Katie O'Brien

Katie Jill O'Brien (born 2 May 1986) is a British former professional tennis player from Beverley, Yorkshire.

O'Brien attended Hymers College, Hull from 1997 to 2002.

O'Brien played her first match on the ITF Junior Circuit in February 2000 and her last in June 2004.

O'Brien played her first match on the ITF Women's Circuit in September 2001 when she attempted to qualify for a $10k event in Sunderland.

She lost in the second round of qualifying for this tournament.

She studied her A-levels at Woodhouse Grove School in Leeds from 2002 to 2004.

During her junior career, she won two titles—the Team Leschly Danish Junior Cup in February 2002 and the Vierumaki Junior Cup in October the same year.

She also reached a total of five semifinals and three quarterfinals overall.

One year later, in September 2002, she reached her first ITF quarterfinal as a qualifier in the $10k event in Sunderland and was beaten by fellow Brit Anne Keothavong, 6–0, 6–1.

This was her only quarterfinal appearance in 2002 and she finished the year with a ranking of world No. 693.

Her best result in a junior Grand Slam tournament came in the 2003 Wimbledon Championships where she reached round three before losing to Emma Laine, 1–6, 5–7.

Her career-high junior singles ranking was world No. 101, reached on 15 September 2003, and her overall win–loss record in singles was 44–34.

She reached her career–high doubles ranking of world No. 201 on 3 February 2003, and ended her junior career with a win–loss record of 17–26.

In 2003 she again reached only one quarterfinal, this one in the $10k tournament in Felixstowe.

In every other tournament she played she either lost in the first round or the qualifying stages.

As a result, her year-end ranking fell from the previous year to world No. 742.

In addition to her singles success as a junior, she also won one doubles title, lost in the final of another, reached four doubles semifinals and seven doubles quarterfinals (one of which in the 2004 Wimbledon Championships, partnering compatriot Melanie South).

In May 2004, O'Brien played her first ever semifinal on the ITF Circuit against Elke Clijsters (the sister of former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters) and was beaten 6–3, 7–5.

She was given a wildcard into the main draw of her home Grand Slam, Wimbledon for the first time in her career in June 2004.

She lost in the first round, 4–6, 4–6 to María Sánchez Lorenzo.

Following Wimbledon, she played twelve more tournaments on the ITF Circuit, reaching the final of one (Manchester, $10k), the semifinals of three of them and the quarterfinals of two more.

Her end-of-year ranking was world No. 401.

The 2005 season started well for O'Brien; she reached the finals of her first two ITF tournaments (in Tipton and Hull) and won the second of the two.

In her third tournament, Sunderland $10k, she reached the quarterfinals but was beaten by compatriot, Elena Baltacha, 6–4, 6–3.

Her second quarterfinal of the year was in the $10k tournament in Oxford.

In June, she received three wildcards into three consecutive WTA tournaments; the DFS Classic qualifying draw, the Hastings International Championships qualifying draw and Wimbledon main draw.

She failed to qualify in the first two tournaments and lost to Kim Clijsters, 2–6, 3–6, in the first round of Wimbledon.

Following Wimbledon she entered the $25k tournament in Felixstowe and reached the semifinals before losing to Jarmila Gajdošová, 4–6, 4–6.

She competed in twelve more ITF tournaments that year (reaching the quarterfinals in six of them) and the qualifying tournament for the BGL-BNP Paribas Open Luxembourg where she reached the second round of qualifying.

She finished the 2005 season with a ranking of world No. 263.

In January, O'Brien reached yet another ITF quarterfinal, this one in the $10k tournament in Hull, and the very next month she progressed to the semifinals of the $25k tournament in Sunderland before losing, 2–6, 4–6, to Anne Keothavong.

In 2007, she reached the second round of her home Grand Slam, Wimbledon, by beating Sandra Klösel in round one.

She lost to the No. 31 seed, Michaëlla Krajicek, in the second round.

She began studying business studies with the Open University in 2008, pursuing studies while competing professionally.

She was briefly the British No. 1 tennis player, and reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 84 on 1 February 2010.

She won four singles and two doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.

In 2010, she replicated this achievement by beating Patricia Mayr to reach the second round of the Australian Open where she fell to eighth seeded Jelena Janković.

O'Brien's parents are Phil and Jill O'Brien.

Her father is a quantity surveyor, and her mother is a nursery school teacher.

Her brother James, and sister, Holly both have been awarded the Development Coach Award, a licence to coach tennis from the Lawn Tennis Association.