FACTOIDS
Full Name: Ashley Harkleroad
Nickname: Ashley
Birthday: May 2, 1985
Height: 5’5”
Hometown: Rossville, Georgia, USA
Sports: Tennis
Profile
Ashley Harkleroad made a splash in 2001 when she wore extra-tight shorts and a midriff-baring top during her match at the U.S. Open in New York. She lost in the first round, but the outfit and her long blonde ponytail earned her comparisons to another tennis heartthrob, Anna Kournikova. Earlier the same year she teamed with Argentina's Gisella Dulko to win the girls' doubles title at Wimbledon. In both 2000 and 2001 she reached the #1 ranking in U.S. women's 18-and-under tennis, but by 2006 she had fallen in the rankings considerably.
Harkleroad turned pro in the year 2000... In 2001 she signed a contract with shoemaker Nike.
In 2007 Ashley was selected for the USA in the Hopman Cup after Venus Williams withdrew. She and partner Mardy Fish went 0-3 in the event. Harkleroad pushed Tatiana Golovin to 3 sets before losing 3-6,6-4,3-6. Ashley lost 3-6,0-6 to Nadia Petrova and 6-3,4-6,4-6 to Alicia Molik .Harkleroad started out the main WTA seasaon in Hobart, Tasmania. She lost in the first round to Austrian Sybille Bammer 7-6(2),6-1. Bammer eventually defeated Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. She lost to Daniela Hantuchová in the third round of the Australian Open 7-6 (6),5-7,3-6. In the previous rounds she beat Meng Yuan of China 6-3,6-0 and upset 17th seeded German Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-2,6-2. Ashley struggled in the clay court season but finished at Roland Garros in the second round losing to Venus Williams 1-6,6-7(8-10). Harkleroad was down 1-6,1-5 before rebounding and holding set points. In the grass court season, Harkleroad's worst, Ashley played the Liverpool International Tennis Tournament for the second straight year as her Wimbledon warm-up. In 2006, she lost in the final she lost to Caroline Wozniacki . This year, she defeated Wozniacki in the final to win the event. Unfortunatly, Ashley lost to Roberta Vinci, a good grass-court player in the first round of Wimbledon. In the U.S. Open Series, Ashley fell in qualifying at the Acura Classic but qualified in Los Angeles and reached the second round before falling to Roland Garros runner-up Ana Ivanovic 4-6,2-6. At the U.S. Open (tennis), Ashley fell to Ioana Raluca Olaru 5-7,6-1,4-6. Ashley will be playing for the first time since the U.S. Open in San Francisco, where she plays Christina Wheeler at the ITF $50,000 challenger. As of October 5, Ashley has a 12-17 record in singles and a 6-8 record in doubles for the 2007 season.
