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Jill Craybas

Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Huntington Beach, California, U.S.
Height	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Turned pro	1996
Plays	Right; Two-handed backhand
Prize money	US$1,702,895
Singles
Career record	325–306
Career titles	1 WTA (4 ITF)
Highest ranking	No. 39 (April 17, 2006)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	3R (2004)
French Open	2R (2001, 2007)
Wimbledon	4R (2005)
US Open	2R (2004, 2005, 2006)
Doubles
Career record	95–151
Career titles	4 WTA
Highest ranking	No. 41 (June 23, 2008)
Last updated on: November 3, 2008.

Jill Craybas (born July 4, 1974, Providence, Rhode Island) is an American professional tennis player.

Career

Before entering the professional ranks in 1996, she attended and graduated from the University of Florida in Gainesville, and was the 1996 NCAA singles champion. Her major was telecommunications and she has said in interviews that she hopes to enter this field (film or TV production) when her playing days are over. She credits all her achievements to her longtime coach, Michael Daly. Michael has worked with her from the start of her tennis career.

Craybas has won one WTA title at the Tokyo Japan Open. She beat Silvija Talaja in the final after trailing 4–0 in the third set. In the 2006 season, Craybas had reached one quarterfinal at Hobart as the eighth seed, losing to unseeded Italian Mara Santangelo in three sets. She has also reached the semifinals of a Tier III event in Memphis, a fourth-round showing at the Tier I event in Key Biscayne, Florida and a further quarterfinal appearance at Stanford in late July.

Craybas is best known for her 2005 defeat of Serena Williams in the 3rd round of Wimbledon. She beat Williams 6–3, 7–6, then lost to Serena's older sister, Venus Williams 6–0, 6–2.

On March 25, 2006, Craybas once again served up an early round defeat of a top seeded player. This time it was second-seeded Kim Clijsters in the second round of the NASDAQ-100 tournament. After having lead in both the first and third sets, Clijsters eventually lost by a score of 7–5, 3–6, 7–5. It was Clijsters earliest ever exit from the NASDAQ-100, and Clijsters was the defending champion.

Craybas, who may be a veteran on the tour nowadays, is thought to be playing the best tennis of her life. However, after having a successful start to 2006, has fallen short of what was expected of her from her dramatically impressive start, losing to lower-ranked opponents in first rounds or having difficult first round draws against the top players in the world.

She began 2007 by reaching the semifinals of a Tier IV event in Auckland, New Zealand. She beat all of her opponents in straight sets before bowing out to Russian Vera Zvonareva 6–3, 7–5. She next took part in the Tier II event in Sydney, where she lost in the last round of qualifying to Russian Vera Dushevina 6–1, 3–6, 6–1. At the first Grand Slam tournament of the year at the Australian Open, she suffered a first-round loss to the tenth-eeded Nicole Vaidišová 6–4, 5–7, 6–1. Craybas bounced back into winning form at her next tournament in the U.S., at an ITF tournament in Midland, Texas. As the top-seeded, she beat all of her opponents in straight sets until a hard-fought 2–6, 6–3, 6–3 victory over second-seeded and fellow American Laura Granville. Because of her lower ranking, she has suffered in tough draws, not going further than the second round of any tournament since.

At the start of 2008, Craybas entered the Pattaya Women's Open in Pattaya, Thailand, where, as the seventh-seed, she played some of the best tennis of her career and beat Olga Savchuk 6–1, 6–1 in the first round, Renata Voráčová 2–6, 6–1, 6–3 in the second round and Andreja Klepač 6–4, 6–4 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals she beat Akgul Amanmuradova 6–4, 6–0 and lost to the top seed Agnieszka Radwańska in a tie-break in the third set, 6–2, 1–6, 7–6. Craybas's ranking improved from World No. 77 to World No. 60 because of these results.

Craybas was won the Istanbul Cup in doubles.

Craybas will represent the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the tennis singles event. She became the last qualifier for the event, replacing Tamira Paszek of Austria. The opening came available when fellow American Ashley Harkleroad elected to skip the games.

WTA titles

Singles

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	March 15, 1998	Nuevo Lareda	Hard	Marina Petrovic	6–2, 6–2
2.	February 11, 2001	Rockford	Hard (I)	Adriana Serra Zanetti	6–4, 6–3
3.	October 6, 2002	Tokyo	Hard	Silvija Talaja	2–6, 6–4, 6–4
4.	February 15, 2004	Midland	Hard (I)	Nicole Vaidišová	6–2, 6–4
5.	February 11, 2007	Midland	Hard (I)	Laura Granville	2–6, 6–3, 6–3

External links

• Jill Craybas at the Women's Tennis Association

References

1. http://www.itftennis.com/olympics/news/newsarticle.asp?articleid=19057
2. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2008-06-03-3513293212_x.htm

• 1974 births
• Living people
• University of Florida alumni
• American tennis players
• People from Providence, Rhode Island
• Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
• Olympic tennis players of the United States