Alisa Kleybanova

The year ended for her with a win–loss record of 28–8 and a world ranking of 244th.

In August, ranked 618th, she entered qualifying for two successive $25k events in China – the first at Wuxi, where she qualified but lost in the second round of the main draw to world No. 325, Miho Saeki, and the second at Nanjing, where in the first round of qualifying she had to withdraw with the score level at one set all against a little-known Chinese player.

Travelling to Moscow at the end of the month, she entered qualifying for a further $25k event there, and enjoyed not only by far her most successful performance of the year to date but also the best of her career, as she came through three rounds of qualifying and then won the entire tournament.

Her vanquished opponents included Galyna Kosyk of the Ukraine, whom she defeated in the second round of qualifying, Italians Giulia Gabba, Sara Errani and Karin Knapp, all of whom she defeated in straight sets, Margalita Chakhnashvili of Georgia, whom she beat in the semifinals, and fellow-Russian Vasilisa Bardina, whom she ousted in the final 6–2, 6–2.

Wildcarded into the qualifying draw for the annual Tier-I fixture at Moscow in early October, her ranking having leapt back up to world No. 384, Kleybanova double-bagelled American former top 40 star Alexandra Stevenson in the first round of qualifying, but then lost a close three-set match to Bulgarian world No. 41, Sesil Karatantcheva, in the second.

As a direct entrant to a $25k event at Makinohara, Japan the following week, she battled past world No. 192, Seiko Okamoto, in the first round and world No. 349, Ayumi Morita, in the semifinals, but otherwise did not drop a set in claiming her second career $25k title.

This result elevated her world ranking to a personal-best world No. 294 by the time of her entry into her next $25k draw at Sutama, Japan early in November.

On this occasion, she won the whole tournament without losing a single set, defeating world No. 199, Shiho Hisamatsu, in the final to take her third $25k title and fourth ITF tournament victory.

In December, she tried her hand at qualifying for a $50k tournament at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, but was defeated in three sets in the qualifying round by a lower-ranked player from Taipei.

However, she entered the main draw as a lucky loser, and knocked out world No. 110, Saori Obata in the first round, before losing to world No. 225, Tiffany Dabek of the U.S., in round two.

Alisa Mikhailovna Kleybanova (Алиса Михайловна Клейбанова, born 15 July 1989) is a Russian former tennis player.

Kleybanova made her senior tennis début in 2003 aged 14, and won the first ITF tournament she entered.

She has also experienced success in the juniors; she won the 2003 Wimbledon Championships girls' doubles with Sania Mirza, aged 13.

Three years later, she won the same competition with fellow rising Russian star Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

In August 2003, aged 14 years and one month, Kleybanova entered qualifying for her first $10k event at Mollerusa, Spain, and came through all three qualifying rounds into the main draw without dropping a set, then proceeded to progress through to the final and win the title on her first attempt, having ceded just one set in the whole tournament in her second-round match.

She played six tournaments on the tour and ranked No. 364 by the end of 2004.

In March, the Russian teenager was favoured with a wildcard into the main draw at Indian Wells for the second year running, but this time she lost in the first round to world No. 95, Anne Kremer of Luxembourg.

Her ranking having plunged to 520 following her failure to defend her points picked up at Indian Wells a year earlier, she was wildcarded into the qualifying draw instead of the main draw for the Tier-I event at Miami that immediately followed, and at first defeated world No. 91, Séverine Beltrame (nowadays known as Séverine Brémond), but then lost in the second round of qualifying to German Julia Schruff.

By the time she next competed in July, she had lost nearly all her ranking points and plummeted to world No. 730.

She came through qualifying draw at a $25k tournament held at Felixstowe, Great Britain, but lost in the second round of the main draw to world No. 228, Jarmila Gajdošová.

She also won the girls' doubles at the 2005 US Open with Czech Nikola Fraňková.

The Russian 16-year-old began 2006 by attempting to qualify for the Tier IV Pattaya Open, but lost in the first round of the qualifying draw to American world No. 125, Bethanie Mattek.

Then in April, having skipped Indian Wells, she was awarded a wildcard into the main draw at Miami, but was defeated in the first round by French world No. 47, Virginie Razzano.

In May, she retreated again to the $25k level in Italy, playing back-to-back tournaments at Caserta and Campobasso.

She reached the final in the first of these, recording four straight sets wins including victories over Sanja Ančić in the quarterfinals and world No. 241, Alizé Cornet, in the semifinals.

But at the last hurdle she lost to world No. 270, Mandy Minella of Luxembourg.

Then the following week at Campobasso, she gained her revenge over Minella by defeating her in the final to pick up the fourth $25k title of her career, having earlier again put out Ančić in the semifinals.

On the strength of these two tournaments, she entered the top 200 for the first time in her career.

To date her career-best achievements have been reaching the fourth round at two Grand Slam tournaments at Wimbledon and Australian Open as a direct entrant, two WTA Tour Tier-II quarterfinals (Antwerp, 2008; Eastbourne, 2008) as a qualifier.

Additionally, she has reached one Tier I third round (Miami, 2008) as a qualifier, and one Tier IV quarterfinal (Fes, 2008) as a direct entrant.

At the higher levels of the ITF Women's Circuit, she has reached one $100k quarterfinal, two $75k quarterfinals, one $50k final and one $50k semifinal.

In addition, at the lower levels, she has won seven $25k titles and one $10k title outright, and has reached two further $25k finals and another three $25k semifinals.

Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 20, achieved in February 2011.

In her career, she won two singles titles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour.

In late July, world-ranked 198th, she attempted to qualify for the Tier IV event at Budapest, and for the first time in her career succeeded in qualifying for a WTA main draw, after defeating world No. 117, María José Martínez Sánchez, in the qualifying round.

But world No. 107, Laura Pous Tió, defeated her in the first-round proper.

A month later, ranked 193rd, she attempted again to qualify for a $50k event at the Bronx, but was defeated in straight sets by a slightly lower-ranked opponent, Natalie Grandin, in the first round of the qualifying draw.

She followed up this disappointment by attempting to qualify for a Grand Slam main draw for the first time at the US Open, and progressed to the qualifying round with wins over world No. 115, Tamarine Tanasugarn, and world No. 224, Shiho Hisamatsu, then lost to world No. 130, Sandra Klösel, in straight sets.

Returning to Moscow in early October, she tried again to qualify for the annual Tier I event there, but this time lost in the second round of qualifying to her compatriot world No. 84, Vasilisa Bardina.

She next played in early November, where, as a direct entrant into the first round of a $75k tournament at Pittsburgh, she had reached 4–6, 7–6, 1–1 against American world No. 44, Shenay Perry, before her opponent retired.