Danka Kovinić

Danka Kovinić (Serbian Cyrillic: Данка Ковинић; born 18 November 1994) is a Montenegrin professional tennis player.

Danka Kovinić
Kovinić at the 2021 French Open
Country (sports) Montenegro
ResidenceHerceg Novi, Montenegro
Born (1994-11-18) 18 November 1994 (age 29)[1]
Cetinje, Republic of Montenegro, FR Yugoslavia
Height1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro2010
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
CoachMarcos Espacia
Prize moneyUS$ 3,108,194
Singles
Career record372–296 (55.7%)
Career titles0 WTA, 14 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 46 (22 February 2016)
Current rankingNo. 249 (1 April 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open3R (2022)
French Open3R (2022)
Wimbledon1R (2015, 2016, 2017)
US Open2R (2015, 2020)
Doubles
Career record138–131 (51.3%)
Career titles1 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 67 (20 June 2016)
Current rankingNo. 441 (1 April 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open2R (2016, 2017, 2021)
French Open1R (2016, 2020, 2021)
Wimbledon1R (2016)
US Open2R (2016, 2021)
Team competitions
Fed Cup21–7 (75.0%)
Medal record
Games of the Small States of Europe
Gold medal – first place2015 ReykjavíkSingles
Bronze medal – third place2015 ReykjavíkMixed doubles
Last updated on: 31 March 2024.

On 22 February 2016, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 46, and on 20 June 2016, she peaked at No. 67 in the WTA doubles rankings.

Tennis career

2010–2013: WTA Tour debut and quarterfinal

Kovinić started playing as a professional in 2010. Her first WTA Tour tournament in singles was the 2013 Budapest Grand Prix, where she became the first Montenegrin to reach the quarterfinals of a WTA event.[2]

2015: First major wins, first WTA Tour singles final and doubles title

Her first major match wins in singles came at the 2015 French Open and the 2015 US Open. In October 2015, she reached her first WTA Tour singles final at the Tianjin Open.

Her first match in doubles on the WTA Tour was at Bogotá, in April 2014. She won her first WTA Tour doubles title with Stephanie Vogt, in July 2015 at Bad Gastein.

2016: Top 50 debut

Kovinić started the season at the Auckland Open where she lost in the first round to third seed Caroline Wozniacki.[3] In doubles, she and Barbora Strýcová reached the final which they lost to Elise Mertens and An-Sophie Mestach.[4] At the Hobart International, Kovinić was defeated in the first round by Australian wildcard Kimberly Birrell.[5] At the Australian Open, Kovinić made it to the second round and lost to 14th seed and two-time champion, Victoria Azarenka.[6]

Seeded third at the Rio Open, Kovinić advanced to the quarterfinals where she was defeated by wildcard Sorana Cîrstea.[7] Seeded seventh at the Abierto Mexicano, she lost in the second round to Christina McHale.[8] Seeded seventh at the Monterrey Open, she was defeated in the first round by qualifier Nicole Gibbs.[9] At the Indian Wells Open, Kovinić faced eighth seed Petra Kvitová in the second round. She pushed Kvitová to three sets but ended up losing the match.[10] At the Miami Open, Kovinić was defeated in the second round by 24th seed Johanna Konta.[11]

2020: Return to majors

At the Australian Open, Kovinić lost in the first round to 16th seed Elise Mertens.[12]

At the Mexican Open, she was defeated in the first round by Kateryna Bondarenko.[13] At the Monterrey Open, she lost in the first round to top seed and eventual champion Elina Svitolina.[14]

In August, Kovinić played at the Cincinnati Open where she was defeated in the first round of qualifying by Vera Zvonareva. At the US Open, she made it to the second round and lost to 24th seed Magda Linette.[15]

2021: WTA 500 final

In January, she started her Australian tour at the Gippsland Trophy with a win against Tamara Zidanšek, before losing to Jeļena Ostapenko in the next round. After that, she played at the Australian Open where she lost in the first round against top seed and world No. 1, Ashleigh Barty. Her next tournament was the Phillip Island Trophy where she played against 13th seed Marie Bouzková and retired during the second set, after winning the first.

In March, Danka made the round of 16 at the Abierto Zapopan in Guadalajara, Mexico where she was defeated in straight sets by Lauren Davis. During the tournament, she suffered a back injury and had to pull out of Monterrey Open and Miami Open.

In April, Kovinić made it into the quarterfinals of the Charleston Open by beating third seeded Petra Kvitová in straight sets in the round of 16. It was her third victory over a player who was ranked inside top 10. In the next round, she defeated 11th seed Yulia Putintseva to reach her first WTA 500 semifinal. After that, she beat 12th seeded Ons Jabeur in straight sets, to book a place in her third career final which she lost to Veronika Kudermetova.

After that, she entered the MUSC Health Open in Charleston where she reached her second consecutive WTA semifinal by beating Viktoriya Tomova in straight sets, seventh seeded Lauren Davis in the round of 16, and Shelby Rogers in the quarterfinals. She then lost to the top seed Ons Jabeur.

2022: Historic Grand Slam third round

In January, she started her Australian tour at the Melbourne Summer Set with a straight-sets win in qualifying against Alexandra Osborne, before withdrawing due to injury in the next round. At Adelaide, she lost in the first round to Maddison Inglis, in three sets.

At the Australian Open, she won in the first round against Jang Su-jeong, before she defeated reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu in three sets to reach the third round, her best result at a Grand Slam.[16] In the next round, she was defeated by the former world No. 1, Simona Halep. With this result, she became the first player from Montenegro to reach the third round of a Grand Slam championship.[17]

In Indian Wells, Kovinić beat Jil Teichmann in the first round, while in the second round she had a surprising top-10 win over seventh seed Karolína Plíšková, before losing to Ludmilla Samsonova in the third round.

At Roland Garros, she avenged her loss in Indian Wells and beat 25th seed Ludmilla Samsonova in the first round. She managed to beat Anna Karolína Schmiedlová in straight sets, before losing to top seed and world No. 1, Iga Świątek, in the third round.

Kovinić was supposed to play at Wimbledon against Sonay Kartal in the first round, but was forced to withdraw at the very last moment, due to low back problems.[18]

Kovinić lost in the first round of the US Open to Serena Williams, in the last professional tournament of her career.

In October, she reached semifinals of the Emilia-Romagna Open by beating Océane Dodin, Jasmine Paolini and Sloane Stephens. However, she lost her semifinal match to top seed Maria Sakkari.

2023–2024: Semifinals of Auckland Open, hiatus

In January, Kovinic reached the semifinals of the Auckland Open, after beating Nao Hibino in straight sets in the first round.[19] In the round of 16, she defeated Lauren Davis in three sets, while in the quarterfinals she managed to beat Viktória Kužmová in straight sets.[20][21] In her semifinal match, she lost to the top seed Coco Gauff.[22]

Performance timelines

Key
W F SFQF#RRRQ#P#DNQAZ#POGSBNMSNTIPNH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Billie Jean King Cup, United Cup, Hopman Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.[23]

Singles

Current after the 2023 Guadalajara Open.

Tournament2011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023SRW–LWin %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian OpenAAAQ3Q12R2RQ2Q31R1R3R1R0 / 64–640%
French OpenAAA1R2R1R1RQ1Q11R2R3R1R0 / 84–833%
WimbledonAAAQ31R1R1RQ1Q2NHAAA0 / 30–30%
US OpenAAQ2Q12R1RQ2Q1Q22R1R1R1R0 / 62–629%
Win–loss0–00–00–00–12–31–41–30–00–01–31–34–30–30 / 2310–2330%
National representation
Summer OlympicsNHANH1RNHANH0 / 10–10%
Billie Jean King Cup[a]POZ3POZ2POZ2AAZ3AZ3AA[b]A0 / 012–380%
WTA 1000
Dubai / Qatar Open[c]AAAQ2AAAQ2AAAAQ10 / 00–0 – 
Indian Wells OpenAAAAA2R1RAANH1R3R1R0 / 53–538%
Miami OpenAAAAQ22R1RAANHA1R1R0 / 41–420%
Madrid OpenAAAAA2RAAANH1RQ22R0 / 32–340%
Italian OpenAAAAA1RAAA3RAA2R0 / 33–350%
Canadian OpenAAAAAAAAANHAAA0 / 00–0 – 
Cincinnati OpenAAAAAQ1AAAQ1AQ1A0 / 00–0 – 
Guadalajara OpenNHAA0 / 00–0 – 
Pan Pacific / Wuhan Open[d]AAAA1R1RQ1AANH0 / 20–20%
China OpenAAAAQ11RQ1AANHA0 / 10–10%
Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–13–60–20–00–02–10–22–22–40 / 189–1833%
Career statistics
2011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023SRW–LWin %
Tournaments00212132316537171111Career total: 120
Titles0000000000000Career total: 0
Finals0000110000100Career total: 3
Overall win–loss3–12–25–26–1215–1320–233–165–52–35–712–179–118–110 / 12095–12344%
Year-end ranking[e]354295170109587411818288779579$3,108,194

Doubles

Tournament201520162017...2020202120222023SR W–L
Australian OpenA2R2RA2R1R1R0 / 53–5
French OpenA1RA1R1RAA0 / 30–3
WimbledonA1RANHAAA0 / 10–1
US Open1R2RAA2RA0 / 32–3
Win–loss0–12–41–10–02–30–10–10 / 125–12

WTA Tour finals

Singles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam
WTA 1000
WTA 500 (0–1)
WTA 250 (0–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–1)
Clay (0–2)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1Oct 2015Tianjin Open, ChinaInternational[f]Hard Agnieszka Radwańska1–6, 2–6
Loss0–2Apr 2016İstanbul Cup, TurkeyInternationalClay Çağla Büyükakçay6–3, 2–6, 3–6
Loss0–3Apr 2021Charleston Open, United StatesWTA 500Clay (green) Veronika Kudermetova4–6, 2–6

Doubles: 5 (1 title, 4 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam
WTA 1000
WTA 500
WTA 250 (1–4)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–2)
Clay (1–2)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0Jul 2015Gastein Ladies, AustriaInternationalClay Stephanie Vogt Lara Arruabarrena
Lucie Hradecká
4–6, 6–4, [10–3]
Loss1–1Jan 2016Auckland Open, New ZealandInternationalHard Barbora Strýcová Elise Mertens
An-Sophie Mestach
6–2, 3–6, [5–10]
Loss1–2Apr 2016İstanbul Cup, TurkeyInternationalClay Xenia Knoll Andreea Mitu
İpek Soylu
w/o
Loss1–3Jul 2018Bucharest Open, RomaniaInternationalClay Maryna Zanevska Irina-Camelia Begu
Andreea Mitu
3–6, 4–6
Loss1–4Sep 2018Guangzhou Open, ChinaInternationalHard Vera Lapko Monique Adamczak
Jessica Moore
6–4, 5–7, [4–10]

WTA Challenger finals

Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

ResultW–L   Date   TournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1Jul 2019Bastad Open, SwedenClay Misaki Doi4–6, 4–6
Loss0–2Nov 2022Buenos Aires Open, ArgentinaClay Panna Udvardy4–6, 1–6

Doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

ResultW–L   Date   TournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–1Mar 2019Bastad Open, SwedenClay Alexa Guarachi Misaki Doi
Natalia Vikhlyantseva
5–7, 7–6(7–4), [7–10]
Loss0–2Nov 2019Taipei Open, TaiwanCarpet (i) Dalila Jakupović Lee Ya-hsuan
Wu Fang-hsien
6–4, 4–6, [7–10]

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 22 (14 titles, 8 runner–ups)

Legend
$100,000 tournaments (5–2)
$80,000 tournaments (0–1)
$50/60,000 tournaments (1–1)
$25,000 tournaments (5–3)
$10,000 tournaments (3–1)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–0Oct 2010ITF Dobrich, Bulgaria10,000Clay Isabella Shinikova6–4, 6–3
Loss1–1Jun 2011ITF Nyíregyháza, Hungary10,000Clay Simona Dobrá4–6, 2–6
Win2–1Jun 2011ITF Balş, Romania10,000Clay Alice-Andrada Radu6–0, 6–1
Loss2–2Sep 2011Royal Cup, Montenegro25,000Clay Paula Ormaechea1–6, 1–6
Win3–2Apr 2012ITF Tlemcen, Algeria10,000Clay Alexandra Romanova6–2, 6–2
Win4–2Jul 2012Bella Cup Toruń, Poland25,000Clay Paula Kania6–3, 4–6, 6–3
Win5–2Jun 2013ITF Ystad, Sweden25,000Clay Melanie Klaffner6–3, 6–3
Win6–2Jun 2013ITF Kristinehamn, Sweden25,000Clay Jasmina Tinjić6–1, 7–5
Win7–2May 2014Open Saint-Gaudens, France50,000Clay Pauline Parmentier6–1, 6–2
Loss7–3Mar 2015ITF Curitiba, Brazil25,000Clay Lourdes Domínguez Lino6–4, 2–6, 3–6
Win8–3May 2015Empire Slovak Open, Slovakia100,000Clay Margarita Gasparyan7–5, 6–3
Win9–3Jun 2016Open de Marseille, France100,000Clay Hsieh Su-wei6–2, 6–3
Loss9–4Jun 2017Hódmezővásárhely Ladies Open, Hungary60,000Clay Mihaela Buzărnescu2–6, 1–6
Loss9–5Jul 2017Budapest Ladies Open, Hungary100,000Clay Jana Čepelová4–6, 3–6
Loss9–6Aug 2017Vancouver Open, Canada100,000Hard Maryna Zanevska7–5, 1–6, 3–6
Loss9–7Mar 2019ITF São Paulo, Brazil25,000Clay Louisa Chirico0–6, 2–6
Win10–7Mar 2019ITF Campinas, Brazil25,000Clay Julia Grabher6–2, 3–6, 6–3
Win11–7Jun 2019ITF Ystad, Sweden25,000Clay Richèl Hogenkamp2–6, 6–3, 6–3
Loss11–8Jul 2019Open de Biarritz, France80,000Clay Viktoriya Tomova2–6, 7–5, 5–7
Win12–8Oct 2019Kiskút Open, Hungary100,000Clay (i) Irina-Camelia Begu6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Win13–8May 2022Wiesbaden Open, Germany100,000Clay Nastasja Schunk6–3, 7–6(7–0)
Win14–8April 2023Oeiras Ladies Open, Portugal100,000Clay Rebeka Masarova6–2, 6–2

Doubles: 11 (4 titles, 7 runner–ups)

Legend
$100,000 tournaments (1–0)
$60,000 tournaments (0–3)
$25,000 tournaments (3–4)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–1Sep 2011Royal Cup, Montenegro25,000Clay Danica Krstajić Corinna Dentoni
Florencia Molinero
4–6, 7–5, [5–10]
Loss0–2Oct 2011Lagos Open, Nigeria25,000Carpet (i) Elina Svitolina Melanie Klaffner
Ágnes Szatmári
0–6, 7–6, [5–10]
Loss0–3Apr 2013ITF Mamaia, Romania25,000Clay Tadeja Majerič Elena Bogdan
Raluca Olaru
6–7(4), 3–6
Loss0–4Sep 2012ITF La Marsa, Tunisia25,000Clay Laura Pigossi Réka Luca Jani
Eugeniya Pashkova
3–6, 6–4, [5–10]
Win1–4May 2012ITF Caserta, Italy25,000Clay Renata Voráčová Elena Bogdan
Cristina Dinu
6–4, 7–6(3)
Win2–4Feb 2015ITF São Paulo, Brazil25,000Clay Andreea Mitu Tatiana Búa
Paula Cristina Gonçalves
6–2, 7–5
Win3–4Jul 2015Contrexéville Open, France100,000Clay Oksana Kalashnikova Irina Ramialison
Constance Sibille
2–6, 6–3, [10–6]
Loss3–5Mar 2018Zhuhai Open, China60,000Hard Nao Hibino Anna Blinkova
Lesley Kerkhove
5–7, 4–6
Loss3–6Mar 2018Pingshan Open, China60,000Hard Wang Xinyu Anna Kalinskaya
Viktória Kužmová
4–6, 6–1, [7–10]
Loss3–7Jun 2018Hódmezővásárhely Ladies Open, Hungary60,000Clay Nina Stojanović Réka Luca Jani
Nadia Podoroska
4–6, 4–6
Win4–7Mar 2019ITF Campinas, Brazil25,000Clay Laura Pigossi Carolina Alves
Gabriela Cé
6–3, 6–2

Other finals

Singles

OutcomeYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScore
Gold2015Games of the Small States of EuropeClay Kathinka von Deichmann6–0, 6–1

Record against other players

Top 10 wins

Season2016...202020212022Total
Wins11013
#PlayerRankEventSurfaceRdScore
2016
1. Roberta VinciNo. 8Madrid Open, SpainClay1R6–4, 6–2
2020
2. Belinda BencicNo. 10Italian Open, ItalyClay2R6–3, 6–1
2022
3. Karolína PlíškováNo. 8Indian Wells Open, U.S.Hard2R2–6, 7–5, 6–4

Notes

References

External links