Tennis Forum banner

Goddess in training: Despina Papamichail

63K views 741 replies 15 participants last post by  hellas719 
#1 ·
Forget the fact that Despina Papamichail is the next Daniilidou. Shes gonna be better. She just turned 15 in February, and already she has a WTA ranking of 1000. Her career high is 990. She is the number 7 ranked junior in the u16 division in Europe, and remember she JUST turned 15! She is 4-3 in her WTA career. She only played 3 tournaments in her life. She reached the QFs in Porto Rafti 10k, the 2nd round in Goudi 10k, and the 2nd qualifying round in Patras 50k, where she lost to the top seed. Also, she kind of looks like Justine Henin, when Henin had the reddish-brownish hair.
 
#647 ·
25k Bath

QR1 def Aimee Gibson (GBR) 60 64
QR2 l to Viktorija Golubic (SUI) 16 46 :hug:

Golubic also won a MD match. Still :unsure: Get out on the clay
 
#648 ·
She won a match! :worship:
But she couldn't even win a match in doubles this time :eek:. *I don't know what she did over the off-season but it obviously wasn't good for her :shrug:. *And there are two 10Ks in Greece that I see she didn't enter. *Maybe she will take a WC as she usually plays well/tries harder in Greece? :shrug:. *And there are 2 more so I'm curious to see if she will enter them...
If not, she needs to take some time off and train hard because soon she will lose a lot of ranking points...
 
#649 ·
25K Belgium:
QR1: Papamichail GRE d. Arginbayeva KAZ (#1184) 6-2 6-2 :D
QR2: (6) Pereira BRA (#289) d. Papamichail GRE 3-6 6-2 6-1 :hug:
She's slowly regaining her form I guess :shrug:
No doubles here, which is weird since there are byes in the draw and she could've done well in doubles :p
She has 32 points to defend over the next 6 weeks, so hopefully she can win some matches soon :scared:. She needs to play some easy 10Ks, and there are many of them during this time of year, but she isn't entering them :rolleyes:
 
#650 ·
25K Tunis:
QR1: (7) Papamichail GRE vs. BYE
QR2: (7) Papamichail GRE d. (9, WC) Kawa POL (#469) 6-4 6-2
R1: (Q) Sorribes-Tormo ESP (#756) d. (Q) Papamichail GRE 6-2 7-6
I think Despina could've done better, but I understand that Sorribes-Tormo is one of the best 15 year olds out there :p. Well, I hope Despina starts to play some weak tournaments soon because her ranking will soon be dropping as she is defending 32 points in the next month :help:. She did well in doubles though. She played with some Spanish player ranked in the 500s and they managed to push Ferrer-Suarez and Hogenkamp to an STB, before losing 10-5.

Some stuff from Fed Cup:





 
#651 ·
25K Casablanca:
QR1: (5) Papamichail GRE d. Schaul LUX 6-2 6-2
FQR: (14) Kimmelmann GER d. (5) Papamichail GRE 6-2 6-4
*Lost doubles QF with Gamiz

She then made a great decision by taking 5 weeks off. I thought it would help her greatly. However...
25K Rome:
QR1: (5) Papamichail GRE d. Cruciani ITA 6-3 6-3
QR2: (5) Papamichail GRE d. (10) Sabino SUI 6-4 6-0
R1: (WC) Moratelli ITA d. (Q) Papamichail GRE 3-6 7-6(8) 7-6(3)
Really? :eek:
I'm speechless honestly. I wonder how many MPs she wasted in the second and third sets :unsure::rolleyes:. She needs to go back and play some 10Ks, which she keeps refusing to do and as a result her ranking has slipped down to #444 :tape:.

Despina's next tournaments:
-15K Rovereto, Italy MD
-25K Zwevegem, Belgium Q or 10K Torino, Italy MD
She better chose Torino or else :lol:. Even 15K may be too much for her now, but at least she is entering smaller events, even though its something she should've done a long time ago :shrug:. I think from now until the rest of the year, she needs to play just 10Ks or weak 25Ks. She keeps playing medium or strong 25Ks in Europe which is no good since she keeps losing. If she plays a smarter schedule, MAYBE she can end the year in the top 300, even though most of us expected to see her end the year in the top 200 but thats too unrealistic now :rolleyes:. And she has 38 points to defend over the next few weeks :facepalm:
 
#652 ·
15K Rovereto:
R1 d. Forte BRA (#468) 6-4 4-6 6-1
R2 l. to (4) Zucchini ITA (#372) 0-6 0-6 :tape:
*Lost QF doubles with Eikeri :(

10K Torino, seeded 2nd:
R1 d. Gaud FRA (#890) 6-0 6-1
R2 l. to Moratelli ITA (#509) 6-7(5) 6-7(5) :sobbing:
*Won the doubles title though :woohoo:

Not sure what to say. Rovereto looked promising after R1 but then she got double bagelled by Zucchini :tape:. Same thing in Torino, R1 looked good and then lost R2. Second consecutive loss to Moratelli now. I wonder how many set points Despina wasted in the first and second sets :eek::unsure:

Oh and Despina is now down to 485 in the singles rankings :help:
 
#653 ·
25K Imola:
R1 d. Clerico ITA 7-5 6-2 :yeah:
R2 l. to (7) Majeric SLO 6-7 0-6 :(
-Reached doubles QF ;)

25K Monteroni D'Arbia:
QR1 d. De Vito ITA 6-2 6-0
QR2 l. to (11) Savoretti ITA 6-2 0-6 1-6 :eek:
-Lost R1 doubles...

I'm really just so disappointed. Her season is at least getting a little better. I just hope she stays on tour because her hard work will pay off one day. She just needs to keep fighting to make it out of this big slump.
 
#654 ·
10K Locri, ITA:
R1: d. Savarise ITA 6/7 6/4 6/3
R2: l. to (WC) Albano ITA 3/6 6/3 4/6 :eek:
Won doubles title though :)

10K Rotterdam, NED:
R1: l. to (8) Laurendon FRA 2-6 1-6 :tears:
Reached QF in doubles, but then withdrew :unsure:

Locri was another letdown. I knew she would lose to Albano, but I thought she would at least beat Savarise easier :tape:. Rotterdam was expected but I thought she would win a few more games at least :shrug:

Well she's now #627 in singles :help:. The lowest she's been in a couple of years now, and she's Greek #4 :eek:. In doubles she is currently ranked #554 :shrug:
 
#655 ·
Some progress since the last update I guess...
-Lost R1 of 10K Italy (seeded 8th) 6-3 2-6 2-6 to Natalia Siedliska (POL, #895, 16 yo) :(
-QF of 10K Spain (seeded 8th) ; d. Mendo (ITA, #912, 19 yo) 6-3 6-0, d. (Q) Parres Azcoitia (ESP, #1053, 19 yo) 6-2 6-3, l. to (2) de la Torre-Sanchez (ESP, #348) 5-7 4-6 :hug:
^Reached doubles SF with Savoretti (ITA) after winning 17-15 STB in QF :bowdown:. *Lost to top seeds/eventual winners in SF :shrug:
-Lost R1 of 10K Spain 4-6 5-7 to Jade Suvrijn (FRA, #781, 17 yo, eventual finalist) :sad:
-Lost R2 of 10K Greece (Kalamata) as 6th seed/WC. Beat Payet (FRA, #780, 18 yo) 6-4 3-6 7-5. Lost to Czarnik (POL, NR, 18 yo, since then reached 2 10K QFs) 4-6 4-6 :(
^Lost doubles QF with Christopoulou (GRE) :tears:
-QF at 10K Turkey. Beat (WC) Frapolli (SUI, NR) 7-5 6-0 and (4) Lehnert (GER, #453, 18 yo) 7-5 6-0 before losing to (6) E.Ianchuk (UKR, #457, 18 yo) :hug:
^Lost doubles QF with Caregaro (ITA). Beat Allgurin/O.Ianchuk in R1 before losing to (3) Fomina/Gjorcheska (eventual finalists) in QF :mad:

Despina is currently ranked 664...well, I just hope she can just keep reaching some more 10K QFs for the rest of the year. I mean what more can I ask for with the way her season went this year? I just hope she can continue to improve her ranking (albeit little by little) and then just work hard in the off-season to get back to where she was in the rankings as quickly as possible. Funny how I expected her to maybe even make the AO qualie cut-off for 2013, little did I know that her ranking would drop over 300 places without injuries, etc. Hopefully she just keeps trying because eventually it will all pay off for her :)

Also she's 511 in the doubles rankings, a career-high for her :cheer:





 
#656 ·
10K Heraklion:
R1 d. Vogasari (GRE, 17 yo, #683) 6-2 6-1 :eek::yeah:
R2 l. to (Q) Camilla Rosatello (ITA,17 yo) 5-7 5-7 :tape:
But reached doubles final with Vogasari :D

10K Heraklion:
R1 l. to Kachar (SRB, 20 yo, #680) 6-3 6-7 1-6 :eek:
Probably wasted MPs :eek:

And lost doubled R1 in STB with Vogasari against 2nd seeds :(



Currently ranked 753, hopefully things start to get better soon :unsure:
 
#657 ·
10K Heraklion VII:
R1: (3) Njiric CRO (#577) d. Papamichail GRE 6-2 6-0 :tape:
 
#660 ·
10K Egypt:
QR1: BYE
QR2 d. Jessica Simpson RSA 7-5 6-3
QR3 d. (14) Melina Ferrero ARG (#1104) 6-1 6-0
R1 d. Martina Kubicikova CZE (#525) 6-2 6-3
R2 d. (5) Anna Shkudun UKR (#473) 6-0 7-6
QF d. (3) Patricia Maria Tig ROU (#415) 6-2 6-1
SF l. to (SE) Lara Michel SUI (#678) 1-6 3-6
-Lost R1 doubles

Overall, a very very good week. I can't remember the last time when she won 5 matches in a row. Hopefully she can keep up this level.

10K Egypt:
R1 l. to (3) Marina Shamayko RUS (#414) 7-6 4-6 5-7
-Won doubles title

She must be playing well if she played such a tight match against an almost top 400 player (who ended up winning the title) and won the doubles title, so good for her :):yeah:

10K Egypt:
R1 l. to (Q) Ana Veselinovic SRB 6-0 2-6 6-7
-Reached doubles SF

Okay week I guess. Veselinovic is a former #329 on a comeback trail so it's not like she's a random nobody unranked qualifier...

10K Spain:
QR1 d. Laura Gibanel Velasco ESP 7-6 6-2
QR2 d. Ainhoa Atucha Gomez ESP (#1054) 6-3 6-2
QR3 d. Audrey Albie FRA 6-1 6-2
R1 d. (WC) Marta Ruedas Burgos ESP 6-2 6-1
R2 d. (8) Justine Ozga GER (#455) 4-6 7-6 6-2
QF l. to (3) Reka-Luca Jani HUN (#337) 6-4 4-6 2-6
-QF in doubles

Another great week. No shame in the loss to Jani who was ranked in the top 150 less than a year ago and has been 30-3 on the year and was the eventual winner of this tournament. Against both Jani and Shamayko, Despina gave them their toughest matches of the tournaments that they won ;)

10K Spain:
QR1 d. Angelina Klimova GER 6-1 6-0
QR2 d. (WC) Rita Vilaca POR*6-4 4-6 6-2
QR3 d. (16) Pilar Dominguez-Lopez ESP (#955) 6-3 6-4
R1 d. (SE) Sofiya Kovalets UKR (#753) 6-2 7-6
R2 d. (4) Rocio de la Torre-Sanchez ESP (#371) 7-5 6-4
QF l. to (Q) Bernarda Pera USA (#650) 2-6 3-6
-Skipped doubles

Another solid week, great that she won 5 matches in a row :cool:. Pera is a good young player and she reached the final and almost won it.

Upcoming schedule: 10K Heraklion I, 10K Heraklion II, Fed Cup :bounce:

Some photos:














And she's now up to #648 in the rankings :bounce:
 
#661 ·
10K Heraklion 2011:


































]
 
#662 ·
From the final in Heraklion 2011:






































 
#663 ·
More:








 
#664 ·
Photoshoot with Sakkari and Stefanou:










 
#665 ·
10K Heraklion I:
R1 d. Stamatia Fafaliou GRE (#894) 6-3 6-3
R2 d. (8) Vivien Juhaszova SVK (#606) 5-7 6-4 6-1
0:05-1:04:

QF l. to (1) Teodora Mircic SRB (#365) 1-6 1-6
0:06-0:37:

Mircic was the eventual champion, so not a bad loss at all...
Lost R1 doubles with Vogasari though. *0:31-1:03:














Taking part in kids clinic:
1:17-1:33:


10K Heraklion II:
R1 d. (Q) Chiara Icardi ITA (#1153) 6-3 6-2
1:08-1:20:

R2 d. Vivien Juhaszova SVK (#603) 7-6 6-4
1:10-1:37

QF l. to (WC) Valentini Grammatikopoulou GRE (#1067) 6-4 6-7 5-7
4 hour match :speakles:
0:42-1:10:




Reached doubles final with Giulia Sussarello (ITA) :yeah:
R1:
0:05-0:27:


F:
0:13-0:35:




 
#666 ·
Fed Cup:
vs. MNE:
Papamichail d. Veselinovic 6-1 6-2
Great win since Despina lost to her earlier this season :)
Kovinic/Krstajic d. Papamichail/Vogasari 6-0 7-6(13)
I wonder how many set points were wasted :eek:

vs. LTU:
Papamichail d. Mikulskyte 6-1 6-1
Mikulskyte/Stanciute d. Papamichail/Vogasari 4-6 6-0 6-2 :sad:

vs. RSA:
Papamichail d. Grandin 6-3 7-6(13) :banana:
Grandin/le Roux d. Papamichail/Vogasari 6-4 6-4

vs. FIN:
Papamichail d. Tuomi 6-0 6-3
Leivo/Suomalainen d. Papamichail/Vogasari 6-4 2-6 7-5 :help:
With Captain George Kalovelonis and Despoina Vogasari:


10K Italy:
R1 d. (WC) Jessica Pieri ITA (NR) 6-3 7-6
R2 l. to Erika Zanchetta ITA (#913) 2-6 5-7



But won the doubles title with Giulia Sussarello (ITA) :aparty:



10K Athens-Marathon II:
R1 d. (Q) Darya Shulzhanok BLR (#1040) 6-4 6-2
R2 d. Erin Clark USA (#898) 5-7 6-1 6-3
QF l. to (4) Gabriela Ce BRA (#513) 4-6 6-3 2-6

25K Italy:
QR1 BYE
QR2 l. to (10) Martina Caregaro ITA (#822) 7-5 1-6 3-6

25K Italy:
QR1 l. to (11) Doroteja Eric SRB (#377) 3-6 1-6

25K Uzbekistan:
QR1 d. Yevgeniya Rezepkina KAZ (NR) 6-0 6-1
QR2 l. to (10) Polina Monova RUS (#607) 3-6 1-6

25K Switzerland:
QR1 l. to Veronika Kudermatova RUS (NR) 1-6 5-7
I actually expected her to lose this, as Kudermatova is hyped to be the next big thing ;)

Mediterranean Games:
R1 d. Andrea Lazaro Garcia ESP (#892) 6-7 7-6 6-2
QF l. to (1) Cagla Buyukakcay TUR (#149) 1-6 3-6
Buyukakcay ended up taking the gold ;)

She also played doubles with Sakkari, but they lost to Spain in the QF :hug:



Some pics from the Heraklion tournaments:






With Vogasari:






 
#667 ·
More photos:


 
#668 ·
10K Italy:
R1 d. Alice Savoretti ITA (#700) 1-6 7-5 6-2
R2 d. Jasmine Paolini ITA (#1160) 6-4 6-1
QF d. (7) Martina Caregaro ITA (#687) W/O
SF l. to (2) Ani Amiraghyan ARM (#472) 1-6 0-6
Lost doubles QF

25K Italy:
R1 d. (4) Dalila Jakupovic SLO (#380) 6-3 1-6 7-5
R2 l. to Marina Shamayko RUS (#425) 5-7 3-6
Lost doubles QF

10K Italy:
R1 d. Ashley Keir AUS (#1082) 4-6 6-1 6-2
R2 d. (Q) Georgia Brescia ITA (NR) 6-1 4-6 6-2
QF l. to Tjasa Srimpf SLO (#735) 3-6 0-6
Doubles SF :shrug:

15K Italy:
R1 d. (6) Katerina Kramperova CZE (#412) 7-6 6-2
R2 d. (Q) Nastja Kolar SLO (#607) 6-3 1-6 6-1
QF d. Alix Collombon FRA (#564) 6-2 4-6 6-2
SF l. to (4) Sofiya Kovalets UKR (#373) 5-7 7-6 0-6
Doubles SF :p

10K Italy:
R1 d. Julie Tringa FRA (NR) 6-1 6-0
R2 d. Camila Scala ITA (NR) 6-0 6-0
QF l. to (7) Jasmine Paolini ITA (#819) 2-6 6-3 4-6
Paolini ended up winning the title and Despina's match with her was her toughest match so it isn't such a bad loss after all ;)
Won doubles title! :aparty:

10K Austria:
R1 l. to (Q) Csilla Argyelan HUN (#1043) 2-6 1-6

50K Italy:
QR1 d. (WC) Cecilia Maria Barbiero ITA (NR) 6-0 6-1
QR2 d. Carolina Pillot ITA (#662) 7-5 7-5
QR3 d. Sara Eccel ITA (NR) 6-3 6-0
R1 d. (8) Cristina Dinu ROU (#207) 3-6 6-4 def.
R2 d. Anastasia Grymalska ITA (#273) 7-6 7-5
QF l. to (2) Stephanie Vogt LIE (#145) 3-6 1-6
Amazing tournament :worship:

25K USA:
R1 d. Jelena Pandzic CRO (#299) 7-5 2-6 7-5
R2 l. to (7) Allie Kiick USA (#297) 4-6 3-6
Doubles semis :yeah:

75K USA:
QR1 l. to Ashley Weinhold USA (#458) 1-6 6-7

10K USA:
R1 l. to (Q) Dasha Ivanova USA (NR) 2-6 2-6
She was the top seed :eek:
She also was the #2 seed in doubles and lost R1 :help:

WTA Luxembourg:
QR1 d. (WC) Tena Lukas CRO (#735) 6-1 6-1
QR2 l. to Tereza Smitkova CZE (#260) 5-7 2-6
She did better than Mladenovic and Putintseva did in Luxembourg against Smitkova :lol:
Not bad for her first WTA tournament :angel:

25K Israel:
R1 l. to (4) Kristina Kucova SVK (#159) 4-6 5-7
Kucova is a great player who ended up making the final, so not a bad loss at all ;)
Lost R1 doubles in STB but put up a great fight even though she didn't have a great partner :hug:

75K Great Britain:
QR1 l. to Katy Dunne GBR (#748) 6-3 0-6 6-7 :(

75K UAE:
R1 d. Lisa-Maria Moser AUT (#328) 6-4 4-6 6-2
R2 l. to (5) Tadeja Majeric SLO (#116) 2-6 4-6 :hug:
Not a bad way to end the season :shrug:
She also played doubles with Moser and they lost R1, but it must have been a great experience to play against Cepelova and Paszek :cool:

Overall a good season with many ups and downs. She got her ranking back up. It has slipped down a little lately to 382, which is still pretty good considering where she ended 2012 ;)

I hope 2014 will be her best year yet! :bounce:
 
#669 ·






























With Daniilidou:


With Malamou, Christofi, and Stefanou:


WTA Luxembourg:




 
#670 ·










With Christofi and Stefanou:


 
#671 ·
First tournament of 2014 is a 10K in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt :)
She's seeded third here, won first round against an unranked Belgian qualifier Eugenie Chapelle 6-1 6-3 :banana:
Also seeded second in doubles :cool:
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top