Kimberly Birrell

Kimberly Birrell (born 29 April 1998) is an Australian professional tennis player.

Birrell reached a career-high WTA ranking of 100 on 18 September 2023.

She has won five singles titles and one doubles title on the ITF Circuit.

Birrell was born in Düsseldorf, Germany, on 29 April 1998 to Australian parents.

Her father, John, was working as a tennis coach in Germany at the time of her birth and shortly after relocated his family to Wodonga, Victoria.

The family then settled on the Gold Coast, Queensland when Birrell was three years of age as her father took up a role as the head coach of Pat Cash's Tennis Academy.

She began playing tennis at the age of four and switched training bases to the Queens Park Tennis Centre in 2008 when her father began managing the club.

Queens Park had previously produced top 20 tennis players such as Bernard Tomic and Samantha Stosur, the latter of whom would train with Birrell when visiting the club.

Birrell began playing on the ITF Junior Circuit under-18 events in July 2011 as a 13-year-old.

She reached her first junior final a year later in Sydney and came out victorious over Pamela Boyanov in three sets.

Following a strong 2012 season, she made her junior Grand Slam debut at the 2013 Australian Open at 14 years of age and was beaten by Sweden's Rebecca Peterson in straight sets.

Birrell competed in her first professional event at the Bendigo Tennis Centre in October 2012 at the age of 14.

She gained her first professional ranking point a year later with a straight sets win over Elizabeth James after receiving a wildcard into the main draw of a tournament held in her home state of Queensland.

She continued to improve her junior ranking throughout 2013 by reaching two finals.

She finished 2013 with a professional singles ranking of 847.

Birrell was awarded a wildcard into the doubles main draw of the Hobart International with compatriot Olivia Tjandramulia, where they lost in the first round to second seeds Lisa Raymond and Zhang Shuai.

In November, Birrell was given wildcards to the two Bendigo International tournaments.

In her debut at a $50k event, she defeated world No. 351, Veronika Kapshay, in straight sets.

She entered the 2014 Australian Open unseeded and caused several upsets on her way to the semifinals.

In the semifinals, she was defeated by Croatian player Jana Fett.

She went on to compete in all the remaining majors throughout 2014 and reached her highest junior ranking of 18 in the world.

Birrell attended Coomera Anglican College during her schooling years and graduated in 2015.

Birrell competed in three junior Grand Slam events in 2015 but mostly focused on the women's tour.

In 2015, Birrell was awarded a qualifying wildcard into the Hobart International, but lost to Vitalia Diatchenko in straight sets.

She was then given a wildcard for the Australian Open qualifying where she fell to Kateryna Bondarenko, in three sets.

She also made her major main-draw debut, after getting one of seven team wildcards in women's doubles, alongside Priscilla Hon, but lost to the fifth seeds, Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears.

In March, Birrell qualified for and made the first ITF Circuit final of her career in Mildura, but lost to compatriot Alison Bai, in straight sets.

Birrell didn't play between April–September, but returned to Australia to play in Tweed Heads, Cairns, Toowoomba, Brisbane, and Canberra.

Her best results were a final in Brisbane and a semifinal in Canberra.

She finished the year with a ranking of No. 361.

Birrell was awarded a wildcard into the qualifying rounds of the Brisbane International, but lost to eventual main-draw semifinalist Samantha Crawford.

Birrell made her WTA Tour debut after being awarded a wildcard into the main draw at the Hobart International.

She won 6–4, 6–3 against world No. 57, Danka Kovinić from Montenegro.

She lost in round two to Dominika Cibulková.

In the same tournament, she partnered Jarmila Wolfe in the doubles where they made the final.

Birrell was awarded a wildcard into the Australian Open but she lost in round one to ninth seed Karolína Plíšková, 4–6, 4–6.

In February, Birrell made her Fed Cup debut against Dominika Cibulková, she lost 3–6, 1–6.

Shortly after, she suffered a right elbow injury, sidelining her for the rest of the year.

Birrell ended 2016 with a ranking of No. 584.

Birrell and her doubles partner, Priscilla Hon, were given a wildcard into the Australian Open, losing in the first round to Sam Stosur and Zhang Shuai.