Kirsten "Flipper" Flipkens is a Belgian professional tennis player.
68 Facts About Kirsten Flipkens
2.
Kirsten Flipkens has a career-high ranking of No 13 by the Women's Tennis Association.
3.
Kirsten Flipkens won 13 singles and two doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit, and one singles title on the WTA Challenger Tour.
4.
Kirsten Flipkens had success as a junior, winning the girls' doubles title at the 2002 US Open and the singles titles at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships and the 2003 US Open.
5.
In 2016, Kirsten Flipkens entered her first Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and made it to the third round in singles.
6.
Kirsten Flipkens is the Belgian player who has played the most years in Fed Cup.
7.
Kirsten Flipkens was born on 10 January 1986 in Geel, Belgium as the only child of a car dealer and a housewife.
8.
Kirsten Flipkens played tennis, football, volleyball and basketball before eventually deciding to pursue a career as a tennis player at the age of 12.
9.
Kirsten Flipkens then went to the tennis academy in Wilrijk where she became friends with Kim Clijsters.
10.
In 2001, Kirsten Flipkens won the bronze medal at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Murcia, Spain.
11.
Kirsten Flipkens finished 2003 as world No 1 of the junior rankings in both singles and doubles.
12.
Kirsten Flipkens played her first professional match on the ITF Women's Circuit in 2001 at the age of 15.
13.
Kirsten Flipkens made her return at $50k event in Saint-Gaudens in May 2005, but lost in her first match.
14.
In 2006, Kirsten Flipkens made big steps further, reaching the main draws at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
15.
Kirsten Flipkens partnered with British No 2, Andy Murray, in mixed doubles at Wimbledon.
16.
Kirsten Flipkens started 2007 season with modest results, including only first rounds at the Australian Open and Diamond Games.
17.
Kirsten Flipkens reached four finals, winning three of them, inclung a $75k title at the Open Feminin de Marseille.
18.
Kirsten Flipkens started the year as world No 287, but climbed till the end to No 104.
19.
Kirsten Flipkens played at the Australian Open, where she recorded her first win there, defeating Rossana de los Rios, before she was knocked out the tournament by top seed Jelena Jankovic.
20.
Kirsten Flipkens then reached another Grand Slam second round at the French Open.
21.
Kirsten Flipkens started the grass-court season with a loss at the Rosmalen Championships, but then reached her first Major third round at Wimbledon.
22.
Kirsten Flipkens reached the top 100 for the first time in her career at the end of 2009.
23.
Kirsten Flipkens first reached the quarterfinals at the Hobart International, where she went through qualifying.
24.
Kirsten Flipkens had been troubled by a recurring wrist injury and underwent surgery at the end of the 2010 season.
25.
Kirsten Flipkens struggled at the beginning of 2011, starting with a first-round loss at the Australian Open and did not win one singles match on the WTA Tour in main draws until May She then reached the semifinals at the Morocco Open in Fes, during the clay-court season.
26.
Kirsten Flipkens made two $25k level finals but failed to win the title in both of them.
27.
Kirsten Flipkens returned to the WTA Tour at the Rosmalen Championships, where she beat Samantha Stosur in the first round and later reached semifinals, before she lost to Nadia Petrova.
28.
Kirsten Flipkens partnered with Kim Clijsters in doubles, but they were beaten in the first round.
29.
Kirsten Flipkens then lost in three sets to Julia Gorges in the semifinals.
30.
Kirsten Flipkens started her 2013 season really well, reaching quarterfinal at the ASB Classic, where she lost from her compatriot Yanina Wickmayer.
31.
Kirsten Flipkens then proceeded to reach the quarterfinal of the US Indoor Championships, losing there to Magdalena Rybarikova.
32.
Kirsten Flipkens started the French Open as 21st seed, and beat Flavia Pennetta in the first round before losing to 2010-champion Francesca Schiavone.
33.
Kirsten Flipkens played in mixed doubles, partnering Colin Fleming, but they lost in the first round.
34.
Kirsten Flipkens played at Wimbledon as the 20th seed having not even played in the qualifiers the previous year due to her low ranking.
35.
Kirsten Flipkens exceeded expectations by advancing to the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career, beating Flavia Pennetta in the fourth round and former champion Petra Kvitova with in the quarterfinals.
36.
Kirsten Flipkens then beat Laura Robson in the Australian Open, where she ended up reaching the second round in which she was defeated by Casey Dellacqua.
37.
Kirsten Flipkens withdrew from the second round in doubles, with Dominika Cibulkova, after she had fainted on court during training and doctors at the site had sent her to the hospital where she would spent the night on intensive care since heart problems were feared.
38.
Kirsten Flipkens started grass-court season with the quarterfinals of the Birmingham Classic, where she was beaten by Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova.
39.
Kirsten Flipkens finished the season as No 46 in the world.
40.
Kirsten Flipkens started 2015 with a knee injury and only won one match during the Australian season.
41.
Kirsten Flipkens reached her first quarterfinal of the season at the Katowice Open, where she lost to compatriot Alison Van Uytvanck.
42.
Kirsten Flipkens proceeded to play the final of the $100k Vancouver Open, where she lost to Johanna Konta.
43.
Kirsten Flipkens officially finished the year 2015 as No 93 in the world.
44.
Kirsten Flipkens then reached the second round of the Australian Open, where she lost to third seed Garbine Muguruza.
45.
At the St Petersburg Ladies' Trophy and Qatar Ladies Open, Kirsten Flipkens lost in the first round.
46.
At the Mallorca Open, Kirsten Flipkens stunned versus freshly crowned French Open champion and world No 2, Garbine Muguruza, beating her in the first round in straight sets.
47.
Kirsten Flipkens proceeded to reach semifinals but was beaten by the eventual tournament winner, Caroline Garcia.
48.
Kirsten Flipkens reached the semifinals in doubles, partnered with Ana Ivanovic.
49.
At Wimbledon, Kirsten Flipkens reached the second round, in which she lost to ninth seed Madison Keys.
50.
Kirsten Flipkens entered her first Olympics ever in both singles and doubles.
51.
Kirsten Flipkens then travelled to the United States and played at the Cincinnati Open, but failed to qualify.
52.
Kirsten Flipkens was one of the players to receive the Fed Cup Commitment Award at the end of 2016 for being the Belgian player who's represented her country in the Fed Cup the longest: a total of 13 years in 2016.
53.
Kirsten Flipkens was nominated at the WTA Awards in the category of Shot of the Year for a spectacular behind-the-back winner she scored against Kristyna Pliskova in Seoul.
54.
Kirsten Flipkens reached the third round of the Miami Open, being knocked out of the tournament by Dominika Cibulkova.
55.
Kirsten Flipkens then reached quarterfinals of the French Open, partnering with Francesca Schiavone.
56.
Things get even better during the grass-court season, when Kirsten Flipkens won her second career-doubles title, winning the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships alongside Cibulkova.
57.
Kirsten Flipkens then partnered with Sania Mirza at Wimbledon, where they got to the third round.
58.
Kirsten Flipkens announced that Wimbledon would be her last ever singles tournament.
59.
Kirsten Flipkens lost in the second round to Simona Halep in straight sets, after leading by a break in both sets.
60.
In 2016, Kirsten Flipkens was part of the Belgian Fed Cup team against Serbia as the two nations were competing for a spot in World Group II.
61.
At the Hungarian Ladies Open, Kirsten Flipkens was defeated in the first round by qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
62.
Kirsten Flipkens describes herself as "an all court player" whose biggest strength is her "serve and all round game".
63.
Kirsten Flipkens makes up for her short height and relative lack of physical strength with her good forehand and serve, her quickness and agility, and her ability to play almost every shot.
64.
Kirsten Flipkens's trademark shot is backhand slice and she often plays serve-and-volley.
65.
In October 2013, it was announced that Kirsten Flipkens would stop working with Maxime Braeckman due to Braeckman wanting to stay more at home with his family.
66.
In May 2014, Kirsten Flipkens announced that she would begin to work with ex-tennis player Xavier Malisse.
67.
Kirsten Flipkens used to wear Adidas clothing, but as of 2017 she launched her own clothing line and now plays in clothes she's designed herself.
68.
Kirsten Flipkens designed the official outfits of the Belgian Fed Cup team.