31 Facts About Claire Curran

Claire Curran was born on 10 March 1978 and is a former professional tennis player from Northern Ireland.

Claire Curran represented both Great Britain and Ireland in the Fed Cup during her career.

At UC Berkeley, Claire Curran was an Academic All-American and won the NCAA Championship.

Claire 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.

Claire Curran's overall Fed Cup record has the highest win percentage of any British or Irish player who has played in over 25 matches.

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

Claire Curran was 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, Claire Curran moved to Dublin.

Claire Curran travelled on the Junior Circuit, playing at junior Wimbledon in 1996.

Claire Curran 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.

Claire Curran played her first adult match playing doubles for Ireland in the 1993 Fed Cup where she won her two doubles rubbers against competitors from Norway and Israel.

Claire Curran played a more prominent role this year however by competing in both singles and doubles, winning singles matches against players from Malta, Kenya and Cyprus and winning two doubles rubbers partnering Lesley O'Halloran.

Claire Curran 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.

The one ITF event Claire 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.

Claire Curran went one step further in the doubles however when she and Esther Knox qualified before losing in round one.

In 2000, Claire Curran teamed up with Australian Amy Jensen to reach the semifinals of a $10k event in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Claire Curran did not compete on the ITF or WTA Tour again this season.

Claire 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.

In January 2002, Claire Curran reached the finals of a $10k in Hull partnering fellow Irishwoman, Elsa O'Riain.

Claire Curran did not compete much more this year due to problems with injuries, having to retire from a number of matches.

Claire Curran teamed with O'Riain for her first four tournaments of the year, resulting in one title and three losses in the semifinals.

Claire Curran then went on to reach the semifinals in Dublin and win the event in London, both partnering O'Riain.

Claire Curran teamed with Ipek Senoglu for her next five tournaments and took one title, reached two semifinals and two quarterfinals.

Claire Curran reached the quarterfinals of a $50k in Shenzhen with Tzipi Obziler in her final tournament of the year.

Claire 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 February 2005, Claire Curran partnered Kim Kilsdonk and the duo lost in the first round of the Tier-II event in Paris, the Open Gaz de France.

Claire Curran then partnered Kilsdonk to reach the final at the $50k in Petange before reaching three successive WTA quarterfinals: the Budapest Grand Prix, the Nordic Light Open and the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic.

Claire Curran ended the year with a doubles world-ranking of 107.

Claire Curran then competed in Wimbledon with Jamea Jackson but was again beaten in the first round.

Claire Curran did however reach the second round of the mixed doubles with James Auckland.

In February 2007, Claire Curran teamed with Anne Keothavong to win the title in London and in March, she and Melanie South were runners-up in another $25k, this one in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.