Stéphanie Vongsouthi

Stéphanie Vongsouthi (born 15 September 1988) is a French former tennis player.

Tennis career

2005

Vongsouthi played her first ever professional match on clay at Amiens in France, at the age of 16. She lost a close match to compatriot Laurene Fayol, 7–5, 5–7, 4–6, and left the tournament with her first prize money of $98. Vongsouthi's first victory came four months later at Zwevegem in Belgium. She defeated home favorite Davinia Lobbinger in straight sets, and went on to lose a tight match in the second round to Gabriela Velasco Andreu, the world No. 380. Vongsouthi played three more tournaments that year but did not advance past the second round in any of them. She ended the year ranked 1090 with a singles record of 3–6.

2006

Vongsouthi started her year in Belfort, France, where she lost in the qualifying rounds. Next, she returned to Amiens where she won her first-round match against Tessy van de Ven, 6–3, 6–1. However, she lost in the next round to fourth seed Gaëlle Widmer of Switzerland. She then lost in the first round of three more tournaments, all in France, including Strasbourg where she faced her highest ever ranked opponent, Virginie Pichet, ranked No. 203.

In June, Vongsouthi headed to Montpellier, where she experienced a breakthrough, beating through seed including Émilie Bacquet and Eva Fernández Brugués to reach her first ever ITF Women's Circuit final. However, Vongsouthi was unable to overcome Olivia Sanchez, ranked 469th, and after an impressive first set, Vongsouthi let the match run away from her, 7–6, 0–6, 0–6. Her results improved from then on with a quarterfinal appearance in Brussels and a semifinal in Rebecq.

She entered Enschede in the Netherlands as the No. 6 seed. Ranked 646 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), this was the first time Vongsouthi had been seeded in a professional tournament. She struggled through her first-round match against Olivia Scarfi, 6–3, 6–7, 6–0, before flying through the next three rounds to reach the final. Her second final of the year ended in the same way as the first, losing to Marlot Meddens in straight sets.

Vongsouthi ended the year ranked 577 with a singles record of 21–15.

2007

Vongsouthi began the year with a quarterfinal appearance in Sunderland. From here on however she failed to get past the second round in three consecutive tournaments. She headed to Amiens for the third time in her career. Ranked 501 in the world, she was seeded third and breezed through her first round. However the next two rounds proved considerably more difficult, each time pushing Vongsouthi to three setters, all the same she managed to pull through to reach the semifinals. Here she came against Audrey Bergot a French player ranked far below her. However, Bergot played some brilliant tennis to overcome Vongsouthi in a long three-set match. Three more tournaments passed without Vongsouthi getting past the second round.

On 29 April, Vongsouthi headed to Naples where she blasted through her first three rounds without dropping a set. She struggled a little bit more in the semifinal against Patricia Mayr but managed to pull through 2–6, 6–4, 7–6 to make it to her third ever ITF Circuit final. However just as before nerves seemed to get to Vongsouthi as she faced seventh seed Michelle Gerards, she lost 2–6, 1–6. In Braga, Portugal, Vongsouthi once more managed to make it to the final as the second seed. She didn't drop a set on the way to the final. However, she came up against the top seed and home favourite, Neuza Silva, Vongsouthi fell once more 1–6, 4–6.

She then went to the French Open where she received a wildcard into the qualifying draw. This was her first ever match at a Grand Slam championship and she lost to 13th seed Hsieh Su-wei who was ranked 300 places above her. She played six tournaments after this, again not making it past the second round in any of them. She re-entered Rebecq, this time as the No. 1 seed, the first time she had ever been seeded first in a tournament. Unfortunately, she seemed to struggle through her first three matches against far less experienced players and lost in the semifinals to Samantha Schoeffel 2–6, 1–6. She played nine more tournaments in the year but didn't manage to make it to any quarterfinals.

She ended 2007 ranked 480 with a singles record of 39–30.

2008

She began her year at Sunderland once more, she reached the quarterfinals again, before losing to Elena Kulikova of Russia, 3–6, 7–6, 1–6. She didn't achieve any impressive results until she headed to Bath in March. Ranked 498 and the No. 7 seed, Vongsouthi blasted through the first four rounds without dropping a set to reach her fifth final. Facing off against Sarah Borwell of Great Britain, ranked 296 and the top seed in Bath, Vongsouthi looked visibly nervous. Her final curse seemed to play out once more as she lost 4–6, 6–7, giving her a finals record of 0–5.

She headed to Torrent, Spain, in April, where she managed to make it to the semifinals. After taking a few weeks out Vongsouthi returned to play in Bucharest as the third seed. She reached her sixth ever final and the second of 2008, where she was set to face, Simona Halep of Romania. Vongsouthi failed once more, even though she was ranked higher and lost the match 6–7, 3–6. Her finals record was now set at 0–6.

She played as a wildcard in the French Open qualifying draw and lost once again, this time to Margit Rüütel of Estonia. Vongsouthi mainly played tournaments in France for a few months, with quarterfinal appearances at Montpellier and Périgueux and a semifinal appearance in Mont-de-Marsan.

On 19 October, Vongsouthi headed to Lisbon as the top seed. Ranked at 379, she had a huge advantage over her opponents, and defeated Nicola Geuer in the final for her first ever title. She didn't drop a set during the whole tournament.

She ended 2008 ranked 353 with a singles record of 46–27.

2009

She began her year in Glasgow, and ranked at 330 she was the top seed. She raced through her first few rounds defeating Jade Curtis, Irini Georgatou and Stefania Boffa. She reached the final without dropping a set. She faced third seed Emma Laine of Finland in the final. Despite taking the first set, Vongsouthi couldn't close out the match, losing in the tiebreak. Her final record dropped to 1–7. Vongsouthi's success of Great Britain continued when she returned to Bath, a finalist the year before she was ranked even higher at 314 and looked prepared to win. She didn't drop a set the whole tournament, knocking out Naomi Broady in the semifinal and Verdiana Verardi in the final.

Since Vongsouthi has failed to pass the second round of any of the seven tournaments, she has not played since then.

Having received a wildcard into the qualifying of the 2009 French Open, she defeated fellow wildcard Aurélie Védy in the first round, before losing to British 15th seed, Elena Baltacha, in the next.

ITF finals

Singles (2–7)

Doubles (1–2)

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vongsouthi, Stephanie
1988 births
Living people
French female tennis players
French people of Laotian descent
21st-century French sportswomen