Eleni Daniilidou (; born September 19, 1982) is a
Greek tennis player born in
Chania, on the island of
Crete.
As of 2011, she has won five WTA singles titles and two doubles titles. In
2003, she reached the
Australian Open mixed doubles final. Her highest singles ranking has been 14th. By beating Justine Henin in the first round of the 2005 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first player to defeat a reigning French Open champion in the first round of Wimbledon.
Career Summary
Daniilidou begun her career in 1996, when she made the final in her first ITF event, having barely turned 14. She achieved her first ranking in 1998, finishing it as No. 294. In 2001, she broke into the top 100 following a third round appearance at the
U.S. Open.
2002 was the best year of Daniilidou's career, finishing it at No. 22 in the world. She won her first WTA Tour singles title at the
Ordina Open, beating Mauresmo, Dementieva and Henin; and reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time at
Wimbledon. At the end of the year, she reached her second WTA final at the
Brasil Open, beating
Monica Seles en-route, but lost to
Anastasia Myskina.
Daniilidou started 2003 by winning her second WTA title at the
ASB Classic and reaching the fourth round of the
Australian Open, results which saw her break into the top 20 for the first time, reaching a career high of No. 14 after the
Qatar Telecom German Open. She also reached the semifinals of the
Open Gaz de France and the
DFS...
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