5 American women tennis players who have won multiple clay tournaments in the same season in the 21st-century ft. Serena Williams and Venus Williams
By defeating top seed Anett Kontaveit and winning the Hamburg Open, Bernarda Pera joined a special club of American women's tennis players that includes Venus and Serena Williams. The World No. 81 won 6-2, 6-4 against the Estonian to win her second career title.
Pera became the fifth American player to win two or more WTA titles on clay in a single season in 2000s with this victory. On that note, let's take a look at the other American WTA players who have achieved the feat before Pera.
#5. Bernarda Pera
Bernarda Pera has been on a fairytale run. On Saturday at Am Rothenbaum in Hamburg, Germany, the American defeated Estonia's Anett Kontaveit to claim the Hamburg Open trophy in her 12th consecutive straight set victory. The 27-year-old American triumphed in Budapest last week, where she advanced through the qualifying rounds to win her first tour title.
She continued her strong form this week, winning all five of her matches without dropping a set after winning seven wins in a row the previous week.
5 - Bernarda Pera is the 5th American female player to win 2+ WTA titles in 2000s on clay courts in the same season after Monica Seles (2000), Jennifer Capriati (2001), Serena Williams (2002, 2012 and 2013) and Venus Williams (2004). Form.
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#4. Monica Seles
Monica Seles had a very successful 2000 season on clay. She defeated Conchita Martinez, the then-world No. 4, in straight sets to win the Bausch and Lomb Championships on outdoor clay.
Then, in the claycourt Italian Open, the nine-time Grand Slam Champion defeated Amelie Mauresmo to win her 47th singles championship overall.
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World No. 1 Monica Seles signed with @FILATennis in 1991, at age of 17. What followed was more trophies for the legend, and some of tennis' more memorable looks, including the Seles 2A sneaker 👀
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#3. Jennifer Capriati
Jennifer Capriati won the first Grand Slam of the year—the Australian Open—to kick off her professional comeback in 2001. She then defeated Martina Hingis in Charleston to win her first Family Circle Cup championship 6-0, 4-6, 6-4.
With a marathon triumph at the French Open, Capriati defeated Kim Clijsters of Belgium to win her second consecutive Major title, 1-6, 6-4, 12-10 to win her second title on clay for the season.
Former World No.1
👑 Former World No.1
🏆🏆 2001, 2002 Australian Open champion
🏆 2001 French Open champion
🥇 1992 Olympics Gold Medallist
🎾
14 WTA titles
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#2. Venus Williams
Venus Williams, the older sister of Serena Williams, has had a successful career, but it was also marred by setbacks. Williams returned to the circuit in 2004 but had mixed results.
However, at the start of the claycourt season, Venus Williams started to find her form. Williams won her first championship in more than a year at the Tier I Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, by defeating Conchita Martinez in the final.
Following her victory in Warsaw, where she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in the championship match, she advanced to the final of the Tier I German Open in Berlin as well.
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#1. Serena Williams (2002, 2012, 2013)
Serena Williams solidified her place in the tennis world in 2002. Then 20-year-old Williams defeated Belgian Justine Henin in the Italian Open final to win her maiden title on clay. It was a major accomplishment for the American to win on red clay just one week before Roland-Garros, and she later won the French Open as well.
Then in 2012, Serena Williams was the sole dominator of women's tennis. Having not played on clay since the 2010 French Open, she began her claycourt season campaign at the Family Circle Cup, where she went on to win it by defeating Lucie Safarova. It was also her fourth title on clay.
It was followed by a title victory at the Mutua Madrid Open, which was held on blue clay. The American defeated Victoria Azarenka in the final match to win her 41st title overall.
In 2013, Serena Williams had an excellent winning streak of 35 matches that began in Miami. She then played her first claycourt tournament at the Family Circle Cup, where she was able to successfully defend her title. This was followed by another successful title defense at the Mutua Madrid Open.
Serena Williams later defeated former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka to win the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.
The American gave a nice finishing touch to her clay season as she went on to win the French Open for the first time by defeating second seed and defending champion Maria Sharapova.