Sybille Bammer (born 27 April 1980 in Linz, Austria) is a professional female tennis player from Austria. Her career high ranking is No. 19, achieved on 17 December 2007. She is one of three mothers on the WTA Tour (Kim Clijsters and Rossana de los Ríos are the others), having taken time off at age 21 to have her daughter Tina before returning to the tour. When she won the 2007 Pattaya Women's Open, it was the first time in eighteen years that a mother won on tour, after Laura Arraya in 1989. Her daughter Tina is a frequent regular in the crowd. Bammer said of her daughter, "She is always telling other people to be quiet because Mummy is concentrating." Bammer made her WTA Tour main draw debut as a wildcard in 2000 at the Klagenfurt event. She lost to German player Andrea Glass at this event. She failed to qualify for Wimbledon, US Open and her home tournament in Linz. During 2001 she took a break from tennis to give birth to her daughter Tina. Her boyfriend Christophe Gsthwendtner took a break from his engineering career to take care of Tina. Given that she was still to break into the top 200 at the time, this was a courageous decision for the young couple. It wasn't until two years later that she would break into the top 150. Upon her post-pregnancy comeback in 2002 she cruised to win her career-first singles title at the $10k event in Grenoble. She won another two in the same year at Mostar and Innsbruck, both $25k events on the ITF Tour. During 2003, she picked up another four $25k singles titles. She also made her debut for Austria in their Fed Cup team.
In 2005, Bammer made her career breakthrough, soaring into the top 100 on the rankings, including making her Grand Slam main draw debut at the US Open, where she fell in the first round to Martina Suchá as a qualifier. At the Tier III in Kolkatta, Bammer reached her first ever WTA Tour quarterfinal event, and then reaching her second at the Tier II event in Linz as a wildcard, defeating Virginie Razzano and Vera Dushevina. She was the first Austrian since Barbara Schett in 2000 to make it to the quarterfinals there. After her impressive run in Linz, she reached a new career high of No.77. At the start of 2006, she got her best ever Grand Slam performance in only her second ever Grand Slam main draw, making the third round. Two weeks after, she reached her first career first Tour semifinal at Pattaya City, falling to the eventual champion Shahar Pe'er. She reached the third round in Indian Wells before losing to 19th seed Martina Hingis, and the second round in Charleston losing to top seed Justine Henin-Hardenne. During the Fed Cup, she fell 0–3 in Austria's 5–0 defeat to Spain. She made her top 50 debut at No.42 following a third round appearance at Berlin, losing to No.6 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. In her first Wimbledon main draw showing, she reached the third round, notching her best career win thus far over Nathalie Dechy, then ranked No.23.
This was followed by a poor US hardcourt season, falling first round at four events and reaching the second round in three, including the US Open. She then reached her third career quarterfinal in Bangkok, once again beating Nathalie Dechy before falling to Tamarine Tanasugarn, the eventual runner-up. She finished the season ranked No.53, her best year-ending ranking thus far. After losing in the first round of Gold Coast to eventual runner-up Martina Hingis 6–0 6–2, the next week at Hobart, a Tier IV event, she rose several eyebrows by defeating eight-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in the quarterfinals, who was playing her first tournament since the US Open. With this victory, she became one of only two players to have a winning head-to-head record over Williams, the other being Tiantian Sun of China. She lost in the semifinals to Vasilisa Bardina easily, 3–6, 1–6. She then lost 6–4 7–5 in the first round of the Australian Open to Anna Chakvetadze after leading 5–2 in the second set.
In February 2007 she finally won her first WTA Tour title ten years after turning pro, beating Vasilisa Bardina in the first round to avenge her semifinal loss to her at Hobart, Anastassia Rodionova, Martina Suchá, Shuai Peng and topping it off with a victory over Gisela Dulko in the final, saving three match points en route to victory. At Indian Wells, she became the No.33 seed after Elena Dementieva withdrew. She made the most of her luck, stunning everyone by making the semifinals of the Tier I event, her first ever semifinal at this level. In the fourth round, she stunned No. 10 seed Ana Ivanović and No.13 seed Tatiana Golovin in the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, her fairytale came to an end in the semifinals losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova, the second seed, with a result of 7–6, 4–6, 1–6. Due to this amazing run, she rose to a new career high of No.30. She lost early in Miami to tricky French left-hander Émilie Loit, and then moved onto the green clay of Amelia Island. She had another brilliant run here, beating Daniela Hantuchová in the quarterfinals but then lost to the eventual runner-up Nadia Petrova in the semifinals.
This meant that she once again reached another career high, moving up to No.26 in the world. She reached the third round of Charleston, losing to surprise quarterfinalist Michaëlla Krajicek, but nevertheless made her top 25 debut at #25. She played for Austria in the Fed Cup against Australia at the end of April. She ended with a 2–0 record after winning both of her singles matches against Samantha Stosur and Alicia Molik as Austria won 4–1. Her first tournament of May was the German Open, where she lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round. She then went to the second round of the Rome Masters, losing to Hantuchová 6–1 6–2. At the time of the French Open, she was ranked 25 in the world and entered the tournament as the 20th Seed. She beat Roberta Vinci (6–4 6–4), Olga Savchuk (6–0 6–3) and 16th Seed Li Na (6–4 6–3) to record her best performance at a Grand Slam to date. Unfortunately, she was defeated by top seed, world number one and eventual champion Justine Henin 6–2 6–4 in the French open fourth round. Nonetheless, it capped a breakthrough Grand Slam for Sybille, and resulted in a new career high of #22 in the world for her. In her first grass court tournament (the International Women's Open in Eastbourne, England), she won through to the 3rd round, only to be beaten in 3 tight sets by Nadia Petrova. At the third Grand Slam of the year at Wimbledon, Bammer lost in the second round to Laura Granville 6–1, 6–4.
Since her daughter will start school in Austria in September 2007, Bammer will plan her season so that she is never away from home for more than a month at any one time. In the Stanford Classic, she was defeated in three sets by unseeded Sania Mirza in the semifinals. In the final staging of the Acura Classic, she made it to round 2 before losing to Ai Sugiyama. Nevertheless, she made her top 20 debut at #20 afterwards. At the 2007 US Open, Bammer made it all the way to the 4th round, equaling her best Grand Slam performance to date. Along the way she defeated 2004 finalist Elena Dementieva handily 6–1 6–2, before losing to Jelena Janković in three tight sets 4–6 6–4 1–6. Bammer finished 2007 at #19 in the world and as the highest ranked Austrian woman. Bammer started 2008 by competing in the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts in the Gold Coast. She was the seventh seed but lost to eventual champion Na Li in a close match, 6–4, 4–6, 6–4. She then got her first win over Nadia Petrova in the first round of the Medibank International in Sydney in straight sets, 7–5, 6–3, before losing to Katarina Srebotnik. Sybille was the 19th seed at the Australian Open. She defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn 6–7, 6–4, 6–2 in the first round, before losing easily to Su-Wei Hsieh 6–2, 6–0. She lost in the first round of Antwerp to Yaroslava Shvedova. At the Qatar Total Open, Bammer made her first ever Tier I quarterfinal and scored the biggest win of her career over world number two Svetlana Kuznetsova. It was also her first ever top ten win. Her run was ended by eventual runner-up Vera Zvonareva 2–6, 6–2, 6–0. She followed it up by reaching the second round in Dubai, losing to Francesca Schiavone.
At the Bangalore Open, she lost in the second round to Anastasia Rodionova 7–6(5), 6–2, after holding a 5–2 lead in the first set. Bammer reached the quarterfinals at the Beijing Olympics, where she lost in three sets to ninth seed Vera Zvonareva 6–3, 3–6, 6–3. At the US Open, Bammer was seeded 29th. She defeated #12 Marion Bartoli, 7-6, 0-6, 6-4 in the 4th round. She struggled with unforced errors in a loss to #2 Jelena Janković in the quarterfinals. Was seeded at the Australian Open but lost 1st Round. At French Open Was 28th seed. d Nathalie Dechy 1st Round 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 then lost 2nd Round to M Czink 6-4, 3-6, 8-10. Partnering L Kubot of Poland, they won 2 matches and made it through to the Quarterfinals of the Mixed Doubles. At Wimbledon was 29th Seed but lost 1st Round to Melanie Oudin 6-7, 0-6. At Cincinnati defeat No.13 seed A.Radwańska 6-0 7-5 and No.2 seed S.Williams en route 7-5 6-4, falling to No.5 seed and eventual champion Janković; now 2-0 lifetime against S.Williams; At the US Open was 28th seed and lost 1st round to Maria Martinez Sanchez 2-6, 6-4, 1-6. Reached 2nd round at the Australian Open - lost to V. Williams 6-2 7-5. Reached semi-final at Kuala Lumper lost to No.1 seed Elena Dementieva
This was followed by a poor US hardcourt season, falling first round at four events and reaching the second round in three, including the US Open. She then reached her third career quarterfinal in Bangkok, once again beating Nathalie Dechy before falling to Tamarine Tanasugarn, the eventual runner-up. She finished the season ranked No.53, her best year-ending ranking thus far. After losing in the first round of Gold Coast to eventual runner-up Martina Hingis 6–0 6–2, the next week at Hobart, a Tier IV event, she rose several eyebrows by defeating eight-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in the quarterfinals, who was playing her first tournament since the US Open. With this victory, she became one of only two players to have a winning head-to-head record over Williams, the other being Tiantian Sun of China. She lost in the semifinals to Vasilisa Bardina easily, 3–6, 1–6. She then lost 6–4 7–5 in the first round of the Australian Open to Anna Chakvetadze after leading 5–2 in the second set.
In February 2007 she finally won her first WTA Tour title ten years after turning pro, beating Vasilisa Bardina in the first round to avenge her semifinal loss to her at Hobart, Anastassia Rodionova, Martina Suchá, Shuai Peng and topping it off with a victory over Gisela Dulko in the final, saving three match points en route to victory. At Indian Wells, she became the No.33 seed after Elena Dementieva withdrew. She made the most of her luck, stunning everyone by making the semifinals of the Tier I event, her first ever semifinal at this level. In the fourth round, she stunned No. 10 seed Ana Ivanović and No.13 seed Tatiana Golovin in the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, her fairytale came to an end in the semifinals losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova, the second seed, with a result of 7–6, 4–6, 1–6. Due to this amazing run, she rose to a new career high of No.30. She lost early in Miami to tricky French left-hander Émilie Loit, and then moved onto the green clay of Amelia Island. She had another brilliant run here, beating Daniela Hantuchová in the quarterfinals but then lost to the eventual runner-up Nadia Petrova in the semifinals.
This meant that she once again reached another career high, moving up to No.26 in the world. She reached the third round of Charleston, losing to surprise quarterfinalist Michaëlla Krajicek, but nevertheless made her top 25 debut at #25. She played for Austria in the Fed Cup against Australia at the end of April. She ended with a 2–0 record after winning both of her singles matches against Samantha Stosur and Alicia Molik as Austria won 4–1. Her first tournament of May was the German Open, where she lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round. She then went to the second round of the Rome Masters, losing to Hantuchová 6–1 6–2. At the time of the French Open, she was ranked 25 in the world and entered the tournament as the 20th Seed. She beat Roberta Vinci (6–4 6–4), Olga Savchuk (6–0 6–3) and 16th Seed Li Na (6–4 6–3) to record her best performance at a Grand Slam to date. Unfortunately, she was defeated by top seed, world number one and eventual champion Justine Henin 6–2 6–4 in the French open fourth round. Nonetheless, it capped a breakthrough Grand Slam for Sybille, and resulted in a new career high of #22 in the world for her. In her first grass court tournament (the International Women's Open in Eastbourne, England), she won through to the 3rd round, only to be beaten in 3 tight sets by Nadia Petrova. At the third Grand Slam of the year at Wimbledon, Bammer lost in the second round to Laura Granville 6–1, 6–4.
At the Bangalore Open, she lost in the second round to Anastasia Rodionova 7–6(5), 6–2, after holding a 5–2 lead in the first set. Bammer reached the quarterfinals at the Beijing Olympics, where she lost in three sets to ninth seed Vera Zvonareva 6–3, 3–6, 6–3. At the US Open, Bammer was seeded 29th. She defeated #12 Marion Bartoli, 7-6, 0-6, 6-4 in the 4th round. She struggled with unforced errors in a loss to #2 Jelena Janković in the quarterfinals. Was seeded at the Australian Open but lost 1st Round. At French Open Was 28th seed. d Nathalie Dechy 1st Round 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 then lost 2nd Round to M Czink 6-4, 3-6, 8-10. Partnering L Kubot of Poland, they won 2 matches and made it through to the Quarterfinals of the Mixed Doubles. At Wimbledon was 29th Seed but lost 1st Round to Melanie Oudin 6-7, 0-6. At Cincinnati defeat No.13 seed A.Radwańska 6-0 7-5 and No.2 seed S.Williams en route 7-5 6-4, falling to No.5 seed and eventual champion Janković; now 2-0 lifetime against S.Williams; At the US Open was 28th seed and lost 1st round to Maria Martinez Sanchez 2-6, 6-4, 1-6. Reached 2nd round at the Australian Open - lost to V. Williams 6-2 7-5. Reached semi-final at Kuala Lumper lost to No.1 seed Elena Dementieva
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