Anastasija Sevastova Latvian Tennis Star

Anastasija Sevastova is a Latvian tennis player. On January 31, 2011, she achieved her career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 36. On August 31, 2009, she claimed her highest Doubles rank of No. 195. Her biggest match to date was in the 1st Round of the 2010 China Open, where she defeated world number 7 Samantha Stosur.

CAREER:

In March 2010, Sevastova got the biggest win of her career by defeating World No. 9 Jelena Janković in the first round of the 2010 Monterrey Open. She reached the semifinals, falling to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets.Anastasija Sevastova became the first Latvian to win a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title on Saturday since Larisa Neiland won at Schenctady, New York, in 1993.

The World No. 74 defeated Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain 6-2, 7-5 over 71 minutes in the Estoril Open final, having won 59 per cent of service points and hitting three aces. The final was delayed by five hours due to torrential rain.

Sevastova, who beat top seed Agnes Szavay and No. 7 seed Shuai Peng en route to her first singles final, converted her fourth break point opportunity in the first game of the final and went on to take a 5-0 lead before Parra Santonja avoided a bagel first-set with a service break to 30.

Sevastova played at the 2010 Estoril Open and in her first match defeated top seed Ágnes Szávay 3–6, 6–3, 6–3. She then beat veteran Kimiko Date Krumm in the second round (Date Krumm retired), Anastasia Rodionova in the quarterfinals 7–6(6), 6–2 and Shuai Peng of China 6–7(6), 6–1, 6–3 in the semifinal. In the final of the 2010 Estoril Open she beat Arantxa Parra Santonja in straight sets 6–2, 7–5. It was her first WTA Final and her first WTA Title.

In the 2011 Australian Open Sevastova upset the 21st seed Yanina Wickmayer 6–4, 6–2 en route to a fourth round matchup with World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, which she lost in straight sets 3–6, 4–6.
PERSONAL:

Coached by Martin Ruthner (since age 16)
Mother is Diana Golovanova (English teacher)
Born and raised in Liepaja, Latvia (third-biggest city in Latvia)
Started playing tennis at age 6 (introduced to tennis by grandmother); played for fun until she was 15
Aggressive baseliner; favorite surfaces are hard and clay; favorite shot is backhand
Speaks Latvian, English, Russian, German
Other sports interests are soccer, jet skiing
Favorite movie is Lord of the Rings; favorite actor is Tom Hanks
Favorite musical artists are Beyoncé, Jay-Z, James Blunt
Favorite book is Katherine by Anya Seton
Tennis idols growing up were Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi; person most admired is Lance Armstrong
Self-described as competitive with sense of humor
Favorite place to visit is New York; favorite tournaments are Roland Garros and US Open.

Parra Santonja, who was clearly nervous in her first singles final, fell to 0-2 in the second set. But went on to win the next three games, but fell to 0/40 in the 11th game and was unable to recover.
Sevastova, 20, improved to a 17-9 record on the season and is expected to rise to No. 60 in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Rankings on Monday. She had been making her Estoril Open debut this week