This article is about the tennis player. For the politician, see
Clare Curran
.
Claire Curran
Country (sports)
|
United Kingdom
(2005–)
[1]
Ireland
(–2005)
|
---|
Residence
| Belfast
, Northern Ireland
|
---|
Born
| (
1978-03-10
)
10 March 1978
(age 46)
Belfast, Northern Ireland
|
---|
Height
| 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
|
---|
Turned pro
| 2000
|
---|
Retired
| 2007
|
---|
Plays
| Right-handed
|
---|
Prize money
| $62,153
|
---|
|
Career record
| 5?14
|
---|
Career titles
| 0
|
---|
Highest ranking
| No. 919 (13 May 2002)
|
---|
|
Career record
| 124?81
|
---|
Career titles
| 12 ITF
|
---|
Highest ranking
| No. 89 (30 January 2006)
|
---|
|
Wimbledon
| 1R (
2004
,
2005
,
2006
,
2007
)
|
---|
US Open
| 1R (
2000
)
|
---|
|
Wimbledon
| 2R (
2006
,
2007
)
|
---|
|
Fed Cup
| 20?7
|
---|
Claire Curran
(born 10 March 1978) is a former professional
tennis
player from
Northern Ireland
.
She represented both
Great Britain
and
Ireland
in the
Fed Cup
during her career. Curran is the youngest ever Irish Fed Cup player (15 years 65 days) and before attending
UC Berkeley
was largely focussed on singles, with the highest singles win percentage of any Irish Fed Cup player.
[2]
At UC Berkeley, Curran was an
Academic All-American
(Majoring in Political Science) and won the
NCAA Championship
.
Serious injury resulted in her decision to focus on doubles post university. Curran reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 89, and won a total of 12
ITF
titles over the course of her career and was a finalist in one
WTA Tour
event and was the key doubles players in the Great British Fed Cup teams of the mid 2000s. Her overall Fed Cup record has the highest win percentage of any British or Irish player who has played in over 25 matches.
Curran retired from professional sport in 2007 following six years of professional play.
[3]
Following her retirement, she was recruited by the
LTA
and alongside
Nigel Sears
coached former British No. 1,
Anne Keothavong
, and subsequently
Laura Robson
and the doubles team of
Jocelyn Rae
and
Anna Smith
.
Career
[
edit
]
Early years
[
edit
]
Curran's tennis talent was spotted first in her native Belfast, capital of Northern Ireland. She was soon winning Ulster and all-Ireland titles and being singled out by the Irish tennis authorities for a promising amateur career on the
ITF Junior Circuit
.
At the age of 14, during the troubled times of Northern Ireland, beset with political and religious divisions, Curran moved to Dublin. The clubhouse where she learned to play tennis in Belfast had been destroyed by a terrorist bomb in the 1970s and she herself was frequently inconvenienced on her travels between Belfast and Dublin by bombs scares.
In Dublin, she spent her teenage years under the Irish national coaching programme of Matt Doyle. Curran travelled on the Junior Circuit, playing at junior Wimbledon in 1996. She attained a singles ranking inside the top 100 and in 1993 became the youngest person to have represented Ireland in the Fed Cup, at the age of 15 years and 3 months.
[4]
1993?1996
[
edit
]
Claire played her first adult match playing doubles for
Ireland
in the
1993 Fed Cup
where she won her two doubles rubbers against competitors from
Norway
and
Israel
. She played no other adult events this year.
[5]
In 1994 she again competed in the
Fed Cup
for Ireland in doubles when she and
Lesley O'Halloran
were defeated by doubles teams from
Slovakia
and
Zimbabwe
. This was again the only adult event Claire played this year.
[5]
One year later she again competed in the
Fed Cup
for Ireland. She played a more prominent role this year however by competing in both singles and doubles, winning singles matches against players from
Malta
,
Kenya
and
Cyprus
and also winning two doubles rubbers partnering Lesley O'Halloran. Claire played no other adult events this year.
[5]
In 1996 she was not involved in doubles in the
Fed Cup
but she did win singles rubbers against Malta and
Iceland
as well as losing one to
Ukraine
. Curran also made her debut on the ITF Circuit in 2006 in a $10,000 event in
Dublin
where she was beaten in the first round in both the singles and the doubles events (partnering
Yvonne Doyle
).
[5]
1997?2000
[
edit
]
In 1997, Claire competed in only one event. This was the $25k tournament held in Dublin where she was beaten in the first round of the singles and the doubles.
[5]
This was again the only ITF event Curran participated in during 1998 and she again experienced first round losses in the singles and doubles competitions.
[5]
The one ITF event Curran entered in 1999 was a $10k event in
Hilton Head
where she won four matches in the qualifying competition before losing just one match short of qualification. She went one step further in the doubles however when she and
Esther Knox
qualified before losing in round one.
[5]
In 2000, Curran teamed up with Australian
Amy Jensen
to reach the semifinals of a $10k event in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The duo then received a
wild card
into the doubles competition in the
US Open
where they drew the formidable pairing of
Martina Hingis
and
Mary Pierce
in the first round. They gave the seeded pair a scare by taking the first set 6?4 however Hingis and Pierce came back strong to take the match, 4?6, 6?0, 6?1.
[6]
She did not compete on the ITF or WTA Tour again this season.
[5]
2001?2002
[
edit
]
Curran began 2001 with
Teryn Ashley
as her regular partner and with her she reached the semifinals of a $10k in El Paso as qualifiers. They followed this success up with a tournament win in another $10k event in Lake Ozark, Texas, a run to the semifinals of
Mount Pleasant
($25k) and another run to the quarterfinals in Los Gatos, California ($50k). July saw Curran team with
Kristen van Elden
from Australia to reach the semifinals of Frinton ($10k) before again joining with Ashley to reach the quarterfinals of a $10k event in
Bath
before having to retire from the tournament. Curran and Swedish,
Helena Ejeson
were runners-up in a $10k in London in August and after this Curran played no more matches in 2001. She had a year-end doubles world-ranking of 375.
[5]
In January 2002, Claire reached the finals of a $10k in
Hull
partnering fellow Irishwoman,
Elsa O'Riain
. They lost to
Sun Tiantian
and
Zheng Jie
, 6?7, 5?7. Curran then partnered
Amanda Augustus
to reach the final in the first week of a four-week $40k circuit in Australia. They lost to
Sarah Stone
and
Samantha Stosur
before heading to the second week of this circuit and reaching the semifinals. In April, she competed in doubles for Ireland in the
Fed Cup
where she and O'Riain won their three doubles rubbers in the Europe/Africa Group II round robins against
Egypt
,
Finland
and
Botswana
. They then went on to beat a doubles team from
Liechtenstein
in the promotion play-offs. Curran did not compete much more this year due to problems with injuries, having to retire from a number of matches. At the end of 2002 her doubles world-ranking had fallen to 562.
[5]
2003
[
edit
]
Curran teamed with O'Riain for her first four tournaments of the year (all $10k), resulting in one title and three losses in the semifinals. In the
Fed Cup
, she and O'Riain were beaten by doubles teams from
Netherlands
and
Great Britain
but managed a victory against
Poland
. Following this she teamed up with Brit,
Anna Hawkins
, to reach the final of a $10k in Bournemouth and then the final of a $10k in Edinburgh where the result was a walkover. Curran then went on to reach the semifinals in Dublin ($10k) and win the event in London ($10k), both partnering O'Riain. Helena Ejeson was again her partner in early September when the duo took the title in a $10k in Sunderland. Claire teamed with
?pek ?eno?lu
for her next five tournaments and took one title ($25k), reached two semifinals (both $25k) and two quarterfinals (one $25k and one $50k). Curran reached the quarterfinals of a $50k in Shenzhen with
Tzipi Obziler
in her final tournament of the year. At the end of 2003, Curran's doubles world-ranking was up to 244.
[5]
2004
[
edit
]
Curran won her first three ITF event of the year and went on to reach the semifinals in her fourth, giving her a winning streak of 14 matches at the start of the season. In June, she partnered
Jane O'Donoghue
in the qualifying tournament for
Wimbledon
where they lost in the first round but were given a spot in the main draw as
lucky losers
where they were beaten in straight sets. In August she took the title in Lexington, Kentucky ($50k) with
Natalie Grandin
and the two of them were also runners up in their next event in Louisville, Kentucky and semifinalists in their next in the Bronx (both $50k). Curran and Grandin then entered the
Tier III
Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic
in Bali where they were beaten in the first round by
Gisela Dulko
and
Milagros Sequera
, 6?0, 6?1. In her final tournament of 2004, Curran partnered Senoglu again to reach the final of a $25k in Glasgow. Her year-end doubles world-ranking was 163.
[5]
2005
[
edit
]
In February 2005, Curran partnered
Kim Kilsdonk
and the duo lost in the first round of the
Tier-II event
in Paris, the
Open Gaz de France
. They were beaten, 6?4, 6?3, by
Iveta Bene?ova
and
Kv?ta Peschke
. Following this they headed to Antwerp to compete in the
Proximus Diamond Games
, another Tier-II tournament. They won two matches to qualify and then went on to beat
Francesca Lubiani
and
Marta Marrero
in the first round, 6?3, 7?6. They lost to
Anabel Medina Garrigues
and
Dinara Safina
, 4?6, 2?6, in the quarterfinals. After this she reached a number of quarterfinals and semifinals of higher-level ITF events before winning in a $50k in Saint-Gaudens (with Grandin) in May. This was followed by a run to the semifinals at the
?stanbul Cup
(Tier III) partnering Kim Kilsdonk where they lost, 3?6, 3?6, to
Sandra
and
Daniela Klemenschits
. June saw Curran and Grandin knocked out in the first round of the women's doubles at
Wimbledon
by
Nadia Petrova
and
Meghann Shaughnessy
. Curran then partnered Kilsdonk to reach the final at the $50k in Petange before reaching three successive WTA quarterfinals: the
Budapest Grand Prix
(with
Rika Fujiwara
), the
Nordic Light Open
(partnering
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez
) and the
Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic
(with Grandin). Curran ended the year with a doubles world-ranking of 107.
[5]
2006
[
edit
]
In Claire's first tournament of the year, she and Natalie Grandin teamed up to reach the quarterfinals in
Auckland
. Then, partnering
L?ga Dekmeijere
, she reached the final of the
Canberra International
, a
Tier-IV event
. They were defeated by
Marta Domachowska
and
Roberta Vinci
, 7?6, 6?3. This was followed by a number of first-round losses in WTA tournaments before she competed with
Elena Baltacha
in the
Fed Cup
representing Great Britain. They won their three doubles rubbers and then also went on to win their doubles rubber in the promotion play-offs. In June she joined
Shenay Perry
to reach the quarterfinals of the
Aegon International
where they were beaten by
Liezel Huber
and
Martina Navratilova
, 6?4, 6?2. She then competed in
Wimbledon
with
Jamea Jackson
but was again beaten in the first round. She did however reach the second round of the
mixed doubles
with
James Auckland
. After Wimbledon, Claire did not compete again in 2006 and her doubles world-ranking at the end of the year was 201.
[5]
2007
[
edit
]
In February 2007, Claire teamed with Anne Keothavong to win the title in London ($25k) and in March, she and
Melanie South
were runners-up in another $25k, this one in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. In April, Curran again teamed with Baltacha to represent Britain in the
Fed Cup
. They won doubles rubbers against
Luxembourg
and
Bulgaria
but lost one against
Poland
and also lost one in the promotion play-offs against
Sweden
. In July, Curran and Keothavong took on the might of
Venus
and
Serena Williams
in the first round of
Wimbledon doubles
and lost, 1?6, 3?6. For the second year in a row she reached the second round of the
mixed doubles
with Auckland but after Wimbledon decided that her career as a professional tennis player had come to an end.
[3]
[5]
WTA career finals
[
edit
]
Doubles: 1 (runner-up)
[
edit
]
ITF Circuit finals
[
edit
]
Doubles: 21 (12?9)
[
edit
]
Winner - Legend
|
$100,000 tournaments (0?0)
|
$75,000 tournaments (0?0)
|
$50,000 tournaments (6?4)
|
$25,000 tournaments (4?2)
|
$10,000 tournaments (2?3)
|
|
Finals by surface
|
Hard (8?5)
|
Clay (4?3)
|
Grass (0?1)
|
Carpet (0?0)
|
|
Outcome
|
Date
|
Tournament
|
Surface
|
Partnering
|
Opponents
|
Score
|
Runner-up
|
5 June 1995
|
ITF Dublin, Ireland
|
Clay
|
Yvonne Doyle
|
Robyn Mawdsley
Karen Nugent
|
1?6, 6?4, 3?6
|
Winner
|
2 June 2001
|
ITF Lake Ozark, United States
|
Hard
|
Teryn Ashley
|
Alison Nash
Andrea Nathan
|
7?5, 6?1
|
Runner-up
|
19 August 2001
|
ITF London, Great Britain
|
Hard
|
Helena Ejeson
|
Eva Erbova
Aurelie Vedy
|
6?7
(4)
, 3?6
|
Runner-up
|
27 January 2002
|
ITF Hull, Great Britain
|
Hard (i)
|
Elsa O'Riain
|
Sun Tiantian
Zheng Jie
|
6?7
(4)
, 5?7
|
Runner-up
|
30 March 2002
|
ITF Bendigo, Australia
|
Grass
|
Amanda Augustus
|
Sarah Stone
Samantha Stosur
|
0?6, 6?4, 3?6
|
Winner
|
8 March 2003
|
ITF Cairo, Egypt
|
Clay
|
Elsa O'Riain
|
Marielle Hoogland
Jennifer Schmidt
|
6?1, 6?4
|
Runner-up
|
28 April 2003
|
ITF Bournemouth, Great Britain
|
Clay
|
Anna Hawkins
|
Marielle Hoogland
Elise Tamaela
|
6?3, 2?6, 3?6
|
Winner
|
5 May 2003
|
ITF Edinburgh, Great Britain
|
Clay
|
Anna Hawkins
|
Jacqueline Frohlich
Daniela Salomon
|
w/o
|
Winner
|
11 August 2003
|
ITF London, Great Britain
|
Hard
|
Elsa O'Riain
|
Irina Bulykina
Aleksandra Kulikova
|
6?2, 7?6
(5)
|
Winner
|
21 September 2003
|
ITF Sunderland, Great Britain
|
Hard (i)
|
Helena Ejeson
|
Kim Kilsdonk
Nicole Kriz
|
6?2, 6?1
|
Winner
|
19 October 2003
|
ITF Cardiff, Great Britain
|
Hard (i)
|
?pek ?eno?lu
|
Surina De Beer
Ilke Gers
|
6?4, 2?6, 6?3
|
Winner
|
25 January 2004
|
ITF Hull, Great Britain
|
Hard (i)
|
Surina De Beer
|
Anna Bastrikova
Vasilisa Davydova
|
6?0, 6?4
|
Winner
|
15 February 2004
|
ITF Sunderland, Great Britain
|
Hard (i)
|
Kim Kilsdonk
|
Helen Crook
Martina Muller
|
6?4, 3?6, 6?3
|
Winner
|
22 February 2004
|
ITF Redbridge, Great Britain
|
Hard (i)
|
Kim Kilsdonk
|
Olga Vymetalkova
Gabriela Navratilova
|
6?3, 3?6, 7?6
(10)
|
Winner
|
1 August 2004
|
ITF Lexington, United States
|
Hard
|
Natalie Grandin
|
Casey Dellacqua
Nicole Sewell
|
7?6
(6)
, 6?4
|
Runner-up
|
8 August 2004
|
ITF Louisville, United States
|
Hard
|
Natalie Grandin
|
Julie Ditty
Edina Gallovits
|
6?1, 4?6, 2?6
|
Runner-up
|
10 October 2004
|
ITF Glasgow, Great Britain
|
Hard (i)
|
?pek ?eno?lu
|
Leanne Baker
Francesca Lubiani
|
3?6, 7?5, 4?6
|
Winner
|
15 May 2005
|
ITF Saint-Gaudens, France
|
Clay
|
Natalie Grandin
|
Maria Jose Argeri
Leticia Sobral
|
6?3, 6?1
|
Runner-up
|
23 July 2005
|
ITF Petange, Luxembourg
|
Clay
|
Kim Kilsdonk
|
Yuliya Beygelzimer
Sandra Klosel
|
4?6, 0?6
|
Winner
|
3 February 2007
|
ITF Sutton, Great Britain
|
Hard (i)
|
Anne Keothavong
|
Andrea Hlava?kova
Katarina Kachlikova
|
4?6, 6?4, 6?2
|
Runner-up
|
17 March 2007
|
ITF Las Palmas de Gran Canaria,
Spain
|
Hard
|
Melanie South
|
Sorana Cirstea
M?d?lina Gojnea
|
6?4, 6?7
(5)
, 4?6
|
Grand Slam performance timelines
[
edit
]
Key
W
|
F
|
SF
|
QF
|
#R
|
RR
|
Q#
|
DNQ
|
A
|
NH
|
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W?L) win?loss record.
Doubles
[
edit
]
Mixed doubles
[
edit
]
Fed Cup
[
edit
]
For Ireland
[
edit
]
Europe/Africa Group I
|
Date
|
Venue
|
Surface
|
Round
|
Opponent
|
Final match score
|
Match
|
Opponents
|
Rubber score
|
13?15 May 1993
|
Nottingham
,
Great Britain
|
Hard (O)
|
RR
|
Norway
|
3?0
|
Doubles
(with
Karen Nugent
)
|
Andersen
/
Instebø
|
6?4, 6?4 (
W
)
|
QF
|
Israel
|
1?2
|
Doubles
(with Karen Nugent)
|
Berger
/
Segal
|
6?4, 7?5 (
W
)
|
19?20 May 1994
|
Bad Waltersdorf
,
Austria
|
Clay (O)
|
RR
|
Zimbabwe
|
1?2
|
Doubles
(with Karen Nugent)
|
Black
/
Wagstaff
|
1?6, 3?6 (L)
|
Slovenia
|
0?3
|
Doubles
(with
Lesley O'Halloran
)
|
Kri?an
/
Lu?nic
|
6?4, 2?6, 5?7 (L)
|
Europe/Africa Group II
|
Date
|
Venue
|
Surface
|
Round
|
Opponents
|
Final match score
|
Match
|
Opponent
|
Rubber score
|
8?13 May 1995
|
Nairobi
,
Kenya
|
Clay (O)
|
RR
|
Cyprus
|
3?0
|
Singles
|
Anna Anastasiou
|
6?2, 6?1 (
W
)
|
Doubles
(with
Lesley O'Halloran
)
|
Anastasiou
/
Pivlava Papanikolaou
|
6?1, 6?1 (
W
)
|
Kenya
|
3?0
|
Singles
|
Shaila Ali
|
6?1, 6?2 (
W
)
|
Malta
|
3?0
|
Singles
|
Helen Asciak
|
7?6
(8?6)
, 6?0 (
W
)
|
Doubles
(with Lesley O'Halloran)
|
Camenzuli
/
Wetz
|
6?3, 6?2 (
W
)
|
QF
|
Norway
|
1?2
|
Doubles
(with Lesley O'Halloran)
|
Borgersen
/
Jonsson-Raaholt
|
W/O (
W
)
|
26?28 Mar 1996
|
Ramat HaSharon
,
Israel
|
Hard (O)
|
RR
|
Ukraine
|
1?2
|
Singles
|
Elena Brioukhovets
|
2?6, 2?6 (L)
|
Iceland
|
3?0
|
Singles
|
Hrafuhildur Hannesdotter
|
6?0, 6?2 (
W
)
|
Malta
|
3?0
|
Singles
|
Helen Asciak
|
6?0, 6?2 (
W
)
|
9?12 Apr 2002
|
Pretoria
,
South Africa
|
Hard (O)
|
RR
|
Botswana
|
3?0
|
Doubles
(with
Yvonne Doyle
)
|
Marobela/
Mogapi
|
6?0, 6?0 (
W
)
|
Finland
|
3?0
|
Doubles
(with Yvonne Doyle)
|
Nieminen
/
Suomalainen
|
6?1, 6?2 (
W
)
|
Egypt
|
3?0
|
Doubles
(with
Elsa O'Riain
)
|
Farid
/
Khalil
|
6?1, 6?1 (
W
)
|
PO
Promotional
|
Liechtenstein
|
3?0
|
Doubles
(with Elsa O'Riain)
|
Batliner
/
Schadler
|
6?1, 6?1 (
W
)
|
Europe/Africa Group I
|
Date
|
Venue
|
Surface
|
Round
|
Opponent
|
Final match score
|
Match
|
Opponents
|
Rubber score
|
21?24 Apr 2003
|
Estoril
,
Portugal
|
Clay (O)
|
RR
|
Great Britain
|
1?2
|
Doubles
(with
Kelly Liggan
)
|
Baltacha
/
Pullin
|
3?6, 2?6 (L)
|
Poland
|
1?2
|
Doubles
(with Elsa O'Riain)
|
Domachowska
/
Biele?-?arska
|
6?2, 6?2 (
W
)
|
Netherlands
|
1?2
|
Doubles
(with Elsa O'Riain)
|
Boogert
/
Oremans
|
0?6, 0?6 (L)
|
For Great Britain
[
edit
]
Europe/Africa Group I
|
Date
|
Venue
|
Surface
|
Round
|
Opponent
|
Final match score
|
Match
|
Opponents
|
Rubber score
|
18?22 April 2006
|
Plovdiv
,
Bulgaria
|
Clay (O)
|
RR
|
Ukraine
|
3?0
|
Doubles
(with
Elena Baltacha
)
|
Antypina
/
V.Bondarenko
|
6?4, 6?4 (
W
)
|
Bulgaria
|
2?1
|
Doubles
(with Elena Baltacha)
|
Krastevitch
/
Pironkova
|
6?1, 1?6, 6?2 (
W
)
|
Hungary
|
2?1
|
Doubles
(with Elena Baltacha)
|
Nagy
/
Nemeth
|
6?1, 7?6
(7?5)
(
W
)
|
PO
(1st?4th)
|
Slovakia
|
1?2
|
Doubles
(with Elena Baltacha)
|
Cibulkova
/
Husarova
|
6?4, 6?3 (
W
)
|
18?21 April 2007
|
Plovdiv
,
Bulgaria
|
Clay (O)
|
RR
|
Bulgaria
|
3?0
|
Doubles
(with Elena Baltacha)
|
Alawi
/
Mladenova
|
6?4, 6?2 (
W
)
|
Luxembourg
|
1?2
|
Doubles
(with Elena Baltacha)
|
Kremer
/
Philippe
|
6?4, 3?6, 6?3 (
W
)
|
Poland
|
0?3
|
Doubles
(with Elena Baltacha)
|
Domachowska
/
A.Radwa?ska
|
3?6, 4?6 (L)
|
PO
(9th?12th)
|
Sweden
|
0?3
|
Doubles
(with Elena Baltacha)
|
Andersson
/
Larsson
|
0?6, 1?6 (L)
|
References
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External links
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