Ashley Harkleroad

Harkleroad played her second main-tour event since 2005 at Auckland, qualifying for the main draw, only to fall in the opening round. She failed to qualify at Sydney, before reaching the second round of the Australian Open (as a qualifier), where she pushed world No. 4 Maria Sharapova in a tough match. On her way, she upset a higher-ranked opponent, Peng Shuai of China. This performance saw Harkleroad break back into the top 100 at No. 83. Harkleroad ended 2006 at No. 86 in singles and No. 55 in doubles.

Harkleroad during her first-round women's doubles match at the 2007 Australian Open (age 22)

Harkleroad was selected for the US team in the Hopman Cup after Venus Williams withdrew. She and partner Mardy Fish went 0–3 in the event. Harkleroad pushed Tatiana Golovin to three sets, before losing the match. Harkleroad lost to Nadia Petrova and to Alicia Molik. She started out the main WTA Tour season in Hobart, Tasmania. She lost in the first round to Austrian Sybille Bammer. Bammer eventually defeated Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. She lost to Daniela Hantuchová in the third round of the Australian Open. In the previous rounds, she beat Meng Yuan of China, and upset 17th seeded German Anna-Lena Grönefeld.

Harkleroad struggled in the clay-court season and finished in the second round at Roland Garros, losing to Venus Williams. Harkleroad was down before rebounding and holding set points. During this match, Williams hit the fastest recorded women's main-draw serve,[1] a record which Venus broke during the following US Open.[2]

In the grass-court season, Harkleroad played the Liverpool International Tennis Tournament for the second straight year as her Wimbledon warm-up. In 2006, she had lost in the final to Caroline Wozniacki. In 2007, however, she defeated Wozniacki in the final to win the event. But she lost to Roberta Vinci, a good grass-court player, in the first round of Wimbledon.

In the US Open Series, Harkleroad failed to qualify at the Acura Classic, but qualified in Los Angeles and reached the second round, before falling to Roland Garros runner-up Ana Ivanovic. At the US Open, Harkleroad fell to Ioana Raluca Olaru. She then played in San Francisco, where she won $50k at the ITF event for the second consecutive year. Harkleroad ended the season by winning a $75k tournament in Pittsburgh and a $50k event in La Quinta back to back. She ended the year ranked No. 76, her second-highest year-end to date. Harkleroad also won the doubles title in La Quinta with Christina Fusano, and finished the year with a 29–20 record in singles and a 13–11 record in doubles.

Starting the year off as usual in Auckland, Harkleroad reached the second round, defeating eighth seed Émilie Loit, before losing to home-crowd wildcard Marina Erakovic. Harkleroad played in Hobart, after winning three matches to qualify. She defeated three top-100 players, before bowing out in the semifinals to top seed Vera Zvonareva. In the Australian Open, Harkleroad lost to 30th seed Virginie Razzano.

Harkleroad debuted with the United States Fed Cup team just two weeks later. Facing Germany, Harkleroad, Lindsay Davenport, Laura Granville, and Lisa Raymond made up the United States team. Davenport was upset in a tie, giving the Germans a 1–0 lead. Harkleroad crushed Tatjana Malek and Sabine Lisicki, both in straight sets to help the U.S. team win 4–1 and becoming the tie's hero.

Harkleroad then reached the final of the $75k event in Midland, where she was defeated by compatriot Laura Granville.

Harkleroad's next tournament was the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells. She upset Lucie Šafářová and eighth seed Dinara Safina. She then lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in the fourth round in three sets. At the Sony Ericsson Open, she reached the third round, after taking out the 23rd seed Virginie Razzano impressively, but lost to Elena Vesnina. While at the Sony Ericsson Open, a large cyst on one of her ovaries burst, and she was sent to the hospital. She lost one of her ovaries amidst her recovery.

At the French Open, Harkleroad lost against tournament favorite Serena Williams in the first round.[3]

At Wimbledon, she lost against 2006 winner Amélie Mauresmo in the first round.

After losing early in the US Open Series, Harkleroad withdrew from the US Open and Beijing Olympics, due to pregnancy. She took an indefinite break from tennis as a result. She gave birth on March 30, 2009 to a boy.

Harkleroad planned on originally coming back at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, but decided to wait for the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. She used her special protection rank of 72 to enter the main draw. She played Alicia Molik in the first round. She also was accepted into the main draw of the Stanford Classic where she lost against defending champion Marion Bartoli in the first round. She competed in World TeamTennis during the summer of 2010.

In 2012, Harkleroad retired from professional tennis and joined Tennis Channel as a commentator.[4]

Following the 2008 French Open, Harkleroad told reporters she would appear in the August 2008 issue of Playboy, a decision she made while convalescing from ovarian cyst surgery in March 2008. In an on-the-air interview, broadcast during the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, Harkleroad stated that swimmer Amanda Beard's 2007 pictorial was partly an inspiration for her own.[9]