Annika Beck
Annika Beck is a retired German tennis player. She started playing tennis at the age of four when introduced to the game by her parents. A baseliner whose favorite shot is forehand, and favorite surface is hardcourt, she was coached by Jacub Zahlava and Sebastian Sachs.
Beck won two singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as seven singles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 18 July 2016, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 37, and on the same date, she peaked at No. 84 in the WTA doubles rankings.
Personal life
Her father Johannes and her mother Petra teach chemistry at the University of Bonn. Beck attended the Erzbischöfliche Liebfrauenschule Bonn, a school for girls, where she completed her Abitur in 2011.Annika speaks German, English and Spanish, and relaxes between matches by playing violin. Her favourite tennis memory was winning the Junior 2012 French Open.
Career
2012
Beck started 2012 ranked world No. 234. She played one ITF tournament in January, one in February, and three in March, where she was runner-up in Sunderland and Bath, and won in Moscow. In April and May, Beck played higher-level tournaments, but had to play qualifying rounds. She qualified for the main draw in Copenhagen and Prague, achieving the second round of the main draw at the latter. She lost in qualifying at the events in Stuttgart and Estoril, and at the French Open. She did, however, take part in the Junior French Open, defeating Anna Karolína Schmiedlová in the final in three sets.Beck qualified for the Wimbledon Championships, but lost in the first round. In July, she earned a spot in the main draw of the WTA tournament in Båstad but did not progress past the first round. She also played two ITF tournaments, winning the $50k event in Versmold, and losing in the second round at the $100k event in Olomouc. In August, she won a $25k tournament in Koksijde, then played in qualifying for the US Open, losing in the first round.
In September, her rank had risen enough for direct entry into the main draw at the Bell Challenge in Quebec City, Canada, where she got to the second round. She then won the Aegon GB Pro-Series Shrewsbury on the ITF Circuit. In October, she played two WTA events, but had to play qualifying rounds. She lost in the second round of qualifying at the Generali Ladies Linz, but won through to the main draw at the Luxembourg Open, winning her first-round match but losing to Lucie Hradecká in the second. Back on the ITF Circuit, she won the two $75k events in Ismaning and Barnstaple. By the end of 2012, she had improved her world ranking 156 places up to No. 78.
2013
Beck began her 2013 season at the first edition of the Shenzhen Open. She reached the quarterfinals after wins over Garbiñe Muguruza and fourth seed Hsieh Su-wei. She lost in her quarterfinal match to sixth seed Peng Shuai. Beck then went on to win her first Grand Slam match at the Australian Open, shocking twenty-eighth seed Yaroslava Shvedova in the first round. She was defeated in the second round by Ayumi Morita.In Thailand at the PTT Pattaya Open, Beck lost in the first round to Varatchaya Wongteanchai. At the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships in Tennessee, Beck was defeated in the first round by eventual champion Marina Erakovic. Seeded eighth at the Brasil Tennis Cup, Beck lost in the second round to Jana Čepelová. In Indian Wells at the BNP Paribas Open, Beck was defeated in the first round by Kiki Bertens. At the Sony Open Tennis, Beck lost in the first round to Urszula Radwańska.
Beck began her clay-court season at the first edition of the BNP Paribas Katowice Open. She made it to the semifinal where she was defeated by second seed and eventual champion Roberta Vinci. In Stuttgart at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Beck lost in the first round to fifth seed Petra Kvitová. At the Portugal Open, Beck was defeated in the first round of qualifying by Vania King.
2014: First WTA title
Beck improved her previous year's result at the Shenzhen Open, this time reaching the semifinals, where she lost to Li Na in straight sets. At the Australien Open, she defeated Petra Martić in the first round, but lost to 14th seed Ana Ivanovic in the second. At the French Open, she lost in the first round to Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round in three sets.In October, Beck won her first WTA title by emphatically defeating Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová in the Luxembourg Open final.
2015
At the French Open, Beck defeated former world No. 2 Agnieszka Radwańska in the first round in three sets, becoming just the third player to defeat the Pole in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament. In round two, she defeated another Pole in the person of qualifier Paula Kania to reach the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. After early exits at Wimbledon and the US Open and her first WTA doubles title, Beck won her second WTA singles title at the Coupe Banque Nationale by beating Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets.2016
After early exits at the Shenzhen Open and the Hobart International, Beck reached the second week of a Grand Slam championship for the first time at the Australian Open, beating wild card Priscilla Hon, No. 11 seed Timea Bacsinszky and Laura Siegemund en route. She then lost to eventual champion Angelique Kerber in straight sets. After that, Beck played for Germany in their Fed Cup tie against Switzerland where she beat Bacsinszky once again. However, the win was not enough for them as Germany lost in the doubles match.2018
On 21 October, Beck announced her retirement from professional tennis.WTA career finals
Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner–ups)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | 2013 BGL Luxembourg Open – Singles| | Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg | Hard |  Caroline Wozniacki | 2–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | 2014 BGL Luxembourg Open – Singles| | Luxembourg Open, Luxembourg | Hard |  Barbora Strýcová | 6–2, 6–1 |
| Loss | 1–2 | 2015 Brasil Tennis Cup – Singles| | Brasil Tennis Cup, Brazil | Clay |  Teliana Pereira | 4–6, 6–4, 1–6 |
| Win | 2–2 | 2015 Coupe Banque Nationale – Singles| | Tournoi de Québec, Canada | Carpet |  Jeļena Ostapenko | 6–2, 6–2 |
Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner–ups)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | 2014 Generali Ladies Linz – Doubles| | Generali Ladies Linz, Austria | Hard |  Caroline Garcia |  Raluca Olaru  Anna Tatishvili | 2–6, 1–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | 2015 Brasil Tennis Cup – Doubles| | Brasil Tennis Cup, Florianópolis | Clay |  Laura Siegemund |  María Irigoyen  Paula Kania | 6–3, 7–6 |
| Loss | 1–2 | 2016 Ladies Championship Gstaad – Doubles| | Swiss Open, Gstaad | Clay |  Evgeniya Rodina |  Lara Arruabarrena  Xenia Knoll | 1–6, 6–3, |
ITF finals
Singles (7–3)
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 22 November 2009 | Équeurdreville, France | Hard | Constance Sibille | 4–6, 2–6 |
| Winner | 1. | 31 January 2010 | Kaarst, Germany | Hard | Audrey Bergot | 6–2, 7–5 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 5 February 2012 | Sunderland, Great Britain | Hard | Sarah Gronert | 6–3, 2–6, 3–6 |
| Winner | 2. | 26 February 2012 | Moscow, Russia | Hard |  Kirsten Flipkens | 6–1, 7–5 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 25 March 2012 | Bath, Great Britain | Hard |  Kiki Bertens | 4–6, 6–3, 3–6 |
| Winner | 3. | 8 July 2012 | Versmold, Germany | Clay | Anastasija Sevastova | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Winner | 4. | 12 August 2012 | Koksijde, Belgium | Clay | Bibiane Schoofs | 6–1, 6–1 |
| Winner | 5. | 22 September 2012 | Shrewsbury, Great Britain | Hard | Stefanie Vögele | 6–2, 6–4 |
| Winner | 6. | 28 October 2012 | Ismaning, Germany | Carpet | Eva Birnerová | 6–3, 7–6 |
| Winner | 7. | 4 November 2012 | Barnstaple, Great Britain | Hard |  Eleni Daniilidou | 6–7, 6–2, 6–2 |