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 cov ...

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 tou ...

WTA 125 tournaments WTA 125 tournaments are an international series of professional women's tennis tournaments organized by the Women's Tennis Association since 2012. In the past (2012–2015) sometimes called the WTA Challenger seriesITF Circuit. Minella was coached by Norbert Palmier from May 2008 until 2011. She is coached by Tim Sommer, her husband since October 2014.

Tennis career

Early years: 2000–2005

In 2000, Minella debuted for the

Luxembourg Fed Cup team The Luxembourg Billie Jean King Cup team represents Luxembourg in the Billie Jean King Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Fédération Luxembourgeoise de Tennis. They currently compete in the Europe/Africa Zone of Group II. Histo ...

, partnering Celine Francois in the doubles matches against the teams of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

, losing both times. After again participating in Fed Cup in 2001 (where she won her first rubber), she began competing 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 the same year. In 2002, she received a qualifying wildcard into 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 tou ...

Tier III Luxembourg Open, losing the first round. She reached her first ITF singles final in 2003, losing to Liana-Gabriela Balaci in three sets. She lost again in ITF finals in 2004 (in both singles and doubles at the same tournament in Napoli), before winning her first singles title in Zadar later that year. in 2005, she won her second title, in Gardone Val Trompia.

ITF tennis

In 2006, she won an ITF tournament in Caserta, as well as being a finalist a week later (both matches versus

Alisa Kleybanova Alisa Mikhailovna Kleybanova (russian: Алиса Михайловна Клейбанова, born 15 July 1989) is a Russian former tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 20, achieved in February 2011. In her career. she wo ...

). In 2009, three years later, she won her fourth ITF title, in Tessenderlo, Belgium.

2010: US Open third round

In 2010, Minella had more success on the ITF Circuit, winning two $25k events, in

Lutz, Florida Lutz is an unincorporated census-designated place (CDP) in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States, north of Tampa. The northern part of Lutz also makes up a portion of south Pasco County. The population was 23,707 according to the 2020 Cen ...

and in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, and finishing runner-up in Laguna Niguel, California. In the qualifying draw for the US Open, Minella won all three matches and lost just one set. In her first appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, she beat world No. 47,

Polona Hercog Polona Hercog (, born 20 January 1991) is a Slovenian professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings are 35 in singles and 56 in doubles. She has won five titles on the WTA Tour, three in singles and two in doubles. Hercog also enjoye ...

to advance to the second round. She continued her good performance by defeating world No. 34 and Wimbledon semifinalist,

Tsvetana Pironkova Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova ( bg, Цветана Кирилова Пиронкова ; born 13 September 1987) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. Considered to be one of the best grass court players of her generation, she has been not ...

. In the third round, however, she lost to world No. 4,

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 ...

.

2012: Another third round appearance at US Open

In 2012, Minella played her first Australian Open main draw. She was given direct entry, being ranked No. 110. She lost to American qualifier

Jamie Hampton Jamie Lee Hampton (born January 8, 1990) is a former American professional tennis player. In July 2013, she reached her highest singles ranking of world No. 24. Early life Hampton was born in Frankfurt, West Germany, because her father, a caree ...

in the first round. She then went on to reach the final of a $100k tournament in Cali. Despite defeating top-seed

Marina Erakovic Marina Erakovic ( ; hr, Marina Eraković ; born 6 March 1988) is a retired tennis player from New Zealand. She achieved career-high rankings of 39 in singles and 25 in doubles, and won one singles title, at Memphis in February 2013, and eigh ...

along the way, she lost the final to second seed

Alexandra Dulgheru Alexandra Dulgheru (; born 30 May 1989) is a professional tennis player from Romania. On 11 April 2011, she achieved her career-high singles ranking of world No. 26. Her best ranking in doubles is No. 41, reached on 4 July 2011. She is coached b ...

. She fared better in doubles, winning the title with Karin Knapp. As a result of her performances, Minella broke into the top-100 singles rankings for the first time. She then played at the Copa Colsanitas, losing in the first round. She reached the final in doubles; her first WTA final of any kind. At the Monterrey Open, she faced Frenchwoman Mathilde Johansson and won in three sets. She followed this up with a win over wildcard

Yaroslava Shvedova Yaroslava Vyacheslavovna Shvedova (; born 12 September 1987) is a Kazakhstani former professional tennis player. Before 2008, she represented her country of birth, Russia. She won one singles title and 13 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, plus o ...

in a tight three-setter. Minella lost to second seed

Sara Errani Sara Errani (; born 29 April 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. She is a former top five player in singles and former world No. 1 in doubles. With 9 singles titles and 27 doubles titles (including 5 Grand Slam doubles championship ...

in her first WTA singles quarterfinal. At the Nürnberger Gastein tournament, Minella defeated Johanna Larsson to reach her first WTA Tour semifinal (against

Yanina Wickmayer Yanina Wickmayer (born 20 October 1989) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She reached the semifinals at the 2009 US Open, and a career-high WTA ranking of world No. 12, on 19 April 2010. In doubles, she achieved a career-high of world No. ...

). She reached the third round of Wimbledon doubles alongside

Olga Govortsova Olga Alekseyevna Govortsova ( be, Вольга Аляксееўна Гаварцова (Volha Alyakseyeuna Havartsova); ; born 23 August 1988) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. On 23 June 2008, she achieved a career-high singles ranki ...

, losing to Llagostera Vives and Martínez Sánchez.

2013: A pair of WTA doubles titles

Mandy Minella - BNP Paribas Katowice Open 2013

In 2013, Minella started her season at the Shenzhen Open, where she faced first seed

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 ...

but lost in straight sets. She then played the

Hobart International The Hobart International is a women's professional tennis tournament held at the Hobart International Tennis Centre in Hobart, Australia. Held since 1994, it forms a part of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour and is classed as an Intern ...

where she qualified for the main draw but lost to

Monica Niculescu Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked by the Women's Tennis Association as high as 28 in singles and 11 in doubles. Niculescu has won several titles: three singles and ten doubl ...

in the first round. In the doubles event she partnered

Tímea Babos Tímea Babos (; born 10 May 1993) is a Hungarian professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. She is a four-time Grand Slam champion in women's doubles, having won the 2018 and 2020 Australian Opens, as well as the Fre ...

and went on to reach the final, after the pair saved multiple match points in their first-round match. They eventually lost to

Garbiñe Muguruza Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco (; born 8 October 1993) is a Spanish-Venezuelan professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles WTA rankings#Singles, ranking of List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Singles, world No. 1 by the ...

and

María Teresa Torró Flor María Teresa Torró Flor (; born 2 May 1992) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. In her career, Torró Flor won one singles title and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 18 singles and five doubles titles on the ITF W ...

in the final. Minella then continued her disappointing run of first-round losses where she lost to Valeria Savinykh in the first 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 ...

. She partnered

Megan Moulton-Levy Megan Moulton-Levy (born March 11, 1985) is a Jamaican-American former professional tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 237, which she reached on 6 July 2009. Her career-high WTA doubles ranking is 50, achieved on 22 July ...

in the doubles event and also saved multiple match points in their first-round match, eventually going on to win. The pair then lost, however, in the second round. Minella then played the Paris indoor but suffered a first-round loss in qualifying and another first-round loss in doubles. She then went to play in the Copa Colsanitas where she had more positive results, reaching the quarterfinals in singles, beating Tatjana Malek and Tímea Babos before losing to

Teliana Pereira Teliana Santos Pereira (born 20 July 1988) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player. On 19 April 2015, she became the first Brazilian in 27 years to win a title on the WTA Tour, beating Yaroslava Shvedova in Bogotá 7–6, 6–1. She ...

. In the doubles event, Minella again partnered Babos, going on to win her first WTA Tour title. The pair did not drop a set all week. Minella went on to play the Mexican Open but lost to Silvia Soler Espinosa in the first round. She then lost out to Olga Govortsova at Indian Wells in a tight three-setter. At

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, Minella fell in qualifying to junior player Kateřina Siniaková. In the doubles event, she played with Babos once more, with the pair putting up a fight against the top seeds Sara Errani and

Roberta Vinci Roberta Vinci (; born 18 February 1983) is an Italian professional padel and former tennis player. In doubles tennis, she won five major tournaments and reached the world No. 1 position. She also reached a career-high ranking of world No. 7 i ...

, in the second round, but it wasn't enough to advance. Minella then suffered another first-round loss at Charleston, to

Camila Giorgi Camila Giorgi (; born 30 December 1991) is an Italian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 26, achieved on 22 October 2018. She is the current Italian No. 2, after Martina Trevisan. After winning her f ...

. At the Katowice Open, she defeated

Vesna Dolonc Vesna Ratkovna Dolonc (Serbian Cyrillic and russian: link=yes, Весна Ратковна Долонц; née Manasieva, Манасиева; born 21 July 1989) is a retired Serbian tennis player. She earned career-highs of 84 in singles and 93 ...

in the first round before falling to the first seed

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 ...

. Minella then went on to play the Marrakech Grand Prix and defeated

Estrella Cabeza Candela Estrella Cabeza Candela (; born 20 February 1987) is an inactive Spanish tennis player. Cabeza Candela has won 13 singles and 16 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 13 May 2013, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 95. On 2 Apri ...

in the first round, fourth seed

Kaia Kanepi Kaia Kanepi (; born 10 June 1985) is an Estonian professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 15 on 20 August 2012 and has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour. Described as a 'resident Grand Slam upset speci ...

in the second, and Soler Espinosa in the quarterfinals. She lost her semifinal match to

Lourdes Domínguez Lino Lourdes Domínguez Lino (; born 31 March 1981) is a retired tennis player from Spain. She reached career-high rankings of world No. 40 in singles and 45 in doubles. Tennis career In the 1999 Roland Garros, she won the junior girls' singles, de ...

but won the doubles event with Tímea Babos. Continuing her season playing an ITF tournament in France, Minella lost to Cabeza Candela in the quarterfinals. She played 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 ve ...

, suffering first-round losses in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Minella then had a string of first-round losses, including 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 Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...

to the 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) fo ...

. At the US Open, she lost to

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 to ...

in the final set tiebreak, having been up a break in the third set. Minella and Peya (8954504186)

Due to not being able to defend her third round points from the 2012 US Open, Minella's rank dropped to 132. Her next tournament would be the

Tashkent Open The Tashkent Open by Zeromax is a women's tennis tournament held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Held since 1999, this WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tou ...

, where she reached the semifinals in singles and was runner-up, partnering Govortsova, in doubles. Minella then suffered early losses in multiple tournaments including losses to Estrella Cabeza Candela,

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 ...

, Belinda Bencic and

Caroline Wozniacki Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is a Danish former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 1 in singles for a total of 71 weeks, including at the end of 2010 and 2011. She achieved the top ranking for the first time on 11 ...

. She then went on to play at the ITF Poitiers where she defeated Donna Vekić in the first round, only to lose to eventual tournament champion,

Aliaksandra Sasnovich Aliaksandra Aliaksandraŭna Sasnovich ( be, Аляксандра Аляксандраўна Сасновіч; born 22 March 1994) is a Belarusian tennis player. She has won eleven singles and seven doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. She has rea ...

, in the second. Minella's last two tournaments were to be in North America. She played the Tevlin Women's Challenger defeating Élisabeth Fournier and

Julia Boserup Julia Boserup (born September 9, 1991) is an American retired tennis player of Danish descent. Boserup began playing tennis at age six, after her mother, a native of Denmark, enrolled her in group tennis lessons. She was home schooled in high ...

easily before falling to eventual champion,

Victoria Duval Victoria Duval (born 30 November 1995) is an American professional tennis player. Duval has won one singles title and two doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. In August 2014, she reached her best singles ranking of No. 87. In 2012, she won ...

, in the quarterfinals. She then went to her last tournament of the year at the South Seas Island Resort Women's Pro Classic, defeating

Hsu Chieh-yu Hsu Chieh-yu (; also known as Connie Hsu; born 14 January 1992) is a Taiwanese tennis player. Hsu has won six singles and 25 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 21 April 2014, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 224. O ...

, Allie Will, Boserup and

Allie Kiick Alexandra Kiick (; born June 30, 1995) is an American tennis player. Kiick has won seven singles titles and two doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. In June 2019, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 126. In May 2014, sh ...

to reach the final in which she played Gabriela Dabrowski, defeating her in straight sets. In 2013, Minella won three matches 6–0, 6–0; against

Kamilla Farhad Kamilla Farhad ( az, Kamilla Fərhad; born 18 January 1996) is an Azerbaijani tennis player. On 7 November 2011, she reached her best singles ranking of world number 1141. On 10 October 2011, she peaked at world number 539 in the doubles rankin ...

,

Julia Boserup Julia Boserup (born September 9, 1991) is an American retired tennis player of Danish descent. Boserup began playing tennis at age six, after her mother, a native of Denmark, enrolled her in group tennis lessons. She was home schooled in high ...

and Allie Kiick.

2014: Injuries and inconsistency

In 2014, Minella started the year at 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 serie ...

where she lost to

Heather Watson Heather Miriam Watson (born 19 May 1992) is a British professional tennis player. A former British No. 1, Watson has won nine titles over her career, including the mixed-doubles title at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships partnering Henri ...

in the first round of qualifying, but reached the semifinals in the doubles event partnering

Chanelle Scheepers Chanelle Scheepers ( ; born 13 March 1984) is a retired South African tennis player. She won one singles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as 12 singles and 20 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit in her career. On 10 Octobe ...

. Then, at the Sydney International, Minella suffered a second successive qualifying loss at the first qualifying stage, this time at the hands of Ukrainian

Lesia Tsurenko Lesia Viktorivna Tsurenko ( uk, Леся Вікторівна Цуренко; born 30 May 1989) is a Ukrainian tennis player. Tsurenko has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as six singles and eight doubles tournaments on the IT ...

.

Minella scored her first win of the season 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 Ope ...

where she defeated German qualifier Carina Witthöft in straight sets, scoring her first win at a Grand Slam championship outside of the US Open, but her run was not to go further as she fell in the second round to 29th seed

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Anastasia Sergeyevna "Nastia" Pavlyuchenkova (russian: Анастаси́я "Настя" Серге́евна Павлюче́нкова; born 3 July 1991) is an inactive Russian professional tennis player. A junior prodigy, Pavlyuchenkova won ...

. Minella then was forced to withdraw from the events in Paris, Rio and Acapulco, as well as the Fed Cup due to an

edema Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels tight, the area ma ...

in her right arm, in which she had experienced pain whilst playing in Australia. She made her comeback at the

Indian Wells Open The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is La ...

, losing to Allie Klick in the first round of qualifying. She lost again at the first qualifying stage a fortnight later in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. Minella had to take a couple of weeks off again due to the edema and hoped to be back in Marrakech for the Morocco Open, but sat out a further week before playing at the $25k Wiesbaden Open in Germany, losing in the first round of singles, but making the final in doubles with

Julia Glushko Julia Glushko (or Yulia, he, יוליה גלושקו; born 1 January 1990) is an Israeli retired tennis player. She won 11 singles and 14 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. Her best results at a Grand Slam tournament were reaching the third ...

. The pair lost in straight sets to Viktorija Golubic and Diāna Marcinkēviča. Minella encountered further first-round losses at Cagnes-sur-Mer, Prague, 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 ve ...

and Marseille. She then won the $25k in Essen (Bredeney) defeating

Richèl Hogenkamp Richèl Hogenkamp (born 16 April 1992) is a Dutch professional tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 94, which she reached on 24 July 2017. On the ITF Circuit, she has won 16 singles and 14 doubles titles. Personal background Hog ...

in the final. Although the success on clay did not translate to success on grass as she encountered another first-round loss in qualifying at Wimbledon to Shelby Rogers. Minella then went on to have success on the ITF Circuit reaching the semifinals of a $25k event in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

, reaching the quarterfinals at the Lorraine Open 88 and the semifinals at

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spa ...

. But the success did not translate towards the WTA Tour, suffering first-round losses at the İstanbul Cup and the Jiangxi International Open. Minella then went to play the US Open suffering a first-round loss to

Kateryna Kozlova Kateryna Baindl ( uk, Катерина Ігорівна Баіндль, née Kozlova; born 20 February 1994) is a Ukrainian tennis player. On 19 February 2018, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 62. On 22 October 2012, she ...

in the first qualifying round. She had scheduled to play doubles at the US Open with Camila Giorgi, but later withdrew. Mandy Minella Cagnes 2014

Minella started her Asian tour at the

Tashkent Open The Tashkent Open by Zeromax is a women's tennis tournament held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Held since 1999, this WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tou ...

where she was defending semifinal points but she failed to do so, losing in the first round to Donna Vekić. The next stop was at

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

where she qualified for the main draw, defeating Choi Ji-hee, Hong Seung-yeon and Hsu Chieh-yu, all in straight sets. In the main draw, she drew Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, but lost. In the doubles event, partnering with German Mona Barthel, she reached the final losing to

Lara Arruabarrena Lara Arruabarrena Vecino (; born 20 March 1992) is a former professional tennis player from Spain. On 3 July 2017, she reached a career-high WTA singles ranking of 52, and her best doubles ranking is world No. 28, set on 22 February 2016. Arr ...

and

Irina-Camelia Begu Irina-Camelia Begu (born 26 August 1990) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 22 in the world, in August 2016. Two years later, she reached her highest WTA doubles ranking, also No. 22. Begu ...

. Minella then continued to lose in qualifying rounds in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

and

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...

, but also continued her success with Barthel in the doubles competitions in

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city a ...

, Beijing and Linz winning a round in each. Her year ended in her home tournament in

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

where she faced Barthel in the first round and lost in straight sets. Minella stated that her edema in the right arm obtained in January had still been hurting her, finishing the year in October.

2015: Continued inconsistency

In 2015, Minella went to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

in mid-December to prepare early for the season. She started in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

where she won two matches in qualifying over

Barbora Krejčíková Barbora Krejčíková (; born 18 December 1995) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2, achieved on 28 February 2022, and on 22 October 2018, she became world No. 1 in doubles. Krejčíková ...

and Sharon Fichman, before falling at the last hurdle to

Anna Tatishvili Anna Tatishvili ( ka, ანა ტატიშვილი, tr, ; born February 3, 1990) is a Georgian-American former professional tennis player. In her career, Tatishvili won eleven singles and eight doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circu ...

. She also had no luck in the doubles event with Barthel, losing in the first round. Minella then headed to 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 ...

, but lost in the first qualifying round to

Paula Ormaechea Paula Ormaechea (; born 28 September 1992) is an Argentine tennis player based in Italy. She has won 16 singles and nine doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 21 October 2013, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 59.World Grou ...

. She fared better in the doubles event with Barthel, they reached the second round. Minella then went on to reach the quarterfinals at the Burnie International, falling to eventual champion Daria Gavrilova. In her next tournaments, she suffered early losses in qualifying of WTA events and in main draws of ITF events. Minella RG15 (3) (19311023811)

At the Bolívar Open, Minella won the doubles title partnering

Lourdes Domínguez Lino Lourdes Domínguez Lino (; born 31 March 1981) is a retired tennis player from Spain. She reached career-high rankings of world No. 40 in singles and 45 in doubles. Tennis career In the 1999 Roland Garros, she won the junior girls' singles, de ...

, defeating

Mariana Duque Mariana may refer to: Literature * ''Mariana'' (Dickens novel), a 1940 novel by Monica Dickens * ''Mariana'' (poem), a poem by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson * ''Mariana'' (Vaz novel), a 1997 novel by Katherine Vaz Music *"Mariana", a so ...

and

Julia Glushko Julia Glushko (or Yulia, he, יוליה גלושקו; born 1 January 1990) is an Israeli retired tennis player. She won 11 singles and 14 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. Her best results at a Grand Slam tournament were reaching the third ...

in the final. She qualified for the

Colombia Open The Colombia Open (currently sponsored by Claro and called the ''Claro Open Colombia'') was a professional men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts in Bogotá, Colombia. The event is affiliated with the Association of Tennis Profess ...

where she defeated

Patricia Mayr-Achleitner Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (née Mayr; born 8 November 1986 in Rum, Tyrol, Rum) is a retired Austrian tennis player. Mayr-Achleitner won 17 singles and seven doubles titles on the International Tennis Federation, ITF Circuit in her career. On 4 May ...

in the first round before losing to Teliana Pereira. She continued her poor form in singles where she had a string of early losses in WTA and ITF draws as well as the mistake of forgetting to enter 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 ve ...

singles qualifying tournament. She, however, contested the doubles competition of the French Open, partnering Barthel, but they lost in the first round. At Wimbledon, Minella won her first career matches on grass, reaching the final qualifying round, defeating Amanda Carreras and Lourdes Domínguez Lino before losing to

Laura Siegemund Laura Natalie Siegemund (born 4 March 1988, in Filderstadt) is a German professional tennis player. She is a two-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2020 US Open in women's doubles with Vera Zvonareva, as well as the 2016 US Open in mi ...

. Partnering Magda Linette, Minella qualified for the doubles competition, however the pair lost to Tímea Babos and

Kristina Mladenovic Kristina "Kiki" Mladenovic (; sr, Кристина "Кики" Младеновић, Kristina "Kiki" Mladenović, ; born 14 May 1993) is a French professional tennis player and a former world No. 1 in doubles. She is a nine-time Grand Slam c ...

in the first round. The poor form in Minella's 2015 season did continue, losing in the second round of the Lorraine Open 88, the first round of the Swedish Open and the

Brasil Tennis Cup The Brasil Tennis Cup was a professional women's tennis tournament contested in various Brazilian cities since 1977. The last edition was played on outdoor hard courts in Florianópolis, Brazil. In 2015, the tournament was held on clay courts. Th ...

and in qualifying stages of the Vancouver Open. It was the latter part of the year when Minella began to turn around, qualifying for the

Tournoi de Québec The Tournoi de Québec (sponsored as Coupe Banque Nationale or known as National Bank Cup in English-language media) was a WTA Tour International level tennis tournament held in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Held from 1993 to 2018, the tournament w ...

, reaching the doubles final of the Internacional Femenil Monterrey and the quarterfinals of the Red Rock Pro Open. It was not until the Kirkland Challenger where Minella gained her confidence. She won the singles and doubles title of the Challenger, defeating players such as Sofia Arvidsson,

Jovana Jakšić Jovana is a Serbian feminine name. People with the name include: * Jovana Brakočević, Serbian volleyball player * Jovana Crnogorac, Serbian cyclist * Jovana Damnjanović, Serbian football player * Jovana Jakšić, Serbian tennis player * Jovana J ...

, Antonia Lottner, Jessica Pegula and

Nicole Gibbs Nicole Gibbs (born March 3, 1993) is an American retired tennis player. She won seven singles and five doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 25 July 2016, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 68. On 19 September 2016, she peaked at ...

. In her second-round match against Jakšić, Minella was down 4–6, 0–5, and won the match 4–6, 7–5, 6–3, saving three match points. This was her second $50k title, her biggest to date. Next tournament was the Luxembourg Open where she received a main-draw wildcard into the singles event, however, she had no luck in her draw once again, losing to former world No. 1, Jelena Janković, in the first round. She had more success in the doubles competition, where she partnered

Julie Coin Julie Coin (; born 2 December 1982) is a retired French tennis player. Coin recorded the biggest win of her career by defeating the then- world No. 1 ranked Ana Ivanovic at the 2008 US Open. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 60, ...

, reaching the quarterfinals. Her last tournament of the season was to be the

Open de Limoges The Open BLS de Limoges (formerly Open GDF Suez de Limoges, Open GDF Suez Région Limousin and Engie Open de Limoges) is a tournament for professional female tennis players played on indoor hard courts. The event is currently classified as a WTA 1 ...

. Despite losing in qualifying to Anna Blinkova, Minella entered into the main draw as lucky loser following Lesia Tsurenko's withdrawal. In the first round, she managed to defeat Stefanie Vögele. However, she then fell to former Roland Garros champion, Francesca Schiavone, in straight sets. But Minella finished season on a high, after winning the doubles competition, partnering Barbora Krejčíková. This marked her first triumph at a WTA 125 tournament.

2016

In 2016, Minella started the year poorly, including a string of first-round losses in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

and Launceston. At the Taiwan Open in Kaohsiung, she managed to score another WTA main-draw win, defeating

Naomi Osaka is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles. Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam singles champ ...

in the first round before falling to local favourite

Hsieh Su-wei Hsieh Su-wei ( ;''Xiè 謝淑薇Shūwēi'' in Chinese mainland. Taiwanese Mandarin: ; in Standard Mandarin of Chinese mainland. born 4 January 1986) is an inactive Taiwanese professional tennis player. She has won three singles titles and 30 ...

. However, Minella bowed out in the first or second round of her next four events which included both ITF and WTA tournaments. In

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 chan ...

, she began to turn the tide, boasting an unbeaten record in Europe/Africa Zone Group III, helping

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

gain promotion to Group II in 2017 alongside teammates Claudine Schaul, Eléonora Molinaro and Merima Mujasevic. Minella began her 2016 clay-court campaign at the

Prague Open In tennis, Prague Open may refer to: * Prague Open (1987–1999) * ATP Prague Open * WTA Prague Open The Prague Open (currently branded as the Livesport Prague Open for sponsorship reasons) is a professional women's tennis tournament held in Pr ...

. However, she lost to Océane Dodin in the second qualifying round. A few more early losses in

Cagnes-sur-Mer Cagnes-sur-Mer (, literally ''Cagnes on Sea''; oc, Canha de Mar) is a French Riviera town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Geography Cagnes-sur-Mer is a town in south-eastern ...

, Saint-Gaudens and

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

had only given more worries as she had failed to win back-to-back singles matches, excluding Fed Cup, for the entire year. This was not to change at 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 ve ...

though, as she lost to

Klára Koukalová Klára Koukalová (formerly Zakopalová; born 24 February 1982) is a retired Czech tennis player. She was born and still lives in Prague. Having turned professional in 1999, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 20, on 15 April ...

in the second round of qualifying. The

Bol Open Croatian Bol Ladies Open was an annual women's tennis tournament on the Women's Tennis Association, WTA Challenger Tour, played in the town of Bol, Croatia, Bol on the Croatian Adriatic island of Brač. The tournament's first edition was held in la ...

, however, proved to be a lucky charm for Minella as she started to turn her year around. This event saw her win her first WTA singles title in which she boasted wins over current top and former top-100 players

Evgeniya Rodina Evgeniya Sergeyevna Rodina (russian: Евгения Сергеевна Родина, born 4 February 1989) is a Russian tennis player. On 6 May 2019, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of 67. Rodina has won 13 singles titles on the ITF ...

,

Varvara Lepchenko Varvara (Cyrillic: Варвара; el, Βαρβάρα, ''Varvára''), a variant of " Barbara", may refer to: Places *Varvara, Azerbaijan * Varvara, Prozor, on the Rama river, Bosnia and Herzegovina * Varvara, Burgas Province, Bulgaria * Varvara ...

,

Marina Erakovic Marina Erakovic ( ; hr, Marina Eraković ; born 6 March 1988) is a retired tennis player from New Zealand. She achieved career-high rankings of 39 in singles and 25 in doubles, and won one singles title, at Memphis in February 2013, and eigh ...

,

Ana Konjuh Ana Konjuh (; born 27 December 1997) is a Croatian tennis player. A successful junior player, Konjuh won both the singles and doubles junior events at the Australian Open in January 2013 and, as a result, moved up to No. 1 in the ITF Junior ...

and

Polona Hercog Polona Hercog (, born 20 January 1991) is a Slovenian professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings are 35 in singles and 56 in doubles. She has won five titles on the WTA Tour, three in singles and two in doubles. Hercog also enjoye ...

.

Personal life

Minella was born in

Esch-sur-Alzette Esch-sur-Alzette (; lb, Esch-Uelzecht ; german: Esch an der Alzette or ''Esch an der Alzig'') is the second city of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the country's second-most populous commune, with a population of 35,040 inhabitants, . It lies ...

to parents Mario and Anna Minella and started playing tennis at the age of five. On 17 October 2014, Minella married her coach and boyfriend Tim Sommer in her home town of Esch-sur-Alzette. In October 2017, she gave birth to a daughter, Emma Lina. On 12 December 2020, she gave birth to her second child, girl Maya.

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

WTA career finals

Singles: 1 (runner-up)

Doubles: 7 (2 titles, 5 runner–ups)

WTA 125 tournament finals

Singles: 1 (title)

Doubles: 3 (3 titles)

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 24 (16 titles, 8 runner–ups)

Doubles: 18 (10 titles, 8 runner–ups)

Head-to-head record vs. top 20

''Players who have been ranked world No. 1 are in boldface.'' ''Players who have been ranked in the top 10 are in italics'' *

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 w ...

(0–1) *

Elena Bovina Elena Olegovna Bovina ( rus, link=no, Елена Олеговна Бовина, , ɪ̯ɪˈlʲenə ˈbovʲɪnə; born 10 March 1983) is a former professional tennis player from Russia. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 14 in ...

(0–1) *

Alizé Cornet Alizé Cornet (; born 22 January 1990) is a French professional tennis player. Cornet has won six singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as three singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 16 February 2009, she ...

(0–1) * Eleni Daniilidou (0–2) * ''

Kimiko Date-Krumm is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She reached the semifinals of the 1994 Australian Open, the 1995 French Open and the 1996 Wimbledon Championships, and won the Japan Open a record four times. She reached a career-high ranking ...

'' (2–0) * ''

Sara Errani Sara Errani (; born 29 April 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. She is a former top five player in singles and former world No. 1 in doubles. With 9 singles titles and 27 doubles titles (including 5 Grand Slam doubles championship ...

'' (0–3) *

Kirsten Flipkens Kirsten "Flipper" Flipkens (; born 10 January 1986) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 13 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Flipkens has won one singles title on the WTA Tour, winning the 2012 T ...

(0–1) *

Julia Görges Julia Görges (born 2 November 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. A former top-ten singles player, she was ranked as high as No. 9 in the world on 20 August 2018, and was ranked inside the top 15 in doubles, peaking at world No ...

(0–3) *

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 ...

(0–1) *

Jelena Jankovic Jelena, also written Yelena and Elena, is a Slavic given name. It is a Slavicized form of the Greek name Helen, which is of uncertain origin. Diminutives of the name include Jelica, Jelka, Jele, Jela, Lena, Lenotschka, Jeca, Lenka, and Alena. Not ...

(0–1) *

Kaia Kanepi Kaia Kanepi (; born 10 June 1985) is an Estonian professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 15 on 20 August 2012 and has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour. Described as a 'resident Grand Slam upset speci ...

(1–1) *

Alisa Kleybanova Alisa Mikhailovna Kleybanova (russian: Алиса Михайловна Клейбанова, born 15 July 1989) is a Russian former tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 20, achieved in February 2011. In her career. she wo ...

(1–1) * ''

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 ...

(0–2) * ''

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 ...

'' (0–2) *

Sabine Lisicki Sabine Katharina Lisicki (; born 22 September 1989) is a German professional tennis player. Lisicki turned professional in 2006, and her breakthrough came in 2009 when she reached the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships, and also won ...

(1–0) *

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 ...

(0–1) *

Garbiñe Muguruza Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco (; born 8 October 1993) is a Spanish-Venezuelan professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles WTA rankings#Singles, ranking of List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Singles, world No. 1 by the ...

(1–0) *

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Anastasia Sergeyevna "Nastia" Pavlyuchenkova (russian: Анастаси́я "Настя" Серге́евна Павлюче́нкова; born 3 July 1991) is an inactive Russian professional tennis player. A junior prodigy, Pavlyuchenkova won ...

(0–1) * Karolína Plíšková (2–2) * Virginie Razzano (1–1) * Aravane Rezaï (1–1) * ''

Lucie Šafářová Lucie Šafářová (; born 4 February 1987) is a Czech former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles, and No. 5 in singles. She is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2015 Australian Open, 2015 ...

'' (0–2) * ''

Francesca Schiavone Francesca Schiavone (; born 23 June 1980) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1998 and won the 2010 French Open singles title, becoming the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam event in singles. She w ...

'' (0–1) * ''

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 to ...

'' (0–1) *

Barbora Strýcová Barbora Strýcová (; born 28 March 1986), formerly known as Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, is a Czech former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles. She won her first Grand Slam title at the 2019 Wimbledon Champion ...

(0–1) * '' Carla Suárez Navarro'' (1–1) *

Tamarine Tanasugarn Tamarine Tanasugarn ( th, แทมมารีน ธนสุกาญจน์, , ; born 24 May 1977) is a Thai former tennis player. Born in Los Angeles, she turned professional in 1994, and has been in the top 20 in both singles and doubl ...

(1–1) * ''

Roberta Vinci Roberta Vinci (; born 18 February 1983) is an Italian professional padel and former tennis player. In doubles tennis, she won five major tournaments and reached the world No. 1 position. She also reached a career-high ranking of world No. 7 i ...

'' (0–1) *

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) fo ...

(0–1) *

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 ...

(0–1) *

Caroline Wozniacki Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is a Danish former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 1 in singles for a total of 71 weeks, including at the end of 2010 and 2011. She achieved the top ranking for the first time on 11 ...

(0–1)

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Minella, Mandy 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Esch-sur-Alzette Luxembourgian female tennis players Luxembourgian people of Italian descent