Helen Crook

Helen Crook
Country (sports) Great Britain
Born (1971-11-20) 20 November 1971 (age 52)
Essex, England
Height1.75 cm (5 ft 9 in)
PlaysRight handed
CollegeUniversity of South Carolina
Prize money$98,388
Singles
Career record140–161
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 257 (16 July 2001)
Doubles
Career record192–178
Career titles0 WTA, 11 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 155 (24 May 1999)
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon2R (2003)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Wimbledon1R (2001, 2003)

Helen Crook (born 20 November 1971) is a British former professional tennis player.

Biography

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Before turning professional, Crook attended college in the United States, as a journalism student at the University of South Carolina. She formed a doubles partnership in college tennis with another British player, Victoria Davies. The pair made the semifinals of the 1994 NCAA Doubles Championships.[1]

Crook, who was based in Essex, began competing on the international circuit in 1996. All of her WTA Tour and Wimbledon main-draw appearances were in doubles, a format in which she reached No. 155 in the world. She made two WTA Tour doubles quarterfinals, both with regular doubles partner Victoria Davies, at the 1999 Warsaw Cup and the 2001 Birmingham Classic. She featured in the women's doubles at Wimbledon on eight occasions and twice in mixed doubles. Her only grand slam win came when partnering Anna Hawkins at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships, with the pair overcoming Barbara Schett and Patty Schnyder, before being beaten in the second round by Martina Navratilova and Svetlana Kuznetsova.[2]

She was one of the founders of GB Tennis Girls, an organisation supporting women's tennis.[3]

ITF Circuit finals

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Singles (0–2)

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$50,000 tournaments
$40,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Result No. Date Location Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. 17 January 1996 Miami, United States Hard Russia Alina Jidkova 2–6, 5–7
Loss 2. 23 July 2000 Frinton-on-Sea, Great Britain Grass United Kingdom Samantha Smith 3–6, 0–6

Doubles (11–15)

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Result No. Date Location Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1. 11 July 1994 Frinton-on-Sea, Great Britain Grass United Kingdom Victoria Davies Russia Natalia Egorova
Russia Svetlana Parkhomenko
6–3, 6–2
Loss 2. 10 July 1995 Felixstowe, Great Britain Grass United Kingdom Victoria Davies Australia Robyn Mawdsley
Australia Shannon Peters
1–6, 1–6
Win 3. 28 August 1995 Istanbul, Turkey Hard United Kingdom Victoria Davies Turkey Duygu Akşit Oal
Hungary Zsofia Csapó
6–4, 6–4
Win 4. 27 January 1996 Istanbul, Turkey Hard (i) United Kingdom Victoria Davies United Kingdom Frances Hearn
United Kingdom Leyla Ogan
7–6(3), 7–6(4)
Win 5. 26 April 1996 Edinburgh, Great Britain Clay United Kingdom Victoria Davies United Kingdom Julie Pullin
United Kingdom Lorna Woodroffe
6–2, 6–0
Loss 6. 1 June 1996 Istanbul, Turkey Hard United Kingdom Victoria Davies] United Kingdom Emily Bond
Italy Emanuela Brusati
6–7(4), 4–6
Loss 7. 11 July 1997 Felixstowe, Great Britain Grass United Kingdom Victoria Davies South Africa Surina De Beer
United Kingdom Lizzie Jelfs
5–7, 5–7
Win 8. 26 September 1997 Sunderland, Great Britain Carpet (i) South Africa Mareze Joubert United Kingdom Victoria Davies
Israel Limor Gabai
6–2, 6–4
Win 9. 6 December 1997 Pretoria, South Africa Hard South Africa Mareze Joubert South Africa Lucinda Gibbs
South Africa Giselle Swart
6–2, 7–5
Loss 10. 26 March 1998 Wodonga, Australia Grass United Kingdom Victoria Davies Australia Lisa McShea
Australia Alicia Molik
4–6, 4–6
Win 11. 19 April 1998 Cagnes-sur-Mer, France Clay United Kingdom Victoria Davies Netherlands Yvette Basting
Czech Republic Magdalena Zděnovcová
6–3, 6–3
Loss 12. 31 July 1998 Ilkley, Great Britain Grass United Kingdom Victoria Davies United Kingdom Lizzie Jelfs
South Africa Mareze Joubert
3–6, 4–6
Loss 13. 26 September 1998 Sunderland, Great Britain Hard (i) United Kingdom Victoria Davies United Kingdom Lizzie Jelfs
South Africa Mareze Joubert
1–6, 1–6
Loss 14. 3 October 1998 Glasgow, Great Britain Hard (i) United Kingdom Victoria Davies Denmark Eva Dyrberg
Germany Lydia Steinbach
4–6, 7–5, 3–6
Loss 15. 2 April 2000 Pontevedra, Spain Hard United Kingdom Victoria Davies Netherlands Natasha Galouza
Argentina Vanesa Krauth
3–6, 6–2, 2–6
Loss 16. 23 April 2000 San Luis Potosí, Mexico Clay United Kingdom Victoria Davies Argentina María Fernanda Landa
Argentina Romina Ottoboni
4–6, 6–7(7)
Loss 17. 14 May 2000 Tampico, Mexico Hard United Kingdom Victoria Davies Mexico Melody Falcó
Brazil Carla Tiene
4–6, 3–6
Win 18. 22 July 2000 Frinton-on-Sea, Great Britain Grass United Kingdom Victoria Davies South Africa Mareze Joubert
Australia Nicole Sewell
6–2, 6–4
Win 19. 3 February 2001 Tipton, Great Britain Hard (i) United Kingdom Victoria Davies Greece Eleni Daniilidou
Bulgaria Maria Geznenge
2–6, 6–4, 6–4
Loss 20. 20 May 2001 Edinburgh, Great Britain Clay United Kingdom Victoria Davies United Kingdom Julie Pullin
United Kingdom Lorna Woodroffe
2–6, 1–6
Loss 21. 10 February 2002 Redbridge, Great Britain Hard (i) China Sun Tiantian Romania Magda Mihalache
Russia Ekaterina Sysoeva
6–4, 4–6, 4–6
Win 22. 8 March 2003 Nuevo Laredo, Mexico Hard Greece Christina Zachariadou Germany Caroline-Ann Basu
France Kildine Chevalier
6–3, 4–6, 6–2
Win 23. 22 March 2003 Monterrey, Mexico Hard Greece Christina Zachariadou Germany Caroline-Ann Basu
France Kildine Chevalier
6–2, 6–0
Loss 24. 12 April 2003 Coatzacoalcos, Mexico Hard Greece Christina Zachariadou Argentina Erica Krauth
Australia Sarah Stone
4–6, 6–4, 4–6
Loss 25. 15 February 2004 Sunderland, Great Britain Hard (i) Germany Martina Müller Republic of Ireland Claire Curran
Netherlands Kim Kilsdonk
4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Loss 26. 11 July 2004 Felixstowe, Great Britain Grass United Kingdom Karen Paterson United Kingdom Hannah Collin
United Kingdom Anna Hawkins
4–6, 4–6

References

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  1. ^ "USC Women's Tennis Gearing Up For NCAA Regionals". CBS Sports Network. 8 May 2006. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  2. ^ "Relentless Navratilova has British pair in awe". The Daily Telegraph. 28 June 2003. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Casting the net in hope of 'filling gaps in system'". The Independent. 26 June 2004. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
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