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Alexandra Stevenson
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Alexandra Winfield Stevenson (born December 15, 1980 in La Jolla, California) is a professional tennis player from the United States. She is the daughter of retired professional basketball player Julius Erving.
In 1999, Stevenson, in her first appearance at Wimbledon, became the first woman qualifier in the Open Era to reach the semi-finals, and the second woman qualifier after Christine Matison in the 1978 Australian Open to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament.
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Encyclopedia
Alexandra Winfield Stevenson (born December 15, 1980 in La Jolla, California) is a professional tennis player from the United States. She is the daughter of retired professional basketball player Julius Erving.
In 1999, Stevenson, in her first appearance at Wimbledon, became the first woman qualifier in the Open Era to reach the semi-finals, and the second woman qualifier after Christine Matison in the 1978 Australian Open to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament. In the fourth round, she saved one match point against Lisa Raymond in a 2–6, 7–6, 6–1 win. She then beat Jelena Dokic in three sets in the quarter-finals, before finally being knocked out in straight sets by the eventual champion, Lindsay Davenport. Stevenson joined Chris Evert and Anna Kournikova as the only women in recent times to reach the semi-finals on their Wimbledon debut.
Tennis career
Playing style
Stevenson is known for her offensive baseliner game, although she is also a skillful volleyer.
Her serve on average is one of the most powerful on the WTA tour. Stevenson is known for her powerful one-handed backhand, which is her stronger and more consistent side. Occasionally her forehand has been prone to break down in tough matches.
Early career
As a junior player, Stevenson won the US Open girls' doubles title in 1997. She was ranked the No. 5 junior in the US in 1996.
Stevenson is thought to the be the first player at Wimbledon to curtsy to the crowds in all directions at the end of matches. She first did this successfully completing her 1999 match against Jelena Dokic, claiming she was inspired by Andre Agassi, who had bowed to the crowd at the end of his matches. After this match, she regularly followed this procedure at the end of her matches.
Since her dramatic first year as a professional in 1999, 2002 has been Stevenson's most successful year on the tour. She finished runner-up in two top-level tournaments that year in Memphis and Linz and won one tour doubles title at Leipzig, partnering Serena Williams.
Stevenson reached her career-high ranking of 18th on October 28, 2002.
Injury and Return
Stevenson suffered an extensive labral tear in her right shoulder in January 2003. She had surgery on September 21, 2004.
In 2006, following 18 months of shoulder strengthening, Stevenson began a baseball pitcher-type rehabilitation to gain muscle endurance in her shoulder. This required a similar baseball rehab program of innings in and innings out which resulted in retirements during tournaments.
Stevenson played in the qualifying round at the 2006 Wimbledon, but after defeating Jelena Dokic, a player that she had played in 1999 in the Wimbledon quarters, when they were both qualifiers, she suffered a pectoral strain and fell in the second round of qualifiers. At the 2006 Cincinnati Women's Open, she also had a successful run in the qualifying round, but continued shoulder pain caused her to fall in the 4th and final round to Chin-Wei Chen 3–6, 6–3, 7–5. Shoulder issues stayed with Stevenson through the first half of 2007.
Stevenson has announced that her shoulder is strong and she plans to play the second half of 2007. Stevenson intends to play a full schedule on the WTA Tour in 2008.
Personal life
Stevenson's mother, former sports journalist Samantha Stevenson, served as her coach. Her father is basketball player Julius Erving, who was married at the time of Alexandra's conception. Samantha and Erving agreed that Samantha would have sole custody on Alexandra but she had to live at least 200 miles away from Julius and keep the birth out of the news; in return, she would receive a modest monthly stipend. Alexandra only met Erving once during her childhood, at age 8. However, in the last few years they have established a relationship and are on good terms.
Singles performance timeline
To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the French Open in Paris, France, which ended on June 8, 2008.
| Tournament | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | Career |
|---|
| Grand Slam Tournaments | | Australian Open | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 1R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 5 | | French Open | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 4 | | Wimbledon | A | A | A | SF | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 5 | | US Open | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 7 | | Grand Slam Win-Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 5–2 | 1-4 | 2-4 | 0–4 | 1-4 | 0-2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 9–21 | | Grand Slam SR | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 21 | | Year-End Championship | | WTA Tour Championships | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | | 0 / 0 | | Olympic Games | | Summer Olympics | A | NH | NH | NH | A | NH | NH | NH | A | NH | NH | NH | A | 0 / 0 | | WTA Tier I Tournaments | | Doha | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | A | 0 / 0 | | Indian Wells | 1R | 1R | A | 2R | 2R | 1R | 4R | 2R | 1R | A | 1R | A | A | 0 / 9 | | Key Biscayne | A | A | 1R | A | 1R | 2R | 4R | 2R | 1R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 6 | | Charleston | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | A | 1R | 1R | 3R | A | A | 2R | 0 / 7 | | Berlin | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | | Rome | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | | Montreal/Toronto | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | 3R | A | A | A | A | A | | 0 / 3 | | Tokyo | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | QF | 1R | A | A | A | A | | 0 / 3 | | Moscow | - | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | | 0 / 2 | | San Diego | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | A | A | A | A | - | 0 / 0 | | Zurich | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | QF | 2R | A | A | A | A | - | 0 / 3 | | Career Statistics | | Finals reached | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | Tournaments Won | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Overall Win-Loss | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 213-2191 | | Year End Ranking | 355 | 394 | 126 | 46 | 93 | 60 | 18 | 82 | 282 | 645 | 394 | 399 | | N/A |
A = did not participate in the tournament.
SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
- = tournament was either not held or not a Tier I event.
1 If Fed Cup (0-1 overall) participation is included, her record stands at 213-220 overall.
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