Nicole Pratt (born 5 March 1973) is a retired tennis player from Australia.
Pratt was born in
Mackay, Queensland
}
Mackay () is a city in the Mackay Region on the eastern or Coral Sea coast of Queensland, Australia. It is located about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River.
Mackay is described as being in either Central Queensland or North Queensla ...
. She is the middle sibling of five children of cane farmers and was taught to play by her father, George, who was a top junior player. She attended school in
Calen and received a tennis scholarship to the
Australian Institute of Sport
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of th ...
in
Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
. She turned professional at 18.
She became Australia's No. 1 ranked female player in January 2001. She won her first WTA Title at the
Hyderabad Open and reached the third round of 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 Ope ...
in 2004.
In August 2006, at age 33, Pratt reached her first ever
Tier I quarterfinal at
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
. Soon after this she rose back up into the top 100. During 2007 she was drafted by the
Boston Lobsters of the WTT pro league.
At the
2008 Australian Open
The 2008 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 96th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 thr ...
, after losing her first match to
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 ...
, a tearful Pratt announced her retirement from professional tennis. She then coached Australian female player,
Casey Dellacqua
Casey Dellacqua ( ; born 11 February 1985) is a retired Australian professional tennis player and current commentator. Her best singles results on the WTA Tour have been semifinal appearances at the 2012 Texas Tennis Open and 2014 Birmingham ...
; after the 2009 Australian Open, Pratt and Dellacqua decided to go different ways.
Women Players Carrying "Excess Baggage" Says Top Coach
Yahoo Sports, 21 January 2009
WTA career finals
Singles (1 title, 1 runner-up)
Doubles (9 titles, 4 runner-ups)
ITF finals
Singles (5–8)
Doubles (9–8)
Year-end singles ranking
* 2007–70
* 2006–78
* 2005–127
* 2004–51
* 2003–53
* 2002–49
* 2001–52
* 2000–55
* 1999-58
* 1998-113
* 1997-102
* 1996-198
* 1995-297
* 1994-182
* 1993-204
* 1992-177
* 1991-241
* 1990-218
* 1989-447
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Nicole
1973 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Mackay, Queensland
Australian female tennis players
Australian Open (tennis) junior champions
French Open junior champions
Hopman Cup competitors
Olympic tennis players of Australia
Sportspeople from Orlando, Florida
Tennis people from Florida
Tennis people from Queensland
Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
US Open (tennis) junior champions
Australian Institute of Sport tennis players
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' singles
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' doubles
20th-century Australian women
21st-century Australian women