Polona Hercog

Polona Hercog (, born 20 January 1991) is a Slovenian professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings are No. 35 in singles and No. 56 in doubles. She has won five WTA Tour titles; three in singles and two in doubles. Hercog also enjoyed success on the ITF Women's Circuit, winning 17 singles and five doubles titles. She is the Slovenian No. 1 in women's tennis.
Partnering with Jessica Moore, she won the 2008 French Open and Wimbledon Championships junior titles in the doubles competition.
Early and personal life.
Hercog was born in Maribor, Slovenia, to florist Romana and bar owner Vojko. As a four-year-old she began playing in the local tennis clinic opened by Mima Jaušovec, and at age 14 moved to Italy to train professionally. Hercog is fluent in Slovenian, English, and Italian, and cites Justine Henin as her role model. She currently resides in her hometown and practises in Budapest.
Career summary.
2007—2009.
Hercog made her WTA Tour debut in Portorož, Slovenia, losing to Elena Vesnina in three sets. In 2008, she participated in the İstanbul Cup, where she lost in the first round to Tsvetana Pironkova, but reached the finals of the doubles competition partnering with New Zealand's Marina Erakovic. The same year, Hercog and Australian Jessica Moore won two Grand Slam junior doubles titles, the French Open and the Wimbledon Championships. She also played the qualifications for the US Open, but lost to Sandra Záhlavová in the first round in straight sets.
Hercog entered the 2009 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Fes, Morocco, via the qualifying rounds, and beat seventh seed Roberta Vinci to reach the quarterfinals, where she was defeated by Alisa Kleybanova. At that year's French Open she upset 23rd seeded Kleybanova, but was in turn beaten by Aravane Rezaï. At the US Open, Hercog was beaten by American wildcard Christina McHale in the first round. She also played the Luxembourg Open, defeating Maria Elena Camerin in the opening round. She then lost to Sabine Lisicki in two sets. Polona managed to make it up to the second round at the 2009 Allianz Cup in Sofia but was beaten by Bojana Jovanovski.
2010.
Hercog opened the season at the ASB Classic where she lost to Shahar Pe'er in the first round.
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 in the first round, Alizé Cornet in the second, Ágnes Szávay retired from the quarterfinals match when Hercog was leading by a set, and Carla Suárez Navarro in two sets in the semifinals. In the final, she lost to first seed and former world No. 1, Venus Williams, despite winning the first set. Partnering with Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, she won her first tour doubles title, beating the Italian duo Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci.
At the Indian Wells Open, Hercog defeated Ioana Raluca Olaru in the first round and was defeated by 11th seed Marion Bartoli in the second round.
She caused an upset in the second round of the French Open by defeating No. 24, Lucie Šafářová.
In Portorož, she reached the semifinals, was up a set against Anna Chakvetadze but then lost the match in three sets.
Seeded sixth at the 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.
2011.
Hercog began the year at the Brisbane International where she lost in the first round to Iveta Benešová in two sets. Seeded second in qualifying at the Medibank International Sydney, Hercog lost in the first round to Jill Craybas. At the Australian Open, she lost in the first round in a close match to world No. 46, Anastasija Sevastova.
After the Australian Open, Hercog played at the 2011 Fed Cup World Group II against Germany. She defeated Julia Görges, however, she lost to Andrea Petkovic in straight sets. Slovenia lost to Germany 1-4. Seeded second at the Copa Colsanitas, she defeated Pauline Parmentier in the first round. In the second round, she lost to Petra Martić. Seeded second at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Hercog lost in the first round to Lourdes Domínguez Lino. She then stayed in Mexico for the Monterrey Open. Seeded eighth, Hercog defeated Angelique Kerber in the first round 6–3, 6–3. She then reached the semifinals where she lost to top seed Jelena Janković in two sets. At the Indian Wells Open, Hercog lost in the first round to Anastasija Sevastova. At the Sony Ericsson Open, she lost in the first round to Chanelle Scheepers in three sets.
Hercog began her clay court season at the Andalucia Tennis Experience. She lost in the first round to Laura Pous Tió, 1–6, 2–6. Next, Hercog played at the Morocco Open where she got revenge on Chanelle Scheepers by defeating her in the first round. However, she withdrew from her second round match against Melanie Oudin due to an ankle injury. At the Barcelona Open, Hercog won her first round match against lucky loser Jamie Hampton. In the second round, she easily beat Mirjana Lučić. In the quarterfinals, she lost to Laura Pous Tió in three sets.
2012.
Hercog began the year at the Brisbane International. She retired trailing 6–1, 4-1 in her first round match against seventh seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova due to a low back injury. Seeded third in qualifying at the Apia International Sydney, Hercog lost in the final round of qualifying to seventh seed Ekaterina Makarova. However, she received a lucky loser spot into the main draw. In the first round, Hercog lost to eighth seed Marion Bartoli. At the Australian Open, she lost in the first round to 22nd seed Julia Görges.
After the Australian Open, Hercog represented Slovenia for Fed Cup against Japan. She lost both of her rubbers to Kimiko Date-Krumm and Ayumi Morita. Japan went on to defeat Slovenia 5-0. At the Open GDF Suez, Hercog lost in the first round to Chanelle Scheepers in straight sets. She suffered another first-round loss at the Qatar Open to Tsvetana Pironkova. Seeded second for qualifying at the Dubai Championships, she lost in the final round of qualifying to Aleksandra Wozniak. Entering the main draw as a lucky loser, Hercog lost in the first round to world No. 21, Daniela Hantuchová. Ranked 38 at the Indian Wells Open, she lost in the first round to wildcard Jamie Hampton, 0–6, 1–6. At the Sony Ericsson Open, Hercog got revenge on qualifier Jamie Hampton defeating her in the first round 6–1, 6–3. In the second, she lost to seventh seed Marion Bartoli.
Hercog began her clay court season at the Family Circle Cup. Seeded 14th, she beat Kimiko Date-Krumm in the first round. In the second round, she defeated American Varvara Lepchenko. In the third round, Hercog upset third seed Marion Bartoli. In the quarterfinals, she upset 13th seed Nadia Petrova 6–1, 6–2 to reach the semifinals where she was crushed by ninth seed Lucie Šafářová, 6–0, 6–0. Seeded eighth at the Barcelona Open, Hercog retired in her first round match against Sorana Cîrstea after losing the first set 4–6 due to dizziness. Seeded 9th at the Estoril Open, she defeated Tamira Paszek in the first round 6–0, 6–3. In the second round, Hercog retired trailing 6–4, 3-0 to Carla Suárez Navarro due to a right foot injury. Ranked 37 at the Madrid Open, Hercog lost in the first round to Shahar Pe'er 3–6, 5–7. At the French Open, she was defeated in the first round by Ayumi Morita.
At the Wimbledon Championships, Hercog lost in the first round to qualifier Kristýna Plíšková.
After Wimbledon, Hercog competed at the Internazionali di Palermo. Seeded sixth, she was upset in the first round by Irina-Camelia Begu. After Palmero, Hercog played at the Swedish Open where she was the defending champion. Hercog defeated Mathilde Johansson in the final. Representing Slovenia at the Summer Olympics, Hercog was defeated in the first round by María José Martínez Sánchez.
She played one warm up tournament before the US Open. At the Texas Open. She faced Kiki Bertens in the first round, and won the first set 6–4 when Bertens retired due to a right abdominal injury. In the second round, she lost to third seed and eventual champion Roberta Vinci. At the US Open, Hercog was defeated in the first round by fifth seed Petra Kvitová.
At the Korea Open, she lost in the first round to eighth seed Ekaterina Makarova. Seeded 11th for qualifying at the Pan Pacific Open, Hercog lost in the first round of qualifying to wildcard Kurumi Nara. She qualified for the China Open beating 17th seed Mathilde Johansson and Gréta Arn. In round one, Hercog led 5–7, 6–4, 3-0 before Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova retired due to a gastrointestinal illness. In the second round, she defeated Ekaterina Makarova in a very close match. In the third round, Hercog lost to second seed and eventual finalist Maria Sharapova. Her final tournament of the year was at the HP Open. She lost in the first round to eventual champion Heather Watson.
Hercog ended the year ranked No. 80.
2013.
At the Australian Open, she was defeated in the first round by 21st seed Varvara Lepchenko.
Seeded 17th for qualifying at the French Open, she beat Ajla Tomljanović in the first round of qualifying, but in the second round she lost to Grace Min. After the French Open, Hercog played the 25k-tournament in Maribor, Slovenia. As the top seed, she won the tournament defeating Ana Konjuh in the final. At the 100k-tournament in Marseille, she was defeated in the semifinals by top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues. Competing at the first edition of the Nürnberger Versicherungscup, Hercog upset second seed Klára Zakopalová in the first round. In the second round, she beat Julia Cohen in two sets. In the quarterfinals, Hercog was defeated by fifth seed Lucie Šafářová.
Seeded fourth for qualifying at the Wimbledon Championships, Hercog lost in the second round of qualifying to Petra Cetkovská.
At the Internazionali di Palermo, she was defeated in the second round by second seed Roberta Vinci. Hercog won the ITS Cup as the top seed beating Katarzyna Piter in the final. Seeded sixth at the Baku Cup, Hercog lost in the first round to Galina Voskoboeva.
Hercog qualified for the Western & Southern Open defeating ninth seed Lourdes Domínguez Lino in the final round of qualifying. In the first round, she beat world No. 19, Dominika Cibulková, 6–2, 6–4. In the second round, Hercog lost to sixth seed Sara Errani. At the US Open, Hercog was defeated in the first round by 24th seed Ekaterina Makarova.
At the Challenge Bell, she stunned top seed and defending champion Kirsten Flipkens in the first round 6–3, 6–1. In the second round, she beat qualifier Julie Coin 6–0, 6–2. In the quarterfinals, Hercog lost to Christina McHale. Hercog qualified for the Pan Pacific Open beating ninth seed Tsvetana Pironkova in the final round of qualifying. In the first round, she was defeated in a close match by world No. 35, Lucie Šafářová. Qualifying for the China Open, Hercog beat Monica Puig in the first round 6–1, 6–4. In the second round, Hercog upset 14th seed and former world No. 1, Ana Ivanovic. In the third round, she lost to third seed Agnieszka Radwańska. Her final tournament of the year was the HP Open. In the first round, she beat Petra Cetkovská, and received a walkover in the second round since her opponent, second seed Sabine Lisicki withdrew due to a hip injury. In the quarterfinals, Hercog was defeated by Kurumi Nara.
She ended the year ranked No. 66.
2014.
Hercog began her season at the Australian Open. In the first round, she was up against 25th seed Alizé Cornet. Hercog retired trailing 1-0 due to a shoulder injury.
Hercog made her comeback during the clay-court season at the Morocco Open. In the first round, she upset Zhang Shuai 6–2, 6–2. In the second round, she defeated Alison Van Uytvanck 6–1, 6–4. Hercog was then stopped in the quarterfinals by eventual champion María Teresa Torró Flor in two tie-breakers. At the Portugal Open, she beat Stefanie Vögele in the first round. In the second round, she upset sixth seed Lucie Šafářová. Hercog lost in the quarterfinals to top seed and eventual champion, Carla Suárez Navarro. Seeded sixth for qualifying at the Italian Open, Hercog lost in the first round of qualifying to Belinda Bencic. Her final tournament before the French Open was the Nürnberger Versicherungscup. In the first round, she upset third seed Klára Koukalová in three sets. In the second round, Hercog lost to Karin Knapp. At the French Open, she defeated Jana Čepelová in the first round In the second round, Hercog was defeated by 15th seed Sloane Stephens 6–1, 6–3.
Hercog played only one grass court tournament before Wimbledon. She lost in the first round at the Topshelf Open to sixth seed Kirsten Flipkens. At Wimbledon, she won her first round match over Paula Ormaechea. In the second round, she was defeated by 23rd seed Lucie Šafářová.
After Wimbledon, Hercog competed at the first edition of the Bucharest Open. Seeded eighth in the draw, she defeated Anna Tatishvili in the first round. In the second round, she beat Katarzyna Piter. In the quarterfinals, Hercog lost to Monica Niculescu. Seeded eighth at the Swedish Open, she lost in the first round to Dinah Pfizenmaier.
Hercog began the US Open series at the Citi Open. She lost in the first round to sixth seed and eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. Seeded 20th for qualifying at the Western & Southern Open, Hercog qualified for the main draw beating Paula Ormaechea and Julia Glushko. In the first round, she was defeated by Kirsten Flipkens, 6–3, 6–2. At the Connecticut Open, her final tournament before the US Open, Hercog lost in the second round of qualifying to Karin Knapp, 2–6, 1–6. Ranked 76 at the US Open, she defeated world No. 35, Elina Svitolina, in the first round in two sets. In the second round, she lost to 17th seed Ekaterina Makarova.
After the US Open, Hercog played at the first edition of the Hong Kong Open. She lost in the first round to third seed and eventual finalist, Karolína Plíšková. At the Korea Open, Hercog was defeated in the first round by top seed and defending champion Agnieszka Radwańska. Seeded 18th for qualifying at the first edition of the Wuhan Open, she lost in the first round of qualifying to Nicole Gibbs. Seeded 11th for qualifying at the China Open, Hercog qualified by defeating Yulia Putintseva and seventh seed Monica Puig. In the first round, she beat world No. 29, Karolína Plíšková. In the second round, Hercog lost to 12th seed Ekaterina Makarova. Seeded second for qualifying at the Generali Ladies Linz, she lost in the first round of qualifying to Lucie Hradecká. Her final tournament of the year was at the Luxembourg Open. She won her first-round match over Marina Erakovic 6–3, 6–4. Then Hercog was defeated by qualifier Johanna Larsson.
She ended the year ranked No. 95.
2015.
Hercog started the year at the Shenzhen Open. She lost in the second round to Zheng Saisai. Coming through qualifying at the Sydney International, Hercog was defeated in the first round by Karolína Plíšková. At the Australian Open, Hercog lost in the second round to qualifier Lucie Hradecká.
Seeded seventh at the Rio Open, Hercog was defeated in the second round by Brazilian wildcard Beatriz Haddad Maia. Playing in Acapulco at the Abierto Mexicano, Hercog lost in the first round to third seed and eventual finalist Caroline Garcia. Hercog stayed in Mexico to compete at the Monterrey Open. She was defeated in the second round by eighth seed Magdaléna Rybáriková. Hercog had multiple match points in the third set but failed to convert. Getting past qualifying at the Indian Wells Open, Hercog beat 2009 champion Vera Zvonareva in the first round. She lost in the second round to twenty-fifth seed Caroline Garcia. At the Miami Open, Hercog was defeated in the first round by Anna Karolína Schmiedlová. In Poland at the Katowice Open, Hercog lost in the second round to second seed and defending champion Alizé Cornet.
2016.
Hercog began the year at the ASB Classic. She lost in the first round to fifth seed and eventual champion Sloane Stephens. In Sydney at the Apia International Sydney, Hercog was defeated in the final round of qualifying by Monica Puig. However, she was awarded a lucky loser spot into the main draw. She lost in the first round to Sabine Lisicki. At the Australian Open, Hercog was defeated in the first round by nineteenth seed Jelena Janković.
Seeded fifth at the Rio Open, Hercog lost in the second round to Sorana Cîrstea. Playing in Mexico at the Abierto Mexicano, Hercog was defeated in the first round by top seed Victoria Azarenka. At the Monterrey Open, Hercog lost in the second round to eventual champion Heather Watson. Competing in Indian Wells at the Indian Wells Open, Hercog was defeated in the first round by Yanina Wickmayer. Hercog retired during her first round of qualifying match at the Miami Open to Fanny Stollár.
Hercog began her clay-court season at the Porsche Grand Prix. She lost in the final round of qualifying to German Laura Siegemund. At the Morocco Open, Hercog was defeated in the first round by fifth seed and last year finalist Tímea Babos. In Madrid at the Madrid Open, Hercog lost in the first round of qualifying to Madison Brengle. At the Italian Open, Hercog was defeated in the first round of qualifying by Julia Görges. Hercog's final tournament before the French Open was the Nürnberger Versicherungscup. She lost in the second round to fourth seed Lesia Tsurenko. At the French Open, Hercog was defeated in the second round by 30th seed Barbora Strýcová.
Seeded seventh at the Bol Open, Hercog reached the final where she lost to Mandy Minella.
Beginning her grass-court season at the Ricoh Open, Hercog retired during her first-round match against Varvara Lepchenko. Coming through qualifying at Eastbourne, Hercog was defeated in the first round by Misaki Doi. At the Wimbledon Championships, Hercog lost in the first round to Alizé Cornet.
Competing in Romania at the Bucharest Open, Hercog made it to the quarterfinal round where she was defeated by fourth seed Laura Siegemund. At the Swedish Open, Hercog fell in the first round to Julia Görges. Representing Slovenia at the Rio Olympics, she lost in the first round to eventual gold medalist Monica Puig.
At the US Open, Hercog faced second seed Angelique Kerber in the first round. She retired from the match due to illness.
Due to not playing for the rest of the year, Hercog ended the year ranked 139.
2017.
She returned to the WTA Tour for her first tournament since the 2016 US Open at the French Open. Hercog beat French wild card Harmony Tan in the first round of qualifying. However, in the second round, she lost to Zarina Diyas. At a 25k tournament in Grado, she lost in the first round to Diāna Marcinkēviča. Seeded seventh at the Internazionali di Brescia, she won the title defeating Ganna Poznikhirenko in the final in two sets.
2019.
Hercog began the year at the Auckland Open. She lost in the first round to third seed Hsieh Su-wei. In Hobart at the Hobart International, Hercog was defeated in the first round of qualifying by Olivia Rogowska. At the Australian Open, Hercog lost in the first round to second seed and 2016 champion Angelique Kerber.
2020.
Hercog kicked off her 2020 season at the Australian Open. She lost in the second round to top seed Ashleigh Barty.
Playing in Dubai at the Dubai Championships, Hercog was defeated in the final round of qualifying by Kristina Mladenovic. At the Qatar Open, Hercog lost in the first round to Alison Van Uytvanck.
Performance timelines.
"Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Billie Jean King Cup /Fed Cup and Olympic Games are included in win-loss records."
Singles.
"Current after the 2021 Serbia Open."
Notes