Sesil Karatantcheva

Sesil Karatantcheva

At Wimbledon, 2013
Country (sports)  Bulgaria (2003–2009, Oct 2014-present)
 Kazakhstan (2009–2014)
Residence Sofia, Bulgaria[1]
Born (1989-08-08) 8 August 1989
Sofia, Bulgaria
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro 2003
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money $ 1,172,322
Singles
Career record 345–230
Career titles 0 WTA, 7 ITF
Highest ranking 35 (7 November 2005)
Current ranking 206 (6 June 2016)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 2R (2009)
French Open QF (2005)
Wimbledon 2R (2005)
US Open 2R (2005)
Doubles
Career record 22–37
Career titles 0 WTA, 0 ITF
Highest ranking 154 (19 April 2010)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Wimbledon 1R (2005)
US Open 1R (2005)
Last updated on: 8 February 2016.

Sesil Radoslavova Karatantcheva (Bulgarian: Сесил Радославова Каратанчева; born 8 August 1989) is a Bulgarian tennis player.

Karatantcheva has won seven singles titles on the ITF tour in her career. On 7 November 2005, she reached her best singles ranking of world no. 35. On 19 April 2010, she peaked at world no. 154 on the doubles rankings.

Karatantcheva is perhaps best known for reaching the quarterfinals of the 2005 French Open, upsetting seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams en route. The same year, she twice tested positive for nandrolone and was therefore issued a two-year suspension. She returned to professional competition in January 2008.

Tennis career

In 2001, 12-year-old Karatantcheva won the Orange Bowl tournament for her age group, defeating Alisa Kleybanova in the final.[2] Early in her playing days, she trained for approximately six months at the famous Nick Bollettieri tennis academy.[2]

2003-2004: Early career

Karatantcheva played her first professional tournament in September 2003 in Sofia, Bulgaria at the age of 14. As an unranked qualifier the next week, she defeated the #1, #2, and #3 seeds en route to her first professional tournament title at a small ITF tournament in Volos, Greece. Karatantcheva went on to win two other ITF titles in 2003. In 2004, Karatantcheva began her season at a large WTA tournament Indian Wells, California, where she defeated American Alexandra Stevenson in the first round, and upset the 17th seed Magüi Serna in the second round. In an interview prior to her match against 16th seed Maria Sharapova, Karatantcheva claimed that Sharapova had skipped a hitting session with her a few weeks earlier in Florida, and began a war of words with the Russian.[3] Sharapova then defeated Karatantcheva in three sets in the third round. On April 19, she played her first match for the Bulgaria Fed Cup team. Because of her age, Karatantcheva was restricted in the number of tournaments she was able to play. In August, she reached the quarterfinals of a WTA tournament in Vancouver, British Columbia, and qualified for the US Open, before losing to eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round. Karatantcheva also reached the quarterfinals of a WTA tournament in Quebec City, and captured another ITF tournament in December at Palm Beach Gardens.

2005: Breakthrough and first French Open quarterfinal

2005 was Karatantcheva's breakthrough year. She started off the year at a tournament in Gold Coast, Australia by qualifying, and then defeating the tournament's #7 seed Elena Likhovtseva before falling in the quarterfinals. She then qualified for the Australian Open, before losing to the #4 seed Sharapova in the first round. Her most successful tournament to date was at Roland Garros. Karatantcheva defeated the #19 seed Shinobu Asagoe in the second round, and then stunned the world with her victory over the #11 seed and former world number one Venus Williams in the third round. After defeating Emmanuelle Gagliardi in the fourth round, she fell to Likhovtseva in the quarterfinals. Karatantcheva became the youngest female to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament since Martina Hingis in 1996. At Wimbledon, she lost to Sharapova once again, being able to win just one game.

In 2005, Karatantcheva also won a European club championship in Rennes, France as a member of the Cherno More Elite team (Bulgarian: Черно море Елит). Her teammates were Virginiya Trifonova, Maria Penkova and Tsvetana Pironkova.[2]

At the end of the year, Karatantcheva came up 8th in the Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year rankings, earning 676 points.[4][5] She was also honoured by the Bulgarian Tennis Federation as the best female tennis player of the year.[6]

On December 20, 2005, the French sports newspaper L'Equipe reported that Karatantcheva had failed a drug test earlier in the year at Roland Garros, and that she had appeared in front of a three-person panel of judges to explain the results. The newspaper claims that Karatantcheva said she was pregnant at the time of the test, which would explain the high levels of nandrolone in her system. Karatantcheva has denied all allegations, saying "I am shocked. I have not appeared before judges of the international federation."

2006-2007: Doping scandal and 2 year suspension

On January 11, 2006, the ITF issued a two-year ban after two positive drug tests for nandrolone. While Karatantcheva has claimed she was pregnant at the time of one of the tests, another laboratory carried out a pregnancy test on her urine sample, and it tested negative. On July 3, 2006 the Court of Arbitration for Sport denied her appeal to overturn the ban with the argument that said nandrolone was found in concentrations which were inconsistent with the normal levels for that stage of pregnancy.[7]

Karatantcheva did not play any matches in 2006 or 2007 following her drug ban. She mainly trained in Pravets.

2008

Sesil at the 2008 US Open

Karatantcheva's first match after the ban was in a pre-qualification tournament for a wild card into the 25,000 USD ITF tournament in Surprise, Arizona, USA. She won three matches in one day to win the event and thus won a wild card for the qualifying draw in Surprise, Arizona. In the qualifying draw, Sesil beat Susanna Lingman, Maria Kondratieva, and Kristína Kučová, to enter the main draw. In the main draw, Karatantcheva beat the 5th seed Sunitha Rao in three sets in the first round and Robin Stephenson in the second round. In the quarterfinals, Karatantcheva beat Magdaléna Rybáriková in two sets, and in the semifinals she defeated the 2nd seed Viktoriya Kutuzova. In the finals, Sesil played a tough three set match and overcame the 8th seed, American Angela Haynes.[8]

In late January, still unranked, she entered another $25,000 tournament at La Quinta, and again battled through three rounds of qualifying into the main draw, despite a scare in her qualifying match against American player Stacia Fonseca, who took the first set from the Bulgarian before the match swung decisively the other way. Having fended off a spirited challenge from second-seeded Angelika Bachmann in the first round of the main draw, she made light work of subsequent opponents en route to the semifinals, where for the second tournament in succession she was scheduled to play Viktoriya Kutuzova. This time, the match ran to three sets, but Karatantcheva ultimately prevailed in three sets. In the final, Karatantcheva defeated the 3rd seed, Sandra Klösel.

Karatantcheva attracted criticism from the Bulgarian tennis federation for competing at La Quinta in preference to participating in Bulgaria's Federation Cup tie scheduled the same week.[9] She was accused of breach of contract and threatened with a fine, but the Bulgarian teenager stood by her decision, which she had taken on the grounds that it was proving extremely difficult for her to gain entry even to low-level tournaments following the loss of all her ranking points and any right to protected ranking status after her ban, so she needed to work at re-establishing herself at least in the mid-hundreds of the WTA rankings as a matter of priority before tending to national team commitments.

In February, the Bulgarian was awarded a wildcard into the $75,000 Midland event, but her winning streak came to an abrupt end as she was defeated in the first round by qualifier Valérie Tétreault of Canada, who had raced through the three qualifying rounds for the loss of just nine games, five of them against former Top 50 star Mirjana Lučić. Karatantcheva then attempted to qualify for a WTA Tier III event in Memphis but lost in the first round of qualifying to Hana Šromová of the Czech Republic.

In early March, she qualified for the $50,000 Las Vegas event including victories over Amber Liu and Elena Bovina. However, she lost in the first round of the main draw to wildcarded American Madison Brengle. She also received a wildcard into the qualifying event for the WTA Tier I event at Indian Wells but lost in the first round of qualifying to Evgeniya Rodina. Her luck changed however, when, at the end of March, she managed to qualify and reach the final of the $50,000 event in Latina, losing to Iveta Benešová in straight sets.

In April, she reached the quarter-finals of the $25,000 event at Civitavecchia, losing to Betina Jozami of Argentina in straight sets. She is currently through to the final of the $25,000 event in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Her route through to the final included a victory over seventh-seeded Lauren Albanese. Argentinian Soledad Esperón beat her in two sets in the final.

In May, she played her first WTA main draw match since her suspension in Fes, Morocco against Elena Baltacha which she won in straight sets.

In June, Sesil reached a QF of the $75,000 ITF tournament in Marseille. She was in the qualies of Wimbledon but managed to reach only the second match which she lost to Magdaléna Rybáriková from Slovakia.

2009: Representing Kazakhstan

On 10 January 2009, it was announced that Karatantcheva would take Kazakh citizenship and compete for the Kazakhstan Fed Cup team.[10][11] She did not participate in Fed Cup competitions for Kazakhstan during 2009.[12]

In tournament play in January she reached the second round (as a qualifier) at the Brisbane International defeating top 50 player Iveta Benešová along the way and then backed it up by playing (and winning) her first main draw grand slam match (again as a qualifier) at the Australian Open. She then lost in the 2nd Round to China's Peng Shuai. This was her last main tournament playing for Bulgaria until 2015.[13]

2010: First WTA semifinal

At the PTT Pattaya Open Karatantcheva reached her first WTA semifinal, before losing to Tamarine Tanasugarn. Karatantcheva qualified for the Aegon Classic tournament in Birmingham where she reached the quarterfinals winning five matches in a row, upsetting Yaroslava Shvedova in straight sets in the second round, before losing to second seed Maria Sharapova.

2011

Karatantcheva failed to qualify in Brisbane, Melbourne, Pattaya, and Monterrey. She reached the final of a $25K ITF event in Clearwater, losing to Ajla Tomljanović. At the French Open, she lost to Olga Govortsova in the final round of qualifying. After barely missing out on qualifying for the Aegon Classic, Karatantcheva fell to Arina Rodionova in the first round of qualifying of Wimbledon. She took a two-week break following Wimbledon.

She returned at the 2011 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo, where she qualified for the main draw. She drew 2nd seed Roberta Vinci in the first round. Although Karatantcheva played well she was beaten in straight sets. She then competed in two ITF $100,000 events – in Bucharest and Astana, losing in the early round of both tournaments.

She then failed to qualify for the 2011 US Open, marking the first year since 2009 that she had not competed in the main draw of a Major. Her poor form continued, losing in the 1st or 2nd rounds of 4 more ITF tournaments.

She began to improve her game by advancing to the semifinals of a $50K ITF event in Troy, Alabama. She then competed in a $25K tournament in Rock Hill, losing in the quarterfinals. Karatantcheva then played at the $50K event in Grapevine, Texas, where she advanced to the final, losing to 8th seed Kurumi Nara in three sets. Following her performance in Grapevine, Sesil achieved her best result of the year by winning a $75K ITF tournament, the 2011 Goldwater Women's Tennis Classic, in Phoenix, Arizona, the biggest title of her career. She won the title dropping only 2 sets the entire tournament, defeating a seeded player along the way. Karatantcheva's recent change in form has propelled her well back inside the Top 200 and has instated herself as one of the leading Kazakh players.

2012

Karatantcheva began the year ranked World No. 139. She failed to qualify in Brisbane and at the Australian Open. She then competed in the $100,000 ITF tournament in Cali. Unseeded, she advanced to the semifinals before losing to Mandy Minella. She then played at the 2012 Copa Sony Ericsson Colsanitas and 2012 Monterrey Open. Although she qualified for both, she lost in the first round to Catalina Castaño and Yaroslava Shvedova, respectively. Sesil then qualified for the 2012 Abierto Mexicano Telcel. Although she put up a fight, Sesil was defeated by 6th seed Johanna Larsson in 3 sets, in the first round. Karatantcheva committed 18 double faults during the match – almost an all-time high in WTA history. Karatantcheva then competed at the 2012 BNP Paribas Open and the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open, losing in the first round of qualifying for both tournaments. Despite the losses, Sesil rebounded and reached the final of a $50K ITF event, losing to Arantxa Rus.

Karatantcheva headed to Portugal for the Estoril Open. In the first round of qualifications, she drew Italian Maria Elena Camerin, whom she defeated in three tough sets. In the second round of qualifying, however, she was defeated by Mariana Duque-Marino, despite the fact she was leading with a break in the deciding set. Karatantcheva then lost in the first round of qualifying of the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open. At the French Open, Karatantcheva lost in the final round of qualifying to Alexa Glatch. However, she was offered a spot in the main draw after the withdrawal of Vera Zvonareva. She played Tímea Babos in the first round and won in two easy sets. This was Karatantcheva's first Grand Slam tournament main draw appearance in almost 2 1/2 years.

She opened her grass court season at the 2012 Aegon Classic in Birmingham. She entered the qualifying draw and defeated local girl Francesca Stephenson, but fell to Thailand's Noppawan Lertcheewakarn in the final round. However, she was offered a place in the main draw as a lucky loser due to the withdrawal of another player. She faced another Thai player, Tamarine Tanasugarn, defeating her in straight sets. Her run was ended in the second round by 8th seed Ekaterina Makarova. She then lost in the final round of qualifying at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships. Despite the loss, her ranking climbed due to her improved result from 2011.

Karatantcheva then played at the 2012 Bank of the West Classic. She fell in the first round of qualifying. She then qualified for the Premier-level 2012 Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad. She was points away from winning, but was finally beaten by Melinda Czink in the first round. She then competed at the 2nd annual Citi Open in Washington, D.C. She lost to American Sloane Stephens in the first round. She then continued her hard-court season at the 2012 Rogers Cup in Montreal. As the 18th seed in qualifying, she won three matches for a place in the main draw. In the first round she dismantled Sorana Cîrstea, without losing a single game, in only 43 minutes. Karatantcheva lost to 16th seed Lucie Šafářová in the second round in straight sets. Her ranking climbed to No. 92, her highest ranking since 2005. Karatantcheva then played at the 2012 Western & Southern Open, qualifying into the main draw by beating World No. 64 Arantxa Rus and Olga Govortsova. In the first round of the main draw, she won against fellow qualifier Kiki Bertens, but was soundly beaten by former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the second round. Her next tournament was the 2012 US Open. Ranked World No. 85, she was given direct entrance into the main draw. She lost to Lourdes Domínguez Lino in the first round.

Following the US Open, Karatantcheva competed in Quebec City and Seoul, losing in the first round of both tournaments. She continued by then losing in the qualifying draw of the next four events in Tokyo, Beijing, Linz, and Moscow. Her final tournament of the year was in Phoenix, where she was the defending champion and second seed. She suffered a shock straight set loss to World No. 217 Shelby Rogers in the first round. Despite the loss, she ended the year at No. 93, her first year-end ranking inside the Top 100 since 2005.

2013

Karatantcheva began the season at the Australian Open, losing to 6th seed Li Na in the first round. She next played for Kazakhstan in Fed Cup. Placed in the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I in Astana, Karatantcheva played with Galina Voskoboeva to beat Rutuja Bhosale and Ankita Raina, securing Kazakhstan's 3–0 sweep over India. Following Kazakhstan's win over Thailand, they defeated Uzbekistan in the Group I promotional play-off. Their win over Uzbekistan has catapulted Kazakhstan into the World Group II play-offs in April for the first time ever. Karatantcheva then played at the WTA 125K event in Cali, losing in the quarterfinals to Catalina Castaño in three sets. She then lost in Memphis qualifying before losing to Francesca Schiavone in the second round at Acapulco. Karatantcheva then qualified for the 2013 BNP Paribas Open, but lost to Lara Arruabarrena in the first round. At the 2013 Sony Open Tennis, she entered the qualifying draw and defeated Anastasia Rodionova in the first round, saving two match points and battling almost three hours before winning. She lost in the final round to Silvia Soler Espinosa. Karatantcheva closed the hard court season with a first round loss in Osprey to Olga Puchkova.

Karatantcheva opened her clay court season by falling in the qualifying rounds in Charleston and Oeiras. She then won only two matches in her next four tournaments before heading to Wimbledon, where she lost in the final round of qualifying to Austrian Yvonne Meusburger in a close three-set match. Following Wimbledon, Karatantcheva played two more clay-court events in Budapest and Båstad, losing to Simona Halep and Serena Williams, respectively.

After skipping the first week of the US Open Series, Karatantcheva entered the 2013 Southern California Open in Carlsbad. She played the qualifying draw and won three consecutive matches against Chieh-yu Hsu, Katalin Marosi, and Ivana Lisjak for a spot in the main draw. There, she drew Julia Görges and defeated the World No. 42 in straight sets. She advanced to the second round but lost to eventual champion Samantha Stosur, winning only five games. Despite the loss, her win over Görges was the biggest win of her season. Her next tournament was the Rogers Cup in Toronto where she fell in the first round of qualifying. Her ranking plummeted to No. 163 as a result of her failure to defend 2012's second round points. At the US Open, Karatantcheva played the qualifying draw and won two matches before losing out to Mirjana Lučić-Baroni in straight sets.

Following the US Open, Karatantcheva played at the Challenge Bell in Quebec City, again entering the qualifying draw. She beat Élisabeth Fournier, Petra Rampre, and Coco Vandeweghe to enter the main draw. She played fellow qualifier Amra Sadiković and beat the Swiss in straight sets. In the second round, she lost to 5th seeded local hope Eugenie Bouchard. She returned to the United States to compete in two ITF Circuit events in Albuquerque and Las Vegas, losing in the first round of both tournaments. Her final events of the season saw her lose in Linz qualifying, bow out to Karin Knapp in the first round of the BGL Luxembourg Open, and lose in the first round of an ITF event in Nantes.

2014

The Kazakh made her 2014 debut at the Moorilla Hobart International, losing in the first round of qualifying to Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck. At the Australian Open, she was seeded 22nd in the qualifying draw and lost there in the first round to Duan Yingying in straight sets. Following the Australian Open, Karatantcheva played for Kazakhstan in 2014 Fed Cup. She played Liu Fangzhou in the Group I final position play-off and defeated the Chinese in three sets, ultimately sending Kazakhstan into 3rd place in the Asia/Oceania Group I Zone. After playing Fed Cup, Karatantcheva competed in Midland, losing out to young American Victoria Duval. She then traveled to Brazil to compete at the Rio Open and Brasil Tennis Cup. In Rio, she fell in the qualifying competition to Verónica Cepede Royg. In Florianopolis; however, she was more successful with qualifying wins over World No. 95 Anabel Medina Garrigues and Alexandra Panova, the latter match lasting over 3 hours. Her run was ended in the first round by Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens.

Karatantcheva proceeded to compete in Osprey, but lost to Gioia Barbieri in the first round. At the Family Circle Cup, she played qualifying and overcame Sanaz Marand before bowing out to Alla Kudryavtseva. She next played at the Dothan Pro Tennis Classic, but suffered another loss, going down to World No. 125 Michelle Larcher de Brito in the first round. Karatantcheva's final clay-court event in the United States was in Charlotesville, in which she was able to pick up form by reaching the quarterfinals. For the second consecutive year, she entered the Nürnberger Versicherungscup, but was defeated in the qualifying draw by German Nina Zander. At the French Open, she won one match in the qualifying draw but would progress no further, as she was eliminated by Laura Siegemund in what was a tough three-set match. She would then compete in Marseille, advancing to the quarterfinals before going down to Johanna Larsson in a final-set tiebreak. Karatantcheva elected to skip all grass court events before Wimbledon, and suffered another grand slam defeat, this time at the hands of young Estonian Anett Kontaveit in the second round of qualifying.

Following Wimbledon, Karatantcheva entered the inaugural Bucharest Open, winning three qualifying matches before losing to Silvia Soler Espinosa in the first round. She then played qualifying at the İstanbul Cup but was beaten in the first round by Ana Konjuh of Croatia. She returned to the ITF circuit at the 50K Powiat Poznański Open in Sobota, advancing to the final having only dropped a set, but suffered a disappointing three-set loss there after winning the first set. It was her first final since April 2012. Karatantcheva next entered US Open qualifying but was beaten in the first round by Melanie Oudin.

Karatantcheva returned to action at the Coupe Banque Nationale as a direct entrant in the main draw. She began with a win over Sanaz Marand in the first round and squared off against 3rd seeded Kristina Mladenovic in the second, edging the Frenchwoman in a match that lasted over two-and-a-half hours. Karatantcheva subsequently moved on to the quarterfinals but was defeated there by Mirjana Lučić-Baroni, whom would go on to win the tournament.

In October Karatantcheva announced, that she had decided to play for her home country Bulgaria again.[14][15] She and her father first made the decision known to the Bulgarian public in an interview for TV7.[16] Her switch back to Bulgaria was finalized a few weeks later and she reappeared under the Bulgarian flag in the 20 October 2014 WTA rankings.[17][18]

2015: Representing Bulgaria once again

Karatancheva's first tournament of the year was the 2015 ASB Classic, where she has started from qualifications,[19] losing in the third round of the qualifying competition to Urszula Radwańska after previously defeating two opponents.[20] Karatancheva failed to qualify to the Australian Open, after losing in the second qualifying round to Alexandra Panova.[21] In February Karatantcheva participated at the 2015 Abierto Mexicano Telcel, where she started from qualifications. She was defeated in straight sets in the third qualifying round by Lucie Hradecká, but nonetheless reached the main tournament as a lucky loser. Karatantcheva then eliminated Marie Bouzková, Kiki Bertens and Mónica Puig to secure herself a place in the semi-finals for the second time in her career. She subsequently lost to 5th seed Timea Bacsinszky in two sets.[22] Next she played at Monterrey Open, where she lost in the first round of qualifications. Despite the setback, Karatantcheva was nonetheless able to stay on course towards improving her ranking by qualifying for the main phase of the 2015 BNP Paribas Open shortly after that. In the first round, she managed a two-set victory over compatriot and friend Tsvetana Pironkova. This was the first time since 2000 that two Bulgarian women had met in the main draw of a WTA tournament.[23] Karatantcheva then suffered a defeat in straight sets to Coco Vandeweghe.[24] Next, Karatantcheva qualified for the main draw of 2015 Miami Open, where she reached the second round, defeating Lauren Davis then ranked number 61, in the first round in straight sets,[25] and losing to 21st seed Garbiñe Muguruza. Her ranking improved to 109. Next, at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, she qualified for the main draw, beating Arantxa Rus and Louisa Chirico along the way, and lost in the first round to 9th seed Samantha Stosur. At the French Open, Karatantcheva was seeded 3rd in the qualifying draw and she qualified for the main draw. In the first round she defeated former world no. 1 Jelena Janković in straight sets, which allowed her to return to the top 100 in the WTA rankings.[26] Then she lost in the second round to Irina Falconi in three sets. Due to her improved ranking, Karatantcheva began directly from the main draw at the Wimbledon Championships. In the first round she lost to Spaniard Silvia Soler Espinosa in a tight three-setter match.[27] At the US Open, Karatantcheva suffered a disappointing 1-6, 2-6 loss to Belinda Bencic from Switzerland.[28]

2016

Karatantcheva's season began with a disappointment at the 2016 Brisbane, losing in the first round of the qualifying draw. She played at the 2016 Apia International Sydney, starting once again from the qualifications, defeating Yaroslava Shvedova (after taking a 4:1 lead in the first set and her opponent retiring) in the first round, but then succumbing in straight sets to Magdaléna Rybáriková. At the qualifying competition for the Australian Open Karatantcheva was seeded fourth. However, she was unable to pass the first hurdle, being defeated 2-6, 0-6 by Jessica Pegula.[29] Karatantcheva did not manage to reach the main draw of the 2016 French Open, losing to Ukrainian Maryna Zanevska in three sets after taking the first one in the second round of qualifying, for which she was not among the seeds.[30] Her downturn in fortunes continued in the qualifying competition for Wimbledon, where she suffered elimination in the first round at the hands of Frenchwoman Shérazad Reix in a hard-fought match that was decided in three sets.[31] At the qualifying competition for the US Open Karatantcheva posted a win in three sets against Slovak Rebecca Šramková in the first round, but was then defeated by Belgian Elise Mertens in another three-setter match.[32]

Personal life

She is the daughter of former rower and member of Parliament as part of the Bulgarian Business Bloc Radoslav Karatantchev.[33][34] He is currently a politician from the BSP party. Her father is also her trainer.[2] Karatantcheva was suspended from the WTA tour for 2 years in early 2006 due to two drug tests that she had failed at Roland Garros and Tokyo the previous year. Both tests were positive for nandrolone, used to enhance performance.[35] Karatantcheva claimed that the high levels of nandrolone found were due to pregnancy, but she still chose not to appeal the decision. She returned to the tour in early 2008.

Despite being born in Bulgaria and having Bulgarian heritage, Karatantcheva took Kazakh citizenship and began playing for Kazakhstan on February 2, 2009. The explanation for the decision to switch nationalities was of financial purposes only – the Kazakh Tennis Federation made a deal with her in which she would receive $65,000 per year for each year that she plays for Kazakhstan.

She has three sisters,[16] one of whom, Gabrielle Karatantcheva, is a tennis player and has been likened to Maria Sharapova.[36]

WTA Tour finals

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0)
Premier (0–0)
International (0–1)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 1. 20 July 2008 Bad Gastein, Austria Clay Serbia Nataša Zorić Czech Republic Andrea Hlaváčková
Czech Republic Lucie Hradecká		 3–6, 3–6

ITF Circuit finals: 13 (7–6)

Singles: 14 (7–7)

$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$15,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Winner 1. September 28, 2003 Volos, Greece Carpet Bulgaria Tsvetana Pironkova 6–4, 2–6, 6–2
Runner-up 1. October 12, 2003 Carcavelos, Portugal Clay Hungary Barbara Pocza 2–6, 0–6
Winner 2. October 19, 2003 Carcavelos, Portugal Clay Spain Rosa María Andrés Rodríguez 7–5, 6–3
Winner 3. December 14, 2003 Shenzhen, China Hard China Zheng Jie 7–5, 1–6, 6–3
Winner 4. December 5, 2004 Palm Beach Gardens, United States Clay India Sania Mirza 3–6, 6–2, 7–5
Winner 5. January 20, 2008 Surprise, United States Hard United States Angela Haynes 6–2, 4–6, 6–4
Winner 6. February 3, 2008 La Quinta, United States Hard Germany Sandra Klösel 6–4, 7–5
Runner-up 2. March 30, 2008 Latina, Italy Clay Czech Republic Iveta Benešová 0–6, 2–6
Runner-up 3. April 20, 2008 Palm Beach Gardens, United States Clay Argentina Soledad Esperón 4–6, 1–6
Runner-up 4. March 13, 2011 Clearwater, United States Hard Croatia Ajla Tomljanović 6–7(3), 3–6
Runner-up 5. November 6, 2011 Grapevine, United States Hard Japan Kurumi Nara 6–1, 0–6, 3–6
Winner 7. November 13, 2011 Phoenix, United States Hard Portugal Michelle Larcher de Brito 6–1, 7–5
Runner-up 6. April 1, 2012 Osprey, United States Clay Netherlands Arantxa Rus 4–6, 1–6
Runner-up 7. July 27, 2014 Sobota, Poland Clay Slovakia Kristína Kučová 6–1, 5–7, 3–6

Fed Cup participation

Sesil Karatantcheva debuted for the Bulgaria Fed Cup team in 2004, winning her match in the tie against the Estonia Fed Cup team.[37] Since 2010, she has competed for the Kazakhstan Fed Cup team. She maintains a 12–5 singles record and a 5–7 doubles record (17–12 overall).

Singles (12–5)

Edition Round Date Against Surface Opponent W/L Result
2004 Europe/Africa Group I RR April 19, 2004  Estonia Clay Kaia Kanepi W 6–3, 6–3
April 21, 2004  Greece Eleni Daniilidou W 4–6, 6–3, 7–5
April 22, 2004  Poland Klaudia Jans-Ignacik W 6–3, 6–0
2005 Europe/Africa Group I RR April 20, 2005  South Africa Clay Chanelle Scheepers W 6–1, 6–2
April 21, 2005  Hungary Ágnes Szávay W 6–4, 6–3
PPO April 23, 2005  Netherlands Elise Tamaëla W 6–1, 6–1
2005 World Group II Play-Offs PO July 9, 2005  Japan Hard (I) Akiko Morigami L 6–2, 6–7(4), 0–6
July 10, 2005 Aiko Nakamura L 4–6, 6–7(2)
↓  Representing  Kazakhstan  ↓
2010 Asia/Oceania Group I RR February 3, 2010  Chinese Taipei Hard Chang Kai-chen W 6–4, 6–3
February 4, 2010  Thailand Suchanan Viratprasert W 6–4, 6–2
February 5, 2010  Uzbekistan Nigina Abduraimova W 6–2, 6–2
2011 Asia/Oceania Group I RR January 31, 2011  South Korea Hard Kim So-jung L 4–6, 5–7
February 2, 2011  Chinese Taipei Chan Chin-wei W 7–6(8), 6–2
February 4, 2011  Japan Ayumi Morita L 4–6, 6–7(5)
PO February 6, 2011  Thailand Noppawan Lertcheewakarn L 3–6, 3–6
2012 Asia/Oceania Group I RR February 2, 2012  Indonesia Hard Ayu Fani Damayanti W 6–1, 6–1
2014 Asia/Oceania Group I PO February 9, 2014  China Hard (I) Liu Fangzhou W 4–6, 6–1, 6–1

Doubles (5–7)

Edition Round Date Partner Against Surface Opponents W/L Result
2004 Europe/Africa Group I RR April 19, 2004 Maria Penkova  Estonia Clay Maret Ani
Margit Rüütel		 L 5–7, 6–3, 4–6
April 22, 2004 Maria Penkova  Poland Karolina Kosińska
Alicja Rosolska		 L 6–3, 6–7(1), 5–7
PPO April 24, 2004 Maria Penkova  Serbia and Montenegro Ana Timotić
Dragana Zarić		 W 6–4, 2–6, 6–3
2005 Europe/Africa Group I RR April 20, 2005 Magdalena Maleeva  South Africa Clay Lizaan Du Plessis
Alicia Pillay		 W 6–3, 6–2
April 21, 2005 Magdalena Maleeva  Hungary Virág Németh
Ágnes Szávay		 L 6–4, 3–6, 1–6
↓  Representing  Kazakhstan  ↓
2010 Asia/Oceania Group I RR February 6, 2010 Zarina Diyas  South Korea Hard Kim So-jung
Lee Jin-a		 L 6–1, 1–6, 5–7
2011 Asia/Oceania Group I RR February 2, 2011 Galina Voskoboeva  Chinese Taipei Hard Juan Ting-fei
Miao Yui-lynn		 W 6–2, 6–1
PO February 6, 2011 Galina Voskoboeva  Thailand Nicha Lertpitaksinchai
Nungnadda Wannasuk		 L 2–6, Ret.
2012 Asia/Oceania Group I RR February 2, 2012 Galina Voskoboeva  Indonesia Hard Jessy Rompies
Lavinia Tananta		 W 6–1, 7–6(3)
February 3, 2012 Yaroslava Shvedova  Thailand Nungnadda Wannasuk
Varatchaya Wongteanchai		 L 4–6, 6–3, 4–6
2013 Asia/Oceania Group I RR February 6, 2013 Galina Voskoboeva  India Hard Rutuja Bhosale
Ankita Raina		 W 6–3, 6–1
2013 World Group II Play-offs PO April 21, 2013 Galina Voskoboeva  France Hard (I) Caroline Garcia
Kristina Mladenovic		 L 2–6, 5–7

Grand Slam performance timeline

Tournament2003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015SRW–L
Australian Open A A 1R A A A 2R 1R Q3 Q1 1R Q1 Q2 0 / 4 1–4
French Open A A QF A A A Q2 Q1 Q3 2R Q2 Q2 2R 0 / 3 6–3
Wimbledon A A 2R A A Q2 1R Q2 Q1 Q3 Q3 Q2 1R 0 / 3 1–3
US Open A 1R 2R A A Q2 Q2 Q3 Q2 1R Q3 Q1 1R 0 / 4 1–4
Titles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Year End Ranking 526 127 35 None None 150 134 139 175 93 142 176 109

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sesil Karatantcheva.

References

  1. ↑ "Справка за Сесил Каратанчева". tennis24.bg. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Профил на Сесил Каратанчева". personi.dir.bg. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Сесил Каратанчева: Шарапова мами от 10 години, но ще й се размине" (in Bulgarian). dnevnik.bg. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  4. ↑ Kamenov, Kostadin (December 2005). "За пръв път шахматист на върха - Веселин Топалов стана спортист номер едно на 2005-а със смазваща преднина". temanews.com. Retrieved 2014-12-23.
  5. ↑ Stoyanov, Asen (23 December 2005). "Президентът аплодира жест на Спортист №1 за 2005 г., Топалов помогна на болните деца с джип за 64 000 лева". monitor.bg. Retrieved 2014-12-24.
  6. ↑ "Годишни награди на Българска Федерация по Тенис - 2005" (PDF). bgtennis.bg. 2005. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
  7. ↑ "Karatantcheva ban appeal rejected". BBC Sports. 2006-07-03. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
  8. ↑ Pashkurov, Nikolay (22 January 2008). "Сесил Каратанчева с титла в Аризона, софиянката надигра Анджела Хейнс с 6:2, 4:6, 6:4". topsport.bg. Retrieved 2014-12-24.
  9. ↑ "Karatantcheva in hot water for skipping Fed Cup event". Guardian Sport. 2008-01-28. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
  10. ↑ "Briefs 2-Bulgarian Karatantcheva to play tennis for Kazakhstan". Briefs. Reuters. 2009-01-10. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
  11. ↑ Itchkov, Dimitar (12 January 2009). "Дора Рангелова: и Данчо Йовчев го искаха, но той остана. Федерацията категорично не е виновна за ситуацията с Каратанчева, смята капитанът ни за Фед Къп". topsport.bg. Retrieved 2014-12-02.
  12. ↑ topsport editors (4 February 2009). "Каратанчева извън състава на Казахстан за "Фед Къп", състезателката не отговаря на едно от зaдължителните условия". topsport.bg. Retrieved 2014-12-31.
  13. ↑ topsport editors (18 January 2009). "Сесил влезе в основната схема на "Аустрелиън Оупън", българката победи Варвара Лепченко за 53 минути". topsport.bg. Retrieved 2015-01-04.
  14. ↑ Kazakhstani tennis player Karatantcheva switches back to Bulgaria
  15. ↑ "Каратанчева: ще играя още 3-4 години, Сесил се надява отново да играе за България". topsport.bg. 2014-10-17. Retrieved 2014-12-07.
  16. 1 2 "Ексклузивно: Сесил Каратанчева се връща в България". TV7. September 30, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  17. ↑ Singles Rankings - Numeric List for 20 October 2014
  18. ↑ Women's WTA Rankings - WTA Tour Tennis Rankings (archives)
  19. ↑ "Сесил Каратанчева с победа за България. Мачът в Оукланд е първото й състезание за родината от 7 г.". vsekiden.com. 3 January 2015. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
  20. ↑ WTA Tennis editors (January 2015). "2015 ASB Classic - qualifying draw (women)" (PDF). wtatennis.com. Retrieved 2015-01-04.
  21. ↑ "Australian Open Women's qualifying draw". Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  22. ↑ "2015 Abierto Mexicano Telcel Acapulco, Women's Singles draw and results" (PDF). Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  23. ↑ "Сесил взе българското дерби в Индиън Уелс". sportal.bg. March 12, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  24. ↑ "2015 BNP Paribas Open, Women's Singles draw and results" (PDF). Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  25. ↑ "На турнира в Маями Каратанчева сгази американка, излиза срещу Мугуруса. Агитка вика за българката при победата с 6:3, 7:6". 7sport.net. March 27, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Сесил Каратанчева елиминира бивша №1 в света и се завръща в Топ 100". tenniskafe.com. May 26, 2015. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  27. ↑ "Sesil Karatantcheva vs. Silvia Soler-Espinosa 1:2". flashcore.com. June 30, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  28. ↑ "US Open 2015 Women's Singles" (PDF). US Open official website. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  29. ↑ "Australian Open 2016 Women's Singles Qualifying" (PDF). Australia Open official website. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  30. ↑ "Roland Garros 2016 - Qualifying Women's Singles" (PDF). French Open official website. May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  31. ↑ "THE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016 - LADIES' QUALIFYING SINGLES" (PDF). 2016 Wimbledon official website. June 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  32. ↑ "US Open 2016 Women's Qualifying Singles" (PDF). 2016 US Open official website. August 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  33. ↑ mediapool editors (27 January 2010). "Радослав Каратанчев стана шеф на апетитни спортни бази". mediapool.bg. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
  34. ↑ "ITF трябва да пусне Сесил в Казахстан, oт нашата федерация и ДАМС са били готови да дадат на Каратанчева сума, близка до тази в Азия". topsport.bg. topsport editors. 2009-01-11. Retrieved 2014-12-07.
  35. ↑ "Karatantcheva is banned over drugs". CNN International. January 11, 2006. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
  36. ↑ "Каратанчева спечели турнир в САЩ, сестрата на Сесил наречена Малката Шарапова". topsport.bg. February 29, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  37. ↑ "Сесил бие за националния отбор, българките обаче губят с 1:2 от Естония за "Фед Къп"". 7sport.net. April 20, 2004. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
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