Valentina Ivanov

Valentina Ivanov
Country (sports) New Zealand
ResidenceSydney, Australia
Born (2001-03-27) 27 March 2001 (age 23)
Christchurch, New Zealand[1]
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
PlaysRight (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$16,637
Singles
Career record42–36
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 738 (28 January 2019)
Current rankingNo. 900 (15 July 2024)
Doubles
Career record37–18
Career titles4 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 614 (31 October 2022)
Current rankingNo. 709 (15 July 2024)
Team competitions
Fed Cup13–8 (singles 7–7, doubles 6–1)
Last updated on: 17 July 2024.

Valentina Sergeyevna Ivanov (born 27 March 2001) is a New Zealand tennis player, although she has lived in Sydney since she was two years old.[2]

Ivanov's mother Oksana (née Yarikova) was a member of the Uzbekistan Fed Cup team in 1995 and 1997, being joined in the latter by her younger sister Irina. The Uzbekistan team captain that year was Oksana's future husband (and Valentina's father), Sergey Ivanov. Valentina was coached by both parents until she was 12.

On the ITF Junior Circuit, Ivanov has a career-high combined ranking of 85, achieved on 2 April 2018.

Tennis career

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Junior highlights

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Ivanov won two Grade-4 singles titles in 2017, and five junior doubles titles in 2017 and 2018, four with Australian Amber Marshall and one, the Grade-2 2017 Lee Duk Hee Cup Chuncheon International Junior Tennis Championships, with Supapitch Kuearum.

2019

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Ivanov made her WTA Tour main-draw debut as a wildcard, with fellow New Zealand junior Elys Ventura, in the ASB Classic in Auckland. They lost in the first round of doubles to the eventual runners-up, Paige Hourigan and Taylor Townsend, after Ivanov had defeated Hourigan in the first round of singles qualifying, repeating the result of the New Zealand Championships final.[3] She lost in the second qualifying round to Bibiane Schoofs. She then came through qualifying to reach the first round of the girls' singles draw at the Australian Open, where she lost to the fifth seed Mananchaya Sawangkaew. She also lost in the first round of doubles.

Ivanov's first senior title came in Port Pirie, South Australia, in February, when she and Marshall defeated the top seeds Jennifer Elie and Alicia Smith in the semifinals before beating Patricia Böntgen and Lisa Mays in the doubles final.[4] A poor run of form in qualifying for singles main draws was only slightly alleviated by reaching the doubles semifinal at a tournament in Heraklion. However, she made her Fed Cup debut for New Zealand in June in the best possible manner, defeating Meheq Khokhar of Pakistan, 6–0, 6–0. She won two singles and three doubles matches as New Zealand finished a disappointing fourth in the tournament.

Although she and Mylène Halemai reached the doubles semifinal of her first tournament when back in Europe, at Alkmaar, she got past the first round of doubles only once more in the season, whilst also getting to the singles main draw only once more in Europe. It took until her last event for the year, in Tucson, Arizona, before she got any further, making it to the quarter-finals but having to default through injury.

2020

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Ivanov began the year at the Auckland Open where her original wildcard into qualifying was upgraded to one in the main draw. Ranked 1014 at the time of entry, she was not disgraced when going down in straight sets to 63rd ranked Jil Teichmann, 4–6, 3–6, having broken the Swiss player's serve in the second set.

She was unbeaten in three singles matches when New Zealand hosted one pool in the 2020 Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group II in Wellington, before heading back to UC Berkeley to continue her studies. She didn't play again before international play was suspended in early March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and soon afterwards returned to Sydney. Her only subsequent competitive matches were in UTR tournaments in her home city reaching one final, after beating Destanee Aiava in a round-robin match.

ITF finals

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Doubles: 5 (4 titles, 1 runner-up)

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Legend
W35 tournaments
W15 tournaments (4–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–0)
Clay (2–1)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Feb 2019 ITF Port Pirie, Australia W15 Hard Australia Amber Marshall Germany Patricia Böntgen
Australia Lisa Mays
7–5, 6–2
Win 2–0 Jul 2022 ITF Monastir, Tunisia W15 Hard Australia Lisa Mays Chinese Taipei Cho I-hsuan
China Yao Xinxin
6–4, 6–7(2), [10–8]
Win 3–0 Jul 2022 ITF Vejle, Denmark W15 Clay Denmark Hannah Viller Møller Lithuania Klaudija Bubelyte
Lithuania Patricija Paukstyte
6–2, 7–6(4)
Loss 3–1 Jun 2024 ITF Alkmaar, Netherlands W15 Clay Denmark Rebecca Munk Mortensen Netherlands Michaëlla Krajicek
Netherlands Sarah Van Emst
4–6, 4–6
Win 4–1 Jul 2024 ITF Kuršumlijska Banja, Serbia W15 Clay Sweden Lisa Zaar Czech Republic Michaela Bayerlová
Australia Jelena Cvijanovic
6–4, 6–7(1), [10–8]

Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup participation

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Singles

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Edition Stage Date Location Against Surface Opponent W/L Score
2019 Z2 R/R Jun 2019 Kuala Lumpur (MAL) Pakistan Pakistan Hard Meheq Khokhar W 6–0, 6–0
Z2 P/O Malaysia Malaysia Sara Nayar L 5–7, 5–7
2020 Z2 R/R Feb 2020 Wellington (NZL) Mongolia Mongolia Bolor Enkhbayar W 6–0, 6–0
Singapore Singapore Sarah Pang W 6–1, 6–1
Z2 P/O Philippines Philippines Shaira Hope Rivera W 7–5, 6–1
2022 Z1 R/R Apr 2022 Antalya (TUR) South Korea Korea Clay Jang Su-jeong L 3–6, 2–6
Japan Japan Yuki Naito L 2–6, 1–6
India India Rutuja Bhosale L 1–6, 6–7(3)

Doubles

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Edition Stage Date Location Against Surface Partner Opponents W/L Score
2019 Z2 R/R Jun 2019 Kuala Lumpur (MAL) Pakistan Pakistan Hard Erin Routliffe Meheq Khokhar
Noor Malik
W 6–0, 6–1
Hong Kong Hong Kong Erin Routliffe Ng Kwan-yau
Wu Ho-ching
W 6–2, 6–2
Z2 P/O Malaysia Malaysia Erin Routliffe Sara Nayar
Jawairiah Noordin
W 6–3, 4–6, 6–3
2020 Z2 R/R Feb 2020 Wellington (NZL) Pakistan Pakistan Erin Routliffe Mahin Qureshi
Ushna Suhail
W 6–1, 6–0
2022 Z1 R/R Apr 2022 Antalya (TUR) China China Clay Erin Routliffe Wang Yifan
Yang Zhaoxuan
L 3–6, 1–6

References

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  1. ^ "About Me - Valentina Ivanov".
  2. ^ "Kiwi Valentina Ivanov brings eastern European flavour". New Zealand Herald. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  3. ^ "2018 NZ Tennis Championships - Women's Singles". Tennis New Zealand. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  4. ^ "ITF W15 2019 Port Pirie International drawsheet". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
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