Nicole Bradtke

Nicole Bradtke
Country (sports) Australia Australia
Residence Melbourne, Australia
Born (1969-09-22) 22 September 1969
Melbourne, Australia
Turned pro 1986
Retired 1997
Plays Right-handed (two handed backhand)
Prize money US$1,283,966
Singles
Career record 243–191
Career titles 3 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest ranking No. 24 (24 May 1993)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 4R (1989, 1993)
French Open SF (1988)
Wimbledon 4R (1995)
US Open 3R (1987)
Doubles
Career record 222–164
Career titles 9 WTA, 0 ITF
Highest ranking No. 11 (6 April 1992)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open 3R (1992, 1996)
French Open SF (1988, 1990)
Wimbledon SF (1989)
US Open SF (1989)
Mixed doubles
Career titles 2
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open W (1992)
French Open F (1990)
Wimbledon F (1987)
US Open W (1992)

Nicole Bradtke (née Provis) (born 22 September 1969) is a retired professional tennis player from Australia.

Bradtke won three singles and nine doubles on the WTA Tour in her career. She reached the semifinals of the 1988 French Open, and won a bronze medal in doubles at the 1992 Summer Olympics, partnering Rachel McQuillan. In mixed doubles, she reached four Grand Slam finals, winning two of those partnering Mark Woodforde. Bradtke reached career-high rankings of no. 24 in singles and no. 11 in doubles. She retired from professional tennis in 1997 after a shoulder injury.

Professional career

Bradtke started playing tennis at the age of seven. She played her first professional match in 1985 and made her debut at the Australian Open later that year. She found early success in mixed doubles, finishing runner-up at the 1987 Wimbledon Championships with Darren Cahill.

Bradtke burst into prominence in 1988, when she made the semifinals of the French Open as a relative unknown. She beat Sybille Niox-Chateau, Emmanuelle Derly and then two seeded players, Claudia Kohde-Kilsch and Sylvia Hanika, as well as Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (who had earlier beaten Chris Evert) before losing to Natasha Zvereva, despite holding two match points.

In early 1989, she reached the top 30, but failed to fulfill her early promise and quickly settled into the lower top 100 range, despite making further fourth rounds at the 1989 Australian Open and the 1990 French Open and winning her first title at home in Brisbane in 1992. However, she went on to greater success in mixed doubles, winning both the 1992 Australian Open and the 1992 US Open with her partner, Mark Woodforde; and women's doubles, earning a bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

She enjoyed a minor resurgence in singles in 1993, winning her second tour title in Kuala Lumpur and reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open. She also earned her biggest career victory during that year, shockingly beating World No. 1 Steffi Graf in a Fed Cup tie.[1] Bradtke later helped Australia to reach the final, where they lost to the Spanish team.

After playing only eight events in 1994, she dropped out of the top 100, before recovering in 1995, earning another big victory over Gabriela Sabatini at the tournament in Berlin and returning to the top 40 in the world.

She later retired after the 1997 Australian Open.

Personal

She is married to Mark Bradtke, a former Australian professional basketball player, since 1994. Together they have two boys, Austin (born 2000) and Jensen (born 2004), and run an indoor sports centre in Melbourne. She previously served as a coach for the Australian Fed Cup team, as well as undertaking private coaching. She has worked with fellow Australians Samantha Stosur and Alicia Molik. In 2007, she joined the National High Performance Academy team.

Her sister, Natasha, is married to Todd Woodbridge, making him her brother-in-law.[2]

Grand Slam finals

Mixed doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runners-up)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1987 Wimbledon Grass Australia Darren Cahill United Kingdom Jo Durie
United Kingdom Jeremy Bates
7–6(12–10), 6–3
Runner-up 1990 French Open Clay South Africa Danie Visser Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Mexico Jorge Lozano
7–6(7–5), 7–6(10–8)
Winner 1992 Australian Open Hard Australia Mark Woodforde Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Australia Todd Woodbridge
6–3, 4–6, 11–9
Winner 1992 US Open Hard Australia Mark Woodforde Czech Republic Helena Suková
Netherlands Tom Nijssen
4–6, 6–3, 6–3

Career titles

Singles (3)

Legend
Grand Slam (0)
WTA Championship (0)
Tier I (0)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (0)
Tier IV (3)
Tier V (0)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
1. 5 January 1992 Danone, Brisbane Hard Australia Rachel McQuillan 6–3, 6–2
2. 19 April 1993 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Hard (i) United States Ann Grossman 6–3, 6–2
3. 30 January 1995 Auckland, New Zealand Hard United States Ginger Helgeson 3–6, 6–2, 6–1

Doubles (9)

Legend
Grand Slam (0)
WTA Championship (0)
Tier I (1)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (1)
Tier IV (5)
Tier V (2)
No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
1. 16 May 1988 Strasbourg, France Clay Netherlands Manon Bollegraf Australia Jenny Byrne
Australia Janine Thompson
6–3, 6–2
2. 14 August 1989 Albuquerque, NM, United States Hard South Africa Elna Reinach Italy Raffaella Reggi
Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
4–6, 6–4, 6–2
3. 14 May 1990 Berlin, Germany Clay South Africa Elna Reinach Australia Hana Mandlíková
Czech Republic Jana Novotná
6–2, 6–1
4. 21 May 1990 Strasbourg, France Clay South Africa Elna Reinach United States Kathy Jordan
Australia Elizabeth Smylie
6–1, 6–4
5. 20 May 1991 Geneva, Switzerland Clay Australia Elizabeth Smylie Italy Cathy Caverzasio
Switzerland Manuela Maleeva
6–1, 6–2
6. 10 June 1991 Birmingham, United Kingdom Grass Australia Elizabeth Smylie United States Sandy Collins
South Africa Elna Reinach
6–1, 6–2
7. 17 February 1992 Oklahoma, United States Hard (i) United States Lori McNeil United States Katrina Adams
Netherlands Manon Bollegraf
3–6, 6–4, 76(8–6)
8. 11 January 1993 Melbourne, Australia Hard France Nathalie Tauziat United States Cammy MacGregor
United States Shaun Stafford
1–6, 6–3, 63
9. 20 May 1996 Strasbourg, France Clay Indonesia Yayuk Basuki United States Marianne Witmeyer
United States Tami Jones
5–7, 6–4, 64

References

  1. "Bookies favour Stosur to lift French Open crown".
  2. Daffey, Paul (13 February 2005). "Best sporting love matches". The Age. Melbourne.
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