Melanie South

Melanie Jayne South (born 3 May 1986) is a former English tennis player. She won six singles and 24 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 2 February 2009, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 99. On 9 March 2009, she peaked at No. 120 in the doubles rankings.

Her greatest success in a Grand Slam tournament came in the first round of the 2006 Wimbledon Championships when she came back from one set down to beat world No. 14, Francesca Schiavone, in a match witnessed by Martina Navratilova. At the time, South was ranked No. 305 in the world and had reached the main-draw courtesy of a wildcard. Not since the third round of the 1998 tournament, when Samantha Smith beat then-world No. 7, Conchita Martínez, had a British woman beaten an opponent of a similar ranking at Wimbledon. She lost in the second round to Shenay Perry, the world No. 62. Outside of Wimbledon, South reached the first round of the 2009 Australian Open without needing to qualify or receiving a wildcard. This was the first time in her career that her ranking was high enough to grant her access to a Grand Slam main draw without a wildcard. She lost to world No. 17 Marion Bartoli in round one.

South announced her retirement from professional tennis on 2 December 2013 in order to focus on a coaching career.

Personal life Melanie's mother is called Sheila and her father, John, used to play professional football for Fulham (1964–66) and Brentford (1966–67). John is now a tennis coach at New Malden tennis club and Sheila was a short tennis coach. She has two brothers, Andrew and Stephen, who both used to play tennis recreationally. She began playing tennis herself at the age of six.

She attended Nonsuch High School in Cheam, South London where she gained seven GCSEs (one A* grade, four As and two Bs) and two A grades in A-level Psychology and PE as well as a grade C in A-level General Studies. She is currently furthering her education by taking an Open University course in Understanding Health which she hopes will lead onto another course in psychology. In her first round match at Wimbledon 2008 against Alona Bondarenko she served a total of ten aces, seven double faults and won 68% of the points behind her first serve. She also hit 45 winners and 48 unforced errors during this match, a statistic which demonstrates her aggressive, high-risk attitude to tennis. Renowned tennis coach Nick Bollettieri saw South play during her first round match against his charge, Michelle Larcher de Brito, at the 2008 French Open and commented: "She can serve well and has good ground strokes. She moves well for a big girl but you can see that lateral movement is a problem for her. Whenever she's pushed out wide she can struggle."

Career review Junior (1999–2004) South debuted on the ITF Junior Circuit in June 1999. She saw very little in the way of singles success until July 2002, when she reached her first tournament quarterfinal at The Scottish Junior Championships. Six months later, she won the 17th Salik Open (her only singles title at junior level), and then reached the semifinals of her next tournament before losing to Anna Chakvetadze. Following this, she reached the quarterfinals of her next two tournaments. She competed in the Wimbledon girls' tournament only twice and lost in the first round each time. In singles, her career-high ranking was world No. 266, and her win–loss record was 15–8.

As a junior doubles player she won one title, the Scottish Junior International Championships, as well as losing in the final of two others (the Västerås International Junior Championships and the LTA Junior International Tournament Wrexham). In 2004, she reached the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon girls' doubles, partnering Katie O'Brien. Her junior win–loss record in doubles was 7–7 and her highest ranking was world No. 335.

In 2002, in only her second match at adult level, she received a wildcard into the qualifying draw at Wimbledon and lost to Adriana Barna. South spent the rest of 2002 playing in ITF tournaments in Great Britain, not getting past the second round in any of them. She finished 2002 with her world ranking at No. 931. before beating No. 4 seed Sybille Bammer in the second. In the third round, she came up against 17th seed Aiko Nakamura and won in three sets. Because Anne Keothavong had already qualified for the main draw, it was the first time since Jo Durie and Clare Wood in the 1993 US Open, that two British women had gained direct entry into a Grand Slam championship. South made it to the second round at Brisbane after Bartoli retired due to a left calf strain at 1–1 in the first set. She was defeated in the second round by No. 2 seed, Caroline Wozniacki, in straight sets. In the first round of the Australian Open, South fell to Bartoli in straight sets. South broke into the top 100 for the first time on 2 February 2009, achieving a career-high ranking of 99. This marked the first time in nearly 16 years that two British women had been inside the top 100, following Durie and Monique Javer in March 1993.

South spent the following week in Estonia playing in the 2009 Fed Cup alongside compatriots Anne Keothavong, Elena Baltacha and doubles specialist Sarah Borwell. Great Britain was drawn into the same group as Hungary, Netherlands and Luxembourg. Against Hungary, South and Borwell teamed up to face Katalin Marosi and Ágnes Szávay, and defeated them in straight sets, thus contributing to Britain's 3–0 victory over Hungary. She was not required to participate when Britain defeated the Netherlands, 3–0, but played in both the doubles and singles in the third and final tie against Luxembourg. She beat Fabienne Thill, and followed this victory up with another in doubles, beating Mandy Minella and Thill with partner Sarah Borwell. This gave Britain a 9–0 record in their group, making them the Group A winner and giving them the opportunity to play another group winner for a chance to participate in the World Group II Play-offs. However, Britain lost 2–1 to Poland in the playoffs. Following this, South gained direct entry into the International tournament, the Cellular South Cup on the merit of her own ranking but was beaten by the third seed Lucie Šafářová in round one.

She then briefly returned to the ITF Circuit to participate in the $50k event in Clearwater, Florida where she was the No. 3 seed but was beaten in round one by Japanese Aiko Nakamura. Her next tournament was the first Premier Mandatory tournament of the WTA calendar, the Indian Wells Open where she competed in qualifying but was defeated by Varvara Lepchenko in round one. She then immediately went to her next Premier Mandatory tournament of the calendar, the Miami Open, where she also lost in the qualifying stages.

Her next breakthrough came at the $50k event in Nottingham where she reached the quarterfinals before falling to Stefanie Vögele in three sets. She followed this up with a victory on the WTA Tour at the Birmingham Classic over Katie O'Brien before falling to first seed Zheng Jie. She then lost in qualifying at Eastbourne and in the first round of Wimbledon to Vera Dushevina and Mathilde Johansson respectively. She had little success on the ITF Circuit until a Glasgow $25k event where she reached the final as the second seed. In the final, she fell to Johanna Larsson of Sweden, in three sets.

She ended the year with a singles record of 20–21 and a year-end ranking of 160.

In doubles, South captured two titles in Helsinki and Glasgow, partnering Emma Laine for both titles. She also achieved a first-round win over Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko at Wimbledon, alongside fellow Brit Jocelyn Rae. She ended the year with a doubles record of 12–5.

ITF Circuit finals Singles: 12 (6 titles, 6 runner-ups) Legend $100,000 tournaments $75,000 tournaments $50,000 tournaments $25,000 tournaments $10,000 tournamentsFinals by surfaceHard (6–4)Clay (0–2)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0) OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWinner 1. ITF Mumbai, India Hard 6–4, 6–4Runner-up 2. ITF Bournemouth, United Kingdom Clay 6–3, 1–6, 2–6Winner 3. ITF Bath, United Kingdom Hard 6–4, 4–6, 6–4Runner-up 4. ITF Edinburgh, United Kingdom Clay Ekaterina Kozhokina 4–6, 3–6Winner 5. ITF Hull, United Kingdom Hard (i) 6–4, 6–1Winner 6. ITF Chengdu, China Hard 7–5, 7–6(5)Winner 7. ITF Sorrento, Italy Hard 7–5, 6–7(6), 6–4Runner-up 8. ITF Traralgon, Australia Hard 3–6, 6–3, 1–6Runner-up 9. ITF Mount Gambier, Australia Hard 6–7(2), 4–6Winner 10. ITF Port Pirie, Australia Hard 6–3, 6–4Runner-up 11. Pune Championships, India Hard Lu Jingjing 3–6, 2–6Runner-up 12. GB Pro-Series Glasgow, UK Hard Johanna Larsson 1–6, 6–1, 3–6

Doubles: 45 (24 titles, 21 runner-ups) Legend $100,000 tournaments $75,000 tournaments $50,000 tournaments $25,000 tournaments $10,000 tournamentsFinals by surfaceHard (18–17)Clay (2–2)Grass (2–1)Carpet (2–1) OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWinner 1. ITF Tipton, United Kingdom Hard Rebecca Llewellyn Klaudia Jans Alicja Rosolska 2–6, 6–1, 6–4Runner-up 2. ITF Tipton, United Kingdom Hard Katie O'Brien Surina De Beer Rebecca Llewellyn 4–6, 2–6Runner-up 3. ITF Hull, United Kingdom Hard Katie O'Brien Irena Bulykina Vasilisa Davydova 6–4, 3–6, [5–10]Winner 4. ITF Bath, United Kingdom Hard Surina De Beer Ekaterina Kozhokina Trudi Musgrave 6–2, 7–5Winner 5. ITF Bournemouth, UK Clay Claire Peterzan Anna Hawkins Holly Richards 5–7, 6–4, 6–3Winner 6. ITF Edinburgh, UK Clay Rebecca Llewellyn Leonie Mekel Bibiane Schoofs 6–0, 3–6, 6–3Runner-up 7. ITF Jersey, UK Hard Katie O'Brien Andrea Hlaváčková Matea Mezak 3–6, 1–6Winner 8. ITF Nottingham, UK Hard Karen Paterson Katie O'Brien Margit Rüütel 6–2, 2–6, 7–6(1)Winner 9. Open Nantes, France Hard Rebecca Llewellyn Sabine Lisicki Irena Pavlovic 6–2, 6–0Runner-up 10. ITF Stockholm, Sweden Hard Sorana Cîrstea Danica Krstajić Olga Panova 2–6, 6–0, 2–6Runner-up 11. ITF Gran Canaria, Spain Hard Claire Curran Sorana Cîrstea Mădălina Gojnea 6–4, 6–7(5), 4–6Runner-up 12. ITF La Palma, Spain Hard Arantxa Parra Santonja Petra Cetkovská Andrea Hlaváčková 3–6, 2–6Winner 13. Surbiton Trophy, UK Grass Karen Paterson Elena Baltacha Naomi Cavaday 6–1, 6–4Winner 14. ITF Felixstowe, UK Grass Karen Paterson Jade Curtis Rebecca Llewellyn 6–3, 6–3Winner 15. ITF La Coruña, Spain Hard Marina Erakovic Andrea Hlaváčková Justine Ozga 6–1, 4–6, [10–4]Runner-up 16. Open Nantes, France Hard Caroline Maes Sofia Arvidsson Johanna Larsson 6–4, 5–7, [7–10]Winner 17. ITF Sorrento, Italy Hard Monique Adamczak Chang Kai-chen Hwang I-hsuan 6–2, 6–4Runner-up 18. Kangaroo Cup, Japan Carpet Nicole Thyssen Kimiko Date-Krumm Kurumi Nara 1–6, 7–6(8), [7–10]Winner 19. Fukuoka International, Japan Carpet Nicole Thijssen Maya Kato Julia Moriarty 4–6, 6–3, [14–12]Runner-up 20. ITF Monterrey, Mexico Hard Monique Adamczak Jelena Pandžić Magdaléna Rybáriková 6–4, 4–6, [8–10]Winner 21. ITF Toyota, Japan Carpet (i) Emma Laine Kimiko Date-Krumm Han Xinyun 6–1, 7–5Winner 22. ITF Helsinki, Finland Hard (i) Emma Laine Anna Smith Johanna Larsson 6–3, 6–3Winner 23. GB Pro-Series Glasgow, UK Hard (i) Emma Laine Evelyn Mayr Julia Mayr 6–3, 6–2Runner-up 24. ITF Jersey, UK Hard (i) Jarmila Gajdošová Maret Ani Anna Smith 7–5, 6–4Runner-up 25. Kangaroo Cup, Japan Clay Ksenia Lykina Erika Sema Tomoko Yonemura 3–6, 6–2, 7–10Winner 26. ITF Tallinn, Estonia Hard Emma Laine Lu Jingjing Sun Shengnan 6–3, 6–4Runner-up 27. ITF Port Pirie, Australia Clay Remi Tezuka Bojana Bobusic Alenka Hubacek 3–6, 2–6Winner 28. ITF Traralgon, Australia Hard Tímea Babos Jarmila Gajdošová Jade Hopper 6–3, 6–2Winner 29. Bendigo International, Australia Hard Tímea Babos Jarmila Gajdošová Jade Hopper 6–3, 6–2Winner 30. ITF Sutton, UK Hard Emma Laine Marta Domachowska Darija Jurak 6–3, 5–7, [10–8]Runner-up 31. ITF Hammond, U.S. Hard Mervana Jugić-Salkić Christina Fusano Julie Ditty 3–6, 3–6Runner-up 32. ITF Woking, UK Hard Emma Laine Julie Coin Eva Hrdinová 1–6, 6–3, [8–10]Runner-up 33. ITF Wrexham, UK Hard Lenka Wienerová Anna Fitzpatrick Jade Windley 2–6, 6–4, [3–10]Winner 34. Burnie International, Australia Hard Arina Rodionova Stephanie Bengson Tyra Calderwood 6–2, 6–2Winner 35. ITF Sydney, Australia Hard Arina Rodionova Duan Yingying Han Xinyun 3–6, 6–3, [10–8]Runner-up 36. GB Pro-Series Bath, UK Hard (i) Julie Coin Tatjana Maria Stephanie Vogt 3–6, 6–3, [3–10]Runner-up 37. Kurume Cup, Japan Grass Ksenia Lykina Han Xinyun Sun Shengnan 1–6, 0–6Winner 38. GB Pro-Series Glasgow, UK Hard (i) Tara Moore Anna Smith Francesca Stephenson 7–6(5), 6–3Runner-up 39. ITF Preston, UK Hard (i) Tara Moore Samantha Murray Jade Windley 3–6, 6–3, [5–10]Winner 40. ITF Rancho Mirage, United States Hard Tara Moore Jan Abaza Louisa Chirico 4–6, 6–2, [12–10]Runner-up 41. ITF Phuket, Thailand Hard (i) Tara Moore Nicha Lertpitaksinchai Peangtarn Plipuech 3–6, 7–5, [9–11]Runner-up 42. ITF Wrexham, UK Hard Anna Smith Kanae Hisami Mari Tanaka 3–6, 6–7(2)Winner 43. ITF Nottingham, UK Hard Anna Smith Daneika Borthwick Anna Fitzpatrick 6–4, 6–2 Runner-up 44. ITF Antalya, Turkey Hard Emma Laine Andrea Benítez Carla Forte 6–4, 3–6, [8–10]Winner 45. ITF Antalya, Turkey Hard Emma Laine Patcharin Cheapchandej Tanaporn Thongsing 6–4, 6–3

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

Mixed doubles

Fed Cup Europe/Africa Group I Date Venue Surface Round Opponent Final match score Match Opponents Rubber score 30–31 January 2008 Budapest Carpet (i) RR 1–2 Doubles (with Elena Baltacha) Gagliardi/Schnyder 3–6, 3–6 (L) 1–2 Doubles (with Elena Baltacha) Arn/Szávay 2–6, 2–6 (L) 4–6 February 2009 Tallinn Hard (i) RR 3–0 Doubles (with Sarah Borwell) Marosi/Szávay 6–4, 6–3 (W) 3–0 Singles Fabienne Thill 6–0, 6–2 (W) Doubles (with Sarah Borwell) Minella/Thill w/o (W)