Jane O'Donoghue

British tennis player

Jane O’Donoghue
Country (sports) United Kingdom
 England
ResidenceAshton-in-Makerfield, Greater Manchester
Born (1983-03-29) 29 March 1983 (age 41)
Higher End, Wigan, Greater Manchester
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Turned pro2000
Retired2007
PlaysRight-handed
Prize money$177,156
Singles
Career record153–174
Career titles3 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 189 (26 July 2004)
Grand Slam singles results
Wimbledon2R (2004, 2005)
Doubles
Career record93–95
Career titles6 ITF
Highest ranking184 (22 August 2005)
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon2R (2005)

Jane O'Donoghue (born 29 March 1983) is a retired British tennis player who turned professional in 2000 and played her last match on the pro circuit in 2007. During her career, she won three ITF singles and six ITF doubles titles. In July 2006, she reached a career-high singles ranking of 189, and over one year later, she reached 184 in the world in the doubles rankings. O'Donoghue reached the second round of her Grand Slam, Wimbledon in 2004 and 2005.[1][2] After retirement, she began working for the LTA as a coach.

Personal life

O'Donoghue was born in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester in 1983. Her father John is a PE teacher, her mother works in a bank, and her two older brothers, Paul and Mark, both studied at the University of Oxford. She has 10 GCSEs all of which are grade A. She began playing tennis at age 9 and turned professional at the age of 17.[3][4]

Career

Junior (1997–2001)

O'Donoghue competed on the junior ITF Circuit from July 1997 until June 2001. She won one singles title over the course of her four-year career, at the 2001 Japan Open Junior Championships, and she was a semifinalist four times and a quarterfinalist on eight occasions. She reached the second round of Wimbledon twice in 2000 and 2001 but her greatest junior Grand Slam success came in 2001 when Jane reached the third round of the Australian Open. Her junior career ended with a singles win–loss record of 40–32 and a career-high ranking of world No. 28 (achieved 2 January 2001).[5]

O'Donoghue won her only junior doubles title in August 1999 partnering Elena Baltacha. She also reached three more finals, three semifinals and seven quarterfinals

1998–2001

O'Donoghue played her first match on the adult ITF Circuit in September 1998 in the qualifying draw for the $10k in Sunderland. She finished the season without a world ranking.[6]

She attempted to qualify for three $10k events in 1999 but did not win a match. She again finished the season without a world ranking.[6]

O'Donoghue started her 2000 season with her first main draw ITF appearance courtesy of a wildcard into the $10k event in Hatfield. In August, O'Donoghue reached the final of a $10k. She finished the year with a ranking of world no. 564.[6] Her year-end ranking at the end of 2001 was world No. 471.[6]

2002

In January 2002, O'Donoghue won her first professional title in Bournemouth Two weeks later, she won the second ITF title of her career in Hatfield. She received a wildcard into the main draw of Wimbledon where she lost to the top seed Venus Williams in the first round. In the second half of the year, she reached two quarterfinals of $25k tournaments and finished the year with a ranking of world No. 295.[6]

2003

In May, she reached the final of the $10k event in Edinburgh. She was given a wildcard into Wimbledon and was beaten in round one by Marlene Weingärtner. Her season-ending ranking was world No. 235.[6]

2004

At Wimbledon, O'Donoghue beat Lindsay Lee-Waters in the first round to give her the first Grand Slam main-draw victory of her career.[1] She finished the year as world No. 231.[6]

2005 to 2007

In 2005, she again was given a wildcard into Wimbledon, losing to Nathalie Dechy in the second round.[2] Her year-end ranking in 2005 was world No. 250.[6], and her season-ending ranking in 2006 was world No. 336.[6] She retired from professional tennis in April 2007.[6]

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 6 (3–3)

Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Finals by surface
Hard (1–2)
Clay (2–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 0–1 7 Aug 2000 ITF Bath, Great Britain 10,000 Hard Germany Susi Bensch 4–6, 7–6(7–5), 2–6
Winner 1–1 29 Apr 2002 ITF Bournemouth, Great Britain 10,000 Clay Republic of Ireland Yvonne Doyle 6–3, 6–4
Winner 2–1 14 May 2002 ITF Hatfield, Great Britain 10,000 Clay Russia Ekaterina Sysoeva 7–6(7–6), 6–1
Runner-up 2–2 5 May 2003 ITF Edinburgh, Great Britain 10,000 Clay Netherlands Elise Tamaëla 3–6, 3–6
Runner-up 2–3 14 Aug 2006 ITF Wrexham, Great Britain 10,000 Hard France Irena Pavlovic 3–6, 7–6(7–6), 6–7(5–7)
Winner 3–3 7 Mar 2007 ITF Jersey, Great Britain 10,000 Hard Switzerland Gaëlle Widmer 4–6, 6–2, 6–4

Doubles: 11 (6–5)

Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Finals by surface
Hard (4–3)
Clay (1–1)
Grass (1–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partnering Opponents Score
Winner 1–0 29 Apr 2002 ITF Bournemouth, Great Britain 10,000 Clay United Kingdom Anna Hawkins Turkey İpek Şenoğlu
Greece Christina Zachariadou
6–0, 6–0
Runner-up 1–1 14 May 2002 ITF Hatfield, Great Britain 10,000 Clay United Kingdom Anna Hawkins Russia Irina Bulykina
Russia Ekaterina Sysoeva
6–4, 4–6, 6–7(8–10)
Runner-up 1–2 25 Nov 2002 ITF Mount Gambier, Australia 25,000 Hard South Africa Chanelle Scheepers Australia Daniella Dominikovic
Australia Evie Dominikovic
w/o
Winner 2–2 12 Oct 2004 ITF Sunderland, Great Britain 25,000 Hard United Kingdom Elena Baltacha Slovakia Eva Fislová
Slovakia Stanislava Hrozenská
6–1, 4–6, 6–2
Winner 3–2 18 Jan 2005 ITF Tipton, Great Britain 10,000 Hard South Africa Surina De Beer United Kingdom Katie O'Brien
United Kingdom Melanie South
6–4, 6–2
Runner-up 3–3 10 Jul 2006 ITF Felixstowe, Great Britain 25,000 Grass United Kingdom Sarah Borwell Australia Trudi Musgrave
Australia Christina Wheeler
2–6, 4–6
Winner 4–3 17 Jul 2006 ITF Frinton, Great Britain 10,000 Grass United Kingdom Georgie Gent United Kingdom Danielle Brown
Serbia Ana Četnik
6–4, 4–6, 6–2
Runner-up 4–4 7 Aug 2006 ITF Wrexham, Great Britain 10,000 Hard United Kingdom Karen Paterson United Kingdom Lindsay Cox
United Kingdom Anna Hawkins
3–6, 3–6
Winner 5–4 22 Aug 2006 ITF Cumberland, Great Britain 10,000 Hard United Kingdom Karen Paterson United Kingdom Laura Peterzen
United Kingdom Emily Webley-Smith
6–3, 6–3
Runner-up 5–5 28 Aug 2006 ITF Mollerusa, Spain 10,000 Hard United Kingdom Karen Paterson Sweden Michaela Johansson
Sweden Nadja Roma
3–6, 6–2, 3–6
Winner 6–5 14 Mar 2007 ITF Sunderland, Great Britain 10,000 Hard United Kingdom Anna Hawkins Germany Ria Dörnemann
United Kingdom Emily Webley-Smith
6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–3

Grand Slam performance timeline

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.
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Career W–L
Australian Open A A A A A A A A 0–0
French Open A A A A A A A A 0–0
Wimbledon LQ LQ 1R 1R 2R 2R LQ A 2–4
US Open A A A LQ LQ LQ A A 0–0
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 2–4
Year-end ranking 564 474 295 235 231 250 336 656

References

  1. ^ a b Harris, Nick (23 June 2004). "Baltacha win breathes life into British game". The Independent. London. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  2. ^ a b Elworthy, Scarlett (23 June 2005). "O'Donoghue upbeat for Dechy clash". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  3. ^ "Borough Life Summer 2006: Jane eyes centre court glory". wigan.gov.uk.
  4. ^ Craig, Olga (23 June 2002). "Venus versus Jane". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  5. ^ "Jane O'Donoghue". itftennis.com. International Tennis Federation.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Activity: O'DONOGHUE, Jane (GBR)". itftennis.com.