Alison Van Uytvanck (Dutch pronunciation:[vɑnˈœytfɑŋk]; born 26 March 1994) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. In August 2018, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 37.
Van Uytvanck has won five singles and two doubles WTA Tour titles and three Challenger Tour singles titles, as well as 15 singles and two doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.
Personal life
Van Uytvanck was born in the small town of Grimbergen to René Van Uytvanck and Krista Laemers. She started playing tennis at age five when her older brother Sean introduced her to the game. She has a twin brother named Brett. Van Uytvanck graduated from high school at Sint-Donatus in Merchtem. As a junior, she alternated between training with local coach Sacha Katsnelson and the Flemish Tennis Association, where she was coached by Ann Devries. She admires Roger Federer, and her compatriot Kim Clijsters.[1][2] Van Uytvanck was in a relationship with fellow Belgian tennis player Greet Minnen.[3][4] In July 2023, she married Emilie Vermeiren.[5]
Career
2011: WTA Tour debut
In 2011, she won four ITF singles titles in Vale do Lobo (Portugal), Dijon (France), Edinburgh and Sunderland (both UK). She also reached the final in Tessenderlo (Belgium) where she lost to Anna-Lena Grönefeld.
She also qualified for the main draw at 's-Hertogenbosch, where she lost to Alexandra Dulgheru.
2012: WTA quarterfinal
In 2012, she won a fifth ITF singles title in Glasgow, and reached the final in Kaarst (Germany). In February, she debuted in Fed Cup against Serbia, where she was chosen by coach Ann Devries over Kirsten Flipkens in the deciding doubles rubber. Partnering Yanina Wickmayer, they lost the match (and by extension, the tie) in three sets.[7]
She took part in the Brussels Open where she received a wildcard into the main draw. She defeated Ksenia Pervak in her first round match and then beat Chanelle Scheepers in three sets to advance to her first WTA quarterfinals, where she was defeated by top seed and world No. 3, Agnieszka Radwańska, in straight sets. Van Uytvanck went on, having more success on the ITF Circuit.
She played in the main draw of all four of the Grand Slam tournaments and reached the second round at Wimbledon for the first time in her career.
2015–16: French Open quarterfinal, top 50 debut and injury
In 2015, she reached the quarterfinal of the French Open, which she lost in two sets to Timea Bacsinszky. She reached a new career-high ranking of No. 41 later that year, in October.
However, a growth on her right ankle resulted in her missing a number of tournaments in the 2016 clay-court season, including the 2016 French Open, and her failure to defend her quarterfinalist points from 2015 caused her to fall out of the top 100 in June 2016.[8]
2017: First WTA Tour title
After a long hiatus due to injury, and a comeback, Van Uytvanck won her first WTA title at Tournoi de Québec beating Tímea Babos, in three sets.
2018: Second singles & maiden doubles titles, Wimbledon 4th round, top 40
She eliminated defending champion Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round of Wimbledon, losing just three games after dropping the first set 5–7. It was her first win over a top-10 opponent and arguably the best match performance of her career so far.[9] After a win over Anett Kontaveit in the third round, she lost in the fourth round to Daria Kasatkina.[10]
In August 2018, she reached a new career-high ranking of No. 37.
She ended the year winning her first WTA Tour doubles title in Luxembourg, alongside Greet Minnen.
2019–21: Three singles and a doubles titles
In February 2019, Uytvanck successfully defended her title in Budapest, defeating Markéta Vondroušová in the final.[11]
In September, she won the Tashkent Open, and she did not drop a set until the final, in which she defeated fifth seed and 2008 champion, Sorana Cîrstea, in three sets.
In February 2020, she narrowly lost her semifinal match in Lyon to 2020 Australian Open champion, top-10 player and eventual champion, Sofia Kenin, in three sets with three tiebreaks.[12]
In 2021, she won her fifth WTA Tour singles title at the Astana Open, with a win over local player Yulia Putintseva in the final.
2024: Retirement
On 19 August, Van Uytvanck announced her retirement from professional tennis.[13][14]
Equipment and apparel
Van Uytvanck previously played with the Prince O3 Tour racquet. She now plays with the Snauwaert Grinta 100 lite, a 100 square inch tennis racquet with 22 mm dual taper beam, 285 g weight. She has a contract with the South Korean sporting goods company Fila apparel.[15]
Performance timelines
Key
W
F
SF
QF
#R
RR
Q#
P#
DNQ
A
Z#
PO
G
S
B
NMS
NTI
P
NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.[16]
^The first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Ladies Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009 to 2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.
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