Luisa Stefani

Luisa Veras Stefani (born 9 August 1997) is a Brazilian professional tennis player. She is the first Brazilian woman to crack the WTA's Top 10. She made the milestone on 1 November 2021 when she rose 2 places to world number 9 in doubles.[1] On 20 May 2019, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 431. She achieved a career-high junior ranking of No. 10, on 30 March 2015.

Not to be confused with Luis Stefani.
In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Veras and the second or paternal family name is Stefani.
Luisa Stefani
Stefani at the 2019 French Open
Full nameLuisa Veras Stefani
Country (sports) Brazil
ResidenceWesley Chapel, Florida, U.S.
Born (1997-08-09) 9 August 1997
São Paulo, Brazil
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Turned pro2015
PlaysRight (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$472,122
Singles
Career record85–64 (57.0%)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 431 (20 May 2019)
Current rankingNo. 833 (18 October 2021)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open Junior2R (2015)
French Open Junior2R (2014, 2015)
Wimbledon Junior1R (2014, 2015)
US Open Junior1R (2014, 2015)
Doubles
Career record186–78 (70.5%)
Career titles3 WTA, 2 WTA 125K, 15 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 9 (01 November 2021)
Current rankingNo. 10 (15 November 2021)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open3R (2020, 2021)
French Open3R (2020)
Wimbledon1R (2021)
US OpenSF (2021)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games (2020)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open2R (2021)
Wimbledon2R (2021)
US Open1R (2021)
Team competitions
Fed Cup9–2
Medal record
Olympic Games
2020 TokyoDoubles
Pan American Games
2019 LimaDoubles
Last updated on: 18 October 2021.

Stefani is an Olympic bronze medalist in women's doubles from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Representing Brazil, she partnered with Laura Pigossi to defeat Veronika Kudermetova and defending gold medalist Elena Vesnina in the bronze medal match. Stefani and Pigossi were only granted entry to the Olympics one week before the 2020 Games opened, with Stefani ranked world No. 23 in the doubles ranking and Pigossi at No. 190, and had played together once, a defeat at the 2020 Fed Cup, and yet became the first Brazilians to obtain an Olympic tennis medal, surpassing the performance of Fernando Meligeni that took 4th place in men's singles in 1996. During the campaign they saved eight match-points: four in the bronze medal match, and another four against Czechs Karolina Pliskova and Marketa Vondrousova in the round of 16.[2][3][4]

Stefani is coached by Sanjay Singh, with whom she trains at the Saddlebrook Academies.[5]

Professional career

At the age of 14, Stefani's family moved to the United States, where it was hoped she would develop herself better in tennis. She started training at Saddlebrook Tennis Academy,[6] and eventually got to two junior Grand Slam semifinals on doubles, the 2014 French Open and the 2015 US Open. As she attended Pepperdine University, Stefani ranked as high as No. 2 in the ITA rankings, and was also was named the 2015 ITA National Rookie of the Year, having compiled a 40–6 record in her freshman season and reached the semifinals of the 2015 NCAA Singles Championships, where she lost to eventual champion Danielle Collins.[7] Stefani made her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the 2015 Brasil Tennis Cup where she received a singles main-draw wildcard.

2019

Until 2019, Stefani tried to play both singles and doubles. The doubles kept being more productive, and once an invitation to make her WTA debut in the 2019 Monterrey Open with Giuliana Olmos led to the semifinals and a ranking increase, she decided to stop playing singles so as to have more chances at appearing in bigger events. Soon afterwards Stefani made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at 2019 French Open, partnering Australian Astra Sharma in doubles.[6]

In September 2019, with Hayley Carter as partner, she reached the first WTA doubles final at the Korea Open and, the following week, won the first WTA title at the Tashkent Open. With these campaigns, she entered the top 100 and reached a career-high ranking in doubles of No. 75 on 21 October 2019. Thereafter, Stefani established a fixed partnership with Carter.

2020

In 2020, the Stefani/Carter duo reached the Australian Open third round, won the Challenger Series title in Newport, reached the Dubai quarterfinals in February, and won the Lexington Open in August. With that, they entered the top 40 for the first time.[8][9]

At the US Open, she had her best Grand Slam campaign in her career, reaching the quarterfinals, defeating the No. 6 seeds Japan duo Shuko Aoyama/Ena Shibahara in the round of 16.[10] It has been 38 years since a female doubles player from Brazil have gone as far in a Grand Slam tournament (the last time that Brazilians were in the quarterfinals was in Wimbledon in 1982: Patricia Medrado and Claudia Monteiro).[11]

At the Italian Open, she had another great tournament, reaching the semifinals and losing only to the top seeds.[12] She reached her first Premier final in October 2020, in Ostrava, playing with Gabriela Dabrowski.[13]

2021: Olympics Bronze medal in doubles, First WTA 1000 title, Two Masters 1000 finals
Stefani at Tokyo 2020

Stefani and Carter had their best result at the WTA 1000-level by reaching the final in doubles at the Miami Open seeded eighth where they were defeated by the fifth-seeded Japanese duo of Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara.

Stefani had to pass on the 2021 French Open after being forced to endure an emergency appendicitis surgery. With Carter getting a season-ending injury at Wimbledon, Stefani announced she would spend the rest of the year with Gabriela Dabrowski.[7]

During the Olympics, Stefani won a bronze medal, partnering Laura Pigossi. They beat Russians Elena Vesnina and Veronika Kudermetova after saving 4 match points in the final super tiebreak.[14]

Following the Olympics, seeded 5th, Stefani won her first WTA 1000 partnering Dabrowski at the 2021 Canadian Open avenging their loss in the 2021 Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose final to Darija Jurak and Andreja Klepac.[15] The following week, they followed this successful run by another, reaching the WTA 1000 final at the 2021 Western & Southern Open by defeating current Olympic champions, second seeded pair Krejcikova/Siniakova. They lost in the final to Sam Stosur and Zhang Shuai.[16] The US Open had Stefani reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal and fifth straight in 2021, only to injure her knee in the decisive game against Coco Gauff and Caty McNally and withdraw.[17] Stefani had to sit out the rest of the season following a surgery to mend the anterior cruciate ligament injury.[18] Still, in November Stefani rose to number 9 in doubles of the WTA Rankings. The only other Brazilian woman to rank so high was Maria Bueno, prior to the Open era.[19][20]

Performance timeline
Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G F-S SF-B NMS P NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.

Doubles

Current after the 2021 US Open.

Tournament 2015 2016 ... 2019 2020 2021 2022 SR W–L Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A 3R 3R 0 / 2 4–2 67%
French Open A A 1R 3R A 0 / 2 2–2 50%
Wimbledon A A A NH 1R 0 / 1 0–1 0%
US Open A A A QF SF 0 / 2 6–2 75%
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 6–3 6–3 0 / 7 12–7 63%
Year-end championships
WTA Finals DNQ A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
National representation
Olympic Games NH A NH SF-B 0 / 1 4–1 80%
WTA 1000
Dubai / Qatar Open[lower-alpha 1] A A A 1R QF 0 / 2 2–2 50%
Indian Wells Open A A A NH A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Miami Open A A A NH F 0 / 1 4–1 80%
Madrid Open A A A NH 1R 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Italian Open A A A SF 2R 0 / 2 4–2 67%
Canadian Open A A A NH W 1 / 1 5–0 100%
Cincinnati Open A A A 2R F 0 / 2 5–2 71%
Wuhan Open A A A NH 0 / 0 0–0  – 
China Open A A A NH 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Career statistics
Tournament 1 1 8 12 17 Career total: 39
Titles 0 0 1 1 1 Career total: 3
Finals 0 0 2 3 6 Career total: 11
Overall Win–Loss 0–1 1–1 14–7 21–12 37–17 3 / 39 73–38 66%
Win % 0% 50% 67% 64% 69% Career total: 66%
Year-end ranking 1136 322 75 33 10 $472,122

Significant finals

Doubles: 1 (1 Bronze medal)
Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Bronze 2021 Tokyo Olympics 2020, Japan Hard Laura Pigossi Veronika Kudermetova
Elena Vesnina		 4–6, 6–4, [11–9]

Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-up)
Result Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2021 Miami Open Hard Hayley Carter Shuko Aoyama
Ena Shibahara		 2–6, 5–7
Win 2021 Canadian Open, Montreal Hard Gabriela Dabrowski Darija Jurak
Andreja Klepač		 6–3, 6–4
Loss 2021 Cincinnati Masters Hard Gabriela Dabrowski Samantha Stosur
Zhang Shuai		 5–7, 3–6

WTA career finals

Doubles: 11 (3 titles, 8 runner-ups)
Legend
Grand Slam
WTA 1000 (1–2)
Premier / WTA 500 (0–4)
International / WTA 250 (2–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–7)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (0–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Sep 2019 Korea Open, South Korea International Hard Hayley Carter Lara Arruabarrena
Tatjana Maria		 6–7(7), 6–3, [7–10]
Win 1–1 Sep 2019 Tashkent Open, Uzbekistan International Hard Hayley Carter Dalila Jakupović
Sabrina Santamaria		 6–3, 7–6(4)
Win 2–1 Aug 2020 Lexington Open, U.S. International Hard Hayley Carter Marie Bouzková
Jil Teichmann		 6–1, 7–5
Loss 2–2 Sep 2020 Internationaux de Strasbourg, France International Clay Hayley Carter Nicole Melichar
Demi Schuurs		 4–6, 3–6
Loss 2–3 Oct 2020 Ostrava Open, Czech Republic Premier Hard (i) Gabriela Dabrowski Elise Mertens
Aryna Sabalenka		 1–6, 3–6
Loss 2–4 Jan 2021 Abu Dhabi Open, UAE WTA 500 Hard Hayley Carter Shuko Aoyama
Ena Shibahara		 6–7(5), 4–6
Loss 2–5 Feb 2021 Adelaide International, Australia WTA 500 Hard Hayley Carter Alexa Guarachi
Desirae Krawczyk		 7–6(4), 4–6, [3–10]
Loss 2–6 Apr 2021 Miami Open, U.S. WTA 1000 Hard Hayley Carter Shuko Aoyama
Ena Shibahara		 2–6, 5–7
Loss 2–7 Aug 2021 Silicon Valley Classic, U.S. WTA 500 Hard Gabriela Dabrowski Darija Jurak
Andreja Klepač		 1–6, 5–7
Win 3–7 Aug 2021 Canadian Open WTA 1000 Hard Gabriela Dabrowski Darija Jurak
Andreja Klepač		 6–3, 6–4
Loss 3–8 Aug 2021 Cincinnati Open, United States WTA 1000 Hard Gabriela Dabrowski Samantha Stosur
Zhang Shuai		 5–7, 3–6

WTA 125K series finals

Doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Nov 2019 WTA 125 Houston, United States Hard Ellen Perez Sharon Fichman
Ena Shibahara		 1–6, 6–4, [10–5]
Win 2–0 Feb 2020 WTA 125 Newport Beach, United States Hard Hayley Carter Marie Benoît
Jessika Ponchet		 6–1, 6–3
Loss 2–1 May 2021 WTA 125 Saint-Malo, France Clay Hayley Carter Kaitlyn Christian
Sabrina Santamaria		 6–7(4–7), 6–4, [5–10]

ITF Circuit finals

Doubles: 22 (15 titles, 7 runner–ups)
Legend
$100,000 tournaments (1–0)
$80,000 tournaments (0–1)
$50,000/$60,000 tournaments (3–2)
$25,000 tournaments (8–3)
$15,000 tournaments (3–0)
$10,000 tournaments (0–1)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Aug 2013 ITF São Paulo, Brazil 10,000 Clay Nathália Rossi Laura Pigossi
Carolina Zeballos		 3–6, 4–6
Loss 0–2 Jul 2016 ITF Campos do Jordão, Brazil 25,000 Hard Maria Fernanda Alves Ingrid Gamarra Martins
Laura Pigossi		 3–6, 6–3, [8–10]
Win 1–2 Sep 2016 One Love Open Atlanta, U.S. 50,000 Hard Ingrid Neel Alexandra Stevenson
Taylor Townsend		 4–6, 6–4, [10–5]
Loss 1–3 Jun 2017 ITF Sumter, U.S. 25,000 Hard Ellen Perez Kaitlyn Christian
Giuliana Olmos		 2–6, 6–3, [7–10]
Win 2–3 Jun 2017 ITF Baton Rouge, U.S. 25,000 Hard Ellen Perez Francesca Di Lorenzo
Julia Elbaba		 6–3, 6–4
Loss 2–4 Jul 2017 ITF Auburn, U.S. 25,000 Hard Ellen Perez Emina Bektas
Alexa Guarachi		 6–4, 4–6, [5–10]
Win 3–4 Jul 2017 ITF Knokke, Belgium 15,000 Clay Quinn Gleason Leonie Küng
Axana Mareen		 6–4, 7–5
Win 4–4 Jul 2017 ITF Brussels, Belgium 15,000 Clay Quinn Gleason Deborah Kerfs
Priscilla Heise		 6–3, 6–2
Win 5–4 Aug 2017 ITF El Espinar, Spain 25,000 Hard Quinn Gleason Ayla Aksu
Bibiane Schoofs		 6–3, 6–2
Win 6–4 Oct 2017 ITF Seville, Spain 25,000 Clay Renata Zarazúa Estrella Cabeza Candela
Andrea Gámiz		 7–6(2), 7–6(3)
Win 7–4 Nov 2017 ITF Sant Cugat, Spain 25,000 Clay Renata Zarazúa Olga Danilović
Guiomar Maristany
Zuleta de Reales		 6–1, 6–4
Win 8–4 Dec 2017 ITF Castellón, Spain 15,000 Clay Yvonne Cavallé Reimers Ren Jiaqi
Wang Xiyu		 6–3, 6–1
Win 9–4 Jun 2018 ITF Sumter, U.S. 25,000 Hard Astra Sharma Julia Elbaba
Xu Shilin		 2–6, 6–3, [10–5]
Loss 9–5 Sep 2018 Central Coast Templeton Open, U.S. 60,000 Hard Quinn Gleason Asia Muhammad
Maria Sanchez		 7–6(4), 2–6, [8–10]
Loss 9–6 Oct 2018 Stockton Challenger, U.S. 60,000 Hard Quinn Gleason Hayley Carter
Ena Shibahara		 5–7, 7–5, [7–10]
Win 10–6 Nov 2018 Copa LP Colina, Chile 60,000 Clay Quinn Gleason Bárbara Gatica
Rebeca Pereira		 6–0, 4–6, [10–7]
Win 11–6 Jan 2019 ITF Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe 25,000 Hard Quinn Gleason Vladica Babić
Rosalie van der Hoek		 7–5, 6–4
Win 12–6 Mar 2019 ITF São Paulo, Brazil 25,000 Clay Paula Cristina Gonçalves Martina Di Giuseppe
Thaisa Grana Pedretti		 6–7(4), 6–0, [10–8]
Win 13–6 Mar 2019 ITF Curitiba, Brazil 25,000 Clay Paula Cristina Gonçalves Ekaterine Gorgodze
Daniela Seguel		 6–7(3), 7–6(0), [10–2]
Loss 13–7 May 2019 Open de Cagnes-sur-Mer, France 80,000 Clay Beatriz Haddad Maia Anna Blinkova
Xenia Knoll		 6–4, 2–6, [12–14]
Win 14–7 Jun 2019 Ilkley Trophy, UK 100,000 Grass Beatriz Haddad Maia Ellen Perez
Arina Rodionova		 6–4, 6–7(5), [10–4]
Win 15–7 Nov 2019 Copa LP Colina, Chile (2) 60,000 Clay Hayley Carter Anna Danilina
Conny Perrin		 5–7, 6–3, [10–6]

Notes
  1. The first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Total Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009–2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.

References
  1. "Rankings watch: Mertens back on top, Kontaveit hits Top 10 and more". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
  2. Luísa e Laura salvam 4 match-points e fazem história
  3. Luisa Stefani e Laura Pigossi conseguem virada histórica e levam o bronze no tênis
  4. Tokyo 2020: Pigossi and Stefani win historic bronze medal for Brazil
  5. Sanjay Singh now shaping new careers
  6. Doubles Dossier: Luisa Stefani makes waves with her Brazilian chill
  7. Luisa Stefani is the tennis star Brazil has been waiting for
  8. Dupla Luisa Stefani e Harley Carter estreia com vitória no WTA de Cincinnati
  9. Partidas de Luisa Stefani no site da WTA
  10. https://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2020-09-05/2020-09-05_getting_to_know_doubles_quarterfinalists_hayley_carter_and_luisa_stefani.html
  11. Campanha de Stefani é melhor do Brasil em 38 anos
  12. Hsieh and Strycova reunite to reach Rome doubles final
  13. Ostrava 2020: Final countdown
  14. Pigossi and Stefani win historic, dramatic Tokyo 2020 doubles bronze
  15. https://www.wtatennis.com/news/2220629/giorgi-captures-biggest-title-of-career-over-pliskova-in-montreal-dabrowski-stefani-break-through-in-doubles
  16. https://www.wtatennis.com/news/2227548/teichmann-stuns-pliskova-to-make-biggest-final-of-career-in-cincinnati-stosur-zhang-win-doubles
  17. https://www.wtatennis.com/news/2248437/gauff-mcnally-to-face-stosur-zhang-in-us-open-women-s-doubles-final
  18. https://www.uol.com.br/esporte/ultimas-noticias/enm/2021/09/27/luisa-stefani-passa-por-cirurgia-e-foca-na-recuperacao.htm
  19. "Rankings watch: Mertens back on top, Kontaveit hits Top 10 and more". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
  20. https://ge.globo.com/tenis/noticia/luisa-stefani-se-torna-6a-tenista-do-brasil-na-historia-a-atingir-o-top-10.ghtml
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