Jana Čepelová (; born 29 May 1993) is a Slovak former professional
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player.
Čepelová won seven singles and three doubles titles 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 developmenta ...
. On 12 May 2014, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 50. On 18 May 2015, she peaked at No. 158 in the doubles rankings.
Her best result at a
major event was the third round of the
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
and
2016 Wimbledon Championships
The 2016 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis tournament which took place at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The main draw commenced on 27 June 2016 and concluded on ...
. As a junior, she won the
girls' doubles at the 2010 Australian Open with
Chantal Škamlová.
Following the birth of the daughter in 2020, Čepelová took a break from her tennis career. In 2023, she made a "quick comeback, just to say good bye and play the final Grand Slam tournaments".
Personal life
Čepelová was born in
Košice
Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...
to Peter and Jarmila and was coached by Martin Zathurecký.
Career
Junior career
Jana Čepelová and
Chantal Škamlová won the girls' doubles at
2010 Australian Open. They also won silver medals in doubles at
2010 Summer Youth Olympics
The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, ) officially known as the I Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Singapore 2010, were the inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), an Olympic Games-based event for young athletes. Held ...
. At the same event, Čepelová won the bronze medal in singles.
2012: Coming onto the WTA Tour
Čepelová spent most of her 2012-year on the ITF Circuit. Her best achievement on the
WTA Tour was at the
Wimbledon Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...
. She qualified for the main draw by defeating
Alla Kudryavtseva,
Chanel Simmonds and
Ekaterina Bychkova. In round one, she beat fellow qualifier
Kristina Mladenovic
Kristina "Kiki" Mladenovic (born 14 May 1993) is a French professional tennis player and a former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. Her best singles ranking is world No. 10.
She is a nine-time Grand Slam ...
in three sets. In the second round, she upset 26th seed
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 2009, and won 11 singles and 28 doubles titles, including the 2008 ...
before she lost to world No. 2,
Victoria Azarenka.
2014: First WTA Tour final
At the
Family Circle Cup in Charleston, Čepelová scored the biggest win of her career, defeating world No. 1
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...
in the second round. Čepelová would go on to reach her first WTA tournament final with victories over
Elena Vesnina,
Daniela Hantuchová
Daniela Hantuchová (; born 23 April 1983) is a Slovak tennis commentator and retired player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first WTA Tour title at the Indian Wells Open, defeating Martin ...
, and
Belinda Bencic. Her run ended there as she lost to
Andrea Petkovic.
2015
Čepelová started the year at the
Auckland Open. She lost in the first round to third seed, last year finalist, and eventual champion Venus Williams. At the
Hobart International, Čepelová was defeated in the first round by Annika Beck.
Playing at the
Indian Wells Open, Čepelová lost in the first round to qualifier
Lucie Hradecká
Lucie Hradecká (; born 21 May 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. A three-time Grand Slam doubles champion and 26-time WTA Tour doubles titlist, she reached her career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in October 2012. She w ...
. At
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, she was defeated in the first round by Julia Görges. Seeded second at
The Oaks Club Challenger in Florida, Čepelová fell in the first round to
Laura Siegemund.
Last year finalist at the
Family Circle Cup, Čepelová lost in the second round to fourth seed Sara Errani. At the
Prague Open, she was defeated in the first round by Elena Vesnina. Competing at the
Slovak Open, Čepelová lost in the first round to
Tereza Smitková. Seeded eighth at the
Open Saint-Gaudens, she reached the final where she was defeated by
María Teresa Torró Flor. At the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, Čepelová lost in the second round of qualifying to Kateryna Bondarenko. At the
Open Féminin de Marseille, she was defeated in the second round by sixth seed
Denisa Allertová.
At the
Nottingham Open, Čepelová's first grass-court tournament of the season, she lost in the first round of qualifying to
Donna Vekić. At the
Birmingham Classic, she was defeated in the first round of qualifying by
Mariana Duque Mariño. Coming into
Wimbledon ranked 106 in the world, Čepelová upset third seed Simona Halep in the first round. She lost in the second round to Monica Niculescu.
2016
At
Wimbledon in 2016, Čepelová defeated
Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round, her third top-three win, before losing to
Lucie Šafářová in an epic three-set match.
2020
Beginning the season at the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Čepelová withdrew from her first round of qualifying match against Kurumi Nara.
At the
Qatar Ladies Open, she lost in the final round of qualifying to
Jil Teichmann. Playing at the first edition of the
Lyon Open, Čepelová was defeated in the first round of qualifying by
Margot Yerolymos.
2023: Comeback and retirement
In June 2023, Čepelová announced her retirement from professional tour, with her last tournament being the
2023 US Open.
Grand Slam performance timeline
Singles
Notes
WTA Tour finals
Singles: 1 (runner–up)
ITF Circuit finals
Singles: 13 (7 titles, 6 runner–ups)
Doubles: 8 (3 titles, 5 runner–ups)
Junior Grand Slam tournament finals
Girls' doubles: 1 (title)
Head-to-head record
No. 1 wins
Top 10 wins
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cepelova, Jana
1993 births
Living people
Tennis players from Košice
Slovak female tennis players
Australian Open (tennis) junior champions
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' doubles
Tennis players at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics
21st-century Slovak sportswomen