Anna Chakvetadze (born March 5, 1987, Moscow) is a Russian professional tennis player (with Georgian roots. On September 10, 2007, she reached her career-high pro singles ranking of World No. 5.) She began playing tennis at the age of eight after being introduced to the sport by her mother, Natalia. She travels for tournaments with her father. She speaks both Russian and English. Career Anna Chakvetadze, ranked World No. 6 as of May 26, 2008, hit her peak of World No. 5 in 2007 after a semifinal appearance at the US Open. Also in that year, she reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and the French Open, both of which were career bests for those events. Four of her seven career singles titles also occurred in 2007. 2001-2006 Junior tournaments In 2003, Anna Chakvetadze made it to the final of the Junior Championships at Wimbledon before falling to Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6–4, 3–6, 6–3. The same year, she won the International Bavarian Junior Challenge, defeating Marta Domachowska of Poland 7–6, 6–5. Her record as a junior was 67-19 in singles, and 22-14 in doubles. Her highest world ranking as a junior was #22 achieved in December 2003. Professional tournaments Chakvetadze debuted on the ITF circuit in November 2001, losing in the first round in Minsk, Belarus. In July 2002, she won her first ITF doubles title in Istanbul, teaming with fellow Russian Irina Kotkina.
On September 25, 2006, Anna Chakvetadze won her first WTA singles tournament at the Tier III event in Guangzhou, China, defeating Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues in the final. Two weeks later, she won her second WTA tournament at the Tier I Kremlin Cup in Moscow even though she was unseeded, beating Elena Dementieva and Nadia Petrova en route to the title. These wins helped boost her ranking to World No. 16. 2007 Anna Chakvetadze started the year by winning the Tier IV Moorilla Hobart International in Australia, her third WTA tournament title. She defeated fellow Russian Vasilisa Bardina in the final. At the Australian Open, where she was seeded twelfth, she defeated eight-seeded Patty Schnyder in the fourth round before losing in the quarterfinals to top-seeded Maria Sharapova 7–6(5), 7–5. In February, Anna Chakvetadze reached the quarterfinals of the Open Gaz de France in Paris, where she lost to Amelie Mauresmo 7–6(5), 7–5. She then competed at the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp, where she lost in the semifinals to Mauresmo 6–3, 3–6, 6–2. On February 19, she made her top 10 debut on the WTA rankings, at World No. 10. At the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, she lost in the fourth round to Shahar Peer 6–4, 7–6. She then reached the semifinals of the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, where she was defeated by World No. 1 Justine Henin 6–2, 6–3. Chakvetadze then played four tournaments in Europe on red clay courts. Chakvetadze lost in the quarterfinals of the Tier II J&S Cup in Warsaw to Jelena Jankovic, the second round of the Tier I Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, and the second round of the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. At the French Open, Anna Chakvetadze lost to second-seeded Sharapova in the quarterfinals.
Chakvetadze won her second title of the year, and first grass court title, in 's-Hertogenbosch, with wins over Daniela Hantuchova and Jankovic. At Wimbledon, however, she was defeated in the third round by 31st-seeded Michaella Krajicek in three sets. Anna Chakvetadze then played five tournaments during the North American summer hard court season. At the Tier III Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati, Ohio, Chakvetadze was the top-seed and won the title, defeating Akiko Morigami in the final. Chakvetadze won her second consecutive tournament the following week at the Bank of the West Classic in Palo Alto, California, the first tournament of the US Open Series. She defeated Sania Mirza in the final. That was her ninth consecutive match victory and resulted in her ranking rising to World No. 6, the highest of her career. At the Acura Classic tournament in San Diego, her 12-match winning streak ended when she lost in the semifinals to top seeded Sharapova for the third time this year 6–3, 6–2 after Chakvetadze had defeated reigning Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the semifinals 6–7(5), 7–6(3), 6–2. Two weeks later at the Tier I Rogers Cup in Toronto, Chakvetadze retired from her second round match after losing the first set to Virginie Razzano. At the U.S. Open, Anna Chakvetadze was the sixth seed and reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova 3–6, 6–1, 6–1. Chakvetadze was the defending champion at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, but lost her second round match to Dinara Safina 7–6, 6–2. Anna Chakvetadze became the sixth player in 2007 to qualify for the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships. She reached the semifinals of that tournament by winning two of her three round robin matches, defeating Lindsay Davenport and Jankovic before losing to Henin 6–1, 7–6(4). She then lost her semifinal match with Maria Sharapova 6–2, 6–2. 2008 At the Australian Open, Anna Chakvetadze lost in the third round to Maria Kirilenko 6–7(6), 6–1, 6–2. She then helped defending champion Russia win its first round tie against Israel in the Fed Cup by defeating Tzipora Obziler 6–4, 6–2. Chakvetadze was the top-seed at the Tier II Open Gaz de France in Paris. She defeated Amelie Mauresmo in the quarterfinals, Marion Bartoli in the semifinals, and Agnes Szavay in the final to win her seventh career singles title. She is now 7–0 in tournament finals. At the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Chakvetadze lost in the third round to Sabine Lisicki. At the French Open, sixth-seeded Chakvetadze lost in the second round to Kaia Kanepi 6–4, 7–6(2). Home invasion and robbery On December 18, 2007, Chakvetadze's home was burgalized. Six invaders tied up Chakvetadze and beat her father, Djambuli. The six men left with over U.S.$300,000 worth of goods and cash. Singles wins (7) No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the Final Score
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