Iveta Benešová () (formerly Melzer, cs, Melzerová; born 1 February 1983) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

former

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. She began playing tennis at age of seven and turned professional in 1998. She won two

WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tourna ...

singles and 14 doubles tournaments, and one Grand Slam title in mixed doubles, partnering with

Jürgen Melzer Jürgen Melzer (born 22 May 1981) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. Melzer reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He has a younger brother, Geral ...

at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. On 14 September 2012, she married Melzer and adopted his family name (until 2015). She announced her retirement from professional tennis on 13 August 2014.

Career

2005–2008

Benešová was the first player to be beaten by

Ana Ivanovic Ana Schweinsteiger ( sr, Ана Швајнштајгер / ''Ana Švajnštajger''; born 6 November 1987), professionally known by her birth name Ana Ivanovic (Ана Ивановић / ''Ana Ivanović'', ), is a Serbian former world No. 1 tenn ...

in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, at the

2005 Australian Open The 2005 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 until 30 January 2005. Roger Federer was unsuccessful in defending his 2004 title, being defeated in the semi-finals by eventual champion Marat Safin ...

. At the

2006 Australian Open The 2006 Australian Open was played between 16 and 29 January 2006. Marat Safin could not defend his 2005 title, due to an injury he suffered in late 2005. Roger Federer won his second Australian Open title, defeating Marcos Baghdatis in the fin ...

, for the first time, she reached the third round of a Grand Slam championship by beating fifth seed

Mary Pierce Mary Caroline Pierce (born 15 January 1975) is a retired tennis professional who represented France internationally in team competitions and the Olympics. She was born in Canada to an American father and a French mother, and holds citizenship of ...

. She lost in the next round to former world No. 1

Martina Hingis Martina Hingis (, sk, Martina Hingisová; 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Hingis is the first Swiss player, male or female, to win a major title and attain a world No. 1 ranking. She spent a total of 209 weeks a ...

. Entering as a qualifier in the

2008 French Open The 2008 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 112th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 25 May until 8 J ...

, she reached the third round, beating 15th seed and compatriate

Nicole Vaidišová Nicole Vaidišová Štěpánková (; born 23 April 1989) is a Czech former professional tennis player. Vaidišová is an Australian Open and French Open semifinalist as well as a two-time quarterfinalist at Wimbledon. She started playing tenni ...

in the first round, but lost to

Petra Cetkovská Petra Cetkovská (; born 8 February 1985) is a retired Czech tennis player. Having turned professional in 2000, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 25, on 18 June 2012. Over her career, Cetkovská defeated top-ten players Mar ...

2009

Benešová started the

year A year or annus is the orbital period of a planetary body, for example, the Earth, moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due to the Earth's axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by change in weather, the hou ...

by playing the first edition of the

Brisbane International The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA Premier tournament of the WTA Tour and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 seri ...

. She lost in the first round to qualifier

Sesil Karatantcheva Sesil Radoslavova Karatantcheva ( bg, Сесил Радославова Каратанчева; born 8 August 1989) is a Bulgarian former tennis player. In her career, she won nine singles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 7 November 2005, ...

. A week later, Benešová lost in the final of the tournament in Hobart to fellow-Czech

Petra Kvitová Petra Kvitová, OLY ( , ; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 29 career singles titles, including two major titles at Wimbledon in 2011 and i ...

. At the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

, she lost in the second round to eventual semifinalist and fourth-seeded

Elena Dementieva Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. ...

. Immediately after Australian, Benešová played in front of her home crowd in the

Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...

tie against Spain. Despite losing her singles rubber to

Nuria Llagostera Vives Nuria Llagostera Vives (; born 16 May 1980) is a retired Spanish tennis player. In June 2005, Llagostera Vives reached her best singles ranking of world No. 35. In November 2009, she peaked at No. 5 in the WTA doubles rankings. Professional ca ...

, the Czech team advanced to the semifinals after winning the tie 4–1. At the Open GdF Suez in Paris, she lost in the first round to world No. 1

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...

. Benešová then reached the semifinals of the tournament in Acapulco, a clay-court event. In the quarterfinals, she beat

Mathilde Johansson Mathilde Johansson (born 28 April 1985) is a Swedish-born retired French tennis player.Flavia Pennetta Flavia Pennetta (; born 25 February 1982) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She became Italy's first top-ten female singles player on 17 August 2009 and the first Italian to be ranked world No. 1 in doubles, on 28 February 2011. ...

. On 6 April 2009, Benešová achieved her career-high singles ranking of world No. 25. Seeded 6th at the first edition of the

Monterrey Open The Monterrey Open is a professional women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. The event is affiliated with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and is part of the 250 series on the WTA Tour. From 2009 to 2013, the tournament wa ...

, she beat fellow Czech

Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Barbora (; ) is a Czech and Slovak female given name. It was derived from the Greek word ''barbaros'' ( el, βαρβαρος) meaning "foreign", a variant of " Barbara". It is the 36th most popular given name in the Czech Republic (as of 2007). N ...

in the quarterfinals before losing in the semifinals to unseeded

Li Na Li Na (born 26 February 1982) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high WTA ranking of world No. 2 on 17 February 2014. Over the course of her career, Li won nine WTA Tour singles titles including two Grand Sl ...

. Benešová fell to

in the third round of the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

. At

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

, she beat Britain's

Katie O'Brien Katie Jill O'Brien (born 2 May 1986) is a British former professional tennis player from Beverley, Yorkshire. She was briefly the British No. 1 tennis player, and reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 84 on 1 February 2010. She w ...

, before falling to

Jelena Janković Jelena Janković ( sr-Cyrl, Јелена Јанковић, ; born 28 February 1985) is a Serbian former tennis player. A former world No. 1, Janković reached the top ranking before her career-best major performance, a runner-up finish at the ...

in the second round.

2010

In singles, she defeated Romanian

Simona Halep Simona Halep (; born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles twice between 2017 and 2019, for a total of 64 weeks, which ranks eleventh in the history of the Women's Tennis Assoc ...

in the final of

Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem The Morocco Open or Rabat Grand Prix (for sponsorship reasons called the Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem), is a women's professional tennis tournament currently held in Rabat, Morocco. This WTA Tour event is classified as an Internat ...

to win her first WTA Tour trophy since 2004. In doubles, she has won three titles. Along with Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, she grabbed the titles in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

as their opponents

Cara Black Cara Cavell Black (born 17 February 1979) is a Zimbabwean former professional tennis player. Black was primarily a doubles specialist, winning 60 WTA Tour and 11 ITF doubles titles. A former doubles world No. 1, she won ten major titles. By ...

and

Liezel Huber Liezel Huber (née Horn; born 21 August 1976) is a South African-American retired tennis player who represented the United States internationally since August 2007. Huber has won four Grand Slam titles in women's doubles with partner Cara Blac ...

withdrew and

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

defeating

Anna-Lena Grönefeld Anna-Lena Grönefeld (also spelled Groenefeld; born 4 June 1985) is a German former professional tennis player. Competing as a professional from 2003 until 2019, she won one singles title on the WTA Tour, at the 2006 Mexican Open, and reached t ...

and

Vania King Vania King (born February 3, 1989) is an American former tennis player. A former top-ten doubles player, King won both the Wimbledon and US Open women's doubles titles in 2010 with partner Yaroslava Shvedova, with whom she also reached the fi ...

. Partnering with

Anabel Medina Garrigues Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues (, ; born 31 July 1982) is a Spanish tennis coach and former professional player. As a player she reached a career-high ranking of world No. 16 in 2020, and won 11 singles and 28 doubles titles, including the 2008 ...

, Benešová won

Fes Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 mi ...

, making her winning both singles and doubles in the tournament. Iveta Benesova at 2008 RG 1

2011

Benešová reached the fourth round of the

, but was defeated by second seed

Vera Zvonareva Vera Igorevna Zvonareva ( rus, Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, p=ˈvʲɛrə ˈiɡərʲɪvnə zvənɐˈrʲɵvə, a=Vera zvonareva.ogg; born 7 September 1984) is a Russian professional tennis player. She was introduced to tennis at ...

. Along with Záhlavová-Strýcová she won four titles in doubles. At the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...

, she won the

mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and badminton (where it is known as ...

title with partner and later husband

2012

Benešová once again reached the fourth round of the

, being defeated by eventual champion

Victoria Azarenka Victória Fyódarauna Azárenka ( be, Вікторыя Фёдараўна Азаранка; Russian: Виктория Фёдоровна Азаренко; born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Azarenka is a former wo ...

in straight sets. On 29 April 2012 she won her last title at the Stuttgart doubles, again with Záhlavová-Strýcová. She paused from playing tournaments until February 2014, mainly due to shoulder problems.

2014

In her first tournament as Iveta Melzer, she and her partner Petra Cetkovská reached the final of the Acapulco doubles which they lost in the third set. At the

she played the mixed doubles with her husband Jürgen, they lost in the first round against top seeded

Alexander Peya Alexander Peya (born 27 June 1980) is an Austrian male tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world no. 92 in April 2007. His career-high doubles ranking is World No. 3, first achieved in August 2013. In September 2008 Peya h ...

and

Abigail Spears Abigail Michal Spears (born July 12, 1981) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. She was suspended for doping offences from 7 November 2019 until 7 September 2021. Biography 2000–2011 Spears turned professional in ...

. It was their last Grand Slam mixed appearance together, at the Wimbledon mixed doubles Jürgen Melzer partnered Anabel Medina Garrigues. Iveta Melzer ended her career on 15 August 2014, as shoulder problems prevented her from playing her best tennis.

Personal life

On 14 September 2012, Benešová married Austrian tennis player

in Austria at

Laxenburg Castle Laxenburg castles are imperial palaces and castles outside Vienna, in the town of Laxenburg owned in equal parts by Vienna and Lower Austria.1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Most (city) Czech female tennis players Olympic tennis players of the Czech Republic Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Wimbledon champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles