Memory Lawn
Underdogs on top: Unseeded Wimbledon quarterfinalists since 1999
Teenage sensations Jelena Dokic and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, veteran milestones from Tamarine Tanasugarn and Barbora Strycova, repeat feats from Tamira Paszek and Kaia Kanepi: all the unseeded players who have reached a Wimbledon quarterfinal or better since 1999.
01
/31
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who beat Monica Seles and Nathalie Tauziat to reach the 1999 semifinals as a No.134-ranked 17-year-old, remained the lowest-ranked player to reach the Wimbledon last four until No.181-ranked Serena Williams's run to the 2018 final.
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02
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1999 also saw the 19-year-old World No.86 Alexandra Stevenson reach the semifinals; the American remains the only qualifier ever to have made the last four at Wimbledon, having triumphed over Jelena Dokic in an all-qualifier quarterfinal.
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03
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1999 was the year of the teenage underdog: 16-year-old No.129-ranked qualifier Jelena Dokic burst on to the scene with upsets of Martina Hingis and Mary Pierce to reach her first of four major quarterfinals.
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04
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One year later in 2000, Jelena Dokic was ranked World No.30 and the Australian went one round better, reaching her only career Grand Slam semifinal after defeating Kristina Brandi and Magüi Serna.
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05
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Spain's Magüi Serna had already reached the fourth round of three majors, including Wimbledon 1998, and in 2000 the 21-year-old World No.49 broke through to her only career Grand Slam quarterfinal via an upset of Mary Pierce.
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06
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Lisa Raymond had fallen in all five of her previous Grand Slam fourth rounds, including three times at Wimbledon, but in 2000 the World No.21 defeated Olga Barabanschikova to reach her first of two major quarterfinals.
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07
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Elena Likhovtseva had previously reached the fourth round of Wimbledon in 1996, and in 2002 the Russian World No.48 reached her second Grand Slam quarterfinal here following the 2000 Australian Open.
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08
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Having missed out by one spot on a seeded position, Croatia's 19-year-old World No.35 Karolina Sprem upset Venus Williams en route to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in 2004, cracking the Top 20 as a result.
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09
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As a qualifier ranked World No.129, Séverine Beltrame reached the 2006 quarterfinals with a win over Ai Sugiyama - the first of two occasions the Frenchwoman would make the second week of a major while ranked outside the Top 100.
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10
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Ranked World No.133, Zheng Jie became the first Chinese Grand Slam semifinalist and first women's wildcard to make the last four of Wimbledon in 2008, via becoming the then lowest-ranked victor over a World No.1, Ana Ivanovic in the third round.
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11
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Having lost all her eight previous Grand Slam fourth rounds, including six at Wimbledon, Tamarine Tanasugarn finally became the first Thai major quarterfinalist in 2008 after stunning Jelena Jankovic in the last 16 - her 11th win in a row.
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12
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Ranked World No.41, a 19-year-old Sabine Lisicki reached the first of five Wimbledon quarterfinal finishes or better in 2009, upsetting Svetlana Kuznetsova and Caroline Wozniacki back-to-back to make the last eight.
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13
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In 2009, Francesca Schiavone reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in six years and third overall, defeating Marion Bartoli en route - the only time the following year's Roland Garros champion would make this stage at Wimbledon.
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14
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World No.82 Tsvetana Pironkova had only won four Tour-level matches on grass before reaching the 2010 semifinals with an upset of Venus Williams, becoming the first Bulgarian Grand Slam semifinalist in the Open Era.
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15
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As a 20-year-old ranked World No.62, Petra Kvitova routed Victoria Azarenka 7-5, 6-0 and Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-0 en route to her maiden Grand Slam semifinal in 2010, a year before becoming Wimbledon champion herself.
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16
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Between April and July 2010, Kaia Kanepi's 31-4 win-loss record rocketed the Estonian back into the Top 100, including reaching her first of two Wimbledon quarterfinals, and second of sixth overall, as a qualifier.
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17
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An ankle injury had caused Sabine Lisicki to fall out of the Top 200 in early 2011, but between May and August the German went 32-7 - including her maiden Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon - to rocket back into the Top 20.
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18
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Tamira Paszek had previously reached the fourth round of Wimbledon as a 16-year-old debutante in 2007, and in 2011 the No.80-ranked Austrian continued her comeback from injuries by also reaching her first major quarterfinal at SW19.
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19
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Tamira Paszek won just two matches in her first 13 tournaments of 2012 - but abruptly turned her form around on grass with a nine-match winning streak encompassing the Eastbourne title and her second straight Wimbledon quarterfinal.
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20
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Ranked World No.46, Kaia Kanepi reached her fifth Grand Slam quarterfinal, and second at Wimbledon, after surviving marathons against wildcard Tara Moore 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 and No.7 seed Angelique Kerber 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 in the first two rounds.
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21
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Barbora Strycova went out in the first week of her first 32 Grand Slam main draws - but in 2014 broke that barrier in style at the age of 28, defeating Li Na and Caroline Wozniacki en route to the quarterfinals.
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22
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CoCo Vandeweghe had made it past the second round just once in her previous 18 Grand Slam main draws, but at Wimbledon 2015 powered past Karolina Pliskova and Lucie Safarova to reach her first of four major quarterfinals to date.
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23
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Elena Vesnina had reached the fourth round of three previous majors, including Wimbledon 2009, but in 2016 the 29-year-old No.50-ranked Russian broke through to her maiden Grand Slam semifinal with wins over Ekaterina Makarova and Dominika Cibulkova.
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24
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Having previously reached two Grand Slam quarterfinals at Roland Garros and two Wimbledon fourth rounds in 2012 and 2014, World No.96 Yaroslava Shvedova defeated Sabine Lisicki and Lucie Safarova to make the SW19 last eight in 2016.
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25
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Having needed a protected ranking to enter Wimbledon 2017 after knee and wrist surgeries, Magdalena Rybarikova's grass skills came to the fore as the Slovak made her first major semifinal with wins over Karolina Pliskova and CoCo Vandeweghe.
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26
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In 2018, World No.33 Dominika Cibulkova had missed out on being seeded by one spot - but nonetheless came through to her third Wimbledon quarterfinal, the final Grand Slam last-eight run of the Slovak's career.
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27
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Wimbledon has long been a site of milestones for Camila Giorgi: the Italian qualified for her first Grand Slam main draw here in 2011, made her last-16 debut in 2012 and, ranked World No.62, reached her maiden major quarterfinal in 2018.
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28
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At the age of 33, Barbora Strycova enjoyed a fairytale run to her maiden Grand Slam semifinal in 2019, featuring upsets of Kiki Bertens and Johanna Konta - and partnered Hsieh Su-Wei to the doubles trophy as well.
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29
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Alison Riske, whose first 13 WTA main draw victories had all come on grass between 2010 and 2013, won four three-setters, including upsets of Belinda Bencic and World No.1 Ashleigh Barty, to seal her Grand Slam quarterfinal debut in 2019.
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30
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Zhang Shuai had lost in the first round of her previous five Wimbledon main draws, but in 2019 defeated Caroline Wozniacki and Dayana Yastremska to go all the way to her second major quarterfinal.
Photo by Getty
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