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Monica Niculescu

Country (sports)	Romania
Residence	Bucharest, Romania
Born	(1987-09-25) 25 September 1987 (age 31) Slatina, Romania
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Turned pro	May 2002
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach	Călin Stelian Ciorbagiu
Prize money	US$5,525,717
Singles
Career record	481–329 (59.38%)
Career titles	3 WTA, 1 WTA 125K, 18 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 28 (27 February 2012)
Current ranking	No. 82 (24 September 2018)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	3R (2011, 2012, 2014)
French Open	2R (2014)
Wimbledon	4R (2015)
US Open	4R (2011)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	2R (2016)
Doubles
Career record	418–242 (63.33%)
Career titles	8 WTA, 22 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 11 (2 April 2018)
Current ranking	No. 51 (24 September 2018)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	SF (2018)
French Open	QF (2010)
Wimbledon	F (2017)
US Open	3R (2009, 2010, 2016, 2017)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	30–20 (60%)
Last updated on: 25 September 2018.

Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 28 in February 2012, and has four singles titles to her credit on the WTA Tour since she turned pro in May 2002, the last one coming at the end of 2017, at the Open de Limoges. Although she was a steady top 30 player for several years and enjoyed relative success in singles, she is also a doubles specialist, where she achieved a career-high ranking of no.11, in April 2018, after partnering with Grand Slam winner and Olympic medalist Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková at Indian Wells. Her biggest doubles result up to date is reaching her first grand slam doubles final at Wimbledon, in 2017, alongside Chan Hao-ching. She was also runner-up at three Premier Mandatory events: the 2015 Wuhan Open, with fellow Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu, the 2016 Rogers Cup, with current world no.1 Simona Halep, and the 2017 Cincinnati Open, partnering former world no.1 in doubles, Su-wei Hsieh.

She is popular among spectators and other players alike for her unconventional style of play, employing an extreme grip as well as two hands for both her forehand and backhand. She is also best known for her trademark forehand-slice, her winning deamenour and her exceptional shot-making abilities at the net. Niculescu currently holds the Open Era record of highest first serve percentage in a year (91%-in 2011, tied with Sara Errani).[1]

Niculescu has defeated many top 10 opponents throughout her career, having 25 wins against top 10 opponents to date.^[1]

Niculescu was born in Slatina, Romania, but moved to Bucharest when she was four. She is currently coached by Călin Stelian Ciorbagiu.^[1]

Tennis career

2002–2005: Junior years

As a junior, Niculescu had the remarkable gift to win quite easily every final she reached. Thus, before reaching the age of 18, she won 11 ITF singles finals, losing only one set:

• in Bucharest (August 2002), 6-1, 7-6 to Tsvetana Pironkova


• in Cavtat (April 2003) 6-4, 6-1 to Darija Jurak


• in Timişoara (August 2003) 6-2, 6-3 to Veronika Rizhik


• in Albufeira (February 2004) 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 to Irina Kotkina


• in Portimão (February 2004) 6-4, 7-6 to Nadja Pavić


• in Bucharest (May 2004) 6-2, 6-2 to Simona Matei


• in Iași (August 2004) 7-6, 6-0 to Raluca Olaru


• in Cairo (March 2005) 6-4, 6-2 to Galina Fokina


• in Ain Alsoukhna (March 2005) 6-3, 6-4 to Magdaléna Rybáriková


• in Antalya (May 2005) 6-2, 6-2 to Ekaterina Dzehalevich


• and in Coimbra (August 2005) 6-3, 6-1 against Aravane Rezaï

She also won 8 out of 14 ITF finals played in doubles, as a junior, in most of them having as a partner her older sister, Gabriela Niculescu. She played finals in girls' doubles in Roland Garros (2004, paired with Mădălina Gojnea) and twice in Wimbledon (2004 and 2005, paired with Marina Erakovic).

By the end of 2005, now already a senior player, she was No. 271 in the WTA rankings and No. 4 in Romania.

2006–2008: Constant progress as a senior, top 50

Niculescu made her WTA debut in 2006 Istanbul, where she won to then junior Sabine Lisicki but could not pass the 3rd qualification round. In 2007, she continued to play many ITF tournaments, and she also played in qualifications in all four Grand Slams and three other WTA tournaments, but only in Dubai she reached the main draw. Still, winning several ITF tournaments and gathering many small points, she finished the year 2007 in Top 200.

In 2008, she reached the quarterfinals in Tashkent, and in all four Grand Slams she reached the first round, with round 2 reached in Wimbledon. Gathering points constantly on WTA Tour, and also including some smaller successes in ITF tournaments, Niculescu was ranked 48th in the World, and 2nd in Romania, at the end of 2008.

2009: Setback and out of top 100

Niculescu opened the season at the Brisbane International, where she lost to Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round in three sets.^[1] She also lost in the first round of the Moorilla Hobart International to Alona Bondarenko. At the 2009 Australian Open, Niculescu beat Katie O'Brien in the first round, 6–4, 6–4, before losing to Sara Errani in the second, 2–6, 3–6. Alongside Sorana Cîrstea, Niculescu was the 14th seed in women's doubles; they lost to Nathalie Dechy and Mara Santangelo in the second round, 3–6, 3–6.

In the other three Grand Slams, she did not go past round 1 of the main draw. Her best results of the year were quarterfinals in Tashkent and Strasbourg.

At the Open GDF Suez held in Paris, Niculescu defeated Timea Bacsinszky in the first round, before losing to eventual champion Amélie Mauresmo in the second. She then took part in the Dubai Tennis Championships. She beat Peng Shuai in the first round in three sets, 3–6, 7–5, 6–2, and then lost to world No. 3, Jelena Janković, 3–6, 2–6. Niculescu also partnered Elena Vesnina in doubles, and the two reached the quarterfinals in women's doubles; they lost to Anabel Medina Garrigues and Francesca Schiavone. Niculescu had two consecutive first-round losses, at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (fell to Anna-Lena Grönefeld) and Sony Ericsson Open in Miami (fell to Tamira Paszek). Partnering Alisa Kleybanova, she reached the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open, where they lost to Maria Kirilenko and Flavia Pennetta. At the Sony Ericsson Open she partnered Kleybanova again, but they lost to second seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual.

Niculescu withdrew from the Andalucía Tennis Experience and Barcelona Ladies Open due to a forearm injury.^[1]

At the end of the year, she had slipped out of top 100.

2010: Comeback to top 100, first WTA semifinal

In 2010, Monica started the season in Auckland, coming from qualifying. In the first round, she lost to fifth seed Virginie Razzano, 5–7, 4–6. In doubles, she partnered Ioana Raluca Olaru, and they defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues and Carla Suárez Navarro, 7–5, 7–5. In the second round, they lost to Cara Black and Liezel Huber, 3–6, 2–6.

At the Australian Open, she lost in the first round to Jelena Janković, 4–6, 0–6. In doubles, she partnered Chan Yung-jan and defeated Monique Adamczak and Nicole Kriz, 6–3, 6–1. The pair defeated Alla Kudryavtseva and Ekaterina Makarova in the second round, 6–4, 6–4. In the third round, they lost to sixth seeds Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs, 5–7, 3–6.

Niculescu then played an ITF tournament in Midland, but lost in the first round to Eleni Daniilidou 4–6, 2–6.

In Memphis, she lost in the first round qualifying to Valérie Tétreault. In doubles, she reached the semifinals along with Riza Zalameda, losing to Vania King and Michaëlla Krajicek, 1–6, 4–6.

At Indian Wells, she lost in qualifying to Tamarine Tanasugarn. In doubles, together with Michaëlla Krajicek, she lost in first round to Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Yan Zi, 6–7, 2–6.

In Marbella failed to qualify in singles, but in doubles she partnered Sophie Lefèvre. They defeated Kristina Barrois and Ioana Raluca Olaru in the first round, 6–3, 4–6, [10–7]. However, in the second round, they lost to Virginia Ruano Pascual and Meghann Shaughnessy, 2–6, 4–6.

She made again her best in Tashkent, where she reached her first WTA semifinals but lost to Elena Vesnina.

Although in the first half of the year she was struggling between ranks 100 and 150, by the middle of the year she reached top 100 again and ended the year as No. 82 in the world, and No. 2 in Romania.

2011: Consistent game, advance to top 30

At the Australian Open, Niculescu defeated Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets, 6–0, 6–3. Facing off against the 32nd seed, Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, Niculescu cruised through the match winning 6–4, 6–1. In the third round, she lost to the 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, 0–6, 6–7.

Niculescu defeated Patricia Mayr-Achleitner in the first round and compatriot Alexandra Dulgheru in the second round, 6–3, 6–0, to advance to the third round of the US Open. In defeating Lucie Šafářová, 6–0, 6–1, Niculescu advanced to the fourth round of a Grand Slam singles competition for the first time in her career, where she lost 4–6, 3–6 to unseeded Angelique Kerber.

At the Tier-1 China Open, she shocked the world with a dominating victory over fourth seed Li Na, 6–4, 6–0 in the first round and advanced to the semifinals, where she lost to eventual runner-up, Andrea Petkovic.

She advanced to her first WTA final at the International tournament in Luxembourg, losing to Victoria Azarenka, 2–6, 2–6. En route to the final, she spent many hours on court with a 6–7, 7–5, 7–6 first-round victory over Karin Knapp, a second-round 7–6, 3–6, 6–1 win over Anabel Medina Garrigues, and a 7–5, 4–6, 6–3 win in three hours over 2010 finalist Anne Keothavong in the semifinals.

The end of the year found her as No. 30 in the world and No. 1 in Romania.

2012: Career high, small setback, still top 60

At the Australian Open, Niculescu made it to the third round by defeating Alizé Cornet and Pauline Parmentier, but she was defeated by then–world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki, 2–6, 2–6.

She reached quarterfinals in Doha, where she lost to Samantha Stosur.

Her best result was again the WTA final in Luxembourg, lost to Venus Williams.

Although in February Niculescu had reached rank No. 28, her career high so far, the inconsistent results during the season made her go down to world No. 58 by the end of the year.

2013: Steady position, first WTA title

Aside two WTA semifinals in Shenzhen and Monterrey, Niculescu won her first singles WTA title in Florianópolis.

She played in round 1 of all the Grand Slams, but lost the games constantly.

Yet, winning enough games and points in WTA tournaments, she kept her Top 60 position, finishing the season as No. 59 in the WTA rankings.

2014: Second WTA title, top 50 again

In all, Niculescu had an improving season, reaching round 3 at Australian Open, round 2 at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, quarterfinals in Shenzhen, Hobart and Florianópolis, and semifinals in Bucharest. The best result was her winning the WTA tournament in Guangzhou, as her second WTA title.

Thus she entered top 50 again by the end of the year.

2015: Tough matches, steady game

Much of early 2015 was particularly difficult for Niculescu, as she often faced difficult draws. For instance she drew world No. 1, Serena Williams, twice in a row in the second round of Indian Wells and Miami. While she managed to test Williams with a 5–7, 5–7 score, she was not able to win a set against her in either match. She also suffered first round losses at Shenzen, Hobart, the Australian Open, Dubai, Prague, and the French Open.^[1]

Niculescu won the Marseille clay 100K ITF tournament in June. Shortly thereafter, she defeated first-seeded Agnieszka Radwańska 5–7, 6–4, 6–0 at the Aegon Open Nottingham WTA grass tournament to earn a place in the final where she lost to teenager Ana Konjuh 6–1, 4–6, 2–6. All five matches she played went to three sets. She then lost in the first round at Birmingham to the 10th seed, Barbora Strýcová.^[1]

Niculescu earned a spot in the fourth round at the Wimbledon Championships for the first time, defeating Monica Puig 5–7, 6–3, 6–1, Jana Čepelová 6–3, 6–3, and Kristýna Plíšková 6–3, 7–5. This is the second time she has made it past the third round at a major. Despite winning the first set of her fourth-round match 6-1 and having a positive head-to-head record against the player, she was defeated by 15th-seeded Timea Bacsinszky, who took the next two sets. Bacsinszky has seen a dramatic improvement of her results, having recently also made the semifinals at the French Open.^[2]

2016: Doubles success

Niculescu reached a career high ranking of 16 in doubles in July. She partnered with Sania Mirza to win in New Haven.^[3]

2017: Wimbledon doubles final and first WTA 125 Series crown

Monica Niculescu started her season at Shenzhen Open with a victory, defeating Kai-Lin Zhang, but she lost her second match to Wang Qiang.

Next week, Niculescu played at Hobart International where she made it to the final where she lost to Elise Mertens 3–6, 1–6.

At the Australian Open, Monica lost to Anna Blinkova in the first round. Then, Niculescu played doubles with Abigail Spears, but they lost in the first round to Andrea Petkovic and Mirjana Lučić-Baroni. She won the WTA 125 Series Open at Limoges on November 12.

Playing style

Nicolescu plays right-handed, with powerful topspin backhand and unpredictable forehand slice. She has great volleying ability and great footwork.

Personal life

Her mother, Cristiana Silvia Niculescu is a pharmaceutical sales representative; her father Mihai Niculescu is an engineer.^[1] Niculescu has an older sister, Gabriela, who was a professional tennis player and attended University of Idaho, after transferring from USC after her junior year.^[1]

Monica Niculescu cited Martina Hingis and Andre Agassi as her tennis idols.^[1] She enjoys shopping, movies, reading, and spending time with her family.^[1] Niculescu listed her favourite movie as The Butterfly Effect with Ashton Kutcher.^[1]

Significant finals

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2017	Wimbledon	Grass	Chan Hao-ching	Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina	0–6, 0–6

Premier-Mandatory/Premier-5 finals

Doubles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2015	Wuhan	Hard	Irina-Camelia Begu	Martina Hingis Sania Mirza	2−6, 3−6
Loss	2016	Canada	Hard	Simona Halep	Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina	3–6, 6–7(5–7)
Loss	2017	Cincinnati Open	Hard	Hsieh Su-wei	Chan Yung-jan Martina Hingis	6–4, 4–6, [7–10]

WTA career finals

Singles: 8 (3 titles, 5 runners-up)

Legend (pre/post 2009)
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0)
Tier II / Premier (0–0)
Tier III, IV & V / International (3–5)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Oct 2011	Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg	International	Hard (i)	Victoria Azarenka	2–6, 2–6
Loss	0–2	Oct 2012	Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg	International	Hard (i)	Venus Williams	2–6, 3–6
Win	1–2	Mar 2013	Brasil Tennis Cup, Brasil	International	Hard	Olga Puchkova	6–2, 4–6, 6–4
Win	2–2	Sep 2014	Guangzhou Open, China	International	Hard	Alizé Cornet	6–4, 6–0
Loss	2–3	Jun 2015	Nottingham Open, UK	International	Grass	Ana Konjuh	6–1, 4–6, 2–6
Loss	2–4	Sep 2016	Korea Open, South Korea	International	Hard	Lara Arruabarrena	0–6, 6–2, 0–6
Win	3–4	Oct 2016	Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg	International	Hard (i)	Petra Kvitová	6–4, 6–0
Loss	3–5	Jan 2017	Hobart International, Australia	International	Hard	Elise Mertens	3–6, 1–6

Doubles: 24 (8 titles, 16 runners-up)

Legend (pre/post 2009)
Grand Slam tournaments (0–1)
WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–3)
Tier II / Premier (1–4)
Tier III, IV & V / International (7–8)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Aug 2008	Connecticut Open, United States	Tier II	Hard	Sorana Cîrstea	Květa Peschke Lisa Raymond	6–4, 5–7, [7–10]
Win	1–1	Jul 2009	Hungarian Ladies Open, Hungary	International	Clay	Alisa Kleybanova	Alona Bondarenko Kateryna Bondarenko	6–4, 7–6(7–5)
Loss	1–2	Aug 2009	Bank of the West Classic, United States	Premier	Hard	Chan Yung-jan	Serena Williams Venus Williams	1–6, 4–6
Loss	1–3	Jan 2010	Hobart International, Australia	International	Hard	Chan Yung-jan	Květa Peschke Chuang Chia-jung	6–3, 3–6, [7–10]
Loss	1–4	Jul 2010	Prague Open, Czech Republic	International	Clay	Ágnes Szávay	Timea Bacsinszky Tathiana Garbin	5–7, 6–7(4–7)
Loss	1–5	Jul 2011	Baku Cup, Azerbaijan	International	Hard	Galina Voskoboeva	Mariya Koryttseva Tatiana Poutchek	3–6, 6–2, [8–10]
Win	2–5	Jan 2012	Hobart International, Australia	International	Hard	Irina-Camelia Begu	Chuang Chia-jung Marina Erakovic	6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–4), [10–5]
Loss	2–6	Sep 2012	Guangzhou Open, China	International	Hard	Jarmila Gajdošová	Tamarine Tanasugarn Zhang Shuai	6–2, 2–6, [8–10]
Loss	2–7	Oct 2012	Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg	International	Hard (i)	Irina-Camelia Begu	Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká	3–6, 4–6
Loss	2–8	Jun 2013	Eastbourne International, United Kingdom	Premier	Grass	Klára Koukalová	Nadia Petrova Katarina Srebotnik	3-6, 3-6
Win	3–8	Jan 2014	Shenzhen Open, China	International	Hard	Klára Koukalová	Lyudmyla Kichenok Nadiia Kichenok	6–3, 6–4
Win	4–8	Jan 2014	Hobart International, Australia (2)	International	Hard	Klára Koukalová	Lisa Raymond Zhang Shuai	6–2, 6–7(5–7), [10–8]
Loss	4–9	Apr 2014	Katowice Open, Poland	International	Hard (i)	Klára Koukalová	Yuliya Beygelzimer Olga Savchuk	4–6, 7–5, [7–10]
Loss	4–10	Jan 2015	Hobart International, Australia	International	Hard	Vitalia Diatchenko	Kiki Bertens Johanna Larsson	5–7, 3–6
Loss	4–11	Oct 2015	Wuhan Open, China	Premier 5	Hard	Irina-Camelia Begu	Martina Hingis Sania Mirza	2−6, 3−6
Loss	4–12	Oct 2015	Kremlin Cup, Russia	Premier	Hard (i)	Irina-Camelia Begu	Daria Kasatkina Elena Vesnina	3–6, 7–6(9–7), [5–10]
Win	5–12	Jan 2016	Shenzhen Open, China (2)	International	Hard	Vania King	Xu Yifan Zheng Saisai	6−1, 6−4
Win	6–12	Jul 2016	Citi Open, United States	International	Hard	Yanina Wickmayer	Shuko Aoyama Risa Ozaki	6–4, 6–3
Loss	6–13	Jul 2016	Rogers Cup, Canada	Premier 5	Hard	Simona Halep	Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina	3–6, 6–7(5–7)
Win	7–13	Aug 2016	Connecticut Open, United States	Premier	Hard	Sania Mirza	Kateryna Bondarenko Chuang Chia-jung	7–5, 6–4
Loss	7–14	Oct 2016	Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg	International	Hard (i)	Patricia Maria Țig	Kiki Bertens Johanna Larsson	6–4, 5–7, [9–11]
Win	8–14	Apr 2017	Ladies Open Biel Bienne, Switzerland	International	Hard (i)	Hsieh Su-wei	Timea Bacsinszky Martina Hingis	5–7, 6–3, [10–7]
Loss	8–15	Jul 2017	Wimbledon, United Kingdom	Grand Slam	Grass	Chan Hao-ching	Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina	0–6, 0–6
Loss	8–16	Aug 2017	Cincinnati Open, United States	Premier 5	Hard	Hsieh Su-wei	Chan Yung-jan Martina Hingis	6–4, 4–6, [7–10]

WTA 125 Series finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Nov 2017	Open de Limoges, France	125K	Hard (i)	Antonia Lottner	6–4, 6–2

ITF finals (39 titles, 21 runner–up)

Singles (18 titles, 5 runner–up)

Legend $100,000 tournaments $75,000 tournaments $50,000 tournaments $25,000 tournaments $15,000 tournaments $10,000 tournaments

Finals by surface Hard (9–2) Clay (9–3) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Datexf	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	12 August 2002	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Tsvetana Pironkova	6–1, 7–6(7–4)
Winner	2.	9 April 2003	Cavtat, Croatia	Clay	Darija Jurak	6–4, 6–1
Winner	3.	25 August 2003	Timișoara, Romania	Clay	Veronica Rizhik	6–2, 6–3
Winner	4.	9 February 2004	Albufeira, Portugal	Hard	Irina Kotkina	6–1, 3–6, 6–0
Winner	5.	16 February 2004	Portimao, Portugal	Hard	Nadja Pavic	6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Winner	6.	17 May 2004	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Simona Matei	6–2, 6–2
Winner	7.	16 August 2004	Iași, Romania	Clay	Raluca Olaru	7–6(7–5), 6–0
Winner	8.	15 March 2005	Cairo, Egypt	Clay	Galina Fokina	6–4, 6–2
Winner	9.	21 March 2005	Ain Alsoukhna, Egypt	Clay	Magdaléna Rybáriková	6–3, 6–4
Winner	10.	9 May 2005	Antalya, Turkey	Clay	Ekaterina Dzehalevich	6–2, 6–2
Winner	11.	15 August 2005	Coimbra, Portugal	Hard	Aravane Rezaï	6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	1.	3 July 2006	Stuttgart, Germany	Clay	Yevgenia Savranska	6-7(4–7), 5–7
Runner-up	2.	17 July 2006	Darmstadt, Germany	Clay	Magda Mihalache	0–6, 1–6
Runner-up	3.	8 August 2006	Coimbra, Portugal	Hard	Kelly Liggan	0–6, 6-7(7–9)
Winner	12.	24 September 2007	Granada, Spain	Hard	María José Martínez Sánchez	6–3, 6–4
Winner	13.	22 October 2007	Istanbul, Turkey	Hard (i)	Oxana Lyubtsova	6–2, 6–0
Winner	14.	5 November 2007	Port Pirie, Australia	Hard	Hwang I-hsuan	6–1, 6–2
Winner	15.	19 November 2007	Mount Gambier, Australia	Hard	Ye-Ra Lee	6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	4.	3 November 2008	Krakow, Poland	Hard (i)	Anne Keothavong	6–7(4–7), 6–4, 3–6
Runner-up	5.	19 July 2010	Petange, Luxembourg	Clay	Mathilde Johansson	3–6, 3–6
Winner	16.	19 November 2012	Nantes, France	Hard (i)	Yulia Putintseva	6–2, 6–3
Winner	17.	1 June 2015	Marseille, France	Clay	Pauline Parmentier	6–2, 7–5
Winner	18.	26 October 2015	Poitiers, France	Hard (i)	Pauline Parmentier	7–5, 6–2

Doubles (21–16)

Legend $100,000 tournaments $75,000 tournaments $50,000 tournaments $25,000 tournaments $15,000 tournaments $10,000 tournaments

Finals by surface Hard (4–3) Clay (17–13) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	12 August 2002	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Radoslava Topalova Virginia Trifonova	4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Winner	1.	26 August 2002	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Iveta Gerlová Nina Nittinger	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	2.	10 March 2003	Makarska, Croatia	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Stefanie Haidner Daniela Klemenschits	6–3, 6–7(7–9), 4–6
Winner	2.	31 March 2003	Makarska, Croatia	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Darija Jurak Maria Jedlickova	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	3.	14 April 2003	Dubrovnik, Croatia	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Mervana Jugic-Salkic Darija Jurak	2–6, 6–4, 2–6
Runner-up	4.	11 August 2003	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Anna Bastrikova Elena Vesnina	4–6, 4–6
Runner-up	5.	11 August 2003	Timișoara, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Julia Acs Vasilisa Davydova	4–6, 3–6
Winner	3.	17 May 2004	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Lenore Lazaroiu Andra Savu	6–4, 6–2
Winner	4.	13 July 2004	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Liana Ungur Iris Ichim	6–4, 6–1
Winner	5.	9 August 2004	Târgu Mureș, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Simona Matei Barbara Pocza	7–5, 6–1
Winner	6.	16 August 2004	Iași, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Nadine Schlotterer Eva Valkova	7–5, 6–1
Winner	7.	15 March 2005	Cairo, Egypt	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Hanna Andreyeva Valeria Bondarenko	6–2, 6–3
Winner	8.	15 March 2005	Ain El Soukhna, Egypt	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Laura-Ramona Husaru Sarah Raab	6–1, 6–1
Runner-up	6.	11 April 2005	Civitavecchia, Italy	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Lucie Hradecka Sandra Zahlavova	4–6, 3–6
Winner	9.	2 May 2005	Antalya, Turkey	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Irina Buryachok Olga Panova	6–3, 6–4
Winner	9.	9 May 2005	Antalya, Turkey	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Renata Kucerkova Kathrin Woerle-Scheller	6–7, 6–0, 6–0
Runner-up	7.	15 October 2005	Sevilla, Spain	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Sara Errani María José Martínez Sánchez	2–6, 6–7(5-7)
Runner-up	8.	3 April 2006	Athens, Greece	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Olga Brozda Margit Ruutel	6–2, 4–6, 2–6
Winner	10.	9 May 2006	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Sorana Cirstea Diana Buzean	6–3, 6–0
Winner	11.	20 June 2006	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Gabriela Niculescu	Raluca Ciulei Neda Kozic	6–2, 6–1
Winner	12.	3 July 2006	Stuttgart, Germany	Clay	Renata Voráčová	Eva Fislova Stanislava Hrozenska	6–2, 6–7(4-7), 7–5
Winner	13.	17 July 2006	Darmstadt, Germany	Clay	Yevgenia Savranska	Daniela Klemenschits Sandra Klemenschits	1–6, 6–0, 6–1
Winner	14.	4 September 2006	Mestre, Italy	Clay	Renata Voráčová	Margalita Chakhnashvili-Ranzinger Tatjana Maria	6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Winner	14.	2 April 2007	Putignano, Italy	Hard	Andreja Klepač	Jessica Kirkland Carmen Klaschka	6–2, 7–5
Runners-up	9.	17 July 2006	Jounieh, Lebanon	Clay	Madalina Gojnea	Tatiana Poutchek Anastasiya Yakimova	7–5, 6–0
Winner	15.	10 July 2007	Darmstadt, Germany	Clay	Ekaterina Dzehalevich	Hilary Barte Tatjana Priachin	6–4, 7–5
Runners-up	10.	31 July 2007	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Ekaterina Dzehalevich	Sorana Cirstea Ágnes Szatmári	6–0, 4–6, ret.
Runners-up	11.	17 September 2007	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Yevgenia Savranska	María José Martínez Sánchez Arantxa Parra Santonja	6–1, 6–7(4–7)
Runners-up	12.	10 July 2007	Granada, Spain	Clay	Alexandra Dulgheru	Marta Marrero María José Martínez Sánchez	4–6, 1–6
Winner	16.	19 November 2007	Mount Gambier, Australia	Hard	Antonia Matic	Sophie Ferguson Trudi Musgrave	5–7, 6–3, [10-8]
Winner	17.	10 December 2007	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Hard	Marina Eraković	Yuliana Fedak Anna Lapushchenkova	7–6(7–1), 6–4
Runners-up	13.	20 October 2008	Poitiers, France	Hard (i)	Akgul Amanmuradova	Petra Cetkovská Lucie Šafářová	4–6, 4–6
Runners-up	14.	27 October 2008	Bratislava, Slovakia	Hard (i)	Akgul Amanmuradova	Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká	6–7(1–7), 1–6
Runners-up	15.	5 July 2010	Biarritz, France	Clay	Lourdes Domínguez Lino	Sharon Fichman Julia Görges	5–7, 4–6
Winner	18.	19 July 2010	Petange, Luxembourg	Clay	Sharon Fichman	Sophie Lefèvre Laura Thorpe	6–4, 6–2
Runners-up	16.	5 July 2013	Poitiers, France	Hard (i)	Christina McHale	Lucie Hradecká Michaëlla Krajicek	6–7(5–7), 6–2
Winner	19.	31 October 2015	Poitiers, France	Hard (i)	Cristina-Andreea Mitu	Stéphanie Foretz Amandine Hesse	6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–2), [10–8]

Singles performance timeline

Current up to 2018 Miami Open.

Tournament	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	W-L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	1R	2R	1R	3R	3R	1R	3R	1R	2R	1R	1R	8–11
French Open	A	A	1R	1R	Q3	1R	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	1R	A	1–9
Wimbledon	A	A	2R	1R	2R	2R	1R	1R	1R	4R	2R	1R	1R	7–11
US Open	A	A	1R	1R	1R	4R	1R	1R	2R	2R	3R	3R	1R	9–11
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	1–4	1–4	1–3	6–4	2–4	0–4	4−4	4−4	4−4	2–4	0–3	25–42
Year-End Championship
WTA Tour Championships	Did Not Qualify													!0–0
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	Not Held		A	Not Held			A	Not Held			2R	NH		1–0
WTA Premier Mandatory Tournaments
Indian Wells	A	A	A	1R	LQ	2R	2R	2R	2R	2R	3R	2R	1R	6–9
Miami	A	A	A	1R	A	2R	2R	1R	1R	2R	4R	1R	3R	6–9
Madrid	Not Held			1R	A	1R	1R	Q1	1R	LQ	1R	1R	A	0–6
Beijing	Not Tier I			A	Q1	SF	2R	2R	1R	1R	LQ	2R		7–6
WTA Premier 5 Tournaments
Doha	Not Tier I		2R	Not Held		NP5	QF	2R	3R	NP5	3R	NP5	3R	11–6
Rome	A	A	2R	1R	A	A	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	1R	1R	A	1–6
Canada	A	A	2R	1R	1R	LQ	Absent				2R	A	1R	2–5
Cincinnati	Not Tier I			A	2R	1R	A	2R	LQ	Q1	Q1	Q1	Q1	2–3
Wuhan	Not Held									2R	A	1R		1-2
Dubai	Not Tier I			2R	A	LQ	Not Premier 5			1R	NP5	A		1–2
Tokyo	Absent						1R	A	NP5					0–1
Year-End ranking	222	179	47	101	83	30	58	60	47	39	39	79

Doubles performance timeline

Updated up to 2016 Internazionali BNL d'Italia

Tournament	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	W-L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A			2R	3R	2R	QF	3R	2R	2R	1R	11–8
French Open	A		2R	3R	QF	3R	2R	3R	2R	1R	A	12–8
Wimbledon	A		2R	3R	2R	2R	2R	1R	2R	2R	1R	8–9
US Open	A		2R	3R	3R	1R	1R	1R	2R	2R	3R	9–9
Win–Loss	0-0	0-0	3–3	7–4	8–4	4–4	5–4	4–4	4-4	3–4	2–3	40–34
Year-End Championship
WTA Tour Championships	Did Not Qualify											0–0
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	NH		A	NH			A	NH				0–0
WTA Premier Mandatory Tournaments
Indian Wells	A			QF	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	2R	2R	5–8
Miami	A			1R	2R	2R	SF	1R	2R	QF	SF	12–8
Madrid	NH	NH	NH	2R	A	1R	2R	A	2R	1R		3–5
Beijing	Tier	Tier	Tier	A		1R	1R	A		1R		0–3
WTA Premier-5 Tournaments
Dubai	not Premier 5			QF	A	2R	NP5			QF	NP5	5–3
Doha	A		QF	NH		NP5	1R	A		NP5	2R	3–3
Rome	A						1R	QF	2R	2R	SF	7–5
Cincinnati	A		1R	SF	QF	1R	A	1R	1R	1R		5–7
Montreal/Toronto	A		1R	1R	SF	2R	A				F	4–4
Tokyo	A						1R	A	NP5			0–1
Wuhan	NH								1R	F		3-2
Year-End ranking	159	131	35	30	30	50	27	70	38	33

WTA Tour career earnings

Year	Grand Slam singles titles	WTA singles titles	Total singles titles	Earnings ($)	Money list rank
2003	0	0	0	6,343	493
2004	0	0	0	9,073[permanent dead link]	433[permanent dead link]
2005	0	0	0	? [1]	? [2]
2006	0	0	0	? [3][permanent dead link]	? [4][permanent dead link]
2007	0	0	0	? [5][permanent dead link]	? [6][permanent dead link]
2008	0	0	0	249,035[permanent dead link]	67[permanent dead link]
2009	0	0	0	315,414	67
2010	0	0	0	251,188	77
2011	0	0	0	549,493[permanent dead link]	38[permanent dead link]
2012	0	0	0	450,393[permanent dead link]	45[permanent dead link]
2013	0	1	1	406,372	62
2014	0	1	1	582,694	44
2015	0	0	0	667,180	? [7]
2016*	0	0	0	335,909	37
Career*	0	2	2	3,480,360	97

*as of 23 May 2016

Record against other players

Niculescu's win-loss record against certain players who have been ranked world No. 10 or higher is as follows:

Player	Record	Win %	Hard	Clay	Grass	Last Match
No. 1 ranked players
Maria Sharapova	1–0	100%	1–0	0–0	0–0	Won (4–6, 6–4, 6–3) at Doha 2018
Victoria Azarenka	0–5	0%	0–4	0–1	0–0	Loss (1–6, 4–6) at 2013 Australian Open
Angelique Kerber	1–3	25%	1–3	0–0	0–0	Loss (6–0, 1–6, 2-6) at 2013 Linz
Kim Clijsters	0–1	0%	0–0	0–0	0–1	Loss (5–7, 5–7) at 2011 's-Hertogenbosch
Ana Ivanovic	0–2	0%	0–1	0–1	0–0	Loss (5–7, 3–6) at 2012 Linz
Jelena Janković	2–5	29%	2–4	0–1	0–0	Win (3-6, 6–4, 7-5) at 2016 Doha
Amélie Mauresmo	0–1	0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (1–6, 2–6) at 2009 Paris
Serena Williams	0–2	0%	0–2	0–0	0–0	Loss (4–6, 1–6) at 2015 Miami
Venus Williams	0–1	0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (2–6, 3–6) at 2012 Luxembourg
Caroline Wozniacki	0–6	0%	0–6	0–0	0–0	Loss (3–6, 1–6) at 2013 Luxembourg
No. 2 ranked players
Simona Halep	0–2	0%	0–0	0–2	0–0	Loss (2–6, 6–4, 1–6) at 2014 Bucharest
Petra Kvitová	1–2	33%	1–0	0–1	0–1	Loss (6–2, 6–7(5–7), 2-6) at 2016 Stuttgart
Na Li	1–1	50%	1–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (5–7, 6–4, 4–6 ) at 2012 Shenzhen
Agnieszka Radwańska	1–4	20%	0–4	0–0	1–0	Loss (1–6, 5–7) at 2016 Montréal
Vera Zvonareva	1–1	50%	1–1	0–0	0–0	Win (7–5, 3–2 ret.) at 2012 Doha
No. 3 ranked players
No. 4 ranked players
Kimiko Date-Krumm	1–1	50%	1–1	0–0	0–0	Win (6–2, 2–1 ret.) at 2013 Monterrey
Francesca Schiavone	0–4	0%	0–3	0–1	0–0	Loss (3–6, 5–7) at 2012 Stuttgart
Samantha Stosur	0–7	0%	0–7	0–0	0–0	Loss (3–6, 2–6) at 2015 Beijing
No. 5 ranked players
Anna Chakvetadze	1–1	50%	1–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (0–6, 4–6) at 2012 Hobart
Sara Errani	1–4	20%	1–2	0–2	0–0	Loss (7–5, 1–6, 2-6) at 2015 Bucharest
Daniela Hantuchová	1–0	100%	1–0	0–0	0–0	Win (6–1, 6–3) at 2012 Luxembourg
Lucie Šafářová	2–0	100%	2–0	0–0	0–0	Win (6–2, 6–0) at 2012 Beijing
No. 6 ranked players
Flavia Pennetta	0–3	0%	0–2	0–0	0–1	Loss (1–6, 4–6) at 2015 US Open
Carla Suárez Navarro	0–5	0%	0–4	0–1	0–0	Loss (7-5, 3-6, 4–6) at 2015 Wuhan
No. 7 ranked players
Marion Bartoli	0–1	0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (6-2, 3–6, 2–6) at 2011 Indian Wells
Karolína Plíšková	2–1	67%	2–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (4-6, 6–4, 3–6) at 2016 Fed Cup
Patty Schnyder	0–1	0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (1-6, 5–7) at 2008 Montréal
Roberta Vinci	0–1	0%	0–0	0–0	0–1	Loss (3–6, 7–6(7–4), 0-6) at 2012 's-Hertogenbosch
No. 8 ranked players
Ekaterina Makarova	1–4	20%	0–3	1–1	0–0	Loss (7-5, 6-7(3–7), 3-6) at 2014 Indian Wells
Alicia Molik	0–1	0%	0–0	0–1	0–0	Loss (6-4, 6-7(5–7), 0-6) at 2010 Barcelona
No. 9 ranked players
Timea Bacsinszky	4–3	57%	2–0	2–1	0–2	Loss (6-4, 2-6, 1-6) at 2016 Wimbledon
Madison Keys	1–0	100%	1–0	0–0	0–0	Win (6–1, 2–6, 7-6(8–6)) at 2013 Washington
Andrea Petkovic	2–3	40%	0–2	2–1	0–0	Loss (6-0, 6-7(1–7), 3-6) at 2016 Fed Cup
No. 10 ranked players
Dominika Cibulková	0–1	0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	Loss (4–6, 3-6) at 2008 Los Angeles
Maria Kirilenko	2–2	50%	2–2	0–0	0–0	Loss (3-6, 0-6) at 2012 Dubai
Total	25–79	24.04%	19–59	5–14	1–6	–

Top-10 wins per season

Season	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	Total
Wins	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	4

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Round	Score
2011
1.	Li Na	No. 5	Beijing, China	Hard	1st round	6–4, 6–0
2012
2.	Vera Zvonareva	No. 8	Doha, Qatar	Hard	2nd round	7–5, 3–2 ret.
2016
3.	Petra Kvitová	No. 9	Fed Cup, Cluj-Napoca, Romania	Hard (i)	RR	6–3, 6–4
2017
4.	Johanna Konta	No. 7	Beijing, China	Hard	1st round	6–1, 6–2

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monica Niculescu.

• 
  Monica Niculescu at the Women's Tennis Association
  


• 
  Monica Niculescu at the International Tennis Federation
  


• 
  Monica Niculescu at the Fed Cup
  


• 
  Monica Niculescu Blog (inactive since 2009)