Stephanie Devillé

Stephanie Devillé
Country (sports) Belgium
Born (1976-07-24) 24 July 1976 (age 48)
Antwerp, Belgium
PlaysRight-handed
Prize money$135,959
Singles
Career record168–131
Highest rankingNo. 61 (17 March 1997)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (1997)
French Open1R (1997)
Wimbledon1R (1997)
US Open1R (1996)
Doubles
Career record27–42
Highest rankingNo. 182 (14 July 1997)

Stephanie Devillé (born 24 July 1976) is a former professional tennis player from Belgium.

Biography

Born in Antwerp, Devillé began playing tennis at the age of six and was coached by Christophe Delzenne. She was a member of the Belgian team which won the 1992 World Youth Cup (now known as Junior Fed Cup), along with Laurence Courtois and Nancy Feber.[1]

In 1996 she had her breakthrough year on tour. After winning ITF tournaments in Bordeaux and Budapest, she made her WTA Tour main draw debut in Palermo, as a qualifier. She defeated Sandra Cecchini in the first round, then was rewarded her second round match against Irina Spîrlea when the Romanian was defaulted for swearing in the first game of the deciding set.[2][3] Her run ended with a three-set loss to Jana Kandarr in the quarter-finals. She improved on that performance by making the semi-finals of the Styrian Open later in the season, then made it through qualifying at the 1996 US Open to feature in the main draw of a grand slam for the first time. She won her third ITF title of the year at Sedona and improved her ranking from 279 to 74 by the end of the season.

At the 1997 Australian Open she overcame Denisa Chládková in the first round, 8–6 in the third set, then suffered the disappointment of having to retire injured against Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the second round. With only one game completed, Devillé went down with a sprained ankle and was unable to carry on.[4] She didn't return to action until March and that month reached her career best ranking of 61. From 1998 she played mainly on the ITF circuit.

Devillé has commentated on tennis for RTBF and also coaches tennis locally.[5]

ITF Circuit finals

$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles: 11 (8–3)

Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 14 June 1993 Aveiro, Portugal Clay France Olivia de Camaret 6–3, 4–6, 6–7(7)
Runner-up 2. 16 August 1993 Koksijde, Belgium Clay Argentina Mariana Díaz Oliva 1–6, 3–6
Runner-up 3. 8 August 1994 Rebecq, Belgium Clay Hungary Réka Vidáts 2–6, 6–3, 3–6
Runner-up 4. 21 August 1994 Koksijde, Belgium Clay Luxembourg Anne Kremer 1–6, 4–6
Winner 5. 14 August 1995 Carthage, Tunisia Clay Argentina Cintia Tortorella 6–2, 7–5
Winner 6. 13 May 1996 Bordeaux, France Clay France Anne-Gaëlle Sidot 6–4, 7–5
Winner 7. 16 July 1996 Budapest, Hungary Clay Netherlands Noëlle van Lottum 6–2, 6–2
Winner 8. 7 October 1996 Sedona, United States Hard United States Laxmi Poruri 1–6, 6–2, 7–6(5)
Winner 9. 2 November 1998 Moulins, France Hard France Berengere Karpenschif 1–6, 6–4, 6–1
Winner 10. 19 April 1999 Gelos, France Clay Spain Marta Marrero 3–6, 6–1, 7–5
Winner 11. 26 June 2000 Velp, Netherlands Clay Austria Nicole Melch 7–6(4), 6–1

Doubles: 1 (1–0)

Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1. 20 July 1998 Brussels, Belgium Clay Belgium Kim Clijsters Russia Maria Boboedova
Latvia Elena Krutko 		6–1, 7–5

References

  1. ^ "ITF Tennis - Juniors - 1992 NEC World Youth Cup Final - Girls - 29 September - 03 October 1992". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Top Seed Ejected In Palermo". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 19 July 1996. p. 36. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  3. ^ Finn, Robin (17 November 1997). "Spirlea Minces Opponents, Not Words". New York Times. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  4. ^ Brown, Phil (16 January 1997). "Sanchez Vicario Ices Opponent". Deseret News. Archived from the original on January 17, 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  5. ^ Ceulemans, Patrick (31 July 2008). "32-jarige Stephanie Devillé wint nog eens, maar heeft geen a". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 January 2018.