Vania King

Vania King (金久慈)

King at the 2018 French Open
Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Boynton Beach, Florida
Born	(1989-02-03) February 3, 1989 (age 32) Monterey Park, California
Height	5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Turned pro	July 2006
Retired	April 6, 2021[1]
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$4,556,888
Singles
Career record	269–250 (51.8%)
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 50 (November 6, 2006)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	3R (2012)
French Open	3R (2011)
Wimbledon	2R (2006, 2009)
US Open	3R (2009, 2011)
Doubles
Career record	324–204 (61.4%)
Career titles	15
Highest ranking	No. 3 (June 6, 2011)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	QF (2012, 2016, 2018)
French Open	SF (2011)
Wimbledon	W (2010)
US Open	W (2010)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour Finals	SF (2010, 2011)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open	2R (2018)
French Open	F (2009)
Wimbledon	2R (2007, 2014)
US Open	QF (2006)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	5–7 (41.7%)

Vania King (born February 3, 1989) is a retired American tennis player. A former top-10 doubles player, King won both the Wimbledon and US Open women's doubles titles in 2010 with partner Yaroslava Shvedova, with whom she also reached the final of the 2011 US Open. She has won a total of 15 WTA doubles titles and reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 in the world. She also was a runner-up in the mixed-doubles final at the French Open in 2009, with Marcelo Melo.

In singles, King has been ranked as high as No. 50 in the world. Her biggest accomplishments included a WTA title at the 2006 Bangkok Open and two runner-up finishes at the 2013 Guangzhou International and 2016 Jianxi International. She also progressed as far as the third round in Grand Slam tournaments, doing so on four occasions (the 2009 US Open, the 2011 French Open, the 2011 US Open, and the 2012 Australian Open).

King announced her retirement on April 6, 2021.^[1]

Personal life[]

King's parents moved to the United States from Taiwan in 1982.^[2] She is the youngest of four children. Her brother Phillip was a two-time All-American at Duke University and two-time US junior champion. Vania is a graduate of Long Beach Poly High School in California.

Tennis career[]

2006–2009[]

In 2006, King won her only WTA Tour singles title at the Bangkok Open, a Tier-III tournament. She defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn in the final. In November, she achieved her career-high singles ranking of world No. 50.

In 2009, she reached the mixed-doubles final at the French Open alongside Brazilian player Marcelo Melo, losing to top-seeded team Liezel Huber/Bob Bryan.

King lost in the second round of the 2009 Wimbledon Championships to No. 15, Flavia Pennetta. She played in the ladies' doubles with Anna-Lena Grönefeld, losing in the quarterfinals to eventual champions Venus and Serena Williams.

At the 2009 US Open, King was granted a wildcard and had her best singles Grand Slam performance. She was defeated in the third round by world No. 22, Daniela Hantuchová.

2010[]

King began the year ranked no. 80 in the world at the Brisbane International. She reached the second round of the singles tournament, losing to Andrea Petkovic. In doubles, she partnered with Anna-Lena Grönefeld and lost in the first round to Timea Bacsinszky and Tathiana Garbin. King and Grönefeld fared better at the Sydney International, where they were seeded fourth. They lost in the semifinals to Garbin and Nadia Petrova. In the singles tournament, King failed to qualify, losing in the first round of the qualifying tournament to top seed Ágnes Szávay, who went on to defeat Jelena Janković in the first round of the tournament.

At the Australian Open, King lost in the second round to Roberta Vinci. In doubles, she partnered with Grönefeld again and entered the tournament seeded 14th. They lost in the second round to Svetlana Kuznetsova and Victoria Azarenka.

King's next bigger tournament was the Memphis Cup in mid-February. She entered the singles draw seeded seventh and lost in the second round to Sofia Arvidsson. In the doubles tournament, she and partner Michaëlla Krajicek were seeded third and won the title without dropping a set, defeating Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Shaughnessy in the final.

King then traveled to the Monterrey Open. In doubles, she reunited with Grönefeld and reached the final as the top seed, falling to second-seeded pair Benešová/Záhlavová. In singles, she lost in the quarterfinals to second seed Daniela Hantuchová. At the Indian Wells Open, King lost in the second round to No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki. She did not enter the doubles tournament. She fared better in the Miami Open later that month. King partnered with Julie Coin and reached the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament, before losing to third seeds Petrova and Samantha Stosur, who went on to become the runners-up.

Her next Premier event was the Charleston Open, where she reunited with Krajicek and reached the final, before falling to top seeds Huber and Petrova. In singles, she lost to Petrova in the second round. At the Madrid Masters, King paired with Chuang Chia-jung for the first time for the doubles tournament. They defeated fourth seeds Huber and Anabel Medina Garrigues, before falling in the quarterfinals to Pe'er and Francesca Schiavone. In singles, King lost in the first round to Karolina Šprem. She then entered the Strasbourg International. In the doubles tournament, she partnered with Alizé Cornet and won the title after an injury to Lucie Hradecká forced top seeds Hradecká/Chuang to retire in the second round. King/Cornet defeated second seeds Rodionova/Kudryavtseva in the final for her tenth tour doubles title. In singles, King defeated second seed Elena Vesnina in the first round and reached the semifinals, falling there to Kristina Barrois.

At the French Open, she lost in the first round to Mattek-Sands. She entered the mixed-doubles tournament with Christopher Kas, reaching the semifinals, before falling to Shvedova and Julian Knowle. In women's doubles with Krajicek, she reached the second round losing to fourth-seeded Petrova and Stosur.

At Wimbledon, King won the ladies' doubles title in straight sets with Yaroslava Shvedova. They defeated Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva in the final. At the US Open, King and Shvedova won their second Grand Slam doubles title, defeating the second-seeded pair Huber/Petrova in a rain-delayed final. At the Stanford Classic, Vania lost to Sorana Cîrstea.^[3]

2011[]

King and Shvedova made the finals of the US Open, losing to Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond.

King made it to the finals of five other WTA tournaments in the course of the year, one in Monterrey with Grönefeld and in Rome, Cincinnati, Osaka, and Moscow with Shvedova. She and Shvedova won the events in Cincinnati in August and Moscow in October.

2012[]

King reached the third round of the Australian Open at the start of the year, losing to Ana Ivanovic. She had defeated Kateryna Bondarenko in the first round.

She reached the second round of the Carlsbad Open in July, losing to Marion Bartoli.^[4]

In doubles, she reached the final in Stanford with Jarmila Gajdošová and in Carlsbad with Nadia Petrova, but lost to Marina Erakovic and Heather Watson in Stanford and to Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears in Carlsbad.

2013[]

King at Cagnes-sur-Mer, 2013

In singles action, King lost in the Guangzhou final to Zhang Shuai. King lost in the second round of the French Open and in the first round of the other three Slans. In doubles that year, her best finish was a finals loss in Guangzhou.

2014[]

In doubles, King made the second round at the Australian Open partnering Galina Voskoboeva. They lost to the Czech/Dutch pair of Hradecká and Krajicek.

She partnered with Barbora Strýcová in Florianópolis, and they made it to the semifinals before being defeated by Medina Garrigues and Shvedova. She was eliminated in the first round in Indian Wells, and the second round in Miami, but made it to the final in Bogotá, partnering Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa.

Partnering Zheng Jie, she made a quarterfinal appearance in Madrid, losing to Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. Then followed a series of first-round losses, including Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

She had some success in the late summer, making the quarterfinals in Washington, partnering Taylor Townsend, and the third round at the US Open, partnering Lisa Raymond.

In singles, she made the semifinals in Shenzhen, but had to concede a walkover. She made a first-round exit at the Australian Open at the hands of Carla Suárez Navarro. At the Pattaya Open, she was defeated by Elena Vesnina in the first round. A series of first-round defeats followed in Rio de Janeiro, Florianópolis, and Indian Wells.

She made the second round in Miami and Charleston, but it was not until April in Bogotá that she found some form and made it to the semifinals. She went down in the first round in both Roland Garros and Wimbledon, but she did make the quarterfinals in Washington D.C.

At the US Open, she defeated Francesca Schiavone in the first round, but lost to eventual champion Serena Williams in the second round.

2015[]

King missed the first three Slams of 2015 due to injury. She lost in the first round of singles and the second round of doubles there in Flushing. The highlight of her year came on hardcourts in Waco, where King and Nicole Gibbs won in November, defeating Julia Glushko and Rebecca Peterson.

2016–2017[]

In 2017, King reunited with the doubles partner with whom she had had the most success, Yaroslava Shvedova. They made it to the semifinals in Sydney, where they lost to Sania Mirza and Barbora Strýcová.

At the Australian Open, King and Shvedova advanced to the third round, where they lost to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and Andrea Petkovic. They were stopped in the second round of Indian Wells by the Japanese-Chinese pair of Shuko Aoyama and Yang Zhaoxuan. In Miami, they went on to the quarterfinals, where they again lost to Mirza and Strýcová.

Performance timelines[]

Singles[]

Doubles[]

Mixed doubles[]

Significant finals[]

Grand Slam finals[]

Doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)[]

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	2010	Wimbledon	Grass	Yaroslava Shvedova	Elena Vesnina Vera Zvonareva	7–6(8–6), 6–2
Win	2010	US Open	Hard	Yaroslava Shvedova	Liezel Huber Nadia Petrova	2–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Loss	2011	US Open (2)	Hard	Yaroslava Shvedova	Liezel Huber Lisa Raymond	6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(3–7)

Mixed doubles: 1 (runner-up)[]

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2009	French Open	Clay	Marcelo Melo	Bob Bryan Liezel Huber	7–5, 6–7(5–7), [7–10]

Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 finals[]

Doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)[]

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2007	Pan Pacific Open	Hard	Rennae Stubbs	Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur	6–7(6–8), 6–3, 5–7
Win	2008	Pan Pacific Open	Hard	Nadia Petrova	Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur	6–1, 6–4
Loss	2011	Italian Open	Clay	Yaroslava Shvedova	Peng Shuai Zheng Jie	2–6, 3–6
Win	2011	Cincinnati Open	Hard	Yaroslava Shvedova	Natalie Grandin Vladimíra Uhlířová	6–4, 3–6, [11–9]

WTA career finals[]

Singles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)[]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Oct 2006	Bangkok Open, Thailand	Tier III	Hard	Tamarine Tanasugarn	2–6, 6–4, 6–4
Loss	1–1	Sep 2013	Guangzhou Open, China	International	Hard	Zhang Shuai	6–7(1), 1–6
Loss	1–2	Aug 2016	Jiangxi Open, China	International	Hard	Duan Yingying	6–1, 4–6, 2–6

Doubles: 33 (15 titles, 18 runner-ups)[]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Oct 2006	Guangzhou Open, China	Tier III	Hard	Jelena Kostanić Tošić	Li Ting Sun Tiantian	4–6, 6–2, 5–7
Win	1–1	Oct 2006	Japan Open	Tier III	Hard	Jelena Kostanić Tošić	Chan Yung-jan Chuang Chia-jung	7–6(2), 5–7, 6–2
Win	2–1	Oct 2006	Bangkok Open, Thailand	Tier III	Hard	Jelena Kostanić Tošić	Mariana Díaz Oliva Natalie Grandin	7–5, 2–6, 7–5
Loss	2–2	Feb 2007	Pan Pacific Open, Japan	Tier I	Hard	Rennae Stubbs	Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur	6–7(6), 6–3, 5–7
Win	3–2	May 2007	Morocco Open	Tier IV	Clay	Sania Mirza	Andreea Ehritt-Vanc Anastasia Rodionova	6–1, 6–2
Win	4–2	Sep 2007	Sunfeast Open, India	Tier III	Hard	Alla Kudryavtseva	Alberta Brianti Mariya Koryttseva	6–1, 6–4
Loss	4–3	Oct 2007	Guangzhou Open, China	Tier III	Hard	Sun Tiantian	Peng Shuai Yan Zi	3–6, 4–6
Loss	4–4	Oct 2007	Japan Open	Tier III	Hard	Chuang Chia-jung	Sun Tiantian Yan Zi	6–1, 2–6 [6–10]
Loss	4–5	Feb 2008	Pattaya Open, Thailand	Tier IV	Hard	Hsieh Su-wei	Chan Yung-jan Chuang Chia-jung	4–6, 3–6
Win	5–5	Sep 2008	Pan Pacific Open, Japan	Tier I	Hard	Nadia Petrova	Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur	6–1, 6–4
Win	6–5	Nov 2008	Tournoi de Québec, Canada	Tier III	Hard	Anna-Lena Grönefeld	Jill Craybas Tamarine Tanasugarn	7–6(3), 6–4
Win	7–5	Jan 2009	Brisbane International, Australia	International	Hard	Anna-Lena Grönefeld	Klaudia Jans Alicja Rosolska	3–6, 7–5, [10–5]
Win	8–5	Sep 2009	Tournoi de Québec, Canada (2)	International	Hard	Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová	Sofia Arvidsson Séverine Beltrame	6–1, 6–3
Win	9–5	Feb 2010	National Indoors, U.S.	International	Hard	Michaëlla Krajicek	Bethanie Mattek-Sands Meghann Shaughnessy	7–5, 6–2
Loss	9–6	Mar 2010	Monterrey Open, Mexico	International	Hard	Anna-Lena Grönefeld	Iveta Benešová Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová	6–3, 4–6, [8–10]
Loss	9–7	Apr 2010	Charleston Open, U.S.	Premier	Clay	Michaëlla Krajicek	Liezel Huber Nadia Petrova	3–6, 4–6
Win	10–7	May 2010	Internationaux de Strasbourg, France	International	Clay	Alizé Cornet	Alla Kudryavtseva Anastasia Rodionova	3–6, 6–4, [10–7]
Loss	10–8	Jun 2010	Rosmalen Open, Netherlands	International	Grass	Yaroslava Shvedova	Alla Kudryavtseva Anastasia Rodionova	6–3, 3–6, [6–10]
Win	11–8	Jul 2010	Wimbledon, UK	Grand Slam	Grass	Yaroslava Shvedova	Elena Vesnina Vera Zvonareva	7–6(6), 6–2
Win	12–8	Sep 2010	US Open	Grand Slam	Hard	Yaroslava Shvedova	Liezel Huber Nadia Petrova	2–6, 6–4, 7–6(4)
Loss	12–9	Mar 2011	Monterrey Open, Mexico	International	Hard	Anna-Lena Grönefeld	Iveta Benešová Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová	7–6(8), 2–6, [6–10]
Loss	12–10	May 2011	Italian Open	Premier 5	Clay	Yaroslava Shvedova	Peng Shuai Zheng Jie	2–6, 3–6
Win	13–10	Aug 2011	Cincinnati Masters, U.S.	Premier 5	Hard	Yaroslava Shvedova	Natalie Grandin Vladimíra Uhlířová	6–4, 3–6, [11–9]
Loss	13–11	Sep 2011	US Open	Grand Slam	Hard	Yaroslava Shvedova	Liezel Huber Lisa Raymond	6–4, 6–7(5), 6–7(3)
Loss	13–12	Oct 2011	Japan Open	International	Hard	Yaroslava Shvedova	Kimiko Date-Krumm Zhang Shuai	5–7, 6–3, [9–11]
Win	14–12	Oct 2011	Kremlin Cup, Russia	Premier	Hard (i)	Yaroslava Shvedova	Anastasia Rodionova Galina Voskoboeva	7–6(3), 6–3
Loss	14–13	Jul 2012	Silicon Valley Classic, U.S.	Premier	Hard	Jarmila Gajdošová	Marina Erakovic Heather Watson	5–7, 6–7(7)
Loss	14–14	Jul 2012	Southern California Open, U.S.	Premier	Hard	Nadia Petrova	Raquel Kops-Jones Abigail Spears	2–6, 4–6
Loss	14–15	Sep 2012	Korea Open, South Korea	International	Hard	Akgul Amanmuradova	Raquel Kops-Jones Abigail Spears	6–2, 2–6, [8–10]
Loss	14–16	Sep 2013	Guangzhou Open, China	International	Hard	Galina Voskoboeva	Hsieh Su-wei Peng Shuai	3–6, 6–4, [10–12]
Loss	14–17	Apr 2014	Copa Colsanitas, Colombia	International	Clay	Chanelle Scheepers	Lara Arruabarrena Caroline Garcia	6–7(5), 4–6
Win	15–17	Jan 2016	Shenzhen Open, China	International	Hard	Monica Niculescu	Xu Yifan Zheng Saisai	6–1, 6–4
Loss	15–18	Jun 2016	Birmingham Classic, UK	Premier	Grass	Alla Kudryavtseva	Karolína Plíšková Barbora Strýcová	3–6, 6–7(1)

WTA 125K series finals[]

Doubles: 1 (runner-up)[]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Mar 2018	Indian Wells Challenger, United States	Hard	Jennifer Brady	Taylor Townsend Yanina Wickmayer	4–6, 4–6

ITF Circuit finals[]

Singles: 2 (runner–ups)[]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Nov 2005	ITF Tucson, United States	75,000	Hard	Yuliana Fedak	5–7, 0–6
Loss	0–2	Feb 2016	ITF Rancho Santa Fe, United States	25,000	Hard	Zhang Shuai	6–1, 5–7, 4–6

Doubles: 8 (7 titles, 1 runner–up)[]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Jun 2004	ITF Fort Worth, United States	10,000	Hard	Anne Mall	Neha Uberoi Shikha Uberoi	2–6, 6–3, 7–5(5)
Loss	1–1	Jul 2004	ITF Evansville, United States	10,000	Hard	Heidi El Tabakh	Kelly Schmandt Aleke Tsoubanos	4–6, 4–6
Win	2–1	Aug 2009	Bronx Open, United States	100,000+H	Hard	Anna-Lena Groenefeld	Julie Coin Marie-Eve Pelletier	6–0, 6–2
Win	3–1	May 2013	Open de Cagnes-sur-Mer, France	100,000	Clay	Arantxa Rus	Catalina Castano Teliana Pereira	4–6, 7–5, [10–8]
Win	4–1	Nov 2015	Waco Showdown, United States	50,000	Hard	Nicole Gibbs	Julia Glushko Rebecca Peterson	6–4, 6–4
Win	5–1	Feb 2018	Burnie International, Australia	60,000	Hard	Laura Robson	Momoko Kobori Chihiro Muramatsu	7–6(3), 6–1
Win	6–1	Aug 2019	ITF Landisville, United States	60,000	Hard	Claire Liu	Hayley Carter Jamie Loeb	4–6, 6–2, [10–5]
Win	7–1	Mar 2021	ITF Newport Beach, United States	25,000	Hard	Maegan Manasse	Emina Bektas Tara Moore	6–4, 6–2

Junior Grand Slam finals[]

Doubles: 1 (runner-up)[]

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2005	US Open	Hard	Alexa Glatch	Nikola Frankova Alisa Kleybanova	5–7, 6–7(3)

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vania King.

• Vania King at the Women's Tennis Association
• Vania King at the International Tennis Federation
• Vania King at the Billie Jean King Cup