, 6–4
Loss19–13Oct 2008ITF Poitiers,
France
100,000Hard Akgul Amanmuradova Petra Cetkovská
Lucie Šafářová
4–6, 4–6
Loss19–14Oct 2008ITF Bratislava,
Slovakia
100,000Hard Akgul Amanmuradova Andrea Hlaváčková
Lucie Hradecká
6–7, 1–6
Loss19–15Jul 2010ITF Biarritz,
France
100,000Clay Lourdes Domínguez Lino Sharon Fichman
Julia Görges
5–7, 4–6
Win20–15Jul 2010ITF Pétange,
Luxembourg
100,000Clay Sharon Fichman Sophie Lefèvre
Laura Thorpe
6–4, 6–2
Loss20–16Oct 2013ITF Poitiers,
France
100,000Hard Christina McHale Lucie Hradecká
Michaëlla Krajicek
6–7, 6–2
Win21–16Nov 2015ITF Poitiers,
France
100,000Hard Andreea Mitu Stéphanie Foretz
Amandine Hesse
6–7, 7–6,

WTA Tour career earnings

*as of 23 May 2016

Head-to-head record against top-ten players

Niculescu's win-loss record against certain players who have been ranked world No. 10 or higher is as follows:

Top-10 wins per season