Anke Huber

Anke Huber (born 4 December 1974) is a German retired top-five professional tennis player. She was the runner-up in women's singles at the 1996 Australian Open and the 1995 WTA Finals. She finished ten seasons inside the top 20, and achieved a career-high ranking of 4 in October 1996.

Anke Huber
Country (sports) Germany
ResidenceLudwigshafen, Germany
Born (1974-12-04) 4 December 1974
Bruchsal, West Germany
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Turned pro1989
Retired31 October 2001
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$4,768,292
Singles
Career record447–225
Career titles12 WTA, 2 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 4 (14 October 1996)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian OpenF (1996)
French OpenSF (1993)
Wimbledon4R (1991, 1993, 1995, 2000, 2001)
US OpenQF (1999, 2000)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsF (1995)
Olympic GamesQF (1992)
Doubles
Career record130–129
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 23 (9 February 1998)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open3R (1996, 1997, 1998)
French OpenSF (1992)
Wimbledon3R (1992, 2000)
US OpenQF (2000)
Team competitions
Fed CupW (1992)
Hopman CupW (1995 with Boris Becker)

Early life

Huber was born in Bruchsal, Baden-Württemberg. She started playing tennis at the age of seven, after being introduced to the game by her father, Edgar. In junior competition, she won the under-12 German Championships in 1986, the under-14s in 1987, the under-16s in 1988, and the European Championships in 1989. She was also a semifinalist at Wimbledon's junior tournament in 1990.

Career

Huber made her Grand Slam tournament debut at the 1990 Australian Open, a year before she graduated from high school. After defeating Maider Laval and Elise Burgin, she was defeated in the third round by 13th-seeded Raffaella Reggi. In August 1990, she defeated Marianne Werdel Witmeyer to win the Schenectady tournament, a warm-up for the US Open. Jennifer Capriati then defeated Huber in the first round of that tournament 7–5, 7–5. Huber was the runner-up in her next event, losing in Bayonne to Nathalie Tauziat in straight sets. She finished 1990 ranked World No. 34.

Huber became Germany's top female tennis player upon Steffi Graf's retirement in 1999. Only two years later, however, it was Huber's turn to hang up her racquet. She cited a persistent ankle injury and the desire for a "normal life" as the reasons for her retirement. She originally planned to quit after the 2002 Australian Open, her favorite tournament, but changed her mind when she unexpectedly qualified for the year-ending Sanex Championships in Germany. "I thought there's nothing better than to celebrate saying goodbye in front of the home fans in your own country", said Huber. Huber's final match took place on 31 October 2001, against Justine Henin, in which she lost 6–1, 6–2.

During her twelve-year professional career, Huber reached 23 singles finals (winning twelve of them), 29 singles semifinals, and 50 singles quarterfinals. Her career record in singles was 447–225, and she amassed US$4,768,292 in career prize money.

Huber represented her country at three levels: the Olympic Games in 1992 in Barcelona and in 1996 in Atlanta; the Fed Cup from 1990 through 1998 and in 2000 and 2001, helping Germany to victory in 1992 by beating Spain's Conchita Martínez in the final; and the Hopman Cup, which she won with Boris Becker in 1995.

Although she did not win a Grand Slam title, Huber felt proud of her accomplishments, especially because she had to walk in Graf's footsteps. "I recognised pretty early on that I would never have her success, but I was still always measured against her", she says. "So, whenever I got into the quarterfinals or the semis of a Grand Slam tournament, it counted for nothing. Sometimes it was good to have her, because she drew the attention away from me", Huber continued. "On the other side, there was always the pressure to be the second Steffi Graf."

In 2002, Huber accepted a role with the German Tennis Federation and became the co-tournament director for the annual Porsche Tennis Grand Prix WTA tournament in Filderstadt, Germany.

Personal life

In April 2005, Huber gave birth to her first child, a boy (Moritz Luca), to her partner Roger Wittmann. A second, a girl (Laura Sophie), followed in October 2006.[1][2]

Major finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner–up)
Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up1996Australian OpenHard Monica Seles4–6, 1–6

Singles: 1 (1 runner–up)
Outcome Year Location Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up1995New York CityCarpet (I) Steffi Graf1–6, 6–2, 1–6, 6–4, 3–6

WTA Tour finals

Singles: 23 (12–11)
Winner – Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–1)
WTA Tour Championships (0–1)
Tier I (1–1)
Tier II (4–6)
Tier III (4–1)
Tier IV (2–0)
Tier V (1–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–6)
Grass (1–0)
Clay (4–1)
Carpet (5–4)
Result W/L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Aug 1990 Schenectady Tier V Hard Marianne Werdel 6–1, 5–7, 6–4
Loss 1–1 Sep 1990 Bayonne Tier V Hard (i) Nathalie Tauziat 3–6, 6–7(8–10)
Win 2–1 Oct 1991 Filderstadt Tier II Carpet (i) Martina Navratilova 2–6, 6–2, 7–6(7–4)
Loss 2–2 Jan 1993 Sydney Tier II Hard Jennifer Capriati 1–6, 4–6
Win 3–2 Jul 1993 Kitzbühel Tier III Clay Judith Wiesner 6–4, 6–1
Loss 3–3 Oct 1993 Brighton Tier II Carpet (i) Jana Novotná 2–6, 4–6
Win 4–3 Jul 1994 Styria Tier IV Clay Judith Wiesner 6–3, 6–3
Win 5–3 Oct 1994 Filderstadt Tier II Hard (i) Mary Pierce 6–4, 6–2
Win 6–3 Nov 1994 Philadelphia Tier I Carpet (i) Mary Pierce 6–0, 6–7(4–7), 7–5
Win 7–3 Sep 1995 Leipzig Tier II Carpet (i) Magdalena Maleeva w/o
Loss 7–4 Nov 1995 WTA Tour Championships Tour final Carpet (i) Steffi Graf 1–6, 6–2, 1–6, 6–4, 3–6
Loss 7–5 Jan 1996 Australian Open G. Slam Hard Monica Seles 4–6, 1–6
Win 8–5 Jun 1996 's-Hertogenbosch Tier III Grass Helena Suková 6–4, 7–6(7–2)
Loss 8–6 Aug 1996 Los Angeles Tier II Hard Lindsay Davenport 2–6, 3–6
Win 9–6 Sep 1996 Leipzig Tier II Carpet (i) Iva Majoli 5–7, 6–3, 6–1
Loss 9–7 Oct 1996 Filderstadt Tier II Hard (i) Martina Hingis 2–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win 10–7 Oct 1996 Luxembourg Tier III Carpet (i) Karina Habšudová 6–3, 6–0
Loss 10–8 Feb 1997 Paris Tier II Carpet (i) Martina Hingis 3–6, 6–3, 3–6
Loss 10–9 Aug 1997 Toronto Tier I Hard Monica Seles 2–6, 4–6
Win 11–9 Apr 2000 Estoril Tier IV Clay Nathalie Dechy 6–2, 1–6, 7–5
Win 12–9 Jul 2000 Sopot Tier III Clay Gala León García 7–6(7–4), 6–3
Loss 12–10 Feb 2001 Paris Tier II Carpet (i) Amélie Mauresmo 6–7(2–7), 1–6
Loss 12–11 May 2001 Strasbourg Tier III Clay Silvia Farina Elia 5–7, 6–0, 4–6

Doubles: 4 (1–3)
Winner – Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
Tier I (0–1)
Tier II (1–2)
Tier III (0–0)
Tier IV (0–0)
Tier V (0–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–2)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (1–0)
Carpet (0–1)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. Oct 1993 Brighton Carpet (i) Larisa Neiland Laura Golarsa
Natalia Medvedeva		 3–6, 6–1, 4–6
Win 1. Apr 1997 Hamburg Clay Mary Pierce Ruxandra Dragomir
Iva Majoli		 2–6, 7–6(1), 6–2
Loss 2. Jan 1999 Sydney Hard Mary Joe Fernández Elena Likhovtseva
Ai Sugiyama		 3–6, 6–2, 0–6
Loss 3. Oct 1999 Moscow Carpet (i) Julie Halard-Decugis Lisa Raymond
Rennae Stubbs		 1–6, 0–6

ITF finals

Singles (2–0)
Legend
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. 29 May 1989 Katowice, Poland Clay Nora Bajchiková 6–1, 6–2
Winner 2. 26 November 1989 Bulleen, Australia Hard Rennae Stubbs 6–4, 6–1

Grand Slam singles performance timeline
Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)
Tournament1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001Career SR
Australian Open A 3R QF QF 4R 3R 4R F 4R SF 2R 1R A 0 / 11
French Open A A 3R 2R SF 4R 4R 4R 1R A A 4R 2R 0 / 9
Wimbledon A 2R 4R 3R 4R 2R 4R 3R 3R A 1R 4R 4R 0 / 11
US Open A 1R 2R 1R 3R 2R 4R 1R 3R 1R QF QF 3R 0 / 12
SR 0 / 0 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 2 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 43
Year-end ranking 203 37 14 11 10 12 10 7 14 21 16 19 18

Head-to-head record against other players in the top 10

Players who have been ranked world No. 1 are in boldface.

See also

References
  1. http://de.news.yahoo.com/12072006/336/laquo-meine-familie-steht-absolut-mittelpunkt-raquo.html%5B%5D (in German)
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 October 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) (in German)
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