Polona Hercog life and biography

Polona Hercog is a Slovenian tennis player. On September 13, 2010, she reached her highest ranking, No. 43 in singles and No. 58 in doubles. Hercog won two WTA Tour doubles title and reached one singles final. She also enjoyed success on the ITF Circuit, winning nine singles and five doubles titles.

CAREER:

2010:
Hercog opened the season with early losses at her first three tournemtns, including a second round showing at the Australian Open, where she lost to Alona Bondarenko. After playing for Slovenia Fed Cup team, she won the ITF event in Cali, Colombia, but then suffered an opening round loss to Catalina Castaño at the Copa Sony Ericsson Colsanitas.

At the tournament in Acapulco, Mexico, Hercog reached her first WTA Tour singles final and won her first WTA Tour doubles title. She defeated Rossana de los Ríos 6–4, 6–1 in the first round, Alizé Cornet 6–4, 6–2 in the second, Ágnes Szávay retired from the quarterfinals match when Hercog was leading 6–4, 0–1, and Carla Suárez Navarro 6–3, 7–5 in the semifinals. In the final, Hercog faced the first seed and former World No. 1 Venus Williams, and lost 6–2, 2–6, 3–6, despite winning the first set. Partnering with Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, she won her first Tour doubles title, beating the Italian team of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci 2–6, 6–1.

At the 2010 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Hercog defeated Ioana Raluca Olaru 7–5, 6–4 in the first round and was defeated by 11th seed Marion Bartoli in the second round 6–4, 6–2.

Hercog caused an upset in the second round of the 2010 French Open by defeating #24 Lucie Šafářová.

In Portoroz, she reached the semi-finals, leading 6-0 1-0 against Anna Chakvetadze but then lost the match mentally 6-0 2-6 2-6, showing her lack of confidence and experience.

Seeded 6th at the 2010 e-Boks Danish Open in Copenhagen, she had a chance to take revenge on Anna Chakvetadze as they met in the quarterfinals. Hercog lost the match, this time in straight sets 4-6, 3-6.

2011:
Hercog began the year with three straight losses, including a first-round loss at the 2011 Australian Open to Anastasija Sevastova. In Fed Cup against Germany, she split her singles rubbers, defeating Julia Görges but losing to Andrea Petkovic. She has reportedly split with her long-time coach, Zoltan Kuharsky. She lost in the first rounds of clay tournaments in Bogota and Acapulco, where she had reached the final in 2010. She then reached the semifinals of Monterrey, where she lost to Jelena Jankovic.

PERSONAL:

Coached by Zoltan Kuharszky
Mother is Romana (florist); father is Vojko (bar owner); parents both work from home (flower shop and bar attached to their home); has a cat, a dog and a turtle; is an only child
Favorite shot is forehand; favorite surface is clay
Started playing at age 4 when Mima Jausovec opened a tennis club in her neighborhood and parents took her there; trained there until age 14, then 1.5 years training in Italy and started training with current coach in Budapest in July 2007
Speaks Slovenian, English, Italian
Favorite movie is Top Gun; favorite types of music are rock, pop; favorite food is sushi
Also enjoys snowboarding
Admires Justine Henin for her game, her attitude on the court and giving back to tennis through her academy
Goal is to improve her game and one day reach Top 10.

Read more