Kim Eun-ha explained

Kim Eun-ha
(김 은하)
Birth Date:8 March 1975
Birth Place:South Korea
Height:1.73 m
Plays:Right-handed
Retired:2003
Careerprizemoney:$182,957
Singlestitles:8 ITF
Highestsinglesranking:No. 141 (26 October 1998)
Doublestitles:15 ITF
Highestdoublesranking:No. 84 (27 July 1998)
Australianopendoublesresult:2R (1998)
Frenchopendoublesresult:1R (1998, 1999)
Wimbledondoublesresult:2R (1998)
Usopendoublesresult:2R (1998)

Kim Eun-ha (born 8 March 1975) is a former professional tennis player from South Korea. A right-handed player, Kim had a serve-and-volley game and was best on hardcourts.

Biography

Early life

Kim was born in 1975, one of three daughters of fisherman Young-soo and housewife Chung In-ja. She began playing tennis while at school at the age of 10 and graduated in 1994, after which she joined the professional tour.[1]

Professional tour

Kim made the singles quarterfinals of the 1997 Danamon Open in Jakarta as a qualifier. Her performances in 1997 brought her ranking into the top 200 and she peaked at No. 141 in 1998. She won ITF singles titles in Seoul and Shenzhen during her career.

It was in doubles that she had the most success. After winning four ITF doubles events in 1997, Kim appeared in the main draw of all four Grand Slam events in the 1998 season and reached 84 in the world that year. One of those Grand Slam tournaments was the US Open where she and Virág Csurgó beat the American pairing of Jennifer Capriati and Alexandra Stevenson.[2] On the WTA Tour she twice made doubles semifinals, with Émilie Loit at the 1998 Skoda Czech Open and Jeon Mi-ra in 2001 at the Pattaya Open.

Representative

Kim made her first appearances for the South Korea Fed Cup team in 1995 and was a regular fixture in the side throughout the campaign.

At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Kim was a member of the South Korean squad and featured in the women's doubles draw, with Park Sung-hee. The pair were beaten in the first round by South Africa's Amanda Coetzer and Mariaan de Swardt.[3]

In 1997, South Korea competed in the Fed Cup World Group, having qualified for the first time by beating Bulgaria in the 1996 play-off. Her win over Bulgaria's Antoaneta Pandjerova in the fourth rubber of the play-off had the distinction of securing the World Group spot for South Korea. Their 1997 World Group tie was against Argentina in Seoul and they were beaten 4-1, with Kim losing both a singles and doubles match in three sets.

Her appearances in international competition for South Korea include the 1998 Asian Games and 2001 Summer Universiade. At the Universiade, which was held in Beijing, she won two medals, a silver in the women's doubles and a bronze in the mixed doubles.

ITF Circuit finals

$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles (8–4)

OutcomeNo.width=100Datewidth=140LocationSurfacewidth=150Opponentwidth=100Score
Winner1.6 June 1994Seoul, South KoreaHard Choi Young-ja6–3, 7–5
Winner2.19 December 1994Manila, PhilippinesHard Yi Jingqian6–1, 6–4
Runner-up3.8 May 1995Seoul, South KoreaClay Choi Ju-yeon4–6, 5–7
Winner4.29 May 1995Seoul, South KoreaHard Choi Young-ja6–2, 6–2
Winner5.5 June 1995Seoul, South KoreaHard Madoka Kuki6–2, 6–1
Winner6.6 May 1996Seoul, South KoreaClay Choi Young-ja2–6, 6–2, 6–3
Runner-up7.3 November 1997Beijing, ChinaHard Yi Jingqian3–6, 5–7
Winner8.26 April 1998Shenzhen, ChinaHard Yi Jingqian6–3, 6–1
Runner-up9.18 October 1998Indian Wells, United StatesHard Pavlina Nola3–6, 4–6
Runner-up10.14 May 2000Seoul, South KoreaClay Li Na3–6, 6–7(1–7)
Winner11.4 June 2000Shenzhen, ChinaHard Sun Tiantian6–4, 6–3
Winner12.29 April 2001Seoul, South KoreaHard Yi Jingqian6–4, 6–2

Doubles (15–7)

OutcomeNo.width=110DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Winner1.12 December 1994Manila, PhilippinesHard Choi Ju-yeon Keiko Ishida
Park In-sook
6–3, 6–4
Winner2.20 March 1995Bandar, BruneiHard Choi Ju-yeon Kim Soon-nam
Kim Ih-sook
6–4, 6–0
Winner3.8 May 1995Seoul, South KoreaClay Choi Ju-yeon Keiko Ishida
Mami Donoshiro
6–3, 6–3
Winner4.22 May 1995Beijing, ChinaHard Kim Ih-sook Francesca La'O
Weng Tzu-ting
6–2, 6–3
Winner5.29 May 1995Seoul, South KoreaClay Kim Ih-sook Choi Jin
Choi Young-ja
6–4, 7–5
Winner6.5 May 1997Seoul, South KoreaClay Cho Yoon-jeong Choi Young-ja
Park Sung-hee
6–3, 7–6(8–6)
Winner7.4 August 1997Jakarta, IndonesiaClay Choi Young-ja Kerry-Anne Guse
Kristine Kunce
6–3, 6–4
Winner8.15 September 1997Taipei, TaiwanHard Choi Young-ja Kerry-Anne Guse
Catherine Barclay
1–6, 6–4, 6–3
Winner9.10 November 1997Mount Gambier, AustraliaHard Catherine Barclay Renee Reid
Réka Vidáts
6–3, 6–2
Winner10.26 April 1998Shenzhen, ChinaHard Catherine Barclay Gail Biggs
Tomoe Hotta
6–3, 6–2
Runner-up11.25 October 1998Houston, United StatesHard Rika Hiraki Nana Smith
Miho Saeki
1–6, 6–4, 1–6
Runner-up12.9 August 1999Lexington Challenger,
United States
Hard Julie Pullin4–6, 1–6
Winner13.3 October 1999Seoul, South KoreaHard Catherine Barclay Tamarine Tanasugarn
Park Sung-hee
4–6, 6–4, 6–2
Runner-up14.4 October 1999Saga, JapanGrass Petra Rampre7–6, 3–6, 2–6
Winner15.4 June 2000Shenzhen, ChinaHard Saori Obata Li Na
Li Ting
6–1, 6–3
Runner-up16.25 March 2001La Cañada, United StatesHard Rika Hiraki Julie Pullin
Lorna Woodroffe
2–6, 4–6
Winner17.29 April 2001Seoul, South KoreaHard Wynne Prakusya Angelika Bachmann
Adrienn Hegedűs
6–3, 6–2
Winner18.6 May 2001Kangaroo Cup, JapanCarpet Wynne Prakusya Julie Pullin
Lorna Woodroffe
1–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–2)
Runner-up19.16 September 2001Seoul, South KoreaHard Rika Hiraki Choi Young-ja
Kim Eun-sook
3–6, 3–6
Runner-up20.18 November 2001Port Pirie, AustraliaHard Jeon Mi-ra Lisa McShea
Trudi Musgrave
5–7, 4–6
Winner21.25 February 2002New Delhi, IndiaHard Choi Young-ja Eva Birnerová
Jana Hlaváčková
6–7(4–7), 6–4, 6–3
Runner-up22.16 November 2003Manila, PhilippinesHard Kim Ji-young Wynne Prakusya
Maya Rosa
6–2, 0–6, 4–6

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bio - Personal. WTA Tour. 22 September 2017.
  2. News: Scoreboard. 4 September 1998. Philadelphia Daily News. 126. 22 September 2017.
  3. Web site: Kim Eun-Ha Bio, Stats, and Results. https://web.archive.org/web/20200417234256/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ki/kim-eun-ha-1.html. dead. 17 April 2020. Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. 22 September 2017.