Karen Cross (born 19 February 1974) is a left-handed British former tennis player who competed at eight Wimbledon Championships during the 1990s and early 2000s, as well as for the Great Britain Fed Cup team in both 1994 and 1998.[1] During the course of her career Cross won six titles on the ITF circuit (3 in singles and 3 in doubles) and she achieved her highest Women's Tennis Association singles ranking of world number 134 on 22 June 1998.[2][3] She is currently a part-time tennis coach at the Roehampton Club and since retirement from the professional circuit she has regularly competed on the ITF senior circuit, reaching a career-high ranking of world no.4 in the women's over-35's age group.[4][5]

Karen Cross
Country (sports)United Kingdom Great Britain
Born (1974-02-19) 19 February 1974 (age 50)
Exeter, Devon
Turned pro1993
Retired2001
Prize moneyUS$196,033
Singles
Career record156–184
Career titles0 WTA, 3 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 134 (22 June 1998)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQ1 (1999)
French OpenQ3 (1998)
Wimbledon3R (1997)
US OpenQ1 (1997, 1998, 1999)
Doubles
Career record76–102
Career titles0 WTA, 3 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 196 (5 October 1998)
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon1R (1998, 1999)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Wimbledon1R (1999)

At the Grand Slams, Cross's best result came at Wimbledon in 1997 when she won three matches to qualify before defeating Linda Wild and María Sánchez Lorenzo to reach the third round where she was defeated by the reigning French Open champion, Iva Majoli, in three close sets.[6]

Cross gained victories over a number of players who would go on to achieve (or had already experienced) great success on the WTA tour, the most notable being future two-time Australian Open champion and world number 2 Li Na (in December 1999)[7] and future multiple Grand Slam doubles champion and doubles world number 1, Roberta Vinci (in July 2000).[8] Other notable defeated opponents included future two-time WTA titlist and world number 19 Sybille Bammer,[9] future world number 32 Jelena Kostanić,[10] future one-time WTA titlist and world number 48 Milagros Sequera[11] and former one-time WTA titlist and world number 56, Monique Javer.[12]

ITF circuit finals

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Singles (3–0)

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Finals by category
$100,000 tournaments (0/0)
$75,000 tournaments (0/0)
$50,000 tournaments (0/0)
$25,000 tournaments (0/0)
$10,000 tournaments (3/0)
Finals by surface
Hard (0/0)
Clay (2/0)
Grass (1/0)
Carpet (0/0)
Result Date Category Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 26 July 1993 ITF $10,000 Istanbul, Turkey Clay   Gülberk Gültekin 4–6, 7–5, 7–6(7–4)
Winner 8 May 1995 ITF $10,000 Lee-on-Solent, Great Britain Clay   Jo Durie 6–4, 6–4
Winner 8 July 1997 ITF $10,000 Felixstowe, Great Britain Grass   Surina De Beer 6–1, 7–5

Doubles (3–3)

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Finals by category
$100,000 tournaments (0/0)
$75,000 tournaments (0/0)
$50,000 tournaments (0/0)
$25,000 tournaments (1/0)
$10,000 tournaments (2/3)
Finals by surface
Hard (1/1)
Clay (1/1)
Grass (1/1)
Carpet (0/0)
Result Date Category Tournament Surface Partnering Opponents Score
Runner-up 24 April 1995 ITF $10,000 Edinburgh, United Kingdom Clay   Lizzie Jelfs   Robyn Mawdsley
  Lorna Woodroffe
3–6, 1–6
Winner 8 May 1995 ITF $10,000 Edinburgh, United Kingdom Clay   Lizzie Jelfs   Kaye Hand
  Claire Taylor
3–6, 6–3, 6–0
Winner 7 August 1995 ITF $10,000 Southsea, United Kingdom Grass   Jane Wood   Nataly Cahana
  Oshri Shashua
6–4, 7–5
Runner-up 14 July 1997 ITF $10,000 Frinton, United Kingdom Grass   Natalia Egorova   Joanne Ward
  Lorna Woodroffe
4–6, 6–2, 0–6
Runner-up 29 September 1997 ITF $10,000 Nottingham, United Kingdom Hard (i)   Lizzie Jelfs   Lucie Ahl
  Joanne Ward
6–7(8–6), 2–6
Winner 12 April 1999 ITF $25,000 Cagnes-sur-Mer, France Hard   Amanda Grahame   Louise Pleming
  Catherine Tanvier
6–4, 3–6, 7–6(8–6)

Performance timelines

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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.

Singles

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Tournament 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 W–L SR
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open Absent Q1 Absent 0–0 0 / 0
French Open Absent Q3 Q1 Q1 A 0–0 0 / 0
Wimbledon 1R 1R 1R Q1 3R 2R 2R 1R 2R 5–8 0 / 8
US Open Absent Q1 Q1 Q1 Absent 0–0 0 / 0
Win–loss 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–0 2–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 5–8 0 / 8
Year-end ranking 325[13] 295[2] 241[14] 305[15] 146[16] 162[17] 198[18] 311[19] UNR[20]

Doubles

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Tournament 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 W–L SR
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open Absent 0–0 0 / 0
French Open Absent 0–0 0 / 0
Wimbledon Q2 A Q2 Absent Q1 A 1R 1R Q1 0–2 0 / 2
US Open Absent 0–0 0 / 0
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–2 0 / 2

Mixed doubles

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Tournament 1999 W–L SR
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A 0–0 0 / 0
French Open A 0–0 0 / 0
Wimbledon 1R 0–1 0 / 1
US Open A 0–0 0 / 0
Win–loss 0–1 0–1 0 / 1

Fed Cup

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1994 Federation Cup Europe/Africa Zone
Date Venue Surface Round Opponents Final match score Match Opponent Rubber score
20 Apr 1994 Bad Waltersdorf Clay RR   Russia 2–1 Doubles(with Julie Pullin) Lutrova/Panova 5–7, 5–7 (L)
1998 Federation Cup Europe/Africa Zone
14–16 Apr 1998 Murcia Clay RR   Portugal 1–2 Singles Sofia Prazeres 6–2, 2–6, 4–6 (L)
  Poland 1–2 Singles Magdalena Grzybowska 1–6, 2–6 (L)
  Madagascar 3–0 Singles Faratiana Rasoarilalao 6–1, 6–3 (W)

References

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  1. ^ Karen Cross at the Billie Jean King Cup
  2. ^ a b Karen Cross at the Women's Tennis Association
  3. ^ Karen Cross at the International Tennis Federation  
  4. ^ Karen Cross at the International Tennis Federation Senior profile
  5. ^ Roehampton Club Tennis Team
  6. ^ Nick Callow (29 June 1997). "Wimbledon 1997: Unqualified joy for Cross". The Independent. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  7. ^ Head-to-Head vs Li Na
  8. ^ Head-to-Head vs Roberta Vinci
  9. ^ Head-to-Head vs Sybille Bammer
  10. ^ Head-to-Head vs Jelena Kostanić
  11. ^ Head-to-Head vs Milagros Sequera
  12. ^ Head-to-Head vs Monique Javer
  13. ^ 1993 Year-end singles rankings Archived 11 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ 1995 Year-end singles rankings Archived 11 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ 1996 Year-end singles rankings Archived 11 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ 1997 Year-end singles rankings Archived 15 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ 1998 Year-end singles rankings Archived 11 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ 1999 Year-end singles rankings Archived 18 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ 2000 Year-end singles rankings
  20. ^ 2001 Year-end singles rankings Archived 4 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
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