Jana Kandarr (born 21 September 1976) is a German former top 50 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. Kandarr is notable for playing with her right hand, even though she is left-handed.

Career

Kandarr moved with her parents from Halle to

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

after the

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

. Her mother

Petra Vogt Petra Kandarr ( née Vogt; 20 August 1950 in Halle – 12 March 2017 in Karlsruhe) was an East German sprinter who specialized in the 100- and 200-metre track events. Biography At the 1969 European Championships she won gold medals in ...

is a former European athletics champion and was Sports Person of the Year in the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

(East Germany) in 1969. Jana Kandarr was practicing for some years in

Unterhaching Unterhaching (; Central Bavarian: ''Haching'') is the second largest municipality in the district of Munich in Bavaria, Germany, located to the south of Munich city centre and easily accessible via two federal motorways, Bundesautobahn 8 and Bunde ...

before she went professional in 1994. The biggest success of her 10-year-long career was her participation in 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 ...

in 2000, where she made the round of 16, coming through qualifying and winning six three-set matches in a row, before being forced to retire against ninth seed

Julie Halard-Decugis 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 ...

. Also in 2000, she reached the last 16 at the

Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug language, Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport ...

, losing to the second seed and eventual winner

Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is ...

. By the end of the year, Kandarr was ranked as the No. 1 German player overall. Her best performance at a WTA tournament was the semifinals of

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

in 1996 and

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has host ...

in 2001. She reached her highest ranking on 11 June 2001 - after a victory against world No. 5

Amélie Mauresmo Amélie Simone Mauresmo (; born 5 July 1979) is a French former List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player and tournament director. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major singles titles at the ...

in the first 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 ...

. After the tournament she was listed as world No. 43. Kandarr ended her professional career in 2005 but is still playing competitive tennis occasionally in the Bundesliga for TC 1899 Blau-Weiss Berlin. Having stopped school in 1996 to play tennis, she only graduated in 2000. From the winter semester of 2002/03, she has been studying

geoscience Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

and

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

at the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

, while living in

Berlin-Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990 it has ...

. Her hobbies are horse riding, reading and going to the theater.

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kandarr, Jana 1976 births Living people German female tennis players Olympic tennis players for Germany Sportspeople from Halle (Saale) Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics People from Bezirk Halle Sportspeople from Karlsruhe Tennis players from Munich Humboldt University of Berlin alumni