Claire Curran

Claire Curran (born 10 March 1978) is a former professional tennis player from Northern Ireland.

She represented both

UC Berkeley was largely focussed on singles, with the highest singles win percentage of any Irish Fed Cup player.^[2]

At UC Berkeley, Curran was an

Serious injury resulted in her decision to focus on doubles post university. Curran reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 89, and won a total of 12 ITF titles over the course of her career and was a finalist in one WTA Tour event and was the key doubles players in the Great British Fed Cup teams of the mid 2000s. Her overall Fed Cup record has the highest win percentage of any British or Irish player who has played in over 25 matches.

Curran retired from professional sport in 2007 following six years of professional play.

Laura Robson and the doubles team of Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith

.

Career

Early years

Curran's tennis talent was spotted first in her native Belfast, capital of Northern Ireland. She was soon winning Ulster and all-Ireland titles and being singled out by the Irish tennis authorities for a promising amateur career on the ITF Junior Circuit.

At the age of 14, during the troubled times of Northern Ireland, beset with political and religious divisions, Curran moved to Dublin. The clubhouse where she learned to play tennis in Belfast had been destroyed by a terrorist bomb in the 1970s and she herself was frequently inconvenienced on her travels between Belfast and Dublin by bombs scares.

In Dublin, she spent her teenage years under the Irish national coaching programme of Matt Doyle. Curran travelled on the Junior Circuit, playing at junior Wimbledon in 1996. She attained a singles ranking inside the top 100 and in 1993 became the youngest person to have represented Ireland in the Fed Cup, at the age of 15 years and 3 months.^[4]

1993–1996

Claire played her first adult match playing doubles for

Israel. She played no other adult events this year.^[5]

In 1994 she again competed in the

Zimbabwe. This was again the only adult event Claire played this year.^[5]

One year later she again competed in the

Cyprus and also winning two doubles rubbers partnering Lesley O'Halloran. Claire played no other adult events this year.^[5]

In 1996 she was not involved in doubles in the

Ukraine. Curran also made her debut on the ITF Circuit in 2006 in a $10,000 event in Dublin where she was beaten in the first round in both the singles and the doubles events (partnering Yvonne Doyle).^[5]

1997–2000

In 1997, Claire competed in only one event. This was the $25k tournament held in Dublin where she was beaten in the first round of the singles and the doubles.[5]

This was again the only ITF event Curran participated in during 1998 and she again experienced first round losses in the singles and doubles competitions.^[5]

The one ITF event Curran entered in 1999 was a $10k event in

Hilton Head where she won four matches in the qualifying competition before losing just one match short of qualification. She went one step further in the doubles however when she and Esther Knox qualified before losing in round one.^[5]

In 2000, Curran teamed up with Australian Amy Jensen to reach the semifinals of a $10k event in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The duo then received a wild card into the doubles competition in the US Open where they drew the formidable pairing of Martina Hingis and Mary Pierce in the first round. They gave the seeded pair a scare by taking the first set 6–4 however Hingis and Pierce came back strong to take the match, 4–6, 6–0, 6–1.^[6] She did not compete on the ITF or WTA Tour again this season.^[5]

2001–2002

Curran began 2001 with Teryn Ashley as her regular partner and with her she reached the semifinals of a $10k in El Paso as qualifiers. They followed this success up with a tournament win in another $10k event in Lake Ozark, Texas, a run to the semifinals of Mount Pleasant ($25k) and another run to the quarterfinals in Los Gatos, California ($50k). July saw Curran team with Kristen van Elden from Australia to reach the semifinals of Frinton ($10k) before again joining with Ashley to reach the quarterfinals of a $10k event in Bath before having to retire from the tournament. Curran and Swedish, Helena Ejeson were runners-up in a $10k in London in August and after this Curran played no more matches in 2001. She had a year-end doubles world-ranking of 375.^[5]

In January 2002, Claire reached the finals of a $10k in

Liechtenstein in the promotion play-offs. Curran did not compete much more this year due to problems with injuries, having to retire from a number of matches. At the end of 2002 her doubles world-ranking had fallen to 562.^[5]

2003

Curran teamed with O'Riain for her first four tournaments of the year (all $10k), resulting in one title and three losses in the semifinals. In the

Tzipi Obziler in her final tournament of the year. At the end of 2003, Curran's doubles world-ranking was up to 244.^[5]

2004

Curran won her first three ITF event of the year and went on to reach the semifinals in her fourth, giving her a winning streak of 14 matches at the start of the season. In June, she partnered

lucky losers where they were beaten in straight sets. In August she took the title in Lexington, Kentucky ($50k) with Natalie Grandin and the two of them were also runners up in their next event in Louisville, Kentucky and semifinalists in their next in the Bronx (both $50k). Curran and Grandin then entered the Tier III Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali where they were beaten in the first round by Gisela Dulko and Milagros Sequera, 6–0, 6–1. In her final tournament of 2004, Curran partnered Senoglu again to reach the final of a $25k in Glasgow. Her year-end doubles world-ranking was 163.^[5]

2005

In February 2005, Curran partnered

Nordic Light Open (partnering María José Martínez Sánchez) and the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic (with Grandin). Curran ended the year with a doubles world-ranking of 107.^[5]

2006

In Claire's first tournament of the year, she and Natalie Grandin teamed up to reach the quarterfinals in

Aegon International where they were beaten by Liezel Huber and Martina Navratilova, 6–4, 6–2. She then competed in Wimbledon with Jamea Jackson but was again beaten in the first round. She did however reach the second round of the mixed doubles with James Auckland. After Wimbledon, Claire did not compete again in 2006 and her doubles world-ranking at the end of the year was 201.^[5]

2007

In February 2007, Claire teamed with Anne Keothavong to win the title in London ($25k) and in March, she and

Sweden. In July, Curran and Keothavong took on the might of Venus and Serena Williams in the first round of Wimbledon doubles and lost, 1–6, 3–6. For the second year in a row she reached the second round of the mixed doubles with Auckland but after Wimbledon decided that her career as a professional tennis player had come to an end.^[3]^[5]

WTA career finals

Doubles: 1 (runner-up)

Result	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partnering	Opponents	Score
Loss	13 January 2006	Canberra International	Tier IV	Hard	Līga Dekmeijere	Marta Domachowska Roberta Vinci	6–7⁽⁵⁾, 3–6

ITF Circuit finals

Doubles: 21 (12–9)

Winner - Legend
$100,000 tournaments (0–0)
$75,000 tournaments (0–0)
$50,000 tournaments (6–4)
$25,000 tournaments (4–2)
$10,000 tournaments (2–3)

Finals by surface
Hard (8–5)
Clay (4–3)
Grass (0–1)
Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	5 June 1995	ITF Dublin, Ireland	Clay	Yvonne Doyle	Robyn Mawdsley Karen Nugent	1–6, 6–4, 3–6
Winner	2 June 2001	ITF Lake Ozark, United States	Hard	Teryn Ashley	Alison Nash Andrea Nathan	7–5, 6–1
Runner-up	19 August 2001	ITF London, Great Britain	Hard	Helena Ejeson	Eva Erbova Aurélie Védy	6–7⁽⁴⁾, 3–6
Runner-up	27 January 2002	ITF Hull, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Elsa O'Riain	Sun Tiantian Zheng Jie	6–7⁽⁴⁾, 5–7
Runner-up	30 March 2002	ITF Bendigo, Australia	Grass	Amanda Augustus	Sarah Stone Samantha Stosur	0–6, 6–4, 3–6
Winner	8 March 2003	ITF Cairo, Egypt	Clay	Elsa O'Riain	Marielle Hoogland Jennifer Schmidt	6–1, 6–4
Runner-up	28 April 2003	ITF Bournemouth, Great Britain	Clay	Anna Hawkins	Marielle Hoogland Elise Tamaëla	6–3, 2–6, 3–6
Winner	5 May 2003	ITF Edinburgh, Great Britain	Clay	Anna Hawkins	Jacqueline Frohlich Daniela Salomon	w/o
Winner	11 August 2003	ITF London, Great Britain	Hard	Elsa O'Riain	Irina Bulykina Aleksandra Kulikova	6–2, 7–6⁽⁵⁾
Winner	21 September 2003	ITF Sunderland, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Helena Ejeson	Kim Kilsdonk Nicole Kriz	6–2, 6–1
Winner	19 October 2003	ITF Cardiff, Great Britain	Hard (i)	İpek Şenoğlu	Surina De Beer Ilke Gers	6–4, 2–6, 6–3
Winner	25 January 2004	ITF Hull, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Surina De Beer	Anna Bastrikova Vasilisa Davydova	6–0, 6–4
Winner	15 February 2004	ITF Sunderland, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Kim Kilsdonk	Helen Crook Martina Müller	6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Winner	22 February 2004	ITF Redbridge, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Kim Kilsdonk	Gabriela Navrátilová	6–3, 3–6, 7–6⁽¹⁰⁾
Winner	1 August 2004	ITF Lexington, United States	Hard	Natalie Grandin	Casey Dellacqua Nicole Sewell	7–6⁽⁶⁾, 6–4
Runner-up	8 August 2004	ITF Louisville, United States	Hard	Natalie Grandin	Edina Gallovits	6–1, 4–6, 2–6
Runner-up	10 October 2004	ITF Glasgow, Great Britain	Hard (i)	İpek Şenoğlu	Leanne Baker Francesca Lubiani	3–6, 7–5, 4–6
Winner	15 May 2005	ITF Saint-Gaudens, France	Clay	Natalie Grandin	María José Argeri Letícia Sobral	6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	23 July 2005	ITF Pétange, Luxembourg	Clay	Kim Kilsdonk	Yuliya Beygelzimer Sandra Klösel	4–6, 0–6
Winner	3 February 2007	ITF Sutton, Great Britain	Hard (i)	Anne Keothavong	Katarina Kachliková	4–6, 6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	17 March 2007	ITF Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain	Hard	Melanie South	Sorana Cîrstea Mădălina Gojnea	6–4, 6–7⁽⁵⁾, 4–6

Grand Slam performance timelines

**Key**
W	F	SF	QF	#R	RR	Q#	DNQ	A	NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Doubles

Tournament	2004	2005	2006	2007	W–L
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	0–0
French Open	A	A	A	A	0–0
Wimbledon	1R	1R	1R	1R	0–4
US Open	A	A	A	A	0–0
Year-end ranking	163	107	201	410	N/A

Mixed doubles

Tournament	2005	2006	2007	W–L
Australian Open	A	A	A	0–0
French Open	A	A	A	0–0
Wimbledon	1R	2R	2R	2–3
US Open	A	A	A	0–0

Fed Cup

For Ireland

Date	Venue	Surface	Round	Opponent	Final match score	Match	Opponents	Rubber score
Europe/Africa Group I
13–15 May 1993	Nottingham, Great Britain	Hard (O)	RR	Norway	3–0	Doubles (with Karen Nugent)	Andersen/Instebø	6–4, 6–4 (W)
13–15 May 1993	Nottingham, Great Britain	Hard (O)	QF	Israel	1–2	Doubles (with Karen Nugent)	Berger/Segal	6–4, 7–5 (W)
19–20 May 1994	Bad Waltersdorf, Austria	Clay (O)	RR	Zimbabwe	1–2	Doubles (with Karen Nugent)	Black/Wagstaff	1–6, 3–6 (L)
19–20 May 1994	Bad Waltersdorf, Austria	Clay (O)	RR	Slovenia	0–3	Doubles (with Lesley O'Halloran)	Križan/Lušnic	6–4, 2–6, 5–7 (L)
Europe/Africa Group II
Date	Venue	Surface	Round	Opponents	Final match score	Match	Opponent	Rubber score
8–13 May 1995	Nairobi, Kenya	Clay (O)	RR	Cyprus	3–0	Singles	Anna Anastasiou	6–2, 6–1 (W)
				Cyprus	3–0	Doubles (with Lesley O'Halloran)	Anastasiou/Pivlava Papanikolaou	6–1, 6–1 (W)
				Kenya	3–0	Singles	Shaila Ali	6–1, 6–2 (W)
				Malta	3–0	Singles	Helen Asciak	7–6^(8–6), 6–0 (W)
				Malta	3–0	Doubles (with Lesley O'Halloran)	Camenzuli/Wetz	6–3, 6–2 (W)
			QF	Norway	1–2	Doubles (with Lesley O'Halloran)	Jonsson-Raaholt	W/O (W)
26–28 Mar 1996	Ramat HaSharon, Israel	Hard (O)	RR	Ukraine	1–2	Singles	Elena Brioukhovets	2–6, 2–6 (L)
				Iceland	3–0	Singles	Hrafuhildur Hannesdotter	6–0, 6–2 (W)
				Malta	3–0	Singles	Helen Asciak	6–0, 6–2 (W)
9–12 Apr 2002	Pretoria, South Africa	Hard (O)	RR	Botswana	3–0	Doubles (with Yvonne Doyle)	Marobela/Mogapi	6–0, 6–0 (W)
				Finland	3–0	Doubles (with Yvonne Doyle)	Nieminen/Suomalainen	6–1, 6–2 (W)
				Egypt	3–0	Doubles (with Elsa O'Riain)	Farid/Khalil	6–1, 6–1 (W)
			PO Promotional	Liechtenstein	3–0	Doubles (with Elsa O'Riain)	Batliner/Schädler	6–1, 6–1 (W)
Europe/Africa Group I
Date	Venue	Surface	Round	Opponent	Final match score	Match	Opponents	Rubber score
21–24 Apr 2003	Estoril, Portugal	Clay (O)	RR	Great Britain	1–2	Doubles (with Kelly Liggan)	Baltacha/Pullin	3–6, 2–6 (L)
				Poland	1–2	Doubles (with Elsa O'Riain)	Domachowska/Bieleń-Żarska	6–2, 6–2 (W)
				Netherlands	1–2	Doubles (with Elsa O'Riain)	Boogert/Oremans	0–6, 0–6 (L)

For Great Britain

Date	Venue	Surface	Round	Opponent	Final match score	Match	Opponents	Rubber score
Europe/Africa Group I
18–22 April 2006	Plovdiv, Bulgaria	Clay (O)	RR	Ukraine	3–0	Doubles (with Elena Baltacha)	Antypina/V.Bondarenko	6–4, 6–4 (W)
				Bulgaria	2–1	Doubles (with Elena Baltacha)	Krastevitch/Pironkova	6–1, 1–6, 6–2 (W)
				Hungary	2–1	Doubles (with Elena Baltacha)	Nagy/Németh	6–1, 7–6^(7–5) (W)
			PO (1st–4th)	Slovakia	1–2	Doubles (with Elena Baltacha)	Cibulková/Husárová	6–4, 6–3 (W)
18–21 April 2007	Plovdiv, Bulgaria	Clay (O)	RR	Bulgaria	3–0	Doubles (with Elena Baltacha)	Alawi/Mladenova	6–4, 6–2 (W)
				Luxembourg	1–2	Doubles (with Elena Baltacha)	Kremer/Philippe	6–4, 3–6, 6–3 (W)
				Poland	0–3	Doubles (with Elena Baltacha)	Domachowska/A.Radwańska	3–6, 4–6 (L)
			PO (9th–12th)	Sweden	0–3	Doubles (with Elena Baltacha)	Larsson	0–6, 1–6 (L)