Anna Smith (tennis)

Anna Smith (born 14 August 1988) is a British former professional tennis player.

She won one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as five singles and 29 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit.

Smith, who specialised in doubles, was coached by Dave Sammel at TeamBath.

Early and personal life

She was born in Redhill, Surrey, to Robert and Gunilla Smith and started playing tennis at the age of ten.

Career

Junior (2003–2006)

Smith first competed as a junior in February 2003 and her last junior tournament was in June 2006 in the qualifying draw for the Wimbledon juniors. She had limited success as a singles player; she reached only one final (in April 2006 at the Sutton ITF junior tournament where she was beaten by Naomi Broady) and did not reach the quarterfinals in any other tournament she played.

She had significantly more success as a junior doubles competitor, winning three titles at the Donnybrook Junior International, the Wrexham and the Nottingham ITF event. She also reached two more finals, four semifinals and one quarterfinal.

Over the three years of her junior career, she reached a career-high combined ranking of world No. 665 and accumulated win–loss records of 8–13 in singles and 24–10 in doubles.

2004–2007

Smith played her first professional match in July 2004, courtesy of a wildcard into the qualifying draw of the $10k tournament in Felixstowe, England. Following two wins, she lost in the final round of qualifying to Lena Keothavong, the younger sister of top-100 player Anne Keothavong. Smith then lost in the qualifying stages of the $10k tournament in Manchester before going to Bolton and winning two matches to qualify for the $10k tournament held there. In her first main draw match of her career, she lost to a fellow British Elizabeth Thomas. She finished 2004 without a world ranking.

In April 2005, Smith lost in the final round of qualifying for the $10k in Porto Santo, Portugal, but was given a chance in the main draw as a lucky loser. She played well in this tournament before having to withdraw in the quarterfinals. August brought two more quarterfinal losses for Smith, the first in the $10k Wrexham tournament and the second in the $10k Nottingham tournament. The Wrexham event also saw her claim her first professional title as she won the doubles in partnership with Rebecca Llewellyn. Her final tournament of the year was the $10k event in Sunderland, where she also reached the quarterfinals. She finished 2005 ranked world No. 660.

April and May 2006 saw good form from Smith; in April, she reached the first ITF Circuit semifinal of her career in Bath, Somerset and the following month she reached the quarterfinals in Bournemouth. In August, she reached the first singles final of her career in Ilkley, not dropping a single set en route. She was beaten in the title match by Anna Fitzpatrick. Smith managed to reach the quarterfinals as a qualifier in her very next tournament ($10k Wrexham). In September, she won her first professional singles title at the $10k event in Nottingham beating compatriot Georgie Stoop in the final. The rest of the year saw limited success for Smith in singles, though she did win a doubles title in Redbridge with Anna Hawkins.

In March 2007, Smith reached the third singles final of her career at a $10k event in Hamilton, New Zealand, where she lost to Erika Sema

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases