Jill Craybas - Professional Career

Professional Career

Craybas turned professional in 1996. She has won one WTA title at the Tokyo Japan Open. She beat Silvija Talaja in the final after trailing 4–0 in the third set. In the 2006 season, Craybas reached one quarterfinal at Hobart as the eighth seed, losing to unseeded Italian Mara Santangelo in three sets. She has also reached the semifinals of a Tier III event in Memphis, a fourth-round showing at the Tier I event in Key Biscayne, Florida and a further quarterfinal appearance at Stanford in late July.

Craybas is best known for her 2005 defeat of Serena Williams in the 3rd round of Wimbledon. She beat Williams 6–3, 7–6, then lost to Serena's older sister, Venus Williams 6–0, 6–2.

On March 25, 2006, Craybas once again served up an early round defeat of a top seeded player. This time it was second-seeded Kim Clijsters in the second round of the NASDAQ-100 tournament. After having led in both the first and third sets, Clijsters eventually lost by a score of 7–5, 3–6, 7–5. It was Clijsters earliest ever exit from the NASDAQ-100, and Clijsters was the defending champion.

By that time Craybas, then a veteran on the tour, was thought to be playing the best tennis of her life. However, after having a successful start to 2006, she fell short of what was expected of her from her dramatically impressive start, losing to lower-ranked opponents in first rounds or having difficult first round draws against the top players in the world.

She began 2007 by reaching the semifinals of a Tier IV event in Auckland, New Zealand. She beat all of her opponents in straight sets before bowing out to Russian Vera Zvonareva 6–3, 7–5. She next took part in the Tier II event in Sydney, where she lost in the last round of qualifying to Russian Vera Dushevina 6–1, 3–6, 6–1. At the first Grand Slam tournament of the year at the Australian Open, she suffered a first-round loss to the tenth-eeded Nicole Vaidišová 6–4, 5–7, 6–1. Craybas bounced back into winning form at her next tournament in the U.S., at an ITF tournament in Midland, Texas. As the top-seeded, she beat all of her opponents in straight sets until a hard-fought 2–6, 6–3, 6–3 victory over second-seeded and fellow American Laura Granville. Because of her lower ranking, she suffered in tough draws, not going further than the second round of any tournament since.

At the start of 2008, Craybas entered the Pattaya Women's Open in Pattaya, Thailand, where, as the seventh-seed, she played some of the best tennis of her career and beat Olga Savchuk 6–1, 6–1 in the first round, Renata Voráčová 2–6, 6–1, 6–3 in the second round and Andreja Klepač 6–4, 6–4 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals she beat Akgul Amanmuradova 6–4, 6–0 and lost to the top seed Agnieszka Radwańska in a tie-break in the third set, 6–2, 1–6, 7–6. Craybas's ranking improved from World No. 77 to World No. 60 because of these results.

Craybas won the Istanbul Cup in doubles.

Craybas represented the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the tennis singles event. She became the last qualifier for the event, replacing Tamira Paszek of Austria. The opening came available when fellow American Ashley Harkleroad elected to skip the games after she became pregnant.