Noppawan Lertcheewakarn


Noppawan "Nok" Lertcheewakarn is a Thai professional tennis player. At Wimbledon 2009, she won the junior singles title. Lertcheewakarn has a highest rank on the WTA singles tour of 149 and doubles tour of 97.
As of July 2018, Lertcheewakarn having played her last match in August 2017, is in training to be a police officer. She has yet to officially retire, still dreams of coming back to the sport.

Playing style

Lertcheewakarn is a counterpuncher with her two-handed backhand and forehand. She is intelligent on court and has a good strategy. Her game is lacking powerful strokes, but based on precise groundstrokes. Her main weakness is considered to be her serve, lacking of power, consistency and stability.
Lertcheewakarn has inspiration by Tamarine Tanasugarn, Monica Seles, Marion Bartoli, and Williams sisters.
Lertcheewakarn is currently coached by Chuck Kriese.

Junior career

In 2008, Lertcheewakarn was world No. 1 in ITF junior circuit, became the first Thai player to ever hold that position. In the same year, Lertcheewakarn won the ITF Girls World Champion.
Lertcheewakarn has reached 2 Grand Slam Girls' Singles finals, 2008 Wimbledon losing to Laura Robson and 2009 Wimbledon beating Kristina Mladenovic. She also reached 4 Grand Slam Girls' Doubles finals, won 2008 US Open with Sandra Roma, 2009 French Open with Elena Bogdan, 2009 Wimbledon with Sally Peers, but lost 2009 US Open partnering Elena Bogdan.

Professional career

2006–2009

Lertcheewakarn started playing her first ITF Circuit events in August 2006.
Lertcheewakarn made her WTA Tour main draw debut in 2007 as a qualifier, defeating world No. 97 Melinda Czink of Hungary in straight sets in the final qualifying round, before losing to Aiko Nakamura in three sets in the first round.
In May 2008, Lertcheewakarn won her first pro title in singles at $25,000 Balikpapan, defeating the top seed Isha Lakhani of India in straight sets.
In 2009, Lertcheewakarn received a main draw wildcard to Pattaya Women's Open, lost early in a first round match against Shahar Pe'er, which lasted nearly 52 minutes with a score, 6–1, 6–0.

2010

She received a wild card to PTT Pattaya Open, but lost in the first round to Chanelle Scheepers, 7–6, 4–6, 4–6 in a two-hour-and-forty-minute match in which Lertcheewakarn had a 4–1 lead in the second set. She then received a wildcard to the Malaysian Open where she beat Ksenia Pervak in the first round in straight sets, making this her first WTA main draw win ever. At the US$50,000 Aegon Trophy in Nottingham, she advanced into the quarterfinal round before losing to Elena Baltacha in two straights sets. Lertcheewakarn received a wildcard entry to the Wimbledon Championships, where she was defeated by Andrea Hlaváčková in the first round 6–3, 6–2. Lertcheewakarn ended the year inside top 200 in singles and doubles

2011

Lertcheewakarn qualified in Auckland but lost to Heather Watson in the first round, 6–1, 6–1. In 2011 Malaysian Open, Lertcheewakarn defeated Alberta Brianti, 6–4, 2–6, 6–2, she lost to a qualifier, Anne Kremer, in the second round. In double, Lertcheewakarn reached WTA double final partnering Jessica Moore, they lost to Dinara Safina and Galina Voskoboeva, 7–5, 2–6, 10–5. She lost in the first round of 2011 Baku Cup to Ksenia Pervak 3–6, 6–1, 7–5, having led 5–3 in the third set. At the 2011 US Open Lertcheewakarn qualified for her second Grand Slam main draw, defeating Zuzana Kučová, Ashley Weinhold and Kristýna Plíšková in three tough matches. In the first round, in just her second Grand Slam tournament she lost to Anastasiya Yakimova 0–6, 6–4, 3–6. Lertcheewakarn won 2011 Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge beat Bojana Jovanovski, Regina Kulikova, Simona Halep and Kristina Mladenovic en route. She also qualified in 2011 HP Open but lost to Samantha Stosur 6–3, 3–6, 7–5, she was two points away to score the victory. In 2011, Lertcheewakarn broke into top 100 in doubles and top 150 in singles.

2012

Lertcheewakarn reached the final in $50,000 Gifu but lost to Kimiko Date-Krumm in three sets. She qualified for Birmingham main draw, defeating Sesil Karatantcheva 7–6 , 6–4 en route. In the first round, she lost to Misaki Doi in three sets.
In Stanford Classic Lertcheewakarn lost to Nicole Gibbs 6–4, 6–4.

WTA career finals

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponents in finalScore in final
Runner-up1.6 March 2011Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaHard Jessica Moore Dinara Safina
Galina Voskoboeva
7–5, 2–6,

ITF finals

Singles: 14 (5 titles, 9 runner–ups)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1Jun 2007ITF Jakarta, Indonesia10,000Hard Nungnadda Wannasuk3–6, 6–4, 6–3
Loss0–2Jul 2007ITF Bangkok, Thailand10,000Hard Lu Jiaxiang6–2, 2–6, 7–6
Win1–2May 2008ITF Balikpapan, Indonesia25,000Hard Isha Lakhani6–3, 6–2
Win2–2Aug 2008ITF Chiang Mai, Thailand10,000Hard Nungnadda Wannasuk6–2, 6–3
Loss2–3Mar 2009ITF Hamilton, New Zealand10,000Hard Ayu Fani Damayanti6–4, 4–6, 6–3
Loss2–4Jul 2010ITF Saint Joseph, United States10,000Hard Gabriela Paz6–1, 6–4
Win3–4Sep 2010ITF Tsukuba, Japan25,000Hard Shiho Akita6–4, 6–1
Loss3–5Sep 2010ITF Cairns, Australia25,000Hard Ana Clara Duarte6–3, 3–6, 6–2
Win4–5Dec 2011ITF Dubai, UAE75,000Hard Kristina Mladenovic7–5, 6–4
Loss4–6Sep 2012ITF Phuket, Thailand25,000Hard Dinah Pfizenmaier6–2, 6–4
Loss4–7Apr 2012ITF Gifu, Japan50,000Hard Kimiko Date-Krumm6–1, 5–7, 6–3
Loss4–8Oct 2013ITF Bendigo, Australia50,000Hard Casey Dellacqua4–6, 4–6
Loss4–9Mar 2014ITF Quanzhou, China50,000Hard Zarina Diyas1–6, 1–6
Win5–9May 2016ITF Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt10,000Hard Prerna Bhambri6–4, 6–1

Doubles (8–11)

OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Winner1.26 September 2006Jakarta, IndonesiaHard Varatchaya Wongteanchai Lavinia Tananta
Ayu Fani Damayanti
6–2, 6–4
Winner2.19 November 2006Manila, PhilippinesHard Varatchaya Wongteanchai Kao Shao-yuan
Thassha Vitayaviroj
3–6, 6–3, 7–6
Runner-up1.17 June 2007Montemor-O-Novo, PortugalHard Varanya Vijuksanaboon Elisa Balsamo
Valentina Sulpizio
6–1, 6–0
Runner-up2.27 July 2007Bangkok, ThailandHard Napaporn Tongsalee Sophia Mulsup
Varatchaya Wongteanchai
4–6, 6–4, 6–1
Winner3.24 April 2009Bol, CroatiaClay Martina Borecká Michaela Pochabová
Patricia Veresová
6–3, 6–3
Runner-up3.15 May 2010Tanjung Selor, IndonesiaHard Jessy Rompies Liu Wanting
Zhang Ling
7–6, 6–3
Runner-up4.26 July 2010St. Joseph, United StatesHard Gabriela Paz Maria Sanchez
Ellen Tsay
6–4, 4–6, 4–6
Runner-up5.11 September 2010Cairns, AustraliaHard Tyra Calderwood Tammi Patterson
Olivia Rogowska
6–3, 7–6
Runner-up6.25 April 2011Gifu, JapanHard Erika Sema Chan Yung-jan
Chan Hao-ching
6–2, 6–3
Runner-up7.7 August 2011Vancouver, CanadaHard Jamie Hampton Kristýna Plíšková
Karolína Plíšková
5–7, 6–2,
Winner4.26 March 2012Phuket, ThailandHard Zheng Saisai Sun Shengnan
Han Xinyun
6–3, 6–3
Runner-up8.11 November 2012Pune, IndiaHard Julia Glushko Nina Bratchikova
Oksana Kalashnikova
0–6, 6–4,
Winner5.18 March 2013Ipswich, AustraliaHard Varatchaya Wongteanchai Viktorija Rajicic
Storm Sanders
4–6, 6–1, 10–8
Runner-up9.19 August 2013Saint Petersburg, RussiaClay Justyna Jegiołka Victoria Kan
Ganna Poznikhirenko
2–6, 0–6
Winner6.12 October 2013Margaret River, AustraliaHard Arina Rodionova Monique Adamczak
Tammi Patterson
6–2, 3–6,
Runner-up10.5 May 2014Incheon, South KoreaHard Melis Sezer Han Na-lae
Yoo Mi
1–6, 1–6
Winner7.20 April 2015Shenzhen, ChinaHard Lu Jiajing Han Na-lae
Jang Su-jeong
6–4, 7–5
Runner-up11.24 October 2015Brisbane, AustraliaHard Varatchaya Wongteanchai Lauren Embree
Asia Muhammad
2–6, 6–4,
Winner8.10 March 2017Mildura, AustraliaGrass Lu Jiajing Tessah Andrianjafitrimo
Shérazad Reix
6–4, 1–6,

Performance timeline

Singles

Doubles