Liezel Huber (née Horn; born 21 August 1976) is a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

retired

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 uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cove ...

who represented the United States internationally since August 2007. Huber has won four Grand Slam titles in women's doubles with partner

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 ...

, one with

Lisa Raymond Lisa Raymond (born August 10, 1973) is an American retired professional tennis player who has achieved notable success in Doubles (tennis), doubles tennis. Raymond has eleven Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles to her name: six in women's do ...

, and two mixed doubles titles with

Bob Bryan Robert Charles Bryan (born April 29, 1978) is an American former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. He has won twenty-three Grand Slam titles: 16 in men's doubles and 7 in mixed doubles. He turned professional in 1998. With his twin ...

. On 12 November 2007, she became the co-world No. 1 in doubles with

. On 19 April 2010, Huber became the sole No. 1 for the first time in her career.

Personal life

At age 15, she moved from South Africa to the United States to attend the Van Der Meer Tennis Academy in

Hilton Head, South Carolina Hilton Head Island, sometimes referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia, and southwest of Charleston. The island is n ...

in 1992. Huber has since resided in the U.S. and became a naturalized American citizen in July 2007. She married Tony Huber, an American, in February 2000. In 2005, she started a foundation, 'Liezel's Cause', to raise money and gather basic supplies to assist the victims of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

. She competed for the United States in the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

in doubles, partnering with former World No. 1 (in both singles and doubles)

Lindsay Davenport Lindsay Ann Davenport Leach (born June 8, 1976) is an American former professional tennis player. Davenport was ranked singles world No. 1 for a total of 98 weeks, and was the year-end singles world No. 1 four times (1998, 2001, 2004, and 2005) ...

; the pair lost in the quarterfinals. At the 2012 London Olympics, she teamed with

. Together they reached the semi-finals, losing to Hlaváčková and Hradecká of the Czech Republic. They then lost the bronze medal match to Kirilenko and Petrova of Russia. In the mixed doubles she teamed with

but lost in the first round.

Professional career

Liezel Huber is primarily a doubles specialist, having achieved one of the best careers in this discipline. She has won 64 women's doubles titles in her career; of which 53 are on the

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 ...

and 11 on the

ITF Women's Circuit The ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, previously known as the ITF Women's Circuit, is a series of professional tennis tournaments run by the International Tennis Federation for female professional tennis players. History It serves as a developmental ...

. In singles, her greatest result in her career was reaching to the quarterfinals at the tournament in Pattaya City in 2001, where she lost to

Henrieta Nagyová Henrieta Nagyová (born 15 December 1978) is a former tennis player from Slovakia. She turned professional in 1994 and has been ranked as high as No. 21 in the world (17 September 2001). She won nine singles tournaments and four doubles tournam ...

. She participated in two Grand Slam singles main draws, losing to

in the second round of the 1998 French Open. She lost in the 1999 US Open first round to

Raluca Sandu Raluca Sandu (born 3 February 1980) is a Romanian retired tennis player and professional padel player. On 18 January 1999, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of 68 whilst her best doubles ranking was 228 on 13 September 1999. Raluca ...

. Her highest singles ranking was world no. 131, which she achieved on 29 March 1999. She enjoyed the majority of her first eight years on tour on the ITF Circuit. Huber has enjoyed successful women's partnerships with

Magdalena Maleeva Magdalena Georgieva Maleeva ( bg, Магдалена Георгиева Малеева, ; born 1 April 1975) is a Bulgarian former professional tennis player. She played on the WTA Tour competing in singles and doubles, from April 1989 to Octo ...

Ai Sugiyama is a Japanese former tennis player. She reached the world No. 1 ranking in women's doubles on the WTA Tour and had a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8, achieved on February 9, 2004. In her career, she won six singles and 38 doubles t ...

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...

, Lindsay Davenport,

Sania Mirza Sania Mirza (; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she has won six major titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles in ...

Nadia Petrova Nadezhda Viktorovna "Nadia" Petrova (russian: Надежда Викторовна Петрова ; born 8 June 1982) is a Russian former professional tennis player. A former top-five player in both singles and doubles, she reached a career-high ...

Bethanie Mattek-Sands Bethanie Mattek-Sands ( Bethanie Lynn Mattek; born March 23, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. She has won nine Grand Slam titles (five in women's doubles and four in mixed doubles), and an Olympic gold medal, and is a former wo ...

María José Martínez Sánchez María José Martínez Sánchez (; born 12 August 1982) is a Spanish retired professional tennis player. In singles, she has won five WTA singles titles, her biggest being a Premier 5 title at the 2010 Italian Open where she defeated two form ...

, and

. Huber has been in the final of all four Grand Slams, winning in all except for 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 ...

. She has won a total of five Grand Slam women's doubles titles with three partners in ten finals with four partners, and finished as a titlist in two of her five mixed doubles finals. Huber and her

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

an partner Black made up what many tennis experts regard as one of the greatest women's doubles teams in history between mid-2005. and early 2010. Together, the pair reached seven women's doubles finals, winning four. The duo won a total of 29 titles together on the

. The partnership suddenly broke up in April 2010. Huber has also enjoyed success in mixed doubles, winning two titles with American men's doubles legend

, at the 2009 French Open and 2010 US Open. She reached her first career mixed final with Bob's brother

Mike Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and docume ...

at the

2001 Wimbledon Championships The 2001 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, held from 25 June to 9 July 2001. It was the 115th edition of the Wimbled ...

, and two additional finals, at the 2005 Australian Open with

Kevin Ullyett Kevin Ullyett (born 23 May 1972) is a former professional tennis player from Zimbabwe. His primary success on the tour was in men's doubles. Ullyett won 34 doubles titles during his career, including two Grand Slams at the 2001 US Open and t ...

, and at the 2008 US Open with

Jamie Murray Jamie Robert Murray, (born 13 February 1986) is a Scottish professional tennis player from Scotland who specialises in doubles. He is a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion (five in mixed doubles and two in men's doubles), a Davis Cup win ...

. Huber has also enjoyed impressive success 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 ...

national competition. She logged a 9–3 record on the

South Africa Fed Cup team The South Africa Billie Jean King Cup team represents South Africa in Billie Jean King Cup tennis competition and are governed by the South African Tennis Association. They currently compete in the Europe/Africa Zone of Group II. History South ...

, with all but one match being in doubles. Huber is now a major member of the

United States Fed Cup team The United States women's national tennis team is the most successful national team in Billie Jean King Cup competition. The team has won 18 titles and finished second a further 11 times, out of 55 participations. History The United States won ...

, compiling a 6–2 record in doubles play. In the competition, Huber has played with

Julie Ditty Julie Ditty Qualls (January 4, 1979 – August 31, 2021) was an American professional tennis player. She had her WTA Tour breakthrough when she reached the semifinals of the Bell Challenge. It took her into the top 100 for the first time in he ...

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 ...

, Bethanie Mattek-Sands,

Melanie Oudin Melanie Jennings Oudin (born September 23, 1991) is an American former professional tennis player. The former world junior No. 2 was a member of the American Fed Cup team from 2009 to 2011 and the winner of the 2011 US Open mixed-doubles title ...

, and

Sloane Stephens Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3 after Wimbledon in 2018. Stephens was the 2017 US Open champion, and has won seven WTA Tour singles titles in t ...

. Liezel Huber served as executive director of Tennis, at the New York Junior Tennis & Learnin
Cary Leeds Center
in Bronx

Crotona Park Crotona Park is a public park in the South Bronx in New York City, covering . The park is bounded by streets of the same name on its northern, eastern, southern, and western borders, and is adjacent to the Crotona Park East and Morrisania neig ...

. As of 4 January 2021, she is Director of Tennis and Racquets at The River Club of New York.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 10 (5–5)

Mixed doubles: 5 (2–3)

Olympics

Doubles: 1 Bronze medal match (0–1)

WTA career finals

Doubles: 92 (53–39)

ITF finals

Singles (0–4)

Doubles (11–9)

Women's doubles performance timeline

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Huber, Liezel 1976 births Afrikaner people American female tennis players American people of Afrikaner descent Australian Open (tennis) champions Delaware Smash French Open champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Living people Olympic tennis players of South Africa Olympic tennis players of the United States People from Houston People with acquired American citizenship South African emigrants to the United States South African female tennis players Sportspeople from Durban Tennis people from Texas Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Wimbledon champions 21st-century American women WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players ITF World Champions