Tamarine Tanasugarn

Tamarine Tanasugarn (แทมมารีน ธนสุกาญจน์,, ; born 24 May 1977) is a Thai former tennis player.

Born in Los Angeles, she turned professional in 1994, and has been in the top 20 in both singles and doubles.

Tanasugarn turned pro in 1994, but made her WTA Tour debut in the 1993 Pattaya Open, in which she lost to Australian Rennae Stubbs.

The following year, she made the second round in the same tournament by beating world No. 44, Marianne Werdel Witmeyer, in the first round.

At 17, she reached the Junior Grand Slam final at Wimbledon in 1995 with a win over Anna Kournikova in the semifinal, but lost to Poland's Aleksandra Olsza in the final, in straight sets.

In 1995, Tanasugarn started participating in Grand Slams, but did not make it beyond the qualifying rounds.

In 1996, Tanasugarn played her first WTA final at the Pattaya Open, in which she lost to Ruxandra Dragomir.

In 1997, she reached the third round of the Australian Open, at Wimbledon and the US Open, beating Chanda Rubin in the first round.

She reached a semifinal at Hobart and ended the year with a No. 46 ranking.

1998, Tanasugarn reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam at the Australian Open by defeating the reigning French Open champion and world No. 6, Iva Majoli, 6–0, 6–2 in the third round.

Tanasugarn also made her second fourth round of the year at Wimbledon, where she eventually lost to Martina Hingis.

In 1999, she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon for a second time by defeating Frenchwoman Sandrine Testud, in the third round.

Tanasugarn ended the year ranked No. 72.

She received a law degree from Bangkok University in 2000.

Tanasugarn produces her best game and strategy when she performs on grass.

She partnered with Paradorn Srichaphan at the Hopman Cup in 2000.

Tanasugarn beat Jelena Dokić of Australia, Barbara Schett of Austria, Ai Sugiyama of Japan, and Henrieta Nagyová of Slovakia.

However, Tanasugarn lost in the women's singles final to Amanda Coetzer of South Africa, 6–3, 4–6, 4–6, having led 6–3, 3–0.

In the men's singles final, Paradorn Srichaphan lost to Wayne Ferreira, 6–7, 3–6.

This result made them the first Asian team to reach the finals at the Hopman Cup.

Tanasugarn reached her second WTA final at Birmingham with a win over Julie Halard-Decugis, but lost to Lisa Raymond.

She also lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon to Serena Williams.

Tanasugarn reached three semifinals at the Japan Open, Kuala Lampur, and Shanghai.

She represented Thailand in the 2000 Summer Olympics, but was defeated by Venus Williams.

Tanasugarn's career-high WTA ranking is No. 19, achieved on 13 May 2002, which is the highest ranking ever achieved of a Thai female player.

She won four singles and eight WTA doubles titles, and was briefly a doubles partner with Maria Sharapova, with whom she won two titles in 2003.

Her career-high doubles ranking was 15, which she achieved on 13 September 2004.

With Liezel Huber, she reached the 2004 US Open doubles quarterfinals, and at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, she reached the women's doubles semifinal with Marina Erakovic.

Tanasugarn has also been a regular competitor for the Thailand Fed Cup team, helping the team join the World Group II in 2005 and 2006, after beating the teams of Australia and Croatia in their play-off matches.

Her biggest success came in 2008, when she reached the singles quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

In her career, Tanasugarn has defeated former and current No. 1 players, including Amélie Mauresmo, Jennifer Capriati, Jelena Janković, Dinara Safina and Simona Halep.

She has also beaten French Open champion Iva Majoli.

Tanasugarn has been regarded as a grass-court specialist; she won most matches on that surface including two WTA International titles.

Tanasugarn at some point held the record of the most singles matches won on grass court among active players.

She is also known for her accurate flat ground strokes and a heavy slice serve for which are particularly effective on grass, Venus Williams has given an interview regarding Tanasugarn's game after their quarterfinal match in 2008 Wimbledon Championships: "I think her game is really suited for the grass. Her serve is a slice that turns into you and it stays low. Her shots are really, really low to the ground. A lot of time I think I was battling just to stay down on the shots, and I felt good when I got one up in my strike zone".

Kim Clijsters has once described Tanasugarn as a "tricky player".

Tanasugarn's weakness has always been her serve.

Tanasugarn was coached by her best friend, Andreea Ehritt-Vanc, until her retirement.

During her junior career, her expenses were provided by her father, Virachai Tanasugarn, a lawyer who was once a Thai basketball player and who inspired Tanasugarn to become a professional tennis player.

As of 8 July 2013, she was second (with 84 wins) among active players, and 12th on the all-time list.