Lucie Safarova · Biography

As an 18-year-old qualifier, Lucie Šafářová won the 2005 Estoril Open, her first WTA title, beating China’s Li Na in the final. Born on 4 February 1987 in Brno, then part of Czechoslovakia, the left-hander rose to No. 5 in the world in singles and No. 1 in doubles. In singles she reached the 2015 French Open final and the 2014 Wimbledon semi-finals. In doubles she won five Grand Slam titles, all with American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Early years on tour

Šafářová turned professional in 2001. The Estoril title opened a 2005 season in which she also reached the final in ’s-Hertogenbosch, losing to fellow Czech Klára Koukalová, and won in Forest Hills against India’s Sania Mirza. In 2006 she beat Italy’s Flavia Pennetta to win in Gold Coast and reached the semi-finals in Amelia Island and Palermo. At the 2007 Australian Open she beat defending champion Amélie Mauresmo 6-4, 6-3 before losing in the quarter-finals to Nicole Vaidišová. A few weeks later she reached the Paris final with wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova and Justine Henin, then lost to Nadia Petrova 4-6, 6-1, 4-6. In 2008 she won Forest Hills again and reached the third round of the singles event at the Beijing Olympics.

Establishing herself near the top

After several seasons without a title, she won in Quebec City in 2013, her first trophy in five years. In 2014 she had her best run at Wimbledon, reaching the semi-finals, where she lost in straight sets to Petra Kvitová, who went on to win the tournament. That year she also reached the fourth round of the US Open. A left-hander with a two-handed backhand and a heavy topspin forehand, she was most comfortable on clay. For much of her career she worked with Canadian coach Rob Steckley; she left him in September 2016 to work with František Čermák and returned to Steckley in 2018.

The 2015 season

The 2015 season was the best of her career. In January she won the Australian Open doubles with Mattek-Sands, and in February she took the title in Doha. At Roland Garros she played her first Grand Slam singles final, losing to Serena Williams 3-6, 7-6(2), 2-6. Days later she won the doubles in Paris as well, again with Mattek-Sands. On 14 September 2015 she reached No. 5 in the singles rankings, her career high. She qualified for the WTA Finals in Singapore in both singles and doubles; in the round-robin stage she lost to Kvitová 7-5, 7-5 and finished with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Angelique Kerber.

World No. 1 in doubles

Health problems kept her out of the 2016 Australian Open. Later that year she won her seventh singles title in Prague, took the US Open doubles with Mattek-Sands and won the doubles bronze medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics with Barbora Strýcová. Mattek-Sands and Šafářová also reached the final of the 2016 WTA Finals, losing 6-7(5), 3-6 to Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. In 2017 the pair won the Australian Open and the French Open, their fourth and fifth Grand Slam titles together. On 21 August 2017 Šafářová became world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking she held for six weeks.

Fed Cup and retirement

With the Czech Republic she won the Fed Cup in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2018. She finished her career with 7 WTA singles titles and 15 in doubles. She had planned to retire at the 2019 Australian Open, but wrist tendinitis forced her to withdraw and she moved her farewell to Roland Garros. She played her last match there in May 2019: partnering Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulková, she lost 6-4, 6-0 in the first round of the doubles to Sofia Kenin and Andrea Petkovic, and the tournament held a ceremony for her on court.