134 Facts About Tsvetana Pironkova

Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova is a Bulgarian former tennis player.

Tsvetana Pironkova started playing tennis at the age of four on being introduced to the sport by her father.

Tsvetana Pironkova made her WTA Tour debut at the Istanbul Cup in 2005, and achieved moderate success early in her career.

Tsvetana Pironkova garnered wide recognition for her performance, and after her semifinal finish reached her highest singles ranking at No 31 in September 2010.

Tsvetana Pironkova followed it up with a quarterfinal run at the event the following year.

Tsvetana Pironkova won her first title on WTA Tour at the 2014 Sydney International, defeating three top-10 ranked players in a row.

Tsvetana Pironkova defeated then world No 2, Agnieszka Radwanska, in the fourth round of the 2016 French Open, reaching her first quarterfinal at a Grand Slam tournament other than Wimbledon.

Tsvetana Pironkova has a total of twelve wins over top-10 ranked players and, at a point of time, held one of the longest streak of consecutive Grand Slam appearances at 47.

Tsvetana Pironkova was born 1987 to athlete parents; her father Kiril Enchev Pironkov is a former canoeing champion, and her mother Radosveta Chinkova Nikolova is a former swimmer.

Tsvetana Pironkova has one brother, Encho, and one sister, Elisaveta.

Tsvetana Pironkova is the granddaughter of a prominent Bulgarian contemporary artist, Encho Pironkov.

Tsvetana Pironkova started playing tennis at the age of four, when her father introduced her to the game.

Tsvetana Pironkova married her long-time boyfriend Mihail Mirchev, a former Bulgarian football player, in July 2016.

Tsvetana Pironkova won the 2001 Atlantic Cup International Junior Tournament held in Bulgaria, and her career-high in juniors was world No 227 in March 2002.

Tsvetana Pironkova played her first professional match 2002 at a tournament in Bucharest at the age of 14.

Tsvetana Pironkova won three matches in the qualifying draw, before reaching the final in the main draw, where she lost to Monica Niculescu.

In September 2002, Tsvetana Pironkova played in Volos, Greece, where she lost only one set playing through the qualifying and main draw.

Tsvetana Pironkova defeated Tina Schmassmann of Switzerland to win her first ITF event.

In 2003, Tsvetana Pironkova won three singles titles, one in Orestiada and two in Istanbul.

Tsvetana Pironkova garnered widespread media attention by defeating Venus again in the first round of the 2006 Australian Open.

On 16 November 2006, Tsvetana Pironkova reached a career-high singles ranking of 62.

In 2007, Tsvetana Pironkova lost in the first rounds of the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon.

Tsvetana Pironkova played in qualifying rounds for the US Open and beat Zuzana Ondraskova, Marta Domachowska, and Stephanie Dubois to reach the main draw, and drew Olga Puchkova in the first round, and won that match to set up a clash with world No 1, Justine Henin, in the second round.

Tsvetana Pironkova made a solid start to 2008, winning two qualifying matches at the Tier-II event in Sydney before bowing out in three sets to Dominika Cibulkova.

Tsvetana Pironkova reached the second round of the Australian Open, losing to second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets.

Tsvetana Pironkova caused another upset at the Italian Open, when as a qualifier, she beat top seed and world No 3, Ana Ivanovic, in the second round for the biggest victory of her career at that time.

Tsvetana Pironkova ended the year ranked No 46 in the world, marking her first ever top-50 season.

Tsvetana Pironkova kicked off her 2009 season playing at Brisbane where she lost in second round to Sara Errani, she made the quarterfinals at the Hobart International before she lost to Virginie Razzano.

At the Australian Open, Tsvetana Pironkova defeated Karolina Sprem in the first round before losing to 16th seeded Marion Bartoli.

Tsvetana Pironkova won four matches at Stuttgart but lost to Agnieszka Radwanska in the round of 16.

Tsvetana Pironkova lost in the first rounds of the French Open and Wimbledon, both times to Jill Craybas in straight sets.

Tsvetana Pironkova played her last tournament of the season at Kremlin Cup where she came up with better performance reaching the quarterfinals defeating top seeded Vera Zvonareva in round of 16 before losing out to Alona Bondarenko.

Tsvetana Pironkova reached two ITF quarterfinals at Sofia and Athens.

Tsvetana Pironkova bowed out of the Australian Open with a straight sets second-round loss to the world No 28, Shahar Pe'er, after having beaten Galina Voskoboeva in the opening match.

Tsvetana Pironkova made her first ITF Circuit appearance of the year in the Fort Walton Beach tournament, where she reached the semifinals.

Tsvetana Pironkova then lost to the defending and eventual champion Alexandra Dulgheru.

At the French Open, Tsvetana Pironkova lost to four-time tournament champion Justine Henin, in the first round.

Tsvetana Pironkova beat five-time champion Venus Williams before she lost her first Grand Slam semifinal to Vera Zvonareva, in three sets.

En route to her maiden semifinal appearance, Tsvetana Pironkova beat three Russian players Anna Lapushchenkova, Vera Dushevina, and Regina Kulikova, all in straight sets in the first three rounds and then upstaged Frenchwoman and 11th seed Marion Bartoli in the fourth round before taking out Williams.

Tsvetana Pironkova reached the second round in Palermo, beating Italian Anna Floris, before losing to Jill Craybas.

At the US Open, Tsvetana Pironkova lost in the second round to qualifier Mandy Minella.

Tsvetana Pironkova fell in the second round at the Indian Wells Open to 16th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in a tight three setter.

Tsvetana Pironkova was seeded 32nd at the French Open and beat Casey Dellacqua in the first round, but yet again failed to cross the second-round hurdle as she lost to Gisela Dulko in straight sets.

Tsvetana Pironkova teamed with Chanelle Scheepers in the doubles tournament, but they were defeated by Arantxa Parra Santonja and Nuria Llagostera Vives.

At the Pan Pacific Open, Tsvetana Pironkova beat Gisela Dulko in the first round, but then lost to Vera Zvonareva in the second.

Tsvetana Pironkova then lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round and ended the year at No 46.

Tsvetana Pironkova began 2012 representing Bulgaria at the Hopman Cup losing to Petra Kvitova.

At the Australian Open, Tsvetana Pironkova defeated Sania Mirza in the first round, before losing to Galina Voskoboeva in the second.

Tsvetana Pironkova again represented Bulgaria in the Fed Cup, alongside Elitsa Kostova, Dia Evtimova, and Isabella Shinikova.

Tsvetana Pironkova competed in the Qatar Open, recording a victory over Angelique Kerber in the second round, but losing to Marion Bartoli in the third.

Tsvetana Pironkova reached the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open, losing to Roberta Vinci.

At the Brussels Open, Tsvetana Pironkova reached the quarterfinals, falling to Kaia Kanepi.

Tsvetana Pironkova then reached the second round of the French Open, losing to former champion Francesca Schiavone.

At the Eastbourne International, Tsvetana Pironkova reached her second quarterfinal of the season after defeating No 1 seeded Agnieszka Radwanska and qualifier Stephanie Dubois, losing to eventual champion Tamira Paszek.

At Wimbledon, Tsvetana Pironkova lost a second-round match to Maria Sharapova, in three sets.

Tsvetana Pironkova reached the quarterfinals of the Swedish Open, losing to Polona Hercog.

At the US Open, Tsvetana Pironkova reached the third round of a Grand Slam besides Wimbledon for the first time.

Tsvetana Pironkova defeated Camila Giorgi in the first round, Ayumi Morita in the second, and Silvia Soler Espinosa in the third.

Tsvetana Pironkova reached the quarterfinals of the 2013 Hobart International, where she lost to the defending champion Mona Barthel.

Tsvetana Pironkova had beaten Irina-Camelia Begu and third seed Klara Koukalova in the round of 16.

Tsvetana Pironkova was eliminated in the first round of the Australian Open by Romina Oprandi.

Tsvetana Pironkova later helped Bulgaria win the tie against Luxembourg with a victory over veteran Anne Kremer.

Tsvetana Pironkova then lost a series of first-round matches throughout the remainder of the clay-court season, culminating with an early exit at the French Open.

On her preferred surface of grass, Tsvetana Pironkova snapped her losing streak at the Birmingham Classic, defeating Lauren Davis in the opening round.

Tsvetana Pironkova then lost to Carla Suarez Navarro in three sets.

Tsvetana Pironkova came close to causing another huge upset at the tournament when she was up a set against fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, but eventually lost in three sets to the former finalist.

Tsvetana Pironkova started the 2014 season ranked outside the top 100, at No 107.

Tsvetana Pironkova made it through the qualifying draw at the Sydney International.

Tsvetana Pironkova then defeated ninth ranked Angelique Kerber to win her first WTA Tour title.

Tsvetana Pironkova was the first qualifier to win a Premier event in three and a half years, moved up 50 places in the world rankings, and was the first Bulgarian to win a WTA event in over ten years.

Tsvetana Pironkova's run in Australia ended at the Australian Open with a second-round straight-set loss to Samantha Stosur, managing to win just two games.

Tsvetana Pironkova beat veteran world No 14, Roberta Vinci, in the first round, losing just six games.

However, Tsvetana Pironkova's good run ended in the second round, where she lost to youngster No 55, Annika Beck, after winning the first set on a tie-break.

Tsvetana Pironkova lost in straight sets to No 38, Madison Keys, in the first round.

Tsvetana Pironkova then played in Miami, where she beat Galina Voskoboeva and 25th seed Sorana Cirstea without losing a set, but then lost in the third round to fifth seed Angelique Kerber, who went on to reach the quarterfinals.

Tsvetana Pironkova moved five places up the rankings after Miami, to No 42.

Tsvetana Pironkova then played in the qualifying for the indoor clay court event in Stuttgart, where she was the top-ranked player at No 40.

Tsvetana Pironkova then played in Rome, where she lost to qualifier Petra Cetkovska in round one, despite easily winning the first set.

Tsvetana Pironkova then faced a major test in round two, in what was her fifth loss out of five matches, despite being a break up in the first set, to seventh seed Maria Sharapova, who went on to win the tournament.

Tsvetana Pironkova then played Wimbledon, where she faced No 57, Varvara Lepchenko, in the first round and lost in a match that was played over two days.

In what was the second match between the two and second loss for Tsvetana Pironkova, she lost to No 72 Stefanie Vogele in the first round.

Tsvetana Pironkova played in Cincinnati, where she lost in the first round to Carla Suarez Navarro.

Tsvetana Pironkova reached her second quarterfinal of the month in Moscow, where she fell to eventual finalist Irina-Camelia Begu.

Tsvetana Pironkova was awarded a wildcard for the final tournament of the year, the Tournament of Champions.

Tsvetana Pironkova lost all her matches in the round-robin stage and finished fourth in her group.

Tsvetana Pironkova started the year ranked No 50 and began the season at the Brisbane International where she lost her first-round match to seventh seed Suarez Navarro.

At the time, Tsvetana Pironkova was ranked No 67 and lost the points from her title.

Tsvetana Pironkova beat eighth seed Flavia Pennetta in the first round in straight sets, then overcoming unseeded Madison Keys and Zahlavova-Strycova both in straight sets, but then lost in the semifinals to second seed and eventual champion Petra Kvitova in a repeat of the 2014 semifinals.

Tsvetana Pironkova reached the third round of the Dubai Championships, where she beat Klara Koukalova and Peng Shuai, before losing to top seed world No 2, Simona Halep, in straight sets.

Tsvetana Pironkova reached second rounds in both Prague and Madrid, losing to top seeds Karolina Pliskova and Lucie Safarova, respectively.

At the French Open, Tsvetana Pironkova reached the third round, where she upset 25th seed Barbora Strycova and then took out another Czech player Denisa Allertova, both in straight sets, before losing to Sloane Stephens.

Tsvetana Pironkova started her grass-court season at the Birmingham Classic, where in the first round she beat Brit Katie Stan, but came short against German fourth seed Angelique Kerber, losing in three sets.

Tsvetana Pironkova then reached her second Premier-level event quarterfinal in 2015 at the Eastbourne International, where she beat Marina Erakovic in the first round, 16th seed Samantha Stosur, and former Grand Slam finalist Dominika Cibulkova, before being beaten by eventual finalist Agnieszka Radwanska.

Tsvetana Pironkova then entered the Istanbul Cup as the eighth seed and reached her third quarterfinal of the year.

Tsvetana Pironkova beat Margarita Gasparyan and Kurumi Nara, both in three sets, but lost to Urszula Radwanska in three sets in a tie-break in the final set.

Tsvetana Pironkova started the 2016 season with a loss to Samantha Crawford in Brisbane qualifying.

Tsvetana Pironkova played the Sydney International, where she received a wildcard to the main draw and reached the second round, beating Lesia Tsurenko before losing to No 8 seed, Belinda Bencic.

Tsvetana Pironkova lost to eventual finalist Barbora Strycova in the first round.

Tsvetana Pironkova's run at Roland Garros ended with a loss to Samantha Stosur.

Tsvetana Pironkova passed the qualifying event of Birmingham, and then, in the second round, the Bulgarian beat No 26, Irina-Camelia Begu to reach the quarterfinals, where she was eliminated by Barbora Strycova.

Tsvetana Pironkova then exited the Wimbledon Championships in the first round, losing to seventh seed Belinda Bencic in two tight sets.

Tsvetana Pironkova lost in the opening round to Laura Siegemund, and next played the Cincinnati Open making her way to the second qualifying round by beating Kateryna Kozlova.

Tsvetana Pironkova then lost to Annika Beck, but was allowed into the main draw as a lucky loser.

Tsvetana Pironkova faced Daria Kasatkina overcoming her in straight sets.

Tsvetana Pironkova reached the second round of the US Open but was beaten by Johanna Konta in three sets.

Tsvetana Pironkova then lost in the first round of both tournaments that she played in after the US Open, and finished the year ranked 64th.

Tsvetana Pironkova next played in the qualifying rounds at the Sydney International.

Tsvetana Pironkova defeated Patricia Maria Tig in the first round, only to retire in her next match against Maria Sakkari.

Tsvetana Pironkova entered the Australian Open as the 64th ranked player, and lost in three sets against the third seeded Agnieszka Radwanska as her first round opponent.

Tsvetana Pironkova breezed through the first two rounds with straight set wins over Vania King and Evgeniya Rodina.

Tsvetana Pironkova was en route for another big upset having led with one set in the second round encounter against one of the tournament favourites Elina Svitolina, who was the No 1 ranked player in the Race to Singapore standings, but eventually lost in three sets.

Tsvetana Pironkova began her grass-court season with a straight-set victory over tournament qualifier Tereza Martincova in the first round of the Nottingham Open.

Tsvetana Pironkova entered the qualifying round of the Eastbourne International, where she comfortably got better of the tenth seed Marketa Vondrousova in the opening round.

Tsvetana Pironkova failed to reach the main draw as she suffered a tough three-set defeat in the final qualifying round, losing out to the third seed Lara Arruabarrena.

Tsvetana Pironkova defeated Monica Niculescu in straight sets in her first match in the main draw, and then faced second seed Simona Halep in the next round.

Tsvetana Pironkova entered the Wimbledon Championships, drawing former world No 5, Sara Errani, in the first round, a match that she eventually won comfortably in just over an hour, with the loss of just five games.

Tsvetana Pironkova was dubbed as the darkhorse and one of the most dangerous unseeded players in draw by WTA insider David Kane prior to the tournament, and her potential second round encounter with former world No 1, Caroline Wozniacki, was variously dubbed one of the most anticipated matches in the early rounds.

Tsvetana Pironkova was sidelined from the US Open Series with a persistent shoulder injury.

Tsvetana Pironkova was unable to participate at the US Open, and it marked the end of her run of 47 Grand Slam appearances in a row.

Tsvetana Pironkova missed the rest of the 2017 season and finished No 162 in the world.

Tsvetana Pironkova returned to action at the 2020 US Open, playing her first tournament since the 2017 Wimbledon Championships using a protected ranking of No 123 that she applied for prior to the birth of her son.

Tsvetana Pironkova began her campaign with a straight-sets win over world No 120, Ludmilla Samsonova in the first round.

Tsvetana Pironkova then followed it up with wins over tenth seed Garbine Muguruza and 18th seed Donna Vekic in the second and third rounds, respectively.

Tsvetana Pironkova was defeated by Barbora Krejcikova in the third round.

Tsvetana Pironkova prefers fast surfaces, with grass being her favourite.

Tsvetana Pironkova is noted for her powerful backhand, with the down-the-line backhand being one of her best shots.

Tsvetana Pironkova's forehand has been variously described as "bizarre" and "clever", owing to the unusual amount of spin or slice on the shot.

Tsvetana Pironkova is known for her squash-shot forehand and for incorporating flat and slice shots into rallies from her forehand and backhand sides.

Tsvetana Pironkova makes her opponents move around the court by making use of deep cross-court groundstrokes to keep them off balance.

Tsvetana Pironkova admittedly prefers shorter rallies, and looks for winners early in the point which at times leads to unforced errors.

Tsvetana Pironkova told the freelance tennis writer Matt Trollope that she played mostly on clay courts early in her career and that the aggressive style developed "pretty naturally" during her formative years.

Tsvetana Pironkova has been praised for her fast movement on the tennis court by such commentators as Briggs, who was impressed by her "nimble" footwork at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships.

Tsvetana Pironkova thought of her movement on the grass courts as her best among all the surfaces.

Tsvetana Pironkova ascribed the optimum ball bounce on the grass as it is "probably just perfect for [my] timing".