Patty Schnyder life and biography

Patty Schnyder is a Swiss professional tennis player. She has been playing on the WTA tour since 1993 and is a former World No. 7. She has defeated several World No. 1 players, including Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Steffi Graf, Jennifer Capriati, Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin, Amélie Mauresmo, Jelena Janković, Ana Ivanović and Caroline Wozniacki.

CAREER:

At the 2009 Madrid Masters, Schnyder defeated World No. 10 Nadia Petrova in the third round and World No. 4 Jelena Janković 7–6(6), 6–3 in the quarterfinals but lost to World No. 1 Dinara Safina in the semifinals 4–6, 2–6.

2010 was a tough year for Patty. For the first time since 1996, she did not play in the Australian Open, due to injury. But, for the second year in a row, she did make it to the final in Budapest against Ágnes Szávay, but again lost. She lost two match points in the third round of the US Open and double-faulted on match point against Yanina Wickmayer. She again made her second final of the year in Linz but suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Ana Ivanović.

Patty Schnyder did not play at the beginning of the 2011 season, prior to the 2011 Australian Open, due to illness. At the Australian Open she lost to the qualifier Lesya Tsurenko in the first round. Schnyder is currently contemplating retirement although is committed to playing tournaments until the end of February 2011. In a March 2011 Bleacher report, Schnyder was listed as one of ten most underrated players on the Wtatour. Schnyder signaled, after disappointing first round losses in both singles and doubles at the Family Circle Cup, that she would indeed be retiring sometime this year. Schnyder proved in April that she was still Switzerland's number one women's tennis player when she, along with Timea Bascinszky, helped propelled, by straight wins, Switzerland back into World Group II at the Fed Cup.

Singles Titles:

2008: Bali
2005: Gold Coast, Cincinnati
2002: Zürich
2001: Pattaya City
1999: Gold Coast
1998: Hobart, Hannover, Madrid, Maria Lankowitz, Palermo

Doubles Titles:

2008: Stuttgart
2004: Paris
2003: Paris
2002: Antwerp
1998: Hamburg

PERSONAL:
Coached by Rainer Hofmann, an information technolgy specialist whom she married on December 5, 2003 at health resort Baden-Baden in Germany; formerly coached by Hubert Choudury
Has two cats, Mister and Gizmo
Loves Australia; would like to live there after tennis career
Lives at the Zürichsee and likes to have fun on the lake with their speedboat, because it’s the best way to relax
Also likes to read and watch DVDs
Other interests include skiing, billiards, golf, football and Photo Play computer games
Favorite book is the biography of Nelson Mandela
Admires the work of Jean Ziegler (Swiss UN human rights ambassador) and Michael Moore
With husband, is writing an autobiographical book called "The White Mile".

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