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Meghann Shaughnessy
Meghann Shaughnessy (April 13, 1979) is an American professional
tennis player. She was born in Richmond, Virginia, and currently resides
in Scottsdale, Arizona. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of #11
in 2001, and has won three WTA Tour singles titles. She is best known for
her serve, which is one of the most powerful on tour, and has produced as
many as 22 aces in a match. Shaughnessy is coached by Rafael Font de Mora
(managed by him since age 13 and coached by him for over 20 years). He has
been romantically involved with her since before she turned 18.
Opening serves
Shaughnessy made her debut on the WTA Tour in 1996 at a tournament
in Budapest, and broke into the top 100 in 1998. In 2000, Shaughnessy won
her first WTA singles title at Beijing, defeating Iroda Tulyaganova in the
final, and breaking into the top fifty. In her breakout year of 2001, Shaughnessy
achieved a career-high singles ranking of #11, won the second singles title
of her career at Quebec City, and reached the finals of Hamburg and her home
tournament in Scottsdale. She also recorded wins over world number five Conchita
Martinez, world number four Monica Seles, and world number two Venus Williams.
In 2002, Shaughnessy began the season by reaching the final
of Sydney, and recaptured her career-high #11 ranking. She also reached the
quarterfinals or better of four other tournaments that year, with wins over
top five players Jelena Dokic and Serena Williams. In 2003, Shaughnessy had
another excellent year, featuring the second year end top twenty finish of
her career. Shaughnessy captured her third career singles title in Canberra,
and also had strong Grand Slam results, reaching her first career Slam quarterfinal
at Roland Garros, and reaching the Round of 16 at both the US Open and Australian
Open. Shaughnessy also scored one of the biggest upsets of the year, defeating
world number two Venus Williams in the Round of 16 of the NASDAQ-100 Open
in Miami. In 2004, Shaughnessy produced sub-par results, finishing just inside
of the top 40, with only one top five win, over Anastasia Myskina in Dubai.
However, in 2004 Shaughnessy produced the best doubles results of her career,
winning seven tournaments with partner Nadia Petrova, including the WTA Year
End Championships in Los Angeles. This doubles partnership is now over as
Petrova is looking for a new partner for 2006.
Current form
In 2005, Shaughnessy has struggled with injuries and consistency.
Her year began with a right leg injury, which forced her to withdraw from
the Australian Open doubles competition, and from a tournament in Hyderabad.
However, Shaughnessy showed signs of recovery in February, reaching the final
of Memphis, defeating Nicole Vaidisova in the semifinals. The match featured
Shaughnessy serving 22 aces in her 7-6 7-6 win. After Memphis, Shaughnessy
struggled with back injuries for the duration of the spring, not reaching
another semifinal until June at a grass tournament in 's-Hertogenbosch.
By July, Shaughnessy's ranking had dropped so low that she
was forced to qualify for the Palo Alto tournament. She successfully qualified,
and then stunned number five seed Vera Zvonareva in the first round, before
losing to Daniela Hantuchova in the second round. A back injury forced Shaughnessy
to withdraw from tournaments in Carlsbad, California and Los Angeles. As
a wildcard in New Haven, she defeated number nine seed Nathalie Dechy for
the first time in ten attempts, before losing to doubles partner Anna-Lena
Groenefeld in the second round. At the US Open, Shaughnessy led sixteen year
old Sesil Karatantcheva 6-3 5-2 in the opening round, and held two match
points, before losing 3-6 7-5 7-5.
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