Claudine Punipuao Toleafoa (born 28 February 1970) is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player from New Zealand.

Biography

Early years

Toleafoa was born in Auckland and is of Samoan heritage, with her father Afamasaga Fa'amatala coming from

Fasito'o Tai Fasito'o Tai is a village situated on the northwest coast of Upolu Island in Samoa. The village is part of A'ana Alofi 4 Electoral Constituency (''Faipule District'') which formas part of the larger A'ana political district. The population of Fas ...

on the island of

Upolu Upolu is an island in Samoa, formed by a massive basaltic shield volcano which rises from the seafloor of the western Pacific Ocean. The island is long and in area, making it the second largest of the Samoan Islands by area. With approximatel ...

. Her mother, Phillipa Lousley, is from Dunedin. As a child she lived for a time in Samoa and represented the country in tennis at the 1985 South Pacific Mini Games. During her junior career she made the girls' doubles quarter-finals at both the 1987 and 1988 US Open competitions.

Tennis career

Toleafoa began playing for the New Zealand Federation Cup team in 1989 and won her debut match over Italy's world number 25

Sandra Cecchini Anna-Maria "Sandra" Cecchini (; born 27 February 1965) is a retired professional tennis player from Italy. Career Cecchini turned professional in 1984. She won 12 singles and 11 doubles titles on the WTA Tour. She had career wins over Chris Ev ...

, 10–8 in the third set, to help the side win the World Group tie. On the WTA Tour her best results came at her home tournament, the

Wellington Classic The Wellington Classic (also known by its corporate title of the Fernleaf Classic) is a defunct WTA Tour affiliated tennis tournament played from 1988 to 1992. It was held in Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capi ...

. In 1990 she beat two seeded players,

Donna Faber Donna Faber (born July 5, 1971) is a former professional tennis player. She competed in Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves ...

and

Sandra Wasserman Sandra Wasserman (born 10 March 1970) is a former professional tennis player from Antwerp, Belgium. Fed Cup Wasserman became Belgium's youngest Fed Cup player when she lost to Csilla Bartos of Hungary in October 1985 in Japan. She also lost t ...

, to reach the semi-finals, then in 1991 made the quarter-finals, beating third seed

Larisa Neiland Larisa Savchenko-Neiland ( uk, Лариса Савченко-Нейланд, lv, Larisa Savčenko-Neilande; née Savchenko; also Larisa Neiland; born 21 July 1966) is a retired tennis player who represented the Soviet Union, Ukraine and Latvia. ...

en route. In addition to her singles performances at Wellington she also twice made the semi-finals of the doubles. She appeared in the main singles draw of the

1991 Australian Open The 1991 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at Flinders Park in Melbourne in Victoria in Australia. It was the 79th edition of the Australian Open and was held from 14 through 27 January 1991. Seniors Men's s ...

and made the second round, defeating

Stephanie Rottier Stephanie Rottier (born 22 January 1974) is a former professional Dutch tennis player. Results Rottier reached the second round of the 1994 French Open. She reached the final of the WTA singles tournament in Tokyo in 1993, losing to Kimiko Date ...

, which resulted in her career best ranking of 121 following the tournament. At the

1991 French Open The 1991 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from 27 May until 9 June. It was the 95th staging of the French Open, and the second Gra ...

she fell in the qualifying draw, then lost in the final round of qualifying at the

1991 Wimbledon Championships The 1991 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 105th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held from ...

, but received entry into the main draw as a lucky loser. She lost in the opening round of Wimbledon to

Julie Halard Julie Halard-Decugis (born 10 September 1970) is a French former professional tennis player. Tennis career Halard-Decugis lived in La Baule, France, during the initial stages of her career and later moved to Pully, Switzerland. She turned profes ...

, in three sets. In 1992 she played

Steffi Graf Stefanie Maria Graf ( , ; born 14 June 1969) is a German former professional tennis player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 for a record 377 weeks and won 22 major singles titles, ...

in a Federation Cup tie, then from 1993 until her retirement in 1996 only came up against opponents from the Asia/Oceania Zone, as New Zealand had dropped out of the World Group. She finished her Federation Cup career with a 17/16 overall record, from 25 ties.

Personal life

Toleafoa is married to Australian former professional tennis player

Carl Limberger Carl Limberger (born 24 January 1964) is a former professional tennis player Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player u ...

. She now works in Auckland as a lawyer and was previously a prosecutor for

NZ Police The New Zealand Police ( mi, Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa) is the national police service and principal law enforcement agency of New Zealand, responsible for preventing crime, enhancing public safety, bringing offenders to justice, and maintaini ...

ITF finals

Singles (0-3)

Doubles (3-3)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Toleafoa, Claudine 1970 births Living people New Zealand female tennis players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Tennis players from Auckland New Zealand women lawyers 21st-century New Zealand lawyers 21st-century New Zealand women lawyers