İpek Soylu

İpek Soylu
Soylu at the 2016 Wimbledon
Country (sports) Turkey
ResidenceIstanbul, Turkey
Born (1996-04-15) 15 April 1996 (age 28)
Adana, Turkey
Height1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Retired2022
PlaysRight (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$ 399,180
Singles
Career record245–165
Career titles0 WTA, 12 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 151 (31 October 2016)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQ1 (2016, 2017, 2018)
French Open1R (2016)
WimbledonQ2 (2017)
US Open1R (2017)
Doubles
Career record166–90
Career titles3 WTA, 18 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 63 (17 April 2017)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open1R (2017)
French Open1R (2017)
Wimbledon2R (2017)
Team competitions
Fed Cup13–10

İpek Soylu (born 15 April 1996) is a Turkish former tennis player.[1]

In her career, Soylu won three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, her biggest coming at the 2016 year-end Elite Trophy. She also won 12 singles and 18 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 31 October 2016, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 151. On 17 April 2017, she peaked at No. 63 in the WTA doubles rankings.[2]

Her sole major title as a junior came in 2014, when she partnered Jil Teichmann of Switzerland to win the doubles title at the US Open.[3]

Playing for Turkey Fed Cup team, Soylu has accumulated a win–loss record of 13–10. She has been a member of the Enkaspor tennis team.[4]

Soylu who was coached by Erhan Oral announced her retirement from professional tennis September 2022.[5]

Personal life and background

Soylu was born on 15 April 1996 in Istanbul and began playing tennis at the age of six. Her favorite shot is forehand, while her favourite surface is clay. Her favorite players were Roger Federer and Li Na.[6]

Career

2016: Elite Trophy doubles title

In 2016, Soylu won her first three WTA Tour titles, all in the doubles discipline, the biggest coming at the Elite Trophy in Zhuhai where she partnered with Xu Yifan.[7] That year, she also won two other doubles titles, one on home soil at the İstanbul Cup and the other at the Tashkent Open, partnering Andreea Mitu and Raluca Olaru, respectively.

That same year, she also made her Grand Slam main-draw debut, after qualifying for the French Open. She drew wildcard Virginie Razzano in the first round and lost to the French veteran, in three sets.

2017

Soylu at the 2017 Birmingham Classic

At Wimbledon, Soylu made her first match win at a Grand Slam championship, reaching the second round together with Varatchaya Wongteanchai in which they lost to Chan Hao-ching/Monica Niculescu.[8] In August at the US Open, Soylu lost in the first round to Carla Suárez Navarro.[9]

Significant finals

WTA Elite Trophy

Doubles: 1 (title)

Result Year Location Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 2016 Zhuhai,
China
Hard (i) China Xu Yifan China Yang Zhaoxuan
China You Xiaodi
6–4, 3–6, [10–7]

WTA Tour finals

Doubles: 3 (3 titles)

Legend
WTA Elite Trophy (1–0)
Premier M & Premier 5
Premier
International (2–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–0)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Apr 2016 İstanbul Cup, Turkey International Clay Romania Andreea Mitu Switzerland Xenia Knoll
Montenegro Danka Kovinić
w/o
Win 2–0 Sep 2016 Tashkent Open, Uzbekistan International Hard Romania Raluca Olaru Netherlands Demi Schuurs
Czech Republic Renata Voráčová
7–5, 6–3
Win 3–0 Oct 2016 WTA Elite Trophy, Zhuhai Elite Hard (i) China Xu Yifan China Yang Zhaoxuan
China You Xiaodi
6–4, 3–6, [10–7]

WTA Challenger finals

Doubles: 1 (runner–up)

Result W–L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 May 2016 Bol Open, Croatia Clay Romania Raluca Olaru Switzerland Xenia Knoll
Croatia Petra Martić
3–6, 2–6

ITF Circuit finals

Legend
$75,000 tournaments
$50/60,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10/15,000 tournaments

Singles: 21 (12 titles, 9 runner–ups)

Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Dec 2012 ITF İstanbul, Turkey 10,000 Hard (i) Bulgaria Isabella Shinikova 4–6, 2–6
Win 1–1 May 2013 ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt 10,000 Hard Italy Camilla Rosatello 7–5, 6–1
Win 2–1 Aug 2013 ITF İzmir, Turkey 10,000 Hard Netherlands Gabriela van de Graaf 7–5, 6–3
Win 3–1 Sep 2013 ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt 10,000 Hard Italy Giulia Bruzzone 4–6, 6–0, 6–2
Loss 3–2 Oct 2013 ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt 10,000 Hard Russia Anna Morgina 3–6, 6–3, 5–7
Win 4–2 Jan 2014 ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt 10,000 Hard Greece Despina Papamichail 6–3, 7–6(0)
Win 5–2 Apr 2014 ITF Antalya, Turkey 10,000 Hard Israel Deniz Khazaniuk 7–5, 4–6, 6–1
Win 6–2 Jun 2014 ITF Adana, Turkey 10,000 Hard Turkey Başak Eraydın 4–6, 6–1, 6–2
Win 7–2 Jun 2014 ITF İstanbul, Turkey 10,000 Hard Turkey Melis Sezer 6–3, 6–4
Loss 7–3 Aug 2014 ITF İstanbul, Turkey 10,000 Hard China Yang Zhaoxuan 6–7(4), 1–6
Loss 7–4 Aug 2014 ITF Antalya, Turkey 10,000 Hard France Clothilde de Bernardi 4–6, 6–2, 3–6
Loss 7–5 May 2015 ITF Caserta, Italy 25,000 Clay Russia Daria Kasatkina 6–7(4), 1–6
Win 8–5 Jul 2015 Bursa Cup, Turkey 50,000 Clay Latvia Anastasija Sevastova 7–5, 3–6, 6–1
Loss 8–6 Jun 2016 ITF Padua, Italy 25,000 Clay China Xu Shilin 7–5, 4–6, 3–6
Loss 8–7 Sep 2016 Zhuhai Open, China 50,000 Hard Belarus Olga Govortsova 1–6, 2–6
Loss 8–8 Jul 2017 Bursa Cup, Turkey 60,000 Clay Russia Sofya Zhuk 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(5)
Win 9–8 Mar 2019 ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt 15,000 Hard United States Nadja Gilchrist 6–3, 6–3
Win 10–8 Apr 2019 ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt 15,000 Hard Belgium Magali Kempen 7–6(2), 6–4
Win 11–8 May 2019 ITF Nonthaburi, Thailand 25,000 Hard China Yuan Yue 7–6(2), 6–1
Win 12–8 Jun 2019 ITF Figueira da Foz, Portugal 25,000+H Hard Canada Katherine Sebov 6–7(2), 7–6(5), 6–3
Loss 12–9 Jul 2019 ITS Cup, Czech Republic 25,000 Clay Czech Republic Jesika Malečková 3–6, 4–6

Doubles: 29 (18 titles, 11 runner–ups)

Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 May 2012 ITF İstanbul, Turkey 10,000 Clay Turkey Başak Eraydın China Liu Chang
China Zhang Nannan
3–6, 6–2, [10–5]
Win 2–0 Jun 2013 ITF İstanbul, Turkey 10,000 Hard Turkey Melis Sezer Turkey Başak Eraydın
Bosnia and Herzegovina Jasmina Tinjić
6–4, ret.
Loss 2–1 Aug 2013 ITF İzmir, Turkey 10,000 Hard Bulgaria Julia Stamatova Ukraine Khristina Kazimova
Germany Christina Shakovets
4–6, 1–6
Win 3–1 Dec 2013 ITF İstanbul, Turkey 10,000 Hard (i) Belgium Elise Mertens Japan Yuuki Tanaka
Russia Ekaterina Yashina
6–0, 7–6(3)
Win 4–1 Jan 2014 ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt 10,000 Hard Turkey Melis Sezer Greece Despina Papamichail
Italy Gaia Sanesi
4–6, 6–4, [10–3]
Loss 4–2 Jan 2014 ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt 10,000 Hard Turkey Melis Sezer Ukraine Valentyna Ivakhnenko
Ukraine Veronika Kapshay
6–3, 4–6, [5–10]
Loss 4–3 Mar 2014 ITF Antalya, Turkey 10,000 Hard Czech Republic Barbora Krejčíková Sweden Susanne Celik
Japan Kotomi Takahata
4–6, 3–6
Loss 4–4 Apr 2014 ITF Antalya, Turkey 10,000 Hard Turkey Melis Sezer Czech Republic Denisa Allertová
Slovakia Chantal Škamlová
2–6, 1–6
Win 5–4 Jun 2014 ITF Adana, Turkey 10,000 Hard Turkey Başak Eraydın Ukraine Alona Fomina
Russia Ekaterina Tsiklauri
6–3, 6–1
Win 6–4 Jun 2014 ITF İstanbul, Turkey 10,000 Hard Turkey Ayla Aksu Belgium Elke Lemmens
Bulgaria Julia Stamatova
4–6, 6–3, [10–4]
Win 7–4 Oct 2014 ITF İstanbul, Turkey 25,000 Hard (i) Switzerland Xenia Knoll Turkey Ayla Aksu
Turkey Müge Töpsel
6–2, 6–4
Loss 7–5 Dec 2014 ITF Istanbul, Turkey 10,000 Hard (i) Turkey Ayla Aksu Croatia Jana Fett
Croatia Adrijana Lekaj
3–6, 4–6
Loss 7–6 Feb 2015 Rancho Santa Fe Open, United States 25,000 Hard Serbia Nina Stojanović United States Samantha Crawford
United States Asia Muhammad
0–6, 3–6
Win 8–6 May 2015 ITF La Marsa, Tunisia 25,000 Clay Turkey Pemra Özgen Georgia (country) Sofia Shapatava
Ukraine Anastasiya Vasylyeva
3–6, 6–3, [10–4]
Loss 8–7 May 2015 ITF Caserta, Italy 25,000 Clay Italy Alice Matteucci Georgia (country) Ekaterine Gorgodze
Georgia (country) Sofia Shapatava
0–6, 6–7(6)
Win 9–7 Jul 2015 ITF Denain, France 25,000 Clay Belgium Elise Mertens Switzerland Xenia Knoll
Argentina Florencia Molinero
7–6(3), 6–3
Loss 9–8 Nov 2015 Dubai Tennis Challenge, UAE 75,000 Hard Belgium Elise Mertens Turkey Çağla Büyükakçay
Greece Maria Sakkari
6–7(6), 4–6
Win 10–8 Feb 2016 ITF Beinasco, Italy 25,000 Clay (i) Netherlands Arantxa Rus North Macedonia Lina Gjorcheska
Bosnia and Herzegovina Dea Herdželaš
6–4, 6–2
Loss 10–9 May 2016 Nana Trophy, Tunisia 50,000 Clay Russia Irina Khromacheva Australia Arina Rodionova
Ukraine Valeriya Strakhova
1–6, 2–6
Win 11–9 Jul 2016 Internazionale di Roma, Italy 50,000 Clay China Xu Shilin Hungary Réka Luca Jani
Georgia (country) Sofia Shapatava
7–5, 6–1
Win 12–9 Apr 2017 Lale Cup, Turkey 60,000 Hard Russia Veronika Kudermetova Russia Ksenia Lykina
Russia Polina Monova
4–6, 7–5, [11–9]
Win 13–9 Aug 2017 ITF Bad Saulgau, Germany 25,000 Clay Russia Anna Kalinskaya Romania Nicoleta Dascalu
Romania Cristina Dinu
6–2, 6–2
Win 14–9 Jun 2018 ITF Padua, Italy 25,000 Clay Czech Republic Anastasia Zarycká Bosnia and Herzegovina Dea Herdželaš
Croatia Tereza Mrdeža
6–4, 6–1
Loss 14–10 Aug 2018 ITF Las Palmas, Spain 25,000 Clay Turkey Başak Eraydın Russia Yana Sizikova
Norway Ulrikke Eikeri
2–6, 4–6
Win 15–10 Jan 2019 ITF Monastir, Tunisia 15,000 Hard China Zhang Ying Spain Claudia Hoste Ferrer
Bulgaria Julia Terziyska
6–3, 6–3
Win 16–10 Mar 2019 ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt 15,000 Hard Sweden Jacqueline Cabaj Awad Kazakhstan Gozal Ainitdinova
Russia Ekaterina Kazionova
6–2, 6–4
Win 17–10 May 2019 ITF Nonthaburi, Thailand 25,000 Hard Bulgaria Aleksandrina Naydenova Japan Haruka Kaji
Japan Risa Ozaki
6–1, 6–3
Win 18–10 Jun 2019 ITF Akko, Israel 25,000 Hard Croatia Silvia Njirić Israel Shelly Bereznyak
Kazakhstan Yekaterina Dmitrichenko
6–2, 6–0
Loss 18–11 Aug 2019 Verbier Open, Switzerland 25,000 Clay Liechtenstein Kathinka von Deichmann Switzerland Xenia Knoll
Switzerland Simona Waltert
4–6, 3–6

Junior Grand Slam finals

Girls' doubles: 1 (title)

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 2014 US Open Hard Switzerland Jil Teichmann Belarus Vera Lapko
Slovakia Tereza Mihalíková
5–7, 6–2, [10–7]

References

  1. ^ "WTA Profile".
  2. ^ Career record from İpek Soylu, 17 April 2017
  3. ^ "Turkey's İpek Soylu claims historic title in junior girls' doubles at US Open". Hurriyet Daily News. 7 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  4. ^ "İpek Soylu'dan ITF JR Klasmanı'nda en iyi derece". Enka Spor Kulübü (in Turkish). 20 March 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  5. ^ "İpek Soylu 26 yaşında tenisi bıraktığını açıkladı". Hürriyet. 25 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Bio".
  7. ^ "Turkish tennis player Ipek Soylu wins doubles finals at WTA Elite Trophy tournament in China". DAILY SABAH. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  8. ^ "İpek Soylu Wimbledon'a veda etti", Skor, 7 July 2017
  9. ^ "İpek Soylu, ABD Açık'tan elendi", Sabah, 29 August 2017